I had not expected Holland to be serious with what he said, but as time went by and before dusk, he would enter and leave my room with a servant by his side that was bringing in his necessary belongings.
I didn't want to fully let my guard down around him because I felt like he might be up to something terrible. He's never not up to no good, but at the same time, his body language gave off the opposite of what I was thinking, as he was being unnaturally nice to me and had been the one to serve me my breakfast and lunch in my room.
Although him being nice to me doesn't mean that I wanted to sleep in the same room with him, one thing I was scared of was the fact that he might like me.
He has always been looking at me with disgust in his face, but his face is rather jolly anytime he stares at me now. I just hope he doesn't like me enough to marry me.
"We're not sharing this bed," I said, the moment he entered my room with an extra blanket in his hands. I don’t know why he needs to bring so many of his belongings when he could just go to his room after spending the night here to protect me.
"I'll be your future husband, so why not?" He replied, my brows immediately cringed as I stared at him.
"Chill, I was just joking," he added. He seemed to have noticed the distasteful look on my face when he said those words earlier.
"I promised you that I'd be patient with you after all. Something bad almost happened to you because of me," he said.
"How's it because of you?" I was confused about why the lunatic had targeted me but had not had the chance to ask anyone because I wanted to get rid of that awful memory even though I was curious.
"Hmm, the king will explain it to you at dinner." He answered, I wanted to press him to tell me, but I decided to let it go. He said the king would tell me after all, and dinner was in less than two hours.
"Okay," I replied, watching him settle his blanket on the couch that was on the other side of the room. He didn't bring any pillows with him, so I threw one of my least favourite pillows at him, but it accidentally landed on his face.
"I'm sorry," I apologised, stopping myself from bursting into laughter after seeing how red his nose was with just a little impact with a not-so-soft pillow. It amuses me that he will one day ascend to the throne.
"You know, you're not so bad. I was quick to judge you on seeing you, "he said, while setting his pillow on the couch.
"Well, I'm not sorry for judging you so quickly." I responded with a smirk on my face, but had not expected him to also laugh.
"Yeah, I was quite a selfish asshole," he chuckled, laying on the couch with his legs crossed while facing me. There was something in him that was different from what I had been seeing, as he looked relaxed without his usual frowning face. He was also taking a joke and insulting himself. Where did all of his proud attitude vanish to?
"You were?" I sarcastically asked,
"Maybe I am still a little bit of an asshole." He replied, as we both laughed. We were both laughing at him, but he wasn't taking any offence at it. Perhaps he's no longer an asshole.
We spent most of our time laughing and talking about different things that were going on in the castle. He mentioned having come across Mariam and Evelyn and that they were nice to talk to.
Apparently, they had told him things about me, and he realised that I was a good person, but he was just adamant about being blind to seeing it. Talking about the girls made me miss them so much. They must have been trying to reach me but would have been denied access to see me.
I'm sure they're worried about me, and I'll try my best to reach out to them and make it up to them. I promised that I would follow them to the garden every two afternoons, but I missed it yesterday and would make it up to them tomorrow.
"We should prepare for dinner," Holland said.
I got up to take a swift shower that had never felt so nice as I slipped into a short green dress made of silk. Holland forgot to bring in his dinner outfit, so he had to go to his room to change, but he was quick to come back to my room as he held my hands and led me to the dining room.
On reaching the room, the whole family was already seated, and the look on their faces was as if they had seen a ghost. They definitely wouldn't have even thought of Holland walking side by side with me, let alone him holding my hands with a smile on his face that wasn't forced.
"I like what I am seeing." The queen said, her cheeks already flushed. They are all nice people in this kingdom, even though they let misunderstandings get the best of them, but aside from that, I know it'll break them when I leave for Alaric.
However, I'll make it up to them by visiting them once everything is settled and I've given birth. I'm just glad the moon goddess has blessed me by not making my bump obvious. I never expected it to be like this, but I know that it'll be popping out soon. I just pray that I'll have already left here before it becomes obvious.
"You look lovely in that colour." The queen complimented me, and I returned her kindness with a smile. My eyes locked with Skye's, but she quickly shifted her gaze without sending me any greetings. I wonder why her mood changed, but I didn't let it stop me from complimenting her dress.
Shortly after, the servants served our food, and we all started to eat. I wasn't hungry because Holland had made sure that the guards brought in our food every four hours. He has a huge appetite.
Once we had all eaten for some minutes, the king dropped his spoon on the plate and folded his hands.
"On behalf of the royal family, I apologise for what happened last night, Princess Addison." He apologised.
"We never expected it to happen, but we should have been more careful, knowing full well that our rival kingdom would do anything to stop this alliance." He added
"I hope we're forgiven for our mistakes," he asked.
"It was an incident that happened despite all your efforts to keep me safe. It's not your fault, "I replied with a warm smile. They did try their best to protect me, but sometimes things can happen out of the ordinary. The same thing that has been happening to me and landed me in this situation.
"Cheers to us being forgiven," The king raised his glass with a laugh, and we all raised our glasses after him.
"You're not giving credit to the only reason she's alive," Skye blurted out with a scornful tone.
"Oh, yes..."
"However, their plan failed because Simon was quick to stop them before anything happened. We don't want to imagine anything bad happening to you. "The king finished as the whole table's eyes fell on Simon, but he seemed to be worried about something as his mind was far away from here and he had beads of sweat on his forehead even though the weather was chilly.
"Simon" Skye called his name, bringing his attention back to us.
"I'm sorry, excuse me," he said, standing up from the chair and leaving the dining room. The Queen didn't want what had just happened to ruin the current mood we had, so she changed subjects. I hope he's fine and not worried about something difficult.
"Before I forget, I have decided to postpone the wedding. We need time to secure our castle and prevent such an incident from reoccurring," Holland said as the servants cleared the dishes on the table and served dessert.
"We also need time for Princess Addison to settle down and get familiar with the kingdom before we proceed to the next stage," he added, as a broad smile formed on my lips. I was no longer getting married to him, and I had all of the time I needed to leave this place.
If everything goes well, then I should be on my way to Alaric in two weeks' time. I can't wait to be with him. I missed him.
Dinner ended after an hour and we all left for our various rooms. Skye still wasn't talking to me, but I wasn't going to bother with that anymore if she wasn't ready to tell me what was bothering her. I was in a happy mood, and I definitely don't want it to be ruined by someone not bold enough to discuss her grudge with me.
Holland and I both held hands as we walked towards my room, but on getting to my room, I met Simon waiting by the door.
"Hey!" I said. His eyes still looked tired and his skin pale.
"Uhm... hi," he greeted back. We stared in silence for some time before he decided to break the silence.
"Can I talk to her in private?" He asked Holland,
"Please," he added. I knew Holland wouldn't want this with the way his grip on my hand tightened, but after some time, he let go of my hands.
"Sure, I'll let you two be," he replied with a forced smile before turning his back and leaving for his room, or probably anywhere else.
As soon as he left, Simon dragged me into my room as he locked the door behind him with a heavy breath.
"What's going on with you?" I asked. I was confused and shocked by his recent behaviour and the way he was looking stressed over something.
"Please don't hate me. I promised I tried my best to protect you, but I couldn't make it on time, "he said, rushing his words. His brows furrowed, and his eyes felt like they were holding back tears. He held my hands in his as he sent his pleas across.
I tried to comprehend what he was talking about, but I had no clue. I was lost in the dark, but with the way he seemed tense, I could only hope nothing bad happened.
"What do you mean?..."
"You were violated," he said, cutting me off.
"No, I wasn't," I replied with a chuckle, but he didn't seem to be laughing and was dead serious.
"I know you might be finding it hard to come to terms with yourself because of the shock, but I promise you that I also don’t wish to be telling you this. But then I can't keep it away from you forever. "It's your body," he said, but what I couldn't understand was the fact that I found everything he was saying funny.
I knew I wasn't violated. Even though he had struck me in the head and I happened to black out, I knew he had no chance of violating me because I heard the door barge open the moment I blacked out.
"You're serious," I said, seeing the way he stared at me with dead serious eyes.
"Is this why you've been acting weird?" I asked.
"I was just worried about you and how you were going to take the news." He said, he wasn't joking and was serious, but I could swear that I heard the door barge open and felt the man being flung away from my body before I totally blacked out. I would know if I was raped, but I wasn't.
"Simon, you came into the room and saved me before anything happened. I wasn't raped," I said, removing his hands from mine and holding them for comfort.
He's blaming himself for what never happened. I don't understand why he thinks the man had his way with me when he clearly stepped in on time and saved me.
"Are you saying that you weren't violated?" He asked, his pupils narrowing.
"I know that I wasn't," I answered, but rather than being reassured, he had the opposite reaction as fear filled his aura.
"Fuck," he muttered with awe in his eyes before swiftly leaving my room.
"Simon!" I called, but he was far gone, using his wolf speed.