Chapter 28 — Blast Of Emotions

The queen was angry, anyone passing by would recognize that. She stepped into the room, followed by the king and Ruyeli. Suzanne glanced at the luggage and asked again, "Where do you think you're going, Diana?"

Diana averted her gaze. She didn't know what to answer. She was confused as to how they were here when they were supposed to be sleeping at this time. She looked at Jasper, who gave her a pitiful smile. "I am sorry, Diana, but I had to tell them the truth. I couldn't let you run away. I tried to stop you on my own, but I failed," spoke Jasper.

Devin walked towards Diana and gave her a disappointed look. "I thought of you as my daughter. How could you think of running away? Didn't you think of us?"

"Didn't you think about the image of the royal family before you made this decision?" questioned Suzanne. "We have a reputation to uphold, which would be ruined if we let you go today."

Diana stayed silent, unable to utter a word. Ruyeli placed her hand on Diana's shoulder and asked, "Why are you running away, Diana? Don't you know that Ivan will be miserable without you? Didn't you think about him? Why are you doing this?"

Jasper didn't tell them the entire truth. He just told them that Diana was planning to run away. He told them to come to Diana and Ivan's room at one in the morning if he couldn't stop her. Suzanne, Devin, and Ruyeli listened to him, which was a wise decision.

It was silent for a minute until King Devin spoke up in a much calmer tone, "What's the reason behind your repulsive actions? Can you justify yourself for such a thing? If you can, I will hear you out."

Diana sucked in a deep breath, preparing herself to tell him the truth as the king was unaware of the circumstances. Diana told him the truth about how Ivan and she were just best friends before they met each other, about how Rain and Ivan were dating each other, and also how they were forced into a relationship.

Devin was shocked after learning the actual truth. All this time, he thought Ivan and Diana were mutually in love from the beginning.

He let out, "If that was the case, why did you not tell us the truth before? I'm sure after knowing such a thing, we would never force you into a relationship with our son." Suzanne lowered her head as Devin continued, "You should have told me or Suzanne beforehand."

Diana let out a humorless laugh. Devin arched an eyebrow at her ill-mannered behavior. After all, no one had the right to laugh at the king's word. "The queen knew everything."

As soon as Devin heard, his eyes squinted in Suzanne's direction, making her gulp.

"Is that the truth, Suzanne?" he asked, his firm and cold voice made Suzanne afraid of his wrath and what was going to come afterward.

With the queen silent and hiding the truth, Diana told him how Suzanne schemed all of it.

"You disgust me, Suzanne. As the queen of this country, you have humiliated me." Devin turned his face away from Suzanne, breaking her heart. He turned to Diana. "You're free to do whatever you want. I won't stop you," with that, he left the room.

Getting the king's permission, Diana grabbed the handle of her luggage, wanting not to waste any more time. But Ruyeli grabbed her hand and said, "Diana, please think about Ivan. He would be heartbroken. Can't you understand that he really cares about you?"

Diana gave a cold smile. "Oh, really? Then where is he right now?"

Diana knew very well that Ivan was stuck in Rain's room, but saying those words were necessary to silence her trainer.

Ruyeli was taken aback by her response. It was unusual for Diana to react like that. Still, she patted Diana's shoulder and mumbled before leaving the room, "Just think about Ivan."

Now, it was just Diana, Suzanne, and Jasper there as silence filled the bedroom.

The queen finally spoke up, "Why did you do this, Diana? Everything was going perfectly. The wedding is tomorrow, yet you decided to betray all of us. I agree that I kind of forced you into a relationship with Ivan, but you and Ivan love each other now, don't you? What's the problem?"

"If only you understood what the problem was firsthand, then all this would not have happened at all." Suzanne was shocked at Diana's sharp tone. "You call yourself the queen? You are not even capable of being a good mother."

Diana's heart was aching with the pain of leaving behind Ivan. She didn't care about what would happen for rudely speaking to the queen.

Suzanne gasped, "What do you mean?"

"As the queen, you might think that making me the future queen would be beneficial to the state. But have you thought about your own son's happiness? What kind of mother does that make you? A mother that threw her son's happiness into the trash for her title. If a queen can't be a proper mother, I don't think she can be the queen," Diana taunted bitterly.

Suzanne shook her head. Every word from Diana cut deep in her heart.

Diana continued, "You knew very well that Ivan loved Rain. He even told you the truth himself, expecting his mom to understand him. But what does he get in return? Nothing. You didn't help him at all. You only thought of your hatred for Rain."

"No, it's because she is not fit to be the queen, neither is she fit to be Ivan's wife," Suzanne tried to justify herself.

"No, it was your pride. Because of your pride, you didn't accept the person Ivan or Jasper really loved. You do not even trust your own son because of that." Jasper flinched at the mention of his name, the wound in his heart reopening. Diana further said, "How long are you willing to sacrifice your sons for the sake of your title? Can't you think of yourself as a mother to them? Is it too hard for you?"

Suzanne was speechless. Diana completely defeated her.

Diana heaved a sigh. "Whatever. It's not my concern anymore. Farewell, Your Majesty," with that, Diana made her way out of her and Ivan's former room with her luggage, leaving nothing but sorrow for Ivan.

As soon as Diana's footsteps dissipated, Suzanne fell on her knees, tears streaming down her eyes. For the first time, after becoming the queen, Suzanne let her tears fall. Up until now, whenever she felt like crying, she never did. For Suzanne, a queen shouldn't cry.

Jasper felt bad, seeing his mother in such a miserable state. He heaved a sigh and was about to leave the room when Suzanne asked him a deep question, "Jasper, do you hate me?"

Jasper had no answer to that. He wasn't so sure himself. Did he hate his mother? He, for sure, couldn't tell if he still loved her like he used to before. Therefore, he didn't utter a word and left her alone, leaving her question unanswered.

The ideal sons she nourished for decades had crumbled, thanks to what Diana said. Suzanne felt horrible. She really didn't think of the happiness of her own children. She was ashamed of herself. Suzanne spent that night crying, reminiscing all the wrong things she had done in her life.

***

When Diana reached the palace gates, she saw a taxi waiting for her. She got in and found her mother. Diana quietly sat down after placing her luggage in the trunk.

She didn't utter a word and gazed outside the car window, trying her best to not let the tears slip out. Merida understood her daughter's pain and placed a hand on her shoulder. Even though she knew that Diana didn't want to break down, sometimes it was just better to let out the pain to ease the wounds.

"You can cry," Merida muttered, and that was all it took for Diana to release her tears and hug Merida. On the whole ride to the airport, Diana cried like a baby in her mother's arms—the safest place she had now—already missing Ivan the most.

***

It was five in the morning. Finally, Ivan could get out of Rain's room. He was excited to see Diana, even though his heart felt uneasy, and he wasn't sure for what reason. Somewhere in his heart, he didn't wish to find out why he was feeling that way.

While walking back to his room, he bumped into Jasper. His little brother had a habit of walking down the hallway in the morning; Ivan knew that.

Ivan let out, "Good morning, brother. Is Diana in her room?"

Jasper gave him a pitiful smile and shook his head, making Ivan furrow his eyebrows.

"Then where is she?" he inquired.

Jasper lowered his gaze, which stopped Ivan's heartbeat for a moment. He started getting scared.

"Jasper, I am asking you where Diana is," Ivan let out, seeing his younger brother avoiding his gaze. "Jasper, open your mouth for God's sake!"

Jasper didn't know what to answer. He knew that Ivan would freak out if he learned that Diana actually left. With no option left, he took a deep breath and said, "She left."

Ivan was shocked, hearing Jasper's answer. He regretted asking him about Diana. Unable to digest what he just said, Ivan asked, "What do you mean 'she left'?"

Jasper started narrating what really happened. Ivan couldn't believe it. He was startled about the fact that Diana left him. She really left him forever.

"You are lying," said Ivan and ran into his room. The room was empty because it lost Diana's touch. It felt as if it went back to being a normal royal bedroom. Everything was in its place, yet something felt missing.

Ivan went into the closet room, only to find out that there were only Ivan's belongings. Diana left all the dresses and accessories Suzanne bought for her in the wardrobe. She didn't take any of it. Only the things she brought in when she first moved in were the only ones missing.

As Ivan got out of the closet room, his eyes fell on the bed. The two emoticon pillows were there—Diana didn't take her favorite emoticon pillow.

He tried to find something that might give him a reason to hope that Diana would go back to the palace, that she would go back to him. He opened the drawers; he checked the entire bedroom. Please, God, tell me Diana left something behind so that she'll have to return to me to get that thing, he internally begged.

Ivan's eyes fell on the coffee table; he saw a piece of paper, and over it was a paperweight, helping the paper stay in place.

Hesitantly, Ivan walked towards the table and removed the paperweight. With shaky hands, he took the folded paper and opened it.

Dear Ivan, By the time you get this letter, your room will probably be a mess. I know you very well. And no, I didn't leave anything behind that will make me go back to the palace. I checked everything properly.

We were best friends before we fell in love. Yes, I know you love me, and I love you too. But we cannot break our promises. I promised Rain and so did you. We cannot back off. I am not an oath-breaker—I never was. You know how much promises mean to me. In your case, you cannot break it too because you are the next king. Royalty can never back off from their oaths; Ruyeli taught me that. Breaking promises is considered an offense. Things could've been different if Rain herself told you to back off. But it cannot happen, unfortunately.

So, I had to leave without seeing you first—I promised that to Rain too. Anyway, even if I didn't promise her, I would never meet you before leaving. Leaving the person I love is enough pain for me.

I don't know whether we will meet again or not. I cannot tell you where I am going. I am sorry. It will be hard to have a new start, but life is hard, and we need to keep struggling. I just want to tell you one thing, something I have hidden from you for six years—no, eight years. Our friendship started six years ago, but I had a crush on you ever since I was fourteen. It was eight years ago when I saw you walking in St. James's café with some other boys. Ever since that day, I had taken a liking on you. It has never vanished since then. I knew you before you knew me. I looked for you and found your Instagram. Then I started following you. When you shared that meme by mistake, I was grateful to God. When you talked about Rain, I felt happy for you even though my heart stung. Your happiness meant everything to me. But now, for the promises I made, I am taking away your happiness. Trust me, it's the most painful thing I have ever felt in my entire life.

Please do a favor for me. Marry Rain and try to be happy. I will pray for you. We may meet one day if destiny wants us to. After all, destiny dragged us together once, and hopefully, it would again.

I love you, Prince Ivan Candelstone.

Yours never, Diana Stevens.

Unable to believe that Diana, the love of his life, actually ran away, Ivan fell on the floor. He clutched the paper as a lone tear slipped from his eyes.

Diana Stevens and Ivan Candelstone weren't meant to be together. It was the end—the end of their love.