Prince Theron did not stop her as he stayed back in the gazebo. He knew she needed some space. Since she was trying to run away from him, he would let her go. He didn’t wish to force his feelings on her and he was content with the fact she was not completely pushing him away.

Prince Theron watched her retreating back with a sombre mood. He wanted to accompany her like a gentleman, but if it was found out that he escorted her back to the Queen’s residence, there would have been gossip about Esther. Being the Crown Prince, it would not affect his image much, but things would be terrible for her, a new member of the nobility. People’s eyes were already on her due to the King’s announcement, and he did not want her to be further subjected to harsh palace gossip.

——

Esther walked at a pace faster than a stroll, almost half-running on the way back to the Queen’s residence which was not far from the lake. Just as she reached the entrance of the lobby, her fellow servants bowed to her with smiles and sparkles in their eyes. Many of them were her friends, and though there was envy, most of them were proud of the fact that a commoner like them earned a title of her own and rose into the aristocracy. It had been hours since King Esteban made his announcement, and by now, the news had spread all throughout the royal palace. Everyone knew she was no longer a commoner and servant of the Queen, but a titled noble, a baroness. By tomorrow, this news would have spread around the capital and the nearby cities.

“Welcome back, Baroness Esther,” one of the servants approached her just as she was heading towards her room.

Esther accepted her greetings and heard her continue, “Baroness, the Queen had already made a different arrangement for your stay, as you are now her guest, not her servant.. Everything that belongs to you has been shifted to the guest room. Let me lead your way.”

“Wait, I need to check something in my room,” Esther said and went to her room in the servant quarters. She went towards the window where her special plant was kept but servants could not see it as she had hidden it with a magic spell. She brought the pot with her and left the room to go towards her new lodgings with the servant.

Reaching the guest room, she excused the servant and put that plant in the window of that room. She observed the plant blankly as she remembered what Prince Theron had done with her. She could not believe she did not even think of resisting. She was getting affected in ways she could not understand, pulling her to him, and it appears that there was no way she could resist it.

In the first place, did she truly want to resist him?

“Could it be that my destiny has changed, and so did my destined one?” she thought in a daze before staring at the flower mark on her wrist. “If so, this flower mark should have glowed.” There was no change in the flower mark on her hand. She checked it again and again. “Why is it not glowing even though my heart is beating and longing for Prince Theron? If he is not my destined one then why…why am I like this with him? Is it because I have shared my soul with him? But even before I gave him a piece of my soul, he could already affect me. I was always helpless in front of him even though he is just a human. It’s getting stronger with each passing day. Why? Are there other factors I am not seeing? Sharing a part of my soul should have no effect on my heart…”

She lightly traced her lips, remembering how perfect his lips felt on hers, and proceeded to bury her face in her hands. She was terribly confused. “If Prince Theron is not my destined one, then I can’t be with him…I can’t…” She remained silent for quite some time, trying to organize the mess in her head, and then moved her face up from her palms and looked at the flower in the window.

“You only glowed for him… only with him! Why? Why are you not glowing now? He can’t be with me. He left me alone after giving you to me as his farewell gift. Destiny? Fate? Is this not fate? Why don’t you glow for Prince Theron when my heart clearly beats for him? Can’t you recognise that I have left my past behind and I have forgotten the one who gave you to me? I no longer love him. I have forgotten him! So why are you not glowing?!”

Esther was emotional as well as angry. Her eyes which were normally the colour of melted caramel were hard and cold, yet the sound that left her mouth was a broken and helpless laugh.

“He left you with me to help me find my soulmate but why did you have to choose him for me? You favour your previous owner who has been nothing but cruel to me. He left after making me fall for him. But now I don’t want to accept the destiny you have written for me.” Esther clenched her fists as she glared at the Ashrin flower.

“I won’t accept it. I will change it. I will decide my own destiny!”

After letting out a shaky breath, Esther lay in her bed and stared at the ceiling as she mumbled, “I will change my destiny…”

Her body felt suddenly exhausted. She closed her eyes and put an arm over her face, but all she could think about was Prince Theron. His handsome face, those mischievous smirks, his dark eyes that refused to look away—

‘If I truly stray away from the future that destiny laid out for me…if I try to pursue what I feel for Prince Theron, will it be fine? Can I think of him like this? What if my true identity…? If the time for me to leave comes, won’t it break Prince Theron’s heart? And if I stay….I don’t age. The humans will likely not notice, but what if I were to stay five more years? Ten more years? Oh, what am I to do? Am I being greedy?”

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