Chapter 49

LIANNA

I went to my room after that, remembering Emily's face as soon as I closed the door, those blue eyes looking at me with a tender sparkle, a gentle smile on her lips.

She was fine, she was happy looking at me, and she... cared, she worried about me. And these things made my heart warm, made my chest fill with something that... I couldn't identify, but it felt really good.

Besides, of course, that's what gave me enough peace of mind not to fly at that blond thing, who had hair so light that it looked fake, and those pink eyes? They kept looking at me as if I were some kind of wretched animal that interrupted her morning breakfast plans with her beloved.

Who did she think she was to look at me like that? And even more, to refer to me - even indirectly - with such contempt, literally insinuating that I was anything, as if I were literally a dead rat that had ruined her appetite, one that was in the corner and she would order to be removed from her sight.

Give me a break!

I still don't know how I thought that being was worthy of pity, or even the victim of all this, it doesn't seem like anything more than a venomous and shallow snake! And Caleb? He didn't even seem to bear listening to that woman anymore, sighs escaping his lips all the time as he tried to smile, agree, while his eyes? They seemed completely dull.

There was no love in those eyes.

There was no dilated pupil.

Sparkle.

Nothing.

"Is it like those arranged marriages? The ones I... saw in books?" I wondered, and I even picked up a book - which I had taken from the small library the boat had - and in it... it made it clear how the protagonist didn't like his fiancée, how he preferred to be anywhere but with the woman they had forced him to be with.

In the book, his fiancée's father was an influential man who only wanted the best for his daughter, and the male protagonist merely followed his family's orders and accepted that cruel commitment that kept him bound to someone he didn't even love. I remember feeling sorry for the poor guy, but... maybe that was also Caleb's case?

"No way, right? That would be too much of a coincidence..." I found myself almost laughing at that, because honestly? Books can't depict the reality I'm experiencing around me so well, can they?

"No, that would be too much of a destiny thing, these things don't... exist." I said as I set that book aside, lying on the bed to look at the ceiling, immersing myself in that vast whiteness.

But anyway... Caleb really didn't seem happy.

He really didn't seem to be there because he wanted to.

And maybe... the cold and distant behavior he had towards me before, it was because of his fiancée, because of the peace that had been taken from him since she arrived.

It would make sense, right? It was right around the time she announced her arrival that... everything seemed to completely fall apart.

That's probably it, isn't it?

It had to be, because... Caleb couldn't be those two people. She couldn't be the caring person she was before and also the person who... threatened me with my sister's life in her hands.

No... it makes sense.

DEVON

I had returned to the ship after that, and now? I was pacing back and forth in my room, looking at the floor while my hand was on my chin.

"Should I go to her? Should I... try to say something to her about that thing?" I muttered through my teeth, biting my lips with a certain revolt right after.

What was he doing there? Did he want to play the saint? The altruistic person who helps even the humans that he and his clan seem to despise so much? Spare me!

And now? Lianna must be seeing Caleb as if he were some kind of prince charming, one who would help her with everything she needed, just because he did the damn minimum.

For the love of the goddess, I needed to get that stupid idea out of her head! Or any other that Caleb made her believe, deluding her that it was true somehow.

"But wouldn't that be... too quick?" That sensible voice in my head said with that calm, serious tone.

Yes, it was rushed, especially... right after something like that happened, and that? It would only make everything more obvious - like the reason why I approached her, my complete plan.

Maybe... I should wait at least a couple of days, right? It would be a good measure of time, one that wouldn't make things so clear, so obvious.

"Oh, but... I also abandoned her right after I slept with her." I said to myself, snapping my finger, a smile forming on my lips.

Yes, I had a reason, I had to maintain my role as an attentive and kind prince. So, I should go to her, apologize, and say that... I had an unforeseen event or something urgent to attend to.

Great, I had an alibi, I had a reason, and I had... finally.

"Alright, everything is organized in my head... I just need to get ready..." I said as I looked for lighter clothes, something more relaxed in a way, a green ribbon being picked up to tie my hair right after. After all, I needed to look presentable but not too formal, and not too casual to seem like I didn't care about how I looked when going to meet her.

But anyway, at some point I finished getting ready, and at some point, I went there, going to meet Lianna, trying to emulate a remorseful puppy expression on my face as I adjusted the bracelet on my wrist.

I sighed.

I had to make this work, and I had to make sure... Lianna stayed loyal only to me.

No deviations.

No good feelings for Caleb whatsoever.