Chapter 3: Rejected and Blind

KEILAH

I felt my mind blanking out. 

My cloak? 

The only thing shielding me away from this cruel world?

There is no way on Earth that I'm going to remove my cloak—not even in the presence of a high and mighty prince. 

I felt his footsteps coming my way, so I acted fast and rose to my feet. I didn't even bother to bow and bid farewell to the prince. I just ran away from the scene, ignoring the calls of my relatives and the guards.

I had already memorized the interior of this mansion ever since I was young, so I didn't have any problem with running away.

I can already imagine the looks on my relatives' faces, but right now, I couldn't afford to be seen.

I ran back to my humble cottage and bumped into Weston along the way. 

“Keilah?” he exclaimed. “Are you alright? Are you—are you crying? What happened?” he bombarded me with questions. 

I merely nodded my head and tried to hide my real emotions. 

“I’m okay,” I said between my tears. “I just need some time alone.”

I could tell that Weston wanted to ask more but decided to drop it in the end. 

“Will you be at the cottage?”

“Yes,” I said. “You can come back at dinner time.”

“Alright, Keilah. Don’t hesitate to call for me when you need help. I’ll just be in the stables.”

I nodded my head before heading back to the cottage. 

As I went inside, I felt the tears cascading down my cheeks. I removed my cloak and buried my face in my arms. I cried by myself, feeling an immense pain in my heart. 

After crying for a while, I lifted my head up at the sky and pleaded. 

“Mom, Dad, can you please come back here?"

Ever since the day that they died, life has never been the same. When I was younger, and they were still alive, my relatives treated me fairly, but now, they treat me like I'm less than garbage. 

At any chance that they get, they humiliate me in front of strangers, unnecessarily make me do their chores, and take advantage of my blindness.

And when I thought that meeting my mate would pull me out of my misery, I was wrong. He heartlessly rejected me because of my disability, and now, I think no one will be able to love me sincerely anymore.

***

Eight years ago

My parents had just died, the reason being unknown, when my aunts and uncles forced me out of my room to socialize with my cousins.

I didn't want to, but it seemed like I had no other choice.

“Keilah!” Nolan called, waving his hands to get me to come closer. “Did you cry?” he asked. 

I nodded my head while looking down at the ground. 

Evelyn clicked her tongue. “You have been crying for days! Your parents are already dead—they’re not going to come back, so stop being a crybaby about it,” she said. 

“Yeah,” Finn agreed. “You should be happy now that they’re gone. Now, you have all the time and freedom to do what you want without your parents telling you to do so!”

I didn’t know how to react. For some reason, I felt like I was being ganged up on by my cousins. I always thought that they never treated me like family, but now that my parents are gone, it just became more obvious.

“Stop that,” Isabelle interrupted. “Don’t listen to them, Keilah. Let’s just play on the slides, hmm?”

I smiled at her and nodded my head. Isabelle has always treated me like a good cousin, so she’s one of the few people I genuinely care for in the castle. 

Finn clicked his tongue and rolled his eyes. He didn’t retaliate any further since he never dared to defy Isabelle. 

Isabelle and I went to the slide. 

“I’m scared,” I said. 

“It’s easy,” Isabelle assured. “I’ll go first, okay?"

I nodded my head and watched her go down the slide. 

“See? It’s not that bad.”

Even with her demonstration, I still felt a bit scared to go down the slide, considering I've always been afraid of heights. 

I stood up on top of the slide and looked at the steep way down. I felt my heart beat faster in my chest, so I closed my eyes to calm myself down. 

Now, looking back, I never should have closed my eyes at that moment. 

Because that would be the very last time that I'll be seeing the world in color. 

Before I even knew it, I felt a strong push from my back, causing me to topple down to the ground and hit my head on the metal slide. 

The next second, I woke up, but it felt like I still hadn't—because the world was dark when I opened my eyes, and no one was even there to tell me that I had gone blind. 

***

Five years ago

Twas the night of my sixteenth birthday, and I had been dreaming of this day ever since I became blind. After years of being isolated in my cottage, I can finally celebrate this special day since my aunt and uncle surprisingly allowed me to join. 

Granting, it wasn’t only my birthday, but also Isabelle’s. However, I really didn’t care. As long as I could finally have the chance to meet my mate and have someone love me as I had always dreamed of, I felt fine with having the bare minimum. 

Even if I was allowed to join in at the party, I was kept away from the visitors and was only allowed to stay in the kitchen. 

I was eating some cookies when I heard two sets of footsteps coming into the room, followed by the sweetest scent I had smelled in the entire world. 

“Can’t you just accept me as your mate?” he asked, the man’s deep voice sending shivers down my spine. 

“You know that I can’t,” Evelyn sighed. “You’re a Beta. I want an Alpha as my life partner. Besides, you’re not even my mate.”

I froze as I recognized my cousin’s voice coming from the pantry. I held my breath, so they wouldn’t be able to hear me.

The man clicked his tongue. “Does that even matter? The mate bond is practically a joke these days. Who actually wants their fated mate?”

I do. I still want my mate.

Because of the shock I felt from the man’s statement, I dropped the plate of cookies I was eating, causing the two of them to look my way. 

I stayed still as I felt my cousin and the mysterious man, who I assumed to be a prince, walk over to where I was. 

“Who the fuck is this?” the man exclaimed. 

Evelyn sighed. “Don’t mind her. She’s our blind servant. Whatever,” she said. “I’m out of here. Don’t you dare bring up this conversation anymore.”

She clicked her tongue and exited the kitchen. 

The man clicked his tongue and tried to walk away; however, at that moment, our skins touched, and I felt the most sensational emotion in the world. 

“Mate,” I muttered under my breath, causing the prince to stop in his tracks. 

“Shit,” he cursed. “Such luck I have.”

I wanted to be embraced by my mate right then and there, but it seemed like he didn’t feel the same way.

“I can’t believe this,” he sighed. “Let’s just get this over with. What’s your name?”

“Keilah,” I softly said. 

“Alright,” he nonchalantly said and held onto my hands. “Look, I’m going to cut to the chase. I don’t want a blind person for a mate. And I’m assuming that you’re also hideous with the cloak that’s on your face. Not to mention, you're also an omega," he chuckled.

He was talking like he didn't care for me one bit. "So, I, Prince Miles, reject you as my mate.”

With that, I felt something snap inside my heart. It feels so excruciatingly painful, but my mate left without any remorse.

At that moment, I truly felt that I had nothing left in this world—not my parents, not my relatives, not my vision, and not even my mate. 

***

Present time

I sobbed as I remembered the sad story of my life. I thought that being away from my relatives would cure the pain and push the hurtful memories away, but they all resurface whenever I meet them. 

I felt a small, fluffy creature jump onto my lap and smiled. 

“Lucky,” I called out my cat’s name.  “At least I still have you, huh?”

I wiped the tears from my eyes and cuddled into the cat. 

“I have to be strong, right?” I said.  

Lucky lets out a small meow, causing my smile to widen. 

“Alright,” I said. “I’ll tell you everything that happened today.”

Lucky lets out a meow once more, so I continued my story. 

“So, I met this prince,” I said, the memory suddenly flashing in my mind. “He felt….warm,” I smiled. 

“But he’s rude,” my smile dropped. “He called me a servant and told me to remove my cloak right then and there! Can you believe it? You know that I never take off my cloak.”

“I just have to avoid him at all costs. I feel like he’s the type of person who wouldn’t forgive the people who had defied him.”

Lucky purred. 

“Let’s hope we never see him again.”