Everlastingly Loving You - Chapter 104

Sophia stared at the big screen.

“And if I hadn’t met you…”

Nicholas hesitated.

“What?” Sophia asked, turning to look at him.

“I just… had I not met you, I’d still be the black sheep of my family, I would’ve been sent to war, and I likely could’ve died on the battlefield.”

“Sounds depressing when you say it,” Sophia said.

“And surprising,” she added.

“I’m just glad I met you,” she admitted.

Nicholas agreed, “Me too.”

“Come to think of it, I can’t even imagine what’d my life be like without you, it’d be… bland and boring.”

“Like Emilia’s, without the stepkids and the dead husband,” she added.

She looked back up on the screen.

Her eyes widened in horror.

“What is this?” She asked in disgust.

Nicholas was left speechless.

“What it is is the perfect cue to get out of here.”

He noticed a couple of people pointing towards their car.

“We best leave.”

“Before more people start noticing we’re here,” he said to Sophia.

Sophia looked around, she cursed under her breath.

“Just when I think I’d be able to go on a date without having to rent the entire place to ourselves in fear of being recognized by the civilians. Dammit.”

“We could always resume this date at the palace,” Nicholas suggested helpfully.

Sophia sighed, “I suppose you’re right,” she pursed her lips, finding the quickest way out of there.

__

Sophia placed her coat on a coathanger.

She huffed. She was irritated.

She couldn’t go on a date without being recognized, and that hurt her to her very core.

She knew from the start that being a royal meant she wasn’t allowed to do what others could. She wasn’t allowed to… say, go to the supermarket to pick up her own groceries, or pick up coffee from a cafe whenever she felt like it, neither could she go to a restaurant to eat her favourite food.

And the funny thing was, she knew her past self would’ve never saw it from this standpoint.

Her past self used to love her life. Loved being a royal.

Royalty meant she’d one day rule over Beldovia, being a duchess meant one day she could be queen.

She had access to nearly everything she wanted, whenever she wanted it. Everything but the few things that now made her happy.

She wondered how could she have been that person. The person that would trade the crown for freedom. She’d come quite far from where she was before. And she wondered why.

She wondered if Clarisse was awake at such a late hour before she realized she was better of without her barging in her room to talk. She had dealt with enough for one day, her problems were the least of her interests.

She sighed, all alone in her quarters. She hadn’t felt like continuing her and Nicholas’ date.

She hadn’t bothered to change into sleepwear before she fell to her bed, shoes on.

“What am I doing?” She asked.

She’d planned her life down to the littlest detail.

She’d graduate from university, she’d live out her life travelling before she was to take on more of her royal duties which would prepare her for her transition into queenship.

She’d find a man she trusted to rule by her side, if not find a way to bypass the requirement and rule on her own without needing any man by her side. She was perfectly capable, she used to think.

She poured herself a glass of water.

She looked at the time.

It wasn’t too late, they couldn’t have been asleep. She decided to visit her brother’s quarters. She didn’t have the slightest idea why, she just figured, why not?

She knocked on Louis’ door in the middle of the night.

“Who is it?” Louis asked.

“It’s me,” Sophia said to him.

Louis hastily opened the door.

His hair was dishevelled, he’d been asleep.

“What was so important you had to wake me up this late?” He demanded.

Sophia narrowed her eyes, “It hasn’t even reached midnight, Lou.”

“Let me in,” she said, barging in his room.

Louis yawned.

“So you’ve let yourself in, why’d you come here?” He asked.

“I have no idea,” Sophia admitted.

“Oh come on,” Louis whined, “You woke me up for nothing?”

“Well, there’s Clarisse.”

“She’s going through something and we should do something about it!” Sophia exclaimed.

“We can do something about it in the morning, not now for God’s sake,” Louis protested.

Sophia looked Louis in the eye.

“She was your friend before she was mine.”

“And now you’re using that against me?” Louis asked, rubbing his eye.

Sophia swatted his hand away.

“Ow!” Louis exclaimed.

“Don’t rub your eye, it’ll turn red,” Sophia warned.

“You could’ve told me that without hitting my hand,” Louis mumbled sleepily.

“And I could’ve asked you to come to my quarters instead of making my way all over here,” Sophia sighed.

“Can’t we do this tomorrow?” Louis whined.

He wanted to sleep. It was a shame Sophia didn’t allow him to have that luxury.

“No, we’re going to do this today.”

“We’ve got to help her.”

Louis inhaled, “Fine.”

“Got any ideas?” He asked her.

Sophia began, “I already showed her the lake.”

Louis pouted, “But that was our place.”

“Well, it’s not anymore,” Sophia said.

“Nicholas?”

Sophia nodded.

“Oh.”

“Well, what else?”

“Talked to her, but that’s all,” Sophia admitted.

“Shouldn’t we leave her alone to process things?”

“Hold on, why does she need our support again?” Louis asked, furrowing his brows.

“I’m not supposed to tell you.”

Louis began, “I–”

“But I’ll tell you, so long as you don’t tell Clarisse that I did,” Sophia said.

“Okay,” Louis agreed to it.

“You know Blaine the man you met earlier today that’s alos Clarisse’s ex?”

Louis nodded.

Sophia thought of the shortest way to summarize everything.

“He told her he still loves her.”

“And now, she’s unsure, because even if she won’t admit it to him, she still loves him.”

__

“And you’re sure you’re okay?” Sophia asked.

“Back to being a ‘good’ friend?” Clarisse asked in return.

“You’re dodging my question,” Sophia narrowed her eyes.

Clarisse nodded, “So I am.”

“So, there’s a ball this evening,” Sophia informed.

“Another ball?” Clarisse asked curiously.

Sophia nodded, “Mhm, another ball.”

“In celebration of Emilia’s birthday.”

“And we’re invited… why?”

“Because surprisingly Emilia claims she’s ‘preventing a scandal from occurring’ and left with no other choice,” Sophia answered.

“And we’re coming?” Clarisse blinked.

“We are.”

“I do love a good ball,” Clarisse admitted.

That was exactly what Sophia wanted to hear.

“Great, so you’re coming, yes?” She asked.

Clarisse nodded.

“He’s not going to be there, is he?”

Sophia assured, “He isn’t.”

“Besides he’s leaving so you won’t have to worry about running into him here.”

Clarisse was taken aback. He what?

“He’s leaving?” She asked.

“WHY?”

Sophia stared at her, “Claire, the man has an empire to run.”

“He can’t simply be here all day, doing nothing but waiting for your response,” she added.

“Besides, are you telling me you’d rather him be there at the ball with Oliver?” Sophia asked.

Clarisse inhaled sharply.

“Right.”

“Oliver’s going to be there.”

“Forgot about that,” she mumbled.

“It’s best if Blaine leaves then,” she agreed.

“Exactly.”

__

Nicholas stared at Oliver while they had breakfast.

“Stop looking at me, brother,” Oliver said to him.

Nicholas kept staring at him.

He knew something that’d break Oliver.

“How are you and Clarisse?” Nicholas decided to ask.

“We’re fine, why ask?” Oliver knitted his eyebrows.

Nicholas quickly replied, “No reason, just curious.”

“So how are you and Sophia?”

“Excellent,” Nicholas answered without any hesitation.

“Great to hear,” Oliver managed to smile.

Nicholas felt guiltier and guiltier.

Of course, he thought Oliver deserved to be hurt for how he treated him, but not like this.

“Will you be making it to the ball?” Nicholas asked.

Oliver took a bite out of his croissant.

“Of course I will, that’s a given.”

He looked at his brother sceptically.

Nicholas didn’t do things for no reason. He never did. Every move he made was meticulously planned.

“What’s going on?” He asked.

“Answer me,” he demanded.

Nicholas dug into his breakfast, feigning ignorance.

Sophia would’ve killed him had he told him.

The temptation to tell Oliver increased.

“It’s nothing,” he said, playing it off as nothing.

“It’s definitely not nothing,” Oliver said, narrowing his eyes.

“What are you hiding from me, brother?”

“What is it?” He repeated, gritting his teeth.

Nicholas opened and closed his mouth. He then said based on his observations, “You seem to be fond of her.”

Oliver scoffed.

“That’s absurd,” he spat.

“Completely absurd,” he added.

“Why even bring that up?” Oliver scoffed. That was preposterous, he saw Clarisse as nothing more than an acquaintance, if not less.

“Really?” Nicholas asked.

Oliver opened his mouth.

“So I asked her to lunch. It’s two people getting to know each other, that’s all.”

“Well then, if that’s the case, I suppose you should know her ex is currently staying here,” Nicholas mumbled audibly.