The radiant sunrays streamed through the windows of the library as Elianna sat on the windowsill, staring out into the backyard. However, despite being basked by the sun, she felt no warmth in its light. She felt so cold in the silent library, which was so quiet it was almost deafening. Eyeing the backyard, she noted how the sunlight made the pool sparkle, something she always thought was beautiful, but now, it brought her no joy.

  Her mind couldn't enjoy the scenery outside since it had been racing ever since yesterday's events at the palace. Her head ached from all the information she had learned, not knowing how to process all of it. On one hand, she felt hurt that Nicholas kept such a secret from her, but on the other, she was worried about him.

  Images flowed through her mind, recalling how different Nicholas acted and looked in front of the Gavarian troops. To her, Nicholas was almost an entirely different person. She remembered how he looked so poised and authoritative, no longer emitting that charismatic charm she had fallen for. She couldn't help but wonder if his charismatic attitude was all a farse and his authoritative attitude was his true nature. In fact, she couldn't help but wonder if she even knew him at all.

  Elianna's eyes fell, contemplating her thoughts, before her gaze flicked to the floor and fell on an open book lying beside the windowsill. The book was one she had found in the library and something she had gone searching for not long ago. It was a book containing information about the kingdom of Gavaria, including the royal family who ruled over its land. Her gaze locked on the drawing at the top of the open page, which depicted a symbol of a dragon, the crest of the Rinehart family, otherwise known as the royal family of Gavaria. Though more importantly, to Elianna, Nicholas' family name.

  Elianna had done her research into the Rinehart family out of interest, anger, or hurt; she didn't know. She had discovered that Gavaria was ruled by a monarchy, with the Rinehart family ruling over the kingdom for generations. Their family crest, the symbol of the dragon, represented their family virtues: wisdom, strength, courage, and honor.

  Elianna wanted to read more about the Rinehart family, but she stopped herself. Though she literally had all the information in the palm of her hand, she wanted to learn about the Rineharts from a different source: Nicholas himself.

  Elianna's gaze flicked to her lap, gazing at the telemirror she was gently fumbling with her hands. Her thoughts drifted to Nicholas, remembering how her heart cracked when she saw him cry as his father spoke to him. She could vividly remember how dejected he looked when Celine tried to comfort him and whisked him away. She had never seen Nicholas look so distraught before, and she wanted to know if he was okay.

  Elianna's hands tightened around the telemirror, recalling how all of her attempts to contact Nicholas via telemirror had been met with silence. Although she was worried about him, each unanswered attempt to speak with Nicholas just added to the hurt and irritation she felt, and she knew she had to speak with him.

  The sound of footsteps approaching knocked away Elianna's thoughts, and then she heard her mother's voice, "Still in here?"

  Elianna looked up, seeing her mother approaching her with a small smile. When she met her mother's gaze, a flood of emotions washed over her, including hurt and anger. Not wanting to eye her mother for a moment longer than she had to, Elianna looked out the window and spoke with a flat and dejected tone, "Yeah."

  Katarina frowned as she stopped, eyeing her daughter, noticing how distant she had been ever since they had left the palace. Physically, she looked okay, as she was dressed and well put together, but emotionally, she was almost cut off. She recalled how Lucian tried to talk to her yesterday and today before he left for the garrison to deal with the fallout of the attack, but Elianna had brushed him off. Katarina felt the urge to walk up to her daughter and take her into a hug, but she wasn't sure how Elianna would react.

  With her gaze shifting to the floor, Katarina recognized the Rinehart family symbol at the top of the open page, and her lips tightened. She knew Elianna's mind must be a mess right now, trying to put together the puzzle of information she had learned. Katarina looked back to her daughter, seeing the telemirror in her hands.

  Katarina carefully asked, "Still no word from Nicholas?"

  Elianna physically tensed, and her hands tightened around the telemirror at the question. Just the mention of Nicholas struck a dagger into Elianna's heart. Elianna looked down, eyeing the mirror with hurt and frustration. She shook her head and spoke flatly, "Nope."

  Katarina looked at her daughter with a saddened gaze, seeing she was hurt and angry, but didn't know what to say to comfort her. Instead, she said the first thing that came to her mind, "Are you hungry?"

  Elianna scoffed at the ridiculous question, "I'm fine."

  "You sure?" Katarina asked carefully, trying not to upset her daughter more. "You barely ate your breakfast."

  Elianna didn't answer and returned to looking back out the window.

  Seeing that Elianna wanted to be left alone, Katarina sighed and nodded, "Okay."

  Katarina turned to leave and took a few steps but suddenly stopped when Elianna tightly said, "You knew. Didn't you?"

  Katarina turned around and saw her daughter staring at her with eyes full of hurt, frustration, and worse... betrayal. Katarina sighed before she nodded slightly, "I did."

  "Then why!!" Elianna exploded, standing up from the windowsill and glaring at her mother with her hands clenched. "Why didn't you tell me?! Why didn't Dad?!"

  Katarina looked at her daughter sympathetically, not feeling a hint of anger at her outburst. She knew Elianna was hurt and was venting. Yelling back at her daughter would do nothing but cause more unnecessary harm.

  Elianna's lips began to wobble, her eyes turned watery, and her legs began to shake. In a shaky voice, she said, "Why didn't Nick???"

  "Oh, sweetie," Katarina sighed and began to approach her daughter.

  The dam Elianna had been holding back finally broke, and she fell to her knees as she covered her face. Katarina quickly approached her daughter and knelt beside her, taking her into a comforting embrace as Elianna cried.

  "Shhhh," Katarina hushed comfortingly, rocking Elianna back and forth. "Just let it out. I'm here."

  Fifteen years old or five years old, it didn't matter to Elianna. She didn't realize how much she needed her mother's comfort until this moment. She cried heavily as she balled up and leaned into her mother, holding her tightly. Pressing her face into her mother's shoulder, Elianna let out all of the pent-up emotions she had been feeling while her mother comfortingly rubbed her back, telling her it would be okay.

  Neither of them knew how long they sat on that floor, and Katarina didn't care. She would sit there the entire night comforting her daughter if she had to. But, slowly, Elianna stopped crying, and they sat there in silence, holding each other in a comforting embrace.

  Elianna's throat hurt and felt dry from all the crying as she swallowed and snuggled up to her mother. The emotions she had felt not long ago still lingered, but she felt better having let out her frustration. Though, now, she felt a new emotion: remorse. She had never yelled at her mother like that and knew her mother didn't deserve it.

  "I'm sorry for yelling," Elianna said, her voice a little raspy.

  Katarina smiled a little and gently kissed the top of her daughter's head, "It's okay, Sweetie. I understand."

  They fell silent again until Elianna slowly looked up and met her mother's gaze, "How did you know? About Nick being the Gavarian prince?"

  "Through Freya."

  Elianna's brows furrowed in confusion, and she sat up. She crossed her legs and pivoted so she could face her mother fully. "Mrs. Argyle told you?"

  Katarina shook her head, "No." She followed Elianna, sitting cross-legged, and pivoted to face her. "Years ago, when Freya first came to Tri-Union City and joined the mage order, it caused quite a stir. People didn't expect a princess of Gavaria to join the Tri-Union mage order." Katarina chuckled as she looked down, recalling her memories, "Freya was quite the celebrity back then, with all the men trying to get her to fancy them. It didn't hurt that she was also quite the talented mage."

  "So that's how you knew?" Elianna asked, looking at her mother curiously. "Because Mrs. Argyle is the princess, and Nicholas is her nephew?"

  Katarina nodded, "Exactly. Freya had asked others who discovered Nicholas' identity not to treat him any differently. So, we never mentioned it, as it was never pertinent."

  Elianna nodded and looked down, "And that's how Raina knew Nicholas' mom. Because his mom is the queen."

  Katarina tensed and looked down, then simply nodded.

  Elianna shook her head, looking confused, "But I don't understand." She looked up at her mother, "Why didn't Nick tell me?"

  Katarina smiled slightly at Elianna, "That's something you need to ask Nicholas. Only he will have the answer to that."

  Elianna sighed, and looked at the telemirror now lying on the floor, "I would. But he's not answering any of my attempts to contact him."

  Katarina eyed Elianna with a softened gaze, "Do you think you're the only one who is hurting?" Elianna's eyes snapped to her mother's. "Nicholas is probably trying to process everything, just like you were. Right now, he most likely doesn't know what to say or do."

  "So," Elianna began and looked down, confused. "What should I do?"

  Katarina smiled, "What do you think you should do? What do you want to do?"

  Elianna was silent for a moment, thinking before she looked at her mother with conviction, "I want to talk with Nick. I'll take a carriage over there."

  Katarina smiled and nodded, "The carriage is already ready."

  Elianna's brows raised in surprise, "What?"

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  Katarina chuckled at Elianna's shock, "I had carriage prepared ever since breakfast." Katarina stood up and reached out to Elianna with a smile, "Now, are you ready?"

  Elianna returned her mother's smile and took her hand, "I'm ready."

  ***

  The sitting room was dead quiet as Celine sat on the leather couch, engulfed in the new book she was reading. This was the fifth time she was reading the same paragraph, and just like the other times, her mind was too distracted to truly read it. With an irritated sigh, Celine closed her book and laid it on her lap before leaning her head back and rubbing her temples.

  With her mother and father busy at the garrison, dealing with the aftermath of the attack, Celine was left alone with Nicholas and the mansion staff. After the attack, Tri-Union Academy had granted its students a week off to spend time with their families, who were all shaken by yesterday's events. Celine thought this would be a good opportunity to spend quality time with her cousin, but of course, her ass of an uncle had to ruin that.

  The moment Celine saw her uncle William in the hallway beside Nicholas, she knew her cousin was not going to be in a good mood. The times she had visited her uncle and cousins in Gavaria, she would notice how hard her uncle was on his sons. But when Nicholas came here, he seemed so much happier.

  So, when Nicholas finally got home yesterday and locked himself in his room, she wasn't surprised that he wouldn't talk to anyone. She attempted to speak with him multiple times today, but he would just ignore her and go back to whatever he was doing. She wanted to help Nicholas, but she didn't know how. She knew his mind must be racing, with him upset with his father and scared that his friendship with Elianna was over. But he just needed to be reminded that this wasn't the end of the world.

  "My Lady?"

  Celine looked up and saw one of the maids walk into the room with a tray in her hands. On the tray was a silver teapot with tea cups beside it.

  The maid smiled, "I thought you would like some tea."

  Celine smiled wide at the maid, "Oh, bless you." She nodded and gestured to the table beside her, "That's exactly what I need to nurse my headache."

  The maid chuckled and approached the table where she placed the tea set down. Backing away, she asked, "Is there anything else I can get you?"

  Celine smiled and shook her head, "No, thank you." Her smile faded, and she looked at the maid curiously, "Nicholas, has he-"

  "Still in his studio," The maid sighed.

  Celine's eyes fell, and she nodded, "I see. Thank you."

  The maid nodded before she turned and left the room.

  Celine eyed the floor, contemplating ways to help her cousin. But that would require him to be willing to speak to her in the first place. Celine sighed and reached over for the teapot. However, a knock at the door caused Celine to freeze. Celine's brows furrowed, thinking if she or her parents were expecting anyone today, but no one came to mind.

  Curiously, Celine got up from her chair and began to make her way to the grand entry hall. Entering the entry hall, Celine stopped as she observed Quinton approaching the front door. Celine stared at the door, wondering who could be here, but her brows raised, and she smiled wide in relief as Quinton opened the door.

  "My Ladies," Quinton said with surprise, seeing Elianna standing at the door with her mother behind her. "Can I assist you?"

  Celine smiled as Elianna looked nervous and watched as she looked over her shoulder at her mother. Katarina smiled and gave Elianna a nod.

  Elianna nodded back before looking at Quinton and saying, "I want to see Nick."

  Quinton sighed and shook his head, "I'm sorry. But Lord Nicholas is not accepting visitors today."

  Elianna's face crumpled while Katarina's face hardened. Katarina took a step forward, looking like she was going to say something.

  "Let them in."

  Quinton, Elianna, and Katarina looked toward the voice and saw Celine approaching them. Celine smiled at Elianna and Katarina before looking at Quinton, "Let them in."

  Quinton nodded and stepped to the side, "As you command, My Lady."

  Elianna sighed with relief, and Katarina smiled happily as they both walked inside. Quinton closed the door once they were inside and walked off.

  Elianna looked at Celine and gave her a thankful smile, "Thank you."

  Celine shook her head and took Elianna into a tight hug. "No," Celine whispered. "Thank you. Nick needs you." She felt Elianna tense, and they broke the hug.

  Elianna looked at Celine, confused, "A-Are you sure? Quinton said-"

  "He's only repeated what Nick said," Celine sighed and looked down. "And Nick doesn't know what he wants. He won't talk with anyone."

  A sense of worry washed over Elianna, and her hands clenched, knowing she needed to speak with Nicholas. Not just for her but for both of them. "Where is he?"

  Celine pointed upstairs, "In his studio."

  Elianna nodded, knowing exactly where that was, "Thanks."

  Without another word, Celine watched as Elianna practically ran for the stairs. Celine chuckled as Elianna skipped every other step and turned down the hallway, out of sight.

  Celine looked at Katarina, seeing she was looking upstairs with a smile. "Mrs. Vail," Celine began kindly. Katarina looked at her curiously. Celine smiled and gestured to the side, "The maids had just made some tea. Do you want some?"

  Katarina smiled and nodded, "I would love some."

  "Follow me," Celine said, and they both began to walk toward the sitting room.

  ***

  Silence enveloped the room as Nicholas stared at the canvas in front of him, sitting on the easel. Dipping his brush into the jar of water that was sitting on the stool to the side, where his paints also were, Nicholas stared at the grim painting he was creating.

  In the center of the painting was a little boy with blond hair and sea-green eyes, curled up in a fetal position. He was lying in the center of a dark, gray hallway, with what looked like the darkness closing in on him. The more he stared at the boy, the more he saw himself since that's how he felt. He felt like his entire life he was building here was falling apart because of none other than his father.

  Memories of his father being strict flooded Nicholas' mind, telling him to behave properly and act in according to his position. Even at ten years old, his father had always expected him to behave with authority and unyielding resolve. His eyes fell, unable to recall a single memory where his father ever showed him comfort since there was none.

  In his mind, his father was always cold and strict, always filling Nicholas with dread whenever his father would scold him. Nicholas thought he finally escaped from that life when he came to Tri-Union City, but no, he should've known better. He knew his father wouldn't miss the chance of scolding him, but that wasn't the worst part.

  The one thing he couldn't get out of his mind was Elianna's face. He vividly remembered how she looked at him like he was a completely different person. It was a look he never wanted to see her give him, and it broke him. He didn't know what to say to her, didn't know how to explain everything. So, he just locked himself away, physically and emotionally. In truth, he wouldn't blame Elianna if she hated him. He bet that's why she kept trying to contact him, to yell at him and tell him never to see or talk to her again.

  Nicholas let out a loud sigh before looking down at the paint on the stool. He dipped his brush into the black paint before applying it to the canvas, adding more darkness to the painting.

  Nicholas wasn't the only one looking at the canvas, though. Elianna stood in the doorway, staring at Nicholas' creation, as he was too deep in thought to hear her open the door. Her heart cracked at the sight, knowing Nicholas' paintings were heavily influenced by how he was feeling. And, right now, she knew by his painting that he was feeling horrible.

  Elianna wanted to walk up and console him, trying to tell him everything was okay. However, she knew she needed answers first and couldn't get distracted. However, that proved to be an incredibly difficult challenge since Nicholas was shirtless. She noticed he was wearing his paint-stained tan pants, which he usually wore while painting, and he liked to paint shirtless so as not to get paint on his clothing. It was a good idea, Elianna thought, but it would always make her blush heavily and get distracted like she was now.

  Taking a deep, Elianna composed herself and finally spoke, "That's quite the painting." She watched Nicholas' hand still, and his back became incredibly tense, showing off his well-sculpted back and shoulder muscles. "What's it called?"

  Nicholas could barely believe his ears. He thought he was imagining the sweet melody of Elianna's voice, thinking she couldn't truly be here. Slowly, he looked over his shoulder, and his eyes widened in surprise at seeing Elianna standing there. She had her arms crossed as she leaned against the door frame, with her eyes flicking between him and the painting.

  Suddenly, feelings of uneasiness and remorse washed over him like an ocean wave, knowing he had been ignoring her. He didn't know why she was here, but he didn't think it was for anything good.

  "I don't have a name for it," Nicholas said softly before looking back at his painting.

  Elianna stared at him, watching as he continued to apply more black paint to the painting. She could feel the room was tense—so tense that you could cut through it with a knife. She knew she needed to address the elephant in the room, so she took a deep breath and said, "Rinehart, huh?"

  Nicholas tensed at the mention of his last name, and his stomach dropped. He knew Elianna now knew who he was and probably saw him differently. Nicholas took his brush off the painting and looked down, "Yeah..."

  Elianna nodded, and the room fell silent again. Elianna gave a low chuckle, "I kinda feel like an idiot, you know." Nicholas' brows furrowed, and he looked over his shoulder at Elianna. She gave a small smile, "Here I was, always thinking your last name was Argyle. I should've known better since your familial connection is from Freya, not Mathew."

  Nicholas' eyes fell, and he nodded, "I prefer Argyle, actually."

  Elianna looked at him curiously, "Why?"

  Nicholas was silent for a moment before he spoke, not looking at Elianna, "Because people always treated me differently when they found out my last name." He gave a bitter laugh, "They would always treat me like the prince and not like a person."

  Elianna's brows furrowed, staring at Nicholas, "I-Is that why you never told me you were the prince?"

  Nicholas slightly nodded, "Yeah. I didn't want you to treat me differently."

  Elianna's eyes widened, and her anger boiled over as she glared at Nicholas, "NICHOLAS RINEHART, OR ARGYLE, WHATEVER YOUR NAME IS!!!"

  Nicholas' eyes snapped to hers, growing to the size of moons, and surprised at her tone.

  Elianna glared at Nicholas, "How dare you think that! After knowing how I was treated differently for awakening early!"

  "I-"

  "No!" Elianna cut in sharply and quickly advanced on Nicholas. "Since you didn't want to talk, now you're going to shut up and listen!"

  Nicholas turned around to fully face Elianna, as she approached and now stood mere inches from him. Elianna's eyes were fierce as she met Nicholas' gaze, glaring daggers at him. Nicholas tensed, preparing himself for Elianna to yell at him, curse him out, or even throw paint at him. But instead, Elianna reached out, and gently caressed his face with both her hands.

  Elianna's gaze remained fierce, full of conviction, as Elianna said, "I want you to listen to me, Nick when I say I don't care if you're the prince." Nicholas' eyes widened, and they began to water at Elianna's words. Elianna's eyes softened, "Being a prince doesn't change how I see or feel about you. In my eyes, you're still Nicholas. The same boy who was happy that I liked your drawings."

  Nicholas' lips wobbled, and the tears began as the dam broke. Elianna didn't hesitate to take Nicholas into a hug, holding him closely, not caring if she got paint on herself. Nicholas felt like a total idiot for ever doubting Elianna and quickly returned her hug. He hugged her tightly and felt more open and accepted, feeling more closer to Elianna than before.

  They continued to stand there, holding each other closely, as Nicholas calmed down. Once he stopped crying, they slowly broke the hug and smiled at each other as their gazes met.

  "Sorry," Nicholas said, his voice a little dry. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you before."

  Elianna reached up and gently wiped away one of his tears with his thumb, "Then tell me now. I want you to tell me all about your life in Gavaria."

  Nicholas smiled and nodded, "What do you want to know?"

  "Start with your family," Elianna suggested with a smile.

  Nicholas shrugged, "It's just my Dad, my older brother, and me."

  Elianna looked at Nicholas curiously. She noticed how he didn't mention his mom. In fact, she realized he always acted weird whenever his mom was mentioned. Memories flooded back to when people would mention his mom, as they would speak about her in the past tense. Then, she remembered how Katarina had asked Elianna to no longer mention Nicholas' mom to him.

  Slowly, realization dawned on her, and Elianna looked at Nicholas sympathetically, "Your mom... she's-"

  "Dead," Nicholas finished, looking down dejectedly, and nodded.

  Elianna looked at Nicholas softly, "I'm so sorry."

  Nicholas met her gaze and smiled, "It's okay."

  Elianna gently caressed Nicholas' face, and her gaze flicked to the painting. Wanting to change the subject, Elianna gave Nicholas a humourous grin, "Before you tell me more about your life in Gavaria, can you please get rid of that awful painting." Elianna let go and stepped back from Nicholas as he turned and looked at the painting.

  Nicholas chuckled and nodded, "Yeah."

  He placed the brush into the jar of water and took the painting off the easel. He walked over to the wall where other completed paintings were and sat it against the wall. He then picked up a blank canvas and walked back to the easel.

  Nicholas placed the canvas on the easel before grabbing the brush and holding it out to Elianna, "Here."

  Elianna curiously looked at the brush before looking at Nicholas, "You know I can't paint."

  Nicholas chuckled and shrugged, "Give it a try. You paint, and I'll talk about Gavaria."

  Elianna smiled and took the brush, "Deal."

  With genuine smiles on their faces, Elianna began to paint on the canvas while Nicholas told her about growing up in Gavaria. The tension felt in the room not long ago had now been replaced with a jovial feeling as Elianna and Nicholas happily spoke.