Note:
Gosh... Thank you, dear Kelly Goodwin, for gifting a castle to The Cursed Prince today. You are so kind. xx
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Rowena didn't know what Raphael would feel about her simply closing the door on his face, perhaps he'd get upset at her. She wished that he did—but she hoped that he got the message.
It was enough, he didn't need to stay any longer. There was nothing for him here. She had troubled him enough. She didn't want to keep piling up debt to a man she barely knew.
Rowena listened for the sound of footsteps, of Raphael leaving first—and didn't hear anything.
Her heart pounded loudly as the seconds passed.
"No, he wouldn't have dared stay there would he?" Rowena turned around, reached for the doorknob then quickly shook her head.
Even though she was tempted to open the door, apologize for her behavior and ask him to stay as long as he liked... she couldn't do that. There was too much at risk.
"If I continue to let him stay here... my father would continue to insist that I seduce him," Rowena muttered underneath her breath. "He doesn't need to be here at all and get involved in this mess."
She did it for both of their sake now.
After Raphael said that there was no way for him to help Julian, Rowena chose to have him out of the picture as well so she could concentrate.
"If he could really help, then he would have said something," Rowena muttered underneath her breath. She closed her eyes and thought long and hard. "Unless... he was lying."
Earlier, Raphael seemed a bit fidgety and uneasy as he told her that there was no way for him to help her. Rowena wanted to accept his words as nothing but the truth, but the seeds of doubt were already planted in her mind.
"Of course, something as valuable as that potion wouldn't be something easy to give away—especially if there's nothing for him to obtain," Rowena said to herself.
That was why King Draco suggested seduction and not simply asking Raphael for help. Rowena was naive enough to ask upfront and got rejected, and only realized now that an immortality potion wasn't easy to obtain.
She clenched her fist. "Stupid."
Rowena continued to mutter underneath her breath until she heard someone clear their throat.
She turned around and her gaze landed on Julian along with the rest of the people situated in the infirmary.
"Your Highness, you've finally woken up," Doctor Gerald stood up from his chair and weled. "Are you in need of something?"
He was still
around the castle for some reason.
Rowena's gaze immediately hardened. "What are you even doing here? Shouldn't you have been hanged or killed?"
Doctor Gerald's expression paled but he shook his head. "No, after what you told me about needing to live to pay for my crimes—I chose not to run away and stay here to serve the palace, Your Highness."
Rowena frowned. "You would do me a great service if you and the rest of the people here left the room right now so I could be with Julian privately."
"Your Highness—"
"Leave," Rowena said coldly.
"Of course, pardon us." Doctor Gerald motioned for the others to e with him and leave quietly.
When they went out of the door, Rowena's gaze followed after them—if only to check up if Raphael actually stayed.
However, he was nowhere to be found. Rowena bit on her lip but then turned back to look at Julian. This was what she wanted and the man only heeded her request and finally decided to leave because he was unwanted.
Now Raphael was gone and she could finally be at Julian's side without any disturbance whatsoever.
"No more stupid brothers, no awful fathers to get in our way—it's just the two of us, like always."
Rowena walked over and knelt down by his bed to check up on her friend. The always present grin on Julian's face was gone, instead, there was only a small smile across his face as he closed his eyes.
He was pale from not being out in the sun, but he really looked as if he was merely asleep.
"You look like some kind of sleeping beauty, that... that look doesn't really suit you, you know?" Rowena said as she made herself fortable and sat on the floor.
The longer she looked at Julian, the more that it continued to strengthen her resolve that he would someday wake up, as long as Rowena chose to find a way to help him.
But for now, Julian was still asleep.
Rowena smiled sadly and touched his hand.
"If you don't wake up, Hades will end up eating all of the tomatoes in our vegetable patch..." she softly said.
Those days of them in that valley were something she didn't think she'd miss the most—she thought that the memory of riding on horses and being on a thrilling adventure was what struck her.
However, it was the simple memory of staying in that peaceful hut that made her heart ache.
"You know—I thought that life there was beautiful, but it got boring because we did the same thing every day." Rowena continued to talk to Julian as if he was awake.
"It was all routine, wake up early, water the garden and take care of the laundry—but now, I wish
that we hadn't left. I don't care if we do the same thing every day, as long as we're together."
Rowena continued to talk with Julian and converse about previous memories with him. She did it until her throat grew dry and her eyelids became heavy.
"So... when you wake up, there's a lot we need to do like meet those folks in the mermaid realm—they said they'll give us a tour," Rowena rubbed her eyes and yawned. "But it doesn't really matter... as long as it's with you."
Before she even became aware of it, Rowena fell asleep on the floor, her hand still around Julian's arm while her head rested against the side of the bed.
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