Chapter 54: Chapter XXV Her-2

"Did Spain make you a little wiser?" I sighed and nodded my head. "I guess you could call it that," she hummed in through, sitting back in her seat with her arms folded over her chest. "Do you want to enlighten me?" I chewed on my bottom lip, a little nervous. I cast my eyes away from her. "Uhm... Max he... made me realize a few things about myself that I didn't know about. After what happened with Caleb, I never really sat down and talked about it with anyone. I mean, I was hurt and everyone knew that but Max talked about me about how I reacted when I found out. He made me realize a bit better what kind of person I am," Sarina hummed, tilting her head side to side. "Would you say he gives better advice then me?" my eyes instantly shot back to hers, wide. "What? Of course not! I value your words more than anything," I breathed, watching a smile take over her face. "But the Prince is definitely different to me," I shrugged my shoulders at this. "Well of course. You both have different experiences," "But you can relate to him more," I nodded slightly at her comment. "Well of course. I mean, he knows how it's like," I began to feel a bit uncomfortable, fretting that I might unconsciously be insulting Sarina. "And I am just a commoner," I looked back at her, my jaw wide at her accusation. "How can you possibly say that, Sarina? You are far more than just a commoner! Please, if I could have my way you'd be ruling by my side!" I spoke without thinking, regretting my words immediately when I saw her face contort into an unknown emotion. "By your side?" she question, my face reddening at her words. I turned away from her, burying my chin into my hands. "Yeah, whatever," pathetic. I am hopeless around her. However, Sarina certainly didn't agree with my inner self-hate as she leaned over and plucked my hands from under my chin, my face nearly colliding with the table. I looked up in surprise as she sandwiched my hands between hers. She closed her eyes and laid her head against our hands, a gentle smile overtaking her features. I blushed at her actions, not able to take my eyes off of her. Her warm hands had mine captured, and I couldn't help but feel how my heart began to pound. I felt her gentle breath against my hands, my face heating even more at the action. I never knew I could be so affected by such a simple gesture. I certainly didn't feel like this around Caleb. "Sarina-" but she cut me off with a gentle 'shh', snuggling her face into my hands. She stayed there for a few moments, myself calming down as I took in how peaceful she looked. "Melanie?" she suddenly asked, breaking the silence between us. "Do you like the Prince?" she inquired, opening her eyes to stare into mine. I almost felt threatened by the passive aggressiveness waving off her. I frowned at her question. "I admit he was quite attractive, but... no. I don't like him. Not like that, anyway," Sarina seemed relieved at this, burying her face into my hands again. "Good," was all she said, making my insides tumble. What did that mean? Did that mean she was starting to like me? So many emotions overtook me that I completely forgot about my promise to myself. I had to let Sarina go. Although, after seeing what she had done for me, that was no longer an option. I couldn't lose this girl. ♕♥ ♕♥ ♕ The royal dinner with my parents was mostly spent talking about Spain and the relations I made, obviously. They inquired about the kitten and I was momentarily stunned, fearing that they might take him from me. Luckily my fear was in vain as they immediately accepted Toro when seeing him, petting him and seeing how elegant the cat was. It made me feel a little calmer about being back in the country, but I was starting to miss the Spanish Prince. I didn't know how much I valued his conversations until I lost. Sure, I could still text him and he did message me, asking how my entrance back into the country was. I told him of the gentle ride and what Sarina had done, and I was pretty sure he had a girlish moment when I told him what she did. Even more when I told him about what happened at the café and how happy I was when all that had happened. Although, now I began to doubt Sarina's actions. A normal friend could've done all that, right? Sarina might not have any feelings for me. I hated all my contradictory thoughts. Alejandro calmed me down, telling me that her actions were nowhere near normal. Still, I wouldn't get my hopes up. I visited the hospital after Ian picked me up from the café, and I still had a week of wear time which meant that tomorrow, when I turned eighteen in front of the world, my wound will be on display. Wonderful. The twins were upset that I didn't bring smoothies back for them, but ultimately forgave when I brought it up that they spent the entire day with Toro. Checkmate. But I was tired. Just this morning I was still spending a normal breakfast in Spain and now I was readying for bed in the United Kingdom. I almost missed the Royal Guards, the Spaniard palace feeling empty without a guard at every corner. I most definitely did not miss the servants. Not because they delivered bad service, because they didn't, but instead I rather enjoyed understanding what people were telling me. Back in a world full of English. I never thought I would appreciate my own tongue language as much as I did now. "Tomorrow will be wonderful, Your Highness," Roxane, my handmaiden, spoke as she closed my curtains. I was slowly getting into bed. "I just fear that I might embarrass myself," I told her my fear, one which she reacted to by staring at me with a confused expression. "You? Your Highness, the country will learn to respect you but they won't hate you if you stumble over your words a bit. It is your first public appearance in the UK, after all," I settled into sleep with that thought in mind, still fretting the day that was to come.