Chapter 14

Gwen

All I want to do is get out of Edward’s palace. I don’t belong here.

I guess I never did.

It was stupid to think that I—that we—could be together.

We both have responsibilities much bigger than ourselves, and we owe it to our people to fulfill them.

Suddenly, I feel a pair of hands clutching at my waist. I know who it must be—and I desperately don’t want to turn around to look him in the eye because of it.

The Roach breathes heavily into my ear. I shiver involuntarily.

“Leaving before the real announcement, my sweet?”

His words are sickly smooth and soft, belying his harsh, steely grip on my waist, his fingers digging painfully into my skin.

Clearly, his anger hasn’t yet dissipated. But his words confuse me enough to make me turn around and face him.

“What do you mean, ‘real announcement’?”

The Roach gives me a slimy grin before casting a sideways glance to his right.

To the stage.

Which King Edward and Ignora are just walking up to.

I feel as if I’ve been slapped in the face. Sure, I know I had accepted that our romance couldn’t work. I know that.

And yet...

Seeing Edward come to the same conclusion and move on so quickly stings like hell.

Well. I trust him not to have actually moved on, but he’s recovered enough to do the right thing by his country.

I wish I had his maturity. But until I possess it, simply watching his pierces my heart like a thousand hot needles.

I can vaguely hear my reproachful fiancé laughing in amusement. It’s such an ugly sound; it makes me want to tape his mouth shut.

Even though it pains me to do so, I walk back toward the stage even as my brain screams at me to leave, leave, leave. I join the growing crowd awaiting their king’s new announcement.

Just another one of his subjects.

I force my eyes to keep watch of Edward on the stage—I owe it to myself to stand here strong and listen.

I’m not prepared for his eyes meeting mine and for there to be...nothing. His eyes display no emotion: no distress, no anguish, simply—

Nothing.

The Roach creeps up behind me, placing his hands back on my hips as if to demonstrate that I’m his.

I feel like retching.

Edward’s eyes move from mine as he scans the crowd and smiles beautifully for them. They love him; they’ll forgive him for his earlier transgression.

How could we have been lying in each other’s arms, laughing and exploring each other without a care in the world, mere hours ago? It feels like a lifetime ago.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” Edward begins, and the crowd hushes to take in his every word.

All around us, camera bulbs flash as the hungry press take their photos of Edward and Ignora, their arms intertwined as she grins smugly for the crowd.

“I most deeply apologize for my little stunt with Princess Gwen earlier.” Some eyes divert their attention from Edward to me, but only for a second.

After all, who am I next to their king?

“But that is exactly all it was,” Edward continues, “a stunt. Princess Gwen and I have known each other since we were young, and I admit that we got carried away after having not seen each other for so long. It was an echo back of our childish past of playing jokes on our elders.”

His eyes find mine again, but they remain stoic. To keep up the charade, I nod my head in agreement and smile somewhat bashfully for the audience’s benefit.

They seem to believe it. Good.

Edward turns to look at Ignora, a charming smile on his face.

“I am, of course, to be wed to the beautiful and elegant lady beside me, Ignora. I’m sure she will be thrilled to take any of your questions at the end of this announcement.”

One look at the woman is all you need to know that Ignora will be more than thrilled. It appears as if she’s lived for nothing but this moment her entire life.

And Edward will be married to her.

I choke back a sudden sob as the realization fully hits me, just as Edward finishes his speech. A solitary tear running down my cheek betrays me. I quickly duck my head down to prevent anyone from seeing my current state.

I wish I could simply disappear.

I wish I were home.

Just—anywhere from here. Anywhere away from Edward.

If I can’t have him, and if he can’t look at me the way he was looking at me earlier, then I’d rather be a million miles away, with my precious few, glorious memories of the two of us for company.

Risking a glance back up, Edward just barely catches my eyes before turning to face the press again.

Nothing.

He’s a truly excellent actor. I suppose he needs to be, as king.

So I turn on my heels to leave, forgetting about the odious creature still attached to my hips.

“And where are you going now? Can’t wait to get home and be wed, my love?” Roach asks gleefully as he tugs me away from the crowd faster than I wanted to leave.

“Stop—stop dragging me. I can walk by myself.”

“Considering how fucking trashed you got earlier and the mess you got yourself into by yourself, I somehow doubt that. I’m not leaving you alone from now on.”

I feel my blood chill at the mere thought.

So I won’t even be left alone with my thoughts now.

Great. Fucking great.

The look on Roach’s face brooks no argument; his earlier aggression is still there, simmering under the surface. I know I’m going to pay for my earlier actions in private.

Oh, what have I done?

I could have prevented all of this. Had I merely acted like the princess I’m supposed to be in the first place, I wouldn’t have a seething, monstrous creep of a fiancé. Sure, he’d still be a creep, but he’d have no reason to be angry.

But no. If I think about it, how could I regret the precious time I spent with Edward?

In his arms, with his mouth on my skin, sucking on my breast, tongue gently swirling over my—

I stop the thoughts before it becomes apparent what I’m thinking about.

In reality, all I regret is that Edward never properly took my virginity away. And now it’ll belong to...

I can’t even look at my so-called fiancé. Is this what my life has truly been reduced to?

The man I want—the man I love and need—is getting farther and farther behind me, in the arms of another woman.

And I can do nothing. Will do nothing.

In order to be a proper, responsible princess and for Edward to be a gracious, beloved king, we must do nothing.

There’s that word again. I suddenly find myself detesting it.

But as the Roach gives me a slimy, lascivious look, I steel myself to feel precisely the thing I hate.

Nothing.