Chapter 06

AVERY

“ Did you find anything? ” I ask as soon as Renee enters the room.

She sighs, letting me know what the results of the search were. I rub my temples as frustration grips my mind.

“ What good will it do to find the man anyway, Princess? What are you hoping to do once you find him? ” She questions in a hushed voice.

In the previous week, I gathered all the people I thought wouldn’t be able to tell my brother anything and searched for that grey-eyed Devil but it feels like he disappeared from the face of Earth.

“ He has to reject me, Renee. I can…probably lie about the…purity but I can not hide the mark. This mark needs to disappear. ” I press my lips into a thin line. Lying to a Lycan King about my virginity will only warrant my early death but it can’t be worse than admitting in front of my brother that I am a fool who let someone do this to me.

“ I wish that man didn’t hold me back that day, Princess. I would have protected you if only the bar people had let me go to the first floor. But no matter how hard I fought or what I did…they didn’t allow me. They said it’s for the rich guests and I didn’t have money and— ”

“ Renee. ” I snap, fed up with her explanation.

“ I am sorry, my Princess. ” She sniffles.

That’s all she has been doing for the past seven days. She kept saying that right when I stumbled across that man, a drunk stranger appeared by her side and started bothering her. She managed to shrug him off but until then, I was long gone and when she went to search for me, she was not allowed to reach the room I was in.

The timing is just so…strange.

Is it possible that this man from the South knew me and everything was his plan to do something I am not aware of?

Did he want war? Did he want to touch the woman who was promised to his King? Or what?

“ Princess. His Highness is calling you to the throne room. ” Renee mumbles softly.

I shudder. I avoided Dustin all this time, but it seems I can’t do it anymore.

Swallowing my nervousness, I press my fingers to the mark on my neck that is covered with a thick layer of makeup. However, it’s not enough to put me at ease. I rush to the mirror and fix my hair over my shoulder to cover the spot completely.

“ No one will notice, Princess. Please don’t worry. ” She shoots me a pitiful look from behind.

For a few moments, I stay there and stare at my reflection. When I do this sometimes, I can only hate the way I look. Mom says everything about me is imperfect. My eyes that are too bright, my lips that are too thin, my nose that is fat and not straight, and my—

“ Princess. ” Renee whispers, shaking me out of my thoughts.

I look away from the mirror and rush to get out of the room. I wish I could fix the way I looked but I can’t so it’s better to just…avoid looking in the mirror.

After a while, I am standing in the middle of the throne room while my brother sits on his throne, peering down at me. His face is emotionless as always but there is a hint of disappointment that still lingers in his eyes.

“ You were supposed to leave today, Avi. ” Dustin says, breaking the silence that was suffocating me.

“ And you didn’t even care to come say goodbye? ” I smile bitterly.

“ If I knew you were leaving, I would have come but you look nowhere near ready to go. Tell me now, are you going or not? ” Dustin leans forward, his eyes dropping to my hair which is unusually resting over my shoulders instead of over my back.

Please don’t notice it. I plead silently.

His gaze lifts to mine again and I release the breath I held, “ What other choice do I have? What if I don’t go, Dustin? What then? ”

“ A royal who refuses to follow the King’s order has to be exiled out of the royal family. ” The disappointment in his eyes vanishes as an icy glint takes its place.

A lump clogs my throat. “ so it’s either living in humiliation in my Kingdom or getting humiliated by the enemies? ”

“ No one will humiliate you there. ” Dustin blinks and rests back.

I don’t think he believes it. He just wants me to believe this and go without causing trouble.

“ You went to attend Tyson’s mating ceremony. How did you even meet Aleister there? And why did he agree to this mating arrangement? ” I ask the question that’s been on my mind for a while.

Momentarily, he freezes. No one else would have noticed the slight pause in his breath but I can.

“ Dustin. Why did he— ”

“ Peace. Don’t you want it, Avi? ” He cut in calmly.

Peace? I have never experienced it in my life and valued it above everything else. So how can I argue when he tells me that it’s all for the peace?

My hands clench by my side. “ you could have offered anything in this world…but you offered up your sister. Do you even…feel bad? ”

“ Don’t put it this way. ” His cold reply makes me release a soft breath.

“ I will go. Not for peace, Dustin, but because I think I owe you. ” I admit quietly.

His expressions shifts and the facade of calmness fades. We never mention this. It’s a silent agreement that we will not admit that I owe him for doing what he did years ago.

“ Even if they hurt me or— ”

“ If someone tries something, all you have to do is to speak to me, Avi. Do you think I am abandoning you? Do you really believe I won’t come for you when you need me or if someone tries to hurt you? ” His eyes soften.

“ When I leave… ” I whisper as my eyes sting, “ I will never come back to you or this family again. It’s better to get humiliated in an enemy land where no one will pity me or make me feel like this. Like I…must listen because I am indebted. ”

“ Avery. ” Dustin narrows his gaze on me.

“ No, Dustin. Even when I get hurt or no matter what they do to me, I will never set foot here again. To my brother who didn’t twice before giving me up, I will never come back. ” I hiss.

Silence falls between us. It’s more painful than getting a reply from him. I bite my inner cheek to hold the tears at bay.

The door to the throne room opens and the familiar scent spreads around me. Instead of bringing me a sense of comfort, it brings me a wave of panic and fear.

“ Dustin. What are you two arguing about again? ” Mom’s sickly sweet voice is a torture to my ears.

“ It’s nothing, Mom. ” Dustin replies before I can open my mouth.

There is no mistaking the respect and affection in his eyes. It makes me nauseous. If only he knew that the woman in front of him is not the angel he thinks she is…

No. He will never know. It’s not like she is a bad mother to him. It’s just about me. Dustin doesn’t have to lose his mother because of me.

“ Is Avery troubling you again? ” She walks forward. Her footsteps make me step away from her path so I don’t come across her.

“ There is nothing, Mom. Don’t worry. ” Dustin says in a composed voice.

“ Let me talk some sense into her. She will listen to— ”

“ I am leaving. ” The words slip out of my mouth and it’s too late to regret them.

“ What? ” Mom halts and turns to me.

“ I was supposed to leave today right? Well, I am leaving right now. ” I nod.

I must face the consequences alone. I have to go and see what’s it about Aleister before I decide what needs to be done.

“ Avi. ” Dustin leaves his throne and closes the distance between us with measured strides.

My brother is the smartest man in the three Kingdoms, but he is…so oblivious to emotions. He doesn’t get the hint that I don’t need him to come to me anymore.

He abandoned me, so be it. When I have nothing here, there is no reason to stay either.

Before he can grab my arms, I turn my back on him and walk away.

“ Never… ” I pause after walking a few steps. “ I wish you never come looking for me, Dustin. ”

It’s not because I hate him. No—I can’t hate him. I am just scared that if we meet again, he will lose the little adoration he has for me. Mom won’t let me remain by his side.

“ No matter what you believe, I will be there when you need me. ” He says, causing the lump to worsen in my throat.

“ I needed you today. But not anymore. ” I whisper and leave before hearing his reply.