LOGINShare
THE STORM
Last Updated:
2024-10-29 19:42:56Caroline’s POV:
If I really was being responsible, I would have stopped that afternoon and figured out a way to tell Liam my secret. I needed to be honest with him and he needed him to hear from me who I really was. Lucille was right, I was wasting precious time deluding myself and thinking I could carry on this farce indefinitely. If I was really responsible, but I wasn’t because as soon as I read Stephan's note I ignored the gift and this cloud that was hanging over my head and didn't think of any way to tell Liam about me.
The next day I would only have time to meet him in the middle of his shift at some interval. I was buried in state meetings with my father and the Lord Councilors. We talked about everything: from agriculture to industry and education. The lords were believers that a radical reform must take place in the kingdom. Rebel attacks were more and more frequent in the provinces and there was more and more revolt. The scenario was definitely n
Related chapters
The Princess' Golden Cage THE NURSE
Caroline's POV:My body still trembled for several minutes after the shelter door was sealed. I felt exhausted and terrified. It was official: I had just killed a man. As much as there was an entirely plausible justification for it—in this case, it was either him or one of us, or both—I was still completely shaken. And of course, I wanted to curl up in a corner and cry. The only reason I didn't do it was because Liam was on the floor of the shelter, and he didn't look too good.I took a few breaths trying to calm myself down and decided to deal with what was most urgent right now, and sure enough my recent trauma was nothing compared to the wound Liam had sustained. I had never been interested in any first aid medical care, but I knew that whatever I did, I should have the kit handy, so I went to the shelter's shelves to look for what kinds of resources we had available.This shelter was intended for employees. I knew that if I was in one of the shel
The Princess' Golden Cage THE AFTERMATH
Liam's POV:"Hold Him!" was all I heard the king say. I was still sleepy after Olivia made a makeshift bandage on my leg from a gunshot wound, so I wasn't processing anything very well. In a few seconds some of the soldiers accompanying His Majesty came out of the formation they were in and lifted me up so that I could be arrested.The King when he saw me with my pants ripped was livid and still held Olivia by the arm, looking at her menacingly: "What does that mean?" he snapped at her. She looked scared and completely in shock. Before she could answer anything, the king continued asking, "And why is the heiress to the kingdom of Tresoria dressed as a maid?"What? Heiress? This was not the princess. This was one of her maids.When Olivia didn't respond, the King turned again and said to me, "What's going on? Explain yourself soldier!""I... I..." I started to babble, not having any explanation for the questions he was asking me.Olivia then
The Princess' Golden Cage THE EXPLANATION
Caroline's POV:If I'm honest with myself, I'll admit that I didn't sleep that night. In fact, I neither slept nor fed after the doctors released me from the hospital wing of the palace. There was a torment consuming me inside and I was terrified that Liam wouldn't even want to listen to me after what he'd discovered. And all I could think about was all the chances that I'd had to tell him the truth. Every time we were alone. It had taken me too long to be honest with him, and now maybe it was too late.As soon as the first rays of sunlight hit my window, however, I got up and dressed simply, not like a maid, but like a princess. I had to be the princess again, but I didn't want to overwhelm the difficult conversation I would have by showing opulence. Anything that showed the gap between Liam and me would only further aggravate the situation, and I was seeking compromise to solve the matter and get his forgiveness.I headed straight back to the hospital wing. Th
The Princess' Golden Cage THE VISIT OF THE KING
I didn't have much to do to prepare myself for the king's arrival. I didn't have to straighten my clothes as I was wearing hospital pajamas. I didn't have a lot I could do with my looks either. The king, after all, was coming to visit someone who was convalescing.The princess in turn appeared to be impeccable. Apparently, there wasn't a hair out of place on her, and she kept her posture calm as if welcoming the king was something she did every day. Come to think of it, she actually received the king every day. He was her father. The feeling of having lost my Olivia to this princess hit me hard, and it still made my throat close with tears and unspoken insults. However, this was not the time to think about this.If it weren't for the eyes of the girl who was with me in my room, I'd say her model daughter mask was the example for every young woman in the country, but I knew those eyes. Well, at least I thought I knew them. What she had told me a few minutes ago seemed s
The Princess' Golden Cage THE NAGGING OBSTACLE
Caroline's POV:For the two weeks following the invasion I was mostly shut up in my room, suffering in silence. After the first visit I made to Liam, the nurse on duty kept telling me that she was sorry, but the patient was resting or was in physical therapy, or whatever excuse could be said. After the third time, I got the hint and stopped asking about him in the hospital wing.I considered for a second or two to exercise my authority and show my credentials to see him. After all, he was dismissing the princess heir to the kingdom of Tresoria, but honestly, I didn't think that would be a good approach. Anything that threw my title or my possessions in Liam's face or demonstrated the difference between us would only further damage our relationship, which was obviously already hanging by a thread.Obviously, there were several appointments the Princess of Tresoria had to attend. I had left several of them aside with all the recent developments, so I took the oppo
The Princess' Golden Cage THE ROUTINE BREAK
Chapter Thirty-six: Routine breakLiam’s POV:My new routine as a hospital patient was boring and left too much extra time to think about the latest events. I shut Olivia, or better, Her Royal Highness Caroline Andermier out because I was hurt and feeling cheated. But at the same time, I missed that girl – no matter who she was – badly. She was under my skin, and every time something new happened, the first person that I wanted to tell was her. Sometimes I even blamed myself for her absence, telling me that "I did this to myself".I don’t know if this was a good or a bad thing, but the doctors and nurses in the royal hospital never ran out of pain meds. I knew I needed to heal from a serious wound, but I never felt more than discomfort. I had heard of cases of people with wounds like mine who had become addicted to pain medications and even opioids, and I was afraid that this would hap
The Princess' Golden Cage THE NON-SOLVED PROBLEM
Caroline’s POV:“So, he is going to see you in about one hour!” Lucille stormed into my room telling me about the news without any delay.“Oh, good! Finally, he decided to see me again!” I celebrated with relief, although the relief lasted less than a minute and was quickly replaced by nervousness and insecurity. “What am I going to tell him, Lucy?” I asked her worriedly.Lucille shrugged and told me: “The truth. You can suffer telling the truth, but it is going to be for the best, Care. There is no better thing than to be able to look into the eyes of your loved ones without secrecies and half-truths.”“Yes, you are probably right,” I murmured to her, and continued: “But it does not turn the task ahead of me any easier, though.”“I never told you that this would be easy. Actually, I remem
The Princess' Golden Cage THE NEW ASSIGNMENT
Liam’s POV:I broke the kiss with the princess when we were both feeling dizzy without breathing, and then I leaned my forehead against hers. She was smiling charmingly while she took her breath as if with this kiss we had solved every bit of our dilemma. I really wished that it became true, but the reality wasn’t being kind to us right now.“Aren’t you afraid that someone will open the door and caught us kissing like this?” I asked her. Actually, I wasn’t ashamed of her. If it were for me, I would exhibit her as my wife sooner rather than later, but the circumstances were too different from the original plan now for that to happen.“Oh, I am. Nor for me, but you. You see, there are some advantages to being a princess. I will probably suffer from my father’s wrath, but this could not last forever. I’m his only heiress, he can’t be angry with me for the rest of his life. You on the other hand… You
Latest chapter
The Princess' Golden Cage THE QUESTIONED FRIENDSHIP
Caroline’s POV “So, were you even considering telling me that you are seeing someone?” I asked Lucille the moment Liam left my room. I crossed my arms in my chest because I was angry at her. Well, she was the first person that knew about Liam, and probably the only one that I trust, to be honest, and she was telling me nothing. What kind of friendship was this? “I was going to tell you, Care, at the right moment…” she told me and trailed off. “And the perfect moment would be…?” I shoot at her. “Well, when he asked me out for a second time, which didn’t happen until now,” she told me a little disappointed. Oh, poor Lucille. I was going to demand a proof of her friendship now but I lost my courage. She was really uneasy because of the waiting. I didn’t have a lot of advice to give to her, considering that my experience was an inch bigger than hers, so I put a hand on her shoulder and told her: “he will. Or, at least, you will call him tomorrow to help us and maybe this little reunio
The Princess' Golden Cage THE WEAK SPOT
Liam’s POVI knew that I couldn’t demonstrate any kind of possessiveness towards the princess, but I must confess that right in that moment my blood boiled in my veins seeing that Reichart guy try kissing her. I swallowed that pill hard and fought to keep my composure.When he finally left the corridor, I noticed the princess looking at me. She probably knew that I'd seen them, and she looked as pale as a ghost.We weren’t alone in the corridor, though. I had a couple of other guards watching the princess’ quarters. She saw that we couldn’t speak freely. She opened and closed her mouth a couple of times like a fish trying to breathe on the surface, and then she opened her bedroom’s door and closed it after herself.I was boiling in anger, and I couldn’t do a thing. Maybe she had a plan and was making me jealous so she could contrive on whatever plan she had to get rid of him. I had to keep it cool and preclude her from doing so, because we never knew what kind of future effects these i
The Princess' Golden Cage THE DATE
The next day dawned too soon, and the hours seemed to pass by until the afternoon when my suitor and soon-to-be fiancé knocked on my door. Lucille opened the door for him, but I wasn’t far, and I could see behind Stephan that Liam made a face. He didn’t like my idea to get rid of Stephan, but at the same time, he wasn’t enjoying this story at all. Well, good for him. It was silly of me, but I believe that causing Liam some jealousy could help me to get him on board with my idea or give him any other one that we could use in our favor.Too soon, though, Lucille closed the door and excused herself to my dressing room, murmuring something that I could not understand. Stephan avoided the awkward silence and started talking:“Good afternoon, Caroline. I hope you are doing fine.”He seemed so formal towards me, that a little laugh escaped from my lips.“What are you laughing about?” He asked me promptly.“I’m sorry, Stephan. Good afternoon. I’m fine, and you?” I told him, but before he coul
The Princess' Golden Cage THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT
“Well, I don’t know what you are talking about,” I told Stephan with a smile plastered on my face. I wouldn’t admit anything that easily.“Maybe you do, maybe you don’t. The fact is: do you remember the last time that I walked you to your room and we talked about respect? Well, this would be a flagrant disrespect. Something that I can’t accept in our relationship,” he told me. He wasn’t actually threatening me, but there was a small discomfort on his tone. Something more than his words were saying. Was he trying to tell me that he would harm me or Liam?“Do you remember, Caroline?” he insisted.“Yes, Stephan,” I told him upset. So, he finally decided to show a little bit of his true colors. My tipsy me wanted to fight with him and throw in his face the fact that Liam really existed, and that even though he didn't have a royal title, Liam was worth a thousand Stephans to me.“Well, I might not have known your favorite color until this morning, but I do have my pride, and I will defend
The Princess' Golden Cage THE BIRTHDAY PLAN
“I know, darling! It is a lot to process, but don’t worry, honey. This party is going to be spectacular!” My mother took advantage of my silence and continued to chatter as if the news she had just given me was the best news ever.“But mother, I thought that we were going to take it slow…” I tried to dissuade her from this idea. Of course, we were not taking it slow. They never suggested that, actually. I was the one trying to delay my engagement and eventual marriage as long as I could.“Don’t be silly, darling! You know that our families are longing to be as one!” My mother answered me.I swallowed a couple of times, with no idea what to say to dissuade her, and she continued talking, clueless as if I was quiet because of the excitement.“You know, your birthday parties are always epic, and this one will be the biggest one ever! Stephan&rsquo
The Princess' Golden Cage THE UNEXPECTED NEWS
Caroline’s POV:“So, are you or are you not going to tell me what is going on? What did you find, Liam?” I asked him at the very moment he passed through my bedroom door the next morning. I purposely decided that I wouldn’t have breakfast that morning with my parents and that I wanted to be alone just because I wouldn’t like to waste one more second without knowing what Liam learned in his last meeting with the revolutionaries.“Well, I’m going to tell you what I can,” he told me carefully.“What do you mean when you say that you’re going to tell me what you can tell me? I thought that you would tell me everything you have heard!” I complained.“Which means almost nothing,” he murmured as an answer.“Then tell me what you heard, and we can decide together if this is almost nothing or not,” I demanded of him.He nodded acknowledging my reques
The Princess' Golden Cage THE MASTER PLAN
Vanessa looked at me with a wide smile spread on her face. Steppenwolf noticed immediately that we knew each other, but he didn't look as surprised as the others."Hey, looks like you two know each other!" Jack said pointing at Vanessa and me."Of course, they know each other, Jack. Our boy was shot, and our sweet nurse Vanessa took care of him," Steppenwolf said with a smile on his lips."Wait… was everything planned, including the shooting?" I asked in disbelief.Steppenwolf grimaced and said to me, "Of course not, kid. We didn't want to lose one of our own, but the aftermath of it all resulted in you being close to the princess and that positively surprised us, that's all. The fact that Vanessa took care of you is just a plus."I let out a breath I didn't even know I was holding. At least they weren't that morbid."He knows me, Dad, but he didn't know I was part of the group," Vanessa said turning to Steppenwolf.Dad? Did I
The Princess' Golden Cage THE NIGHT MEETING
Liam’s POV:I left the princess’ room thinking about how I would contact Steppenwolf this time. Of course, I had the excuse that we were looking for Guttenberg, but I also had the responsibility to find out more about who was Morgan and what was that "nurse mission" mentioned in Vanessa’s letter. I just had no idea how I would connect both subjects in my next conversation with them, and if I would be allowed to know such a thing.Well, at least I didn’t have to wait a lot for another meeting. In one of my breaks on the next day, I went to my room as I always do, and tucked into my pillowcase there was a small note that simply said:Tonight, 11 o’clock. Same square.Sure, you don’t have to be a genius to understand where this note came from. In the next opportunity I had, I let the princess know that I was going to m
The Princess' Golden Cage THE INCURSION REPORT
Caroline’s POV:“So…? Did you guys find anything?” I asked Lucille and Liam at the moment they got into my room and closed the doors. Curiosity was eating me alive, and I was extra anxious because my conversation with Vanessa didn’t go the way I planned.Lucille sighed a little frustrated and told me: “Well, not really. She got nothing about you guys, at least, not in her room. Any threats that she could launch couldn’t be sustained by proof.” Damn it. The worst part was to know that all the tension on the tearoom was for nothing.“Well, thank you, guys,” I murmured to them, and then I continued: “I guess that we are back to square one, after all.”“Don’t say that too soon,” Liam told me, and a small light of hope emerged on the horizon. I looke
