White

Adrian

By the time the sun rose, I was already restationed at her door, waiting to hear the slightest sound so I could go back in and check on her. 

Last night was really tough for her and I wanted to help in any way that I could. 

Just then, I heard a loud sigh and then a thud. A loud one like someone had just fallen down. Sure enough, I stepped into the room because I feared that she may have hurt herself and there she lay on the floor, face down. 

“My Princess, is everything okay?" I looked at her and she wasn't blinking. Barely moving, even. You'd think she was dead. 

“My Princess, you need to get up." She didn't act like I was even there so I did what I always did with Ayra. 

I got on the floor and sat next to her. Gathering a whole lot of courage, I cleaned my sweaty palms on my pants and then placed my palm on her back.

With that, I began tapping and stroking her hair. She raised her head up and looked straight at me. There were tears in her eyes and she looked so fragile and broken and everything in me wanted to pull her close and hug her.

“Thank you." She croaked. 

She closed her eyes and the tears fell but she wiped them away quickly. 

“About last night-"

“It was nothing." She cut me off quickly “Forget it, it's not like what she said wasn't true." 

Damn. I knew I should have listened. 

“What did she say?"

“She took the words right out of my mouth. Said that if I hadn't killed my sister, then maybe she won't have to deal with having to force a murderer like me to do something good for the family. " 

I always knew that the Queen had some tension with her daughter but for a mother to say something like that to her own child… 

“It's not your fault that your sister died. You would change things if you could. You just have to accept it and make things right." 

For some reason, I felt that I was trying to convince her more than myself. 

“You don't get it, Adrian. I messed up once and it's going to haunt me forever. I need to do something that'll compensate for that." 

I understood her perfectly.

“That's why you're looking for information on who killed her. " 

She nodded and stood up. There was a puddle of tears on the ground and as I looked up at her face, it was in the state I expected it to be. 

Lines of tears were plastered on her red cheeks and her eyes were puffy. As if that was not enough evidence of the lack of sleep, dark circles surrounded her eyes and her face was almost unrecognizable. 

“I need to find out who killed my sister. That way, my parents can stop hating me and they'll call off this bondage of a marriage. I hate myself for what happened to my sister. If I hadn't taken her out of the palace.." she broke down in tears again and I couldn't take it anymore. 

“Lia, just stop crying please. Your face is already as worse as it can get. "

She paused. Not just the crying stopped, but her movements too. 

“What did you just call me?" She asked quietly. 

Realizing what I had just done, I swallowed and cursed. I was going to get myself killed sooner or later if I wasn't careful. 

“I'm sorry, my Princess. I-"

“Out."

“I'm sorry. I didn't mean to." 

She just dismissed me with a wave of her hand and I bowed and left. She handled that better than I had expected her to. 

Well done, Adrian. You have successfully made yourself look like an idiot. 

I returned to the door and time passed and I wondered when the hell lunchtime was going to come. With everything that had happened, I had forgotten I hadn't eaten since yesterday. 

A guard approached me after a while. 

“The King requests the Princess' presence in the throne room immediately." 

I opened the door to inform her but she waved her hand in dismissal without looking at me. I guess she got the message already. She still looked as disheveled as when I left the room. 

It didn't take up to the minutes before the door opened and she walked out. The first thing that hit me was how wonderful she smelt. Like lavender. 

Her hair was held up in a high bun and a sullen expression dominated her features. I was amazed at how fast she was able to get dressed and come out of the room. 

I remember how my dad always used to shout at my mum to hurry up when we were going out. We'd have to wait for minutes before my mum finally came out. When she eventually did, all the anger my dad felt would be buried and he'd just keep staring at her. 

Now I understood what he was staring at. The Princess' face was bare. I don't think I have ever seen her with any makeup before and she didn't need it. 

Her cheeks were puffy and red and when she turned to look at me, her eyes looked smaller in size than before. I bowed to her and she turned her body to face me. 

“Are you going to stand there or I'm going to have to bring the throne for you first?" 

Well, if it wasn't obvious she was in a bad mood before, I knew now. 

Or maybe I was wrong… 

Some maids passed her and greeted. Surprisingly, she answered back with a smile and I suddenly felt offended. Was she still mad at me? 

Damn… .I didn't think she'd take it that seriously. 

“My Princess, I'm sorry if my statement earlier made you mad. I really didn't have that intention-"

“Save your apology for later. I have more important things to listen to." 

I didn't miss the way her voice trembled with fear as she opened the door to the throne room.