Chapter 5: Problems
—CELIA—
Silence fell over the table. My father stopped mid-motion, his expression freezing in place as if he had misheard .
Sebastian’s knife slipped from his hand and clattered softly against the table as he stared at in shock.
"What did you... just say?" Sebastian asked, his disbelief clear enough that even I felt it bounce back at .
There was no turning back now. I had already said it. Might as well survive the consequences.
This was for the best anyway. For peace. For survival. For not dying in a dramatic novel ending.
"My dear daughter," my father said slowly as concern crept into his voice, "are you unwell?"
I sighed internally.
Of course he would think that.
The original Aria had apparently been very committed to this engagent. Passionately committed. Possibly aggressively committed.
"I am well, father," I said calmly. "I just no longer wish to marry Duke Sebastian Blackwood."
My tone was firm, but polite enough to avoid imdiate exile.
My father leaned back slightly, studying like I had suddenly started speaking a different language.
Then he sighed.
Sebastian, on the other hand, had not moved at all.
But he was listening very carefully.
Almost too carefully.
My father finally spoke again, slower this ti.
"Why is it that you decided this?" he asked. "Was it not your wish to marry him?"
That was the problem.
It had been her wish, not mine.
I glanced at Sebastian before I could stop myself.
Bad idea.
He was looking at .
Except now, there was sothing different in his expression.
For what, I had no idea.
I quickly looked away.
Why was he looking at like that?
This was supposed to be simple. I say I want out. They accept. We all move on with our lives. Preferably far away from each other.
Instead, I felt like I had just stepped into sothing I did not understand.
I cleared my throat lightly and returned my attention to my father.
"It is what it is," I said, choosing my words carefully. "I have realized I no longer love Duke Sebastian Blackwood."
I added, because it felt necessary and because I was trying very hard not to sound like a villain.
"He is a good man, so please do not bla him."
That part was true, at least from what I rembered.
Sebastian did not speak.
But I could feel his gaze still on .
My father narrowed his eyes slightly, as if trying to determine whether I was being honest or simply going through so deeply concerning emotional phase.
"Love?" he repeated slowly.
Oh no.
I straightened slightly.
"Yes," I said, trying to sound steady. "Love."
My father was silent for a long mont.
Then, carefully, "Since when did you start speaking about love so seriously?"
I blinked.
That was... a fair question.
I opened my mouth and closed it.
"I have been reflecting," I said at last.
That sounded respectable enough.
Sebastian finally moved. But he didn’t seem to buy it.
He leaned back in his chair but his eyes had not left once.
It was starting to feel less like confusion now.
And more like evaluation.
As if he was trying to figure out whether I had changed.
Or whether sothing had gone wrong.
My father exhaled slowly.
"This is not a decision to be made lightly," he said. "You understand what dissolving this engagent would an."
"Yes," I said imdiately.
At least, I understood enough to know it would not be simple.
But staying in it would be worse.
Much worse.
"I understand," I repeated.
My father was silent for a while, studying with a look that felt far too perceptive for my current ntal state. Then he finally sighed.
"Very well," he said slowly. "But do tell the reason behind this suddenness. I do not believe the reason is rely that you realized you were being impulsive, or that you no longer love Duke Blackwood."
I flinched.
Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh.
Why was he so accurate?
Why was he so calm about being accurate?
My brain went completely blank for a second. I could feel panic rising again, sharp and imdiate, like my survival instincts had decided to quit at the worst possible ti.
Say sothing normal, sothing logical. Sothing that does not destroy your entire future.
I opened my mouth but nothing ca out.
My thoughts scrambled harder.
Think. Think. Think.
And then, completely against my will, the words just left .
"I... I am in love with soone else!"
The mont it left my mouth, ti stopped.
I froze.
My brain froze.
Even the air felt like it froze.
"...."
I blinked slowly.
Then realization hit like a falling chandelier.
I gasped and imdiately covered my mouth with both hands.
What did I just say.
What did I just say out loud.
That was not the plan.
That was not even on the list of possible outcos.
Sebastian had gone still across the table.
Not just still.
Dangerously still.
His gaze locked onto , and for the first ti since I woke up in this world, I felt this certain type of pressure that made feel like gasping for air.
Oh no.
Oh no no no.
Did I just trigger the plot?
My heart started pounding.
This is how it starts. This is exactly how misunderstandings spiral. This is how side characters die in the background while the main story continues.
I opened my mouth again, ready to fix it, to explain, to take it back, to sohow undo my own existence...
But before I could speak, my father suddenly burst out laughing.
"Ha ha ha!" he laughed, leaning back in his chair like he had just heard the most entertaining thing in the world. "Youngsters nowadays! So bold with love!"
I froze again.
Wait, what?
But Sebastian did not laugh.
In fact, he looked even more displeased now, his expression tightening slightly as he watched like he was trying to decide whether I had completely lost my mind.
My father wiped a tear from the corner of his eye, still amused.
"So that is it," he said warmly. "You already have soone in your heart."
"Yes." I said imdiately.
My father only smiled wider.
"Oh? Then who is it?"
I opened my mouth, closed it.
Opened it again.
But nothing would co out.
Absolutely nothing.
Because there was no answer.
There was no person.
There was only panic, a fictional world, and a very rapidly collapsing situation that I had personally created with my own mouth.
Suddenly, Sebastian spoke, his voice low and firm.
"Who is it?"
And that was when I realized sothing very important.
This was no longer just a misunderstanding.
This was becoming a problem.
A very large, very dangerous problem.
And sohow, I had made it worse before breakfast was even finished.
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