They deserve it all.

Chapter 33

"Elias!" I say out loudly as the doors open wide for me to enter. They slam close with a loud bang, but I don't flinch. I keep smiling, even as he gestures for the servants who are done setting the table filled with sweets away.

"Willow." He says with a tight face. He knew I'd be here today. I sent a quick message, quick enough for me to already be on the way and for his rejection letter to not be able to reach me.

I shrug as I sit down, take one of the soft pink sweets and pop it in my mouth. It melts away, my worries don't, even as I sit here with a smile, Willow's words keep ringing in my head. They don't bother me as much as they did on the way here. I was all alone and all that was to be heard from within the proper Royal Carriage made me go mad, so much that I kept talking to myself. I kept telling myself it'd be fine and preparing myself for anything he'd say or every way he could react.

"I know, I know," I say softly, my hands up in defeat. "But I've got some news you can't pass on."

I realize he knows when I finish my sentence. He sighs and rubs the spot between his eyebrows. Then he stands up and takes a glass and fills it with brown old liquor. The scent shows it aged for over a century now, yet his face when he chugs it stays unmoved, like he's drinking water.

When he's done, he puts down the glass, softly, but the glass is shaking before it hits the table, showing his anger can only be contained for so long. Then he sits down again.

"What did you do this time." He didn't let go of the glass, he's just sitting there, little hunched over on the chair right opposite of me.

"I ..." I take a deep breath and let the smile go. It's not worth it and it won't work. "I went to the city. I stayed and I watched, I didn't touch her, didn't touch anyone at all, I just watched." He doesn't realize it's only the half truth, and in between my words and my soft tone he seems to have revived the micro spark of hope that he buried deep down.

I wait for him to have processed it, I wouldn't want to keep talking while he can't take it, I don't want to feel like I'm talking to wall, I want him to hear this.

"And?" He asks.

"She waited for you." I say softly.

I thought that when I'd say this, he'd be happier, yet he seemed more burdened than before. His shoulders got more tense and I could hear his hand gripping the glass tighter.

"I went inside—"

"Who!?" He says loudly.

"I went inside, the person who won 5 trophies in a competition you only won 3 of! I am sneaky, I know how to tip toe, okay?" I said that in a far too aggressive tone, so just take another breath and continue. "I went inside the house when no one was home, so it was safe and no one was harmed or touched. I went to check as I wouldn't want to give you false information." I reach over to his hand and feel it soften under my touch, the glass being freed of its suffocation. "She seemed to have a normal life, as do your 3 children, they seem happy. But she hasn't moved on completely, the pictures of you are still there in her drawer. It's hidden so I could tell she tried, but they're still there."

He sighs and dips his head completely, and as I free his hand he moves them so they both hold his face. And we stay like that for a moment, me looking at him, him taking it all in.

When his head slightly lifts up, as if to let me speak, I do.

"I am sorry, Elias. But, we need peace."

He doesn't argue. He just shakes his head and sigh deeper than he did before.

"No." He says, his voice firm.