Everlastingly Loving You - Chapter 68

A kiss on the cheek. A mere kiss on the cheek was enough to send sparks flying.

Sophia rushed back to the palace, running as fast as her legs could bring her. She was drenched in rainwater, and hadn’t thought to look back. Nicholas was nowhere to be seen. She hadn’t even the slightest idea as to whether or not he’d made it back to the palace safely. That was the last thing on her mind.

She’d kissed him.

On the cheek.

It might’ve been common to others, but it was a big deal to her.

What was Nicholas thinking of it?

Did he find it weird? Strange? Unpleasant?

Did he find a kiss on the cheek inappropriate for a mere birthday present?

What’d she do when she saw him next?

“What were you doing out in the rain and why are your cheeks so red?” Clarisse asked, interrupting her current train of thought.

Sophia’s cheeks turned redder. She hadn’t realized she’d spaced out.

“It’s not what it looks like,” she insisted.

“It was raining,” she said to Clarisse as she rushed to her quarters.

“And also, I’m freezing, which is enough to explain the red cheeks,” Sophia said as both she and Clarisse entered her quarters.

“And?” Clarisse asked as Sophia wrapped herself with a blanket.

“What do you mean, and?” Sophia asked.

“Shouldn’t you be more worried as to whether or not I’ll get a cold from being out in the rain?” She asked.

Clarisse blinked, “Of course, that too, it’s practically a given.”

“Back to my question,” she said next before she got up to get Sophia a warm cup of water.

“You’d have to try better than that to fool me, Sophie,” Clarisse said, handing Sophia the cup of water.

“Thanks,” Sophia said before answering Clarisse’s question.

“If it means you’ll stop grilling me for answers,” Sophia sighed exasperatedly.

“Fine, I’ll tell you,” Sophia gave in.

“I’m listening,” Clarisse said, taking a seat on the sofa beside Sophia.

Sophia bit her lip.

“So I kissed him on the cheek, what’s the big deal,” she blurted out.

Clarisse’s mouth fell open.

“You what?!” She cried.

“Is this some sort of sick joke?”

“If it is, you’re seriously off the mark, I’m telling you.”

Clarisse was rendered speechless. Out came the words from Sophia she never expected to hear.

“There’s no need to yell,” Sophia said.

“It’s his birthday,” she added as if it’d help her current circumstances and was the reason as to why she did what she did, when frankly, she didn’t know why.

Clarisse blinked. She blinked again, staring at Sophia with complete disbelief.

“So it’s his birthday,” she said, taking a deep, deep breath.

“And you kissed him,” she continued.

“I kissed him,” Sophia nodded slowly.

“And now you’re underselling things,” she added.

Sophia wrinkled her nose.

“I am doing no such thing,” she refused.

“Does Alistair know?” Clarisse asked curiously.

Sophia frowned, narrowing her eyes.

“You’re the first person I’ve told,” she admitted.

“I shouldn’t have done it,” she realized.

Clarisse looked Sophia up and down.

“You think?” She asked sarcastically.

“You’re not telling Louis, are you?” Sophia then asked.

Clarisse shook her head immediately.

“Of course not,” she answered.

“You know how protective he can be at times,” Clarisse added.

Sophia nodded. It was best not to tell Louis of what’d happened.

She wondered if Julia would come to know of it, despite how unlikely it was, seeing as only her and Nicholas was there at the lakeside during the kiss itself.

__

Sophia took a sip of her champagne cocktail, enjoying her bubble bath after being out in the rain. Candles were scattered all around the room, and hints of lavender, jasmine and rose wafted in the air, as Sophia looked out the window which overlooked the beautiful Beldovian skyline.

“Exactly what I needed, a relaxing bubble bath,” Sophia said, taking another sip from her cocktail.

“One of the only perks of staying out in the rain,” she sighed deeply.

She scrolled through her tablet, catching up on the latest Beldovian news before she stumbled upon an online news report.

‘Queen Emilia scores in fight to lengthen interregnum with no current heir in sight,’ she read.

Sophia groaned, “Seriously?”

It seemed like she’d finally gotten an answer as to why Julia hadn’t attended the garden party, that and Nicholas’ party planning.

But she hadn’t figured out why Julia hadn’t told her this herself.

She’d always hated the rule that required heirs to have spouses to rule. It was unjust, and if things went her way, she’d choose to modify if not remove the rule from the rules and requirements to become the reigning monarch.

In her bathrobe, she paid a visit to Julia’s quarters, she resisted the temptation to barge in Julia’s quarters, with her fluffy slippers and her feathery bathrobe.

“Why did I *just* find out the interregnum was lengthened by one more month?” Sophia demanded.

Julia was sipping a cup of tea.

“Sophia dear,” Julia said, looking up from her cup.

“Have a seat,” she said.

Sophia looked at Julia before hesitantly taking a seat.

Julia took a deep breath.

“Yes, Emilia won, and had the interregnum extended by a period of a month or so.”

“And I didn’t think to tell you because…”

Sophia and Julia shared a moment of understanding.

Sophia tensed.

She knew exactly why, and why Julia didn’t want to tell her what.

So, Sophia did so for her.

“…because I don’t have what it takes to rule, and they think so as well,” she finished.

Julia gave her a sympathetic look.

“That’s not why,” she shook her head.

“Grandmere, there’s really no need to try to make things seem better than it actually is,” Sophia reassured her.

“I’m just unprepared,” Sophia mumbled audibly. She stared at grandmere blankly.

Julia cleared her throat.

“It has nothing to do with whether or not you’re prepared,” Julia insisted.

She then said, “It’s to do with a requirement.”

Sophia’s face darkened.

“Oh.”

“That.”