Chapter 12 This Instant

Elle felt as though a huge thorn that she never knew was there had been lodged deep within her chest was finally pulled out the moment Sebastian agreed to marry her. The feeling was incredibly… strange. Almost liberating, in fact. She felt as though her heart that was leaden was now as light as a buoy.

"Thank –"

"Don't." The curt reply came as he cut her off, giving his head a small shake. Then he stepped closer and leaned towards her before his indifferent voice ran through her. "There is nothing for you to be thankful for, princess. One day, you will realize that I deserve none of your thanks."

Her breathing shallowed at those words. Just by looking at those grey eyes as cold and hard as a bullet, she felt that what he told her were not just empty words. She could feel that he truly meant it. He was confident that what he was saying would turn out as a reality one day.

But no matter what he believes, whether he will end up right in the end or not, to Elle, he was still the man who had saved her from her impending doom. And no matter what happens, however the result turned out, she would not regret her choice tonight. She believed that as long as she expects nothing at all from this man… as long as she does not fall for him, she would be perfectly fine. Right, all she had to do was firmly shut her heart close from him…

"I understand, Prince Sebastian." She replied simply, her stormy blue eyes gleamed as she bravely held his gaze.

"Good." He said and nodded before walking past her.

…

When the marriage talks were finally over, Sebastian was ordered by his father and uncle to escort Elle back to her room.

The engagement was finalized, and the wedding will be held after a week in Viscarria. Sebastian's uncle, Alexander, had also suggested that it would be better for Elle to travel back with them once they were to leave for their country so she could start familiarizing herself with the place there. It was a great suggestion as Elle herself was literally dying to leave this place and go someplace else. She had been caged in this place for far too long that she could not wait to fly out in the open again.

Once they reached her room, Elle faced Sebastian. She knew that Sebastian's uncle had prompted him to escort her for the two of them to talk and get to know each other. But none of them spoke until now. It was such a surprise though that the silence between them was not as uncomfortable and unbearable as she had thought it would be.

Elle was about to speak and bid him goodnight when he quietly leaned against the wall and whip a cigarette out from his pocket. She watched as the flame of a lighter casted reddish gold tones over his gorgeous face.

Quickly, she looked away before her gaze could fall to his lips. He was so gorgeous to the point of being extremely distracting! She scolded herself and made a mental reminder that she needed to practice absolute tolerance against this man now. It really was for her own sake.

She instead fixed her gaze to the gleaming ambers of his cigarette.

"Do you smoke, princess?" he asked. His deep voice came out lazy and… just sounded so pleasurably dark in her ears. It was as though someone had poured warm soothing wax over her.

She shook her head and met his gaze. "You can call me by name, Prince Sebastian."

He watched her with that hooded look, as a puff of smoke smoothly escaped his parted lips. "As you wish… Izabelle." Her named seemed to roll off too easily from his lips that it caused her to blink a couple of times and her calm smile faltered a tiny bit.

,m Trying to instantly regain her composure, Elle spoke hesitantly. "Uhm… about our agreement…" she paused when he stared at her. It was not easy for her to bring up this topic again but since he was not leaving yet, she thought that he must have wanted to talk about it. That was the only reason she could think on why he was still hanging around her.

"You have something else to add?" his expression was unreadable as he said those words.

Elle quickly shook her head, not expecting him to perceive her words that way.

"You referring to the divorce papers? I'll have it prepared before the wedding." He said flatly and before Elle could even react, they heard sounds of footsteps heading towards them.

Her brows knotted. The quality of the footsteps was enough for Elle to tell that something serious had happened. Her heartbeat raced when she saw the butler and her maid rushing in as though someone was on their tails.

"What happened?" Elle questioned as the duo panted before her.

"Princess, you need to go! His Majesty had ordered you to leave the palace this instant!"

"Wh-what? Why?" Elle had not expected these orders.

Her maid looked at her with wide eyes. She could see the panic reflected in it. "Mr. Haze is on his way! He's coming for you, princess!"

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A/N: Thank you so much @MonsterUnderTheBed, @Sacogun, and @_Basia_ for the supergifts. I wasn't planning to update this book until July 1st but your gifts prompted me to update earlier than planned. Thank you for the support guys!!

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Note to new readers: This book is part of a series but can be read as standalone. You are not required to read the first book.