Bodyguard's Love

Chapter 37

The young knight remained frozen on the spot, completely shocked at the words the princess had just spoken. He continued to stare at her with wide eyes and slightly parted lips.

"Answer me, Your Highness," she incited.

Lucas remained silent as the girl walked slowly towards him before stopping right in front of his chest while raising her head to stare at him defiantly. Their size difference was blatant since she barely reached his neck.

"So ?" she asked in a mocking tone.

"I... Luana, listen to me-" he hesitated.

"It's Your Highness, Sir Koraxos. Not Luana," she retorted in a very dry tone.

The young captain felt an excruciating pain pierce his heart as if the latter had been broken into thousands of small pieces.

"Y-Your Highness... I... It's really, very hard to explain..." he whispered.

"What's so hard to explain, huh? The fact that you betrayed me? The fact that you betrayed all of us?" she exclaimed angrily.

"I didn't betray you... I never did... Believe me..." he muttered dejectedly, looking at the ground.

"So what do you call what you've been doing all these years?! You've been hiding your identity from us all! You've been sneaking in between us while lying to us! Are you one of the Grand Master's agents?" she asked coldly.

"What?! Of course no!" he exclaimed in complete shock.

"Then why did you hide the truth from us?! Father welcomed you among us and appointed you captain of the Imperial Army! God, he even gave you the position of his only daughter's bodyguard! All of this because he blindly trusts you! And that's how you reward him?! By stabbing him in the back?!" she scolded.

"Lu- Your Highness... His Majesty was aware of my identity all along..." he stated.

The girl's eyes widened in surprise as she froze in place. She felt her little heart stop beating for a short moment.

"What are you saying ?" she asked in a choked voice.

The young captain sighed heavily before speaking again.

"His Majesty, Duke Lobelia and Captain Arminel all knew about it from the start."

"So... I was the only one in ignorance?"

"Yeah..." he whispered.

The you g girl moved closer to him with an even more defiant gaze.

"I trusted you. I told you everything about me. My biggest secrets, my biggest fears and above all my biggest regrets. I didn't hide anything from you. Nothing at all. I considered you like a friend. Like someone I could tell anything to. Someone I could confide in. You had a special place in my heart, Lucas. But now... All of that is gone... You're nothing to me now..." she stated in a hateful tone.

"Your Highness, I..."

With these words, Luana put her hand in her pocket and took out the necklace that the young captain had given her before his departure. She took his hand and placed it on it, looking him straight in the eye.

"From now on, we are no more friends. I am Luana the princess, and you are Lucas the captain of the Imperial Army. No more, no less," she declared dryly.

"Your Highness, please-" he begged.

"Leave me alone now... I want to stay alone," she ordered, looking at him coldly.

The young man took a moment before nodding slowly with a dejected expression on his face. He turned around and walked slowly towards the door before turning to look at the girl one last time before walking out of the room.