Chapter 25

He stood in the middle of the room, contemplating her, sinking under the white sheets.

Her head is under the pillow; she is trying unsuccessfully to hide from him her sadness and pain, her defeat and disappointment, putting him in a whirlpool of bewilderment and remorse.

How will Larissa be arrested?

How will others allow it?

How is he going to abandon her after all she did for him?

How is he going to kick her out from under his wing after he promised her that he wouldn't do it for any reason?

Larissa, his only friend, travel companion, and confidante, who saw him in all his forms, gave freely, without question, without grumbling,

How will he free her? How will he release her to another?

He sighed narrowly, unable to think logically, and stood in the middle of the suite trying to find a way to convince Selene to retract her unjust decision against Larissa, and when he returned empty-handed, he left the room in a hurry.

He entered his office, slamming the door behind him and roaring with fullness of voice, roaring with anger and rebellion, for the love he had for Larissa and the love he had for Celine, for the injustice and justice he inflicted on females, for his selfishness, his greed, and the spirit of possession that restrained his wisdom and wit.

He poured his revolution on all the furniture that surrounds him, destroying everything that stands in his path, and when there is nothing left to destroy, he kneels on the ground, gasping for his thunderous breath, trying to contain his overwhelming anger, calming down to the confusion of his contradictory feelings that affected him with absolute cruelty, refusing to grant him mercy.

Kaiden left the palace as soon as the sun went down, alone, without telling any of his soldiers, who had gone crazy when they found out.

He's theirs for heaven's sake; how could he be so reckless?

If something bad happened to him, they would not be scattered, and their offspring would be lost forever; they would become homeless mercenaries like Zachary's descendants and easy prey for Sirana.

Damian is still in an artificial coma, not wanting to risk waking him before he is fully recovered.

Celine wanders around the palace, worried about Kayden and angry at him because of his departure in this way. She spends her time training as if she will soon go to a war front. Mark is training her and helping her to use weapons, daggers, and swords.

She has gained new abilities after her transformation, as she has become faster and her strikes are harder and fiercer than before, but she still does not know how to control the glare of her fire.  Burning the entire palace, she uses it to practice taming its raging fires in vain, as she leaves it every time, demoralized and disappointed, feeling helpless, oppressed, and longing. Well, what does all this have to do with longing?

Yes, she misses Kayden and misses him; she misses him despite everything that happened, and this is what drives her crazy.

She sighed sadly, knocking on Larissa's door, as she finally decided to visit her rival and try to convince her that she was able to find her happiness without Kayden.

Larissa entered the room for the first time since her arrival at the palace, surprised by a royal suite that is as luxurious as the Kayden Suite, which is characterized by a wide bed with golden curtains hanging from above and oil paintings adorning the walls of the room, a living room with sofas that mix light, dark, and gold, a dining room with a table for two, and a wall.  Filled tall and wide with shelves full of books and folders...

She approached the fairy library and took a book that seemed to her as old as history. She opened it astonished, and when she read its title and saw its content—that it was a collection of stories by the Brothers Grimm, the original volumes, bearing their signatures—she gasped in surprise and couldn't believe what she had in her hands.

“It is the first book that Kayden bought for me. He used to take me to listen to the narrator telling the stories of the Brothers Grimm. We used to pay with gold to enter and listen to him, and then he surprised me with the book and signed by them.”

I told her in a proud tone that made Celine jealous.

She took the volume from her fingers and hugged it to her chest as if it was the most precious of the octagons, a spontaneous movement from Larissa, but it caused great pain to Celine, as although she knows that she has no right to feel jealous and that she is the intruder and not Larissa, she is unable to control the fires of jealousy.  Burning in her chest, a raging fire that could not be extinguished,

Yes, she admits that this is selfish of her, but when love is not utterly selfish, she is sympathetic to her, and she is not ready to share it with anyone at all.

She wandered around the suite, trying to distract herself from her feelings, commenting:

“The paintings are very beautiful. Are they original and belong to one of the well-known painters?” I asked her, not expecting Larissa’s shocking answer.

"It's Kayden's drawing. For a period of time, he discovered his mastery of the hobby of drawing; he practiced it for a few decades and then decided to leave it. He used to present all his paintings to me except for some of them that he was hiding from everyone."  I told her with a sweet smile that adorned her charming face,

Celine frowned, feeling that luck was making fun of her at every turn.

"Why was he hiding the rest from everyone?"  I asked her, cursing myself, frightened by Larissa's answer, for so far all her answers have been like daggers stabbing her chest mercilessly.

Larissa's features were tense, playing with her fingers, whispering, "I don't know, because those paintings were the only thing that Kaeden hid from me like everyone else; it was his secret that he did not reveal to anyone, even me."

Uh, and finally an answer that cleared her up, and it seems that Larissa did not like that Kayden hid these paintings from her.

Celine left her standing in the middle of the room and went to the living room; she sat waiting for her to come, and when she did, she spoke to her without introductions, and she needed to finish this matter as soon as possible.

"I need a favor from you; it's very big, but I hope you understand my motives before you answer."  I asked her to feel her heartbeat when Larissa gave her complete humility, making it difficult for her, damn it!  Should her rival be characterized by such innocence, gentleness, and kindness, as she now feels that she plays the unchallenged role of all the evil characters in the novels of the Brothers Grimm?

She looked away from her, saying,

"I want you to ask Kayden to set you free. You should start thinking of yourself outside Kayden and give yourself the opportunity to get to know another male, someone who loves you and gives you everything you need."

I told her she was afraid to look up at her; she didn't want to see her reaction, and the latter stared at her with teary eyes and a disappointed soul, shocked by Celine's retraction from her promise to her, shaking her head, rejecting her offer.

"You promised me; you promised to keep me here under Kayden's wing. I can't be with anyone but him. I'm the king's fiancée; no one dares to come near me, no..."

Celine held her trembling palm and spoke gently to her, trying to get her to see the overall picture of her future, which she feared so much. “Yes, there is someone who is ready to be for you what Caden could not, being ready to offer love, tenderness, and attention, and most important of all, to have a family with him. Just ask Caeden to free you, and you will see that the opportunity will come to you. Please, I know that I am trying to take a fish out of the fresh water to throw it in the salt water and ask it to hold, but you will hold, and I will help you. I will not abandon you because you deserve better than what Cayden offers you.”

She freed her palm from Celine's grasp and left.

She drew the features of seriousness on her face, erected her stance, and raised her neck proudly as if she was trying to impose her presence in front of Celine before imposing her decision, calling firmly and irreversibly from him, "No, I will not leave him. I can't. I'm sorry, but I won't..."

She came out of Larissa's wrestling with her shadows, angry and angry, and she needed someone to pour her anger out on.

Where is Kayden?

She needs to unleash her anger before it backfires on her.

And with her, she meets poor Mark, who appeared before her at the totally wrong time.

She stood in front of him, looking up at him with an uncomfortable movement of her neck, which had taken an inappropriate position due to her small size.  All of them here deal with it as invisible because of its size; they think that the greatness of the work is in size, and they do not know what this small one is capable of doing.

She placed her palms at her hips, staring at him in exasperation, as he raised an eyebrow, waiting for a justification for her unjustified, rude behavior.

“How long will you be a coward?  Don't you feel like it's time to take the first step...?”

He furrowed his eyebrows, not understanding what she was saying, folded his arms at his chest, and asked her, “What is there now?  Is it not enough that you pushed Kayden to leave the palace without protection? What do you want now?”

She stared at him with furious anger. "Leave Kayden out of the topic; I'm talking about you and Larissa."

"What about me and her?"

"You're in love with her, Mark. How long will you keep your love for her a secret?"

She uttered her sentence and regretted it, as Mark's expression completely changed from cold and indifferent to a blazing rage, ready to eat the living and the dead.

He took a few steps towards her and pushed her against the wall, addressing her in a calm and frightening tone that sent a thick shiver down her body.

"Don't repeat this phrase again; I understand, even between you and yourself...don't put Larissa in such a farce. Larissa is a good and honorable female, and in her life she did not look at anyone but Kayden; it was always Kayden and always will be Kayden."

He finished his threat and backed away from her, leaving her gasping for air in fear of his reaction.

Does she have the right to say that she hates Larissa's perfection?

She hates her tenderness and meekness, her beauty and patience; she hates her understanding, love, and respect for Cayden; she hates her perfection that is devoid of blemishes and blemishes.

She crouched on the ground lamenting her bad luck, hating herself for her feeling of inferiority and lack of confidence in herself that she would never have a fair chance against her....

She lay on the bed alone, feeling the emptiness sweeping through her body, thinking about all the developments that occurred in her life, by her nature, wondering about the purpose of her existence, as there is certainly a reason for the existence of people like her,

She touched the necklace on her chest, watching her with interest. What are you? What is your role in all of this?

I stared at the gold-patterned ceiling, calling out to Kayden, "Where are you?"

How difficult is it to make a decision?

Well, at least he hasn't chosen Larissa yet; he's still confused. That means I still have hope.