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Sebastian
“PRINCE SEBASTIAN. WHAT are you doing here?” Alessandra asked, sounding caught off-guard by my presence.
Even though my eyes remained locked on Lila’s, I could feel the princess narrowing her dark eyes at me.
“I, uh, needed to speak to you,” I half-lied. I did need to speak to the princess, but that wasn’t the real reason I was there.
The truth was that, no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t seem to stay away from Lila. I had avoided visiting the Slave Chambers as much as possible over the past few days, ever since I’d slept with Alessandra. Part of me just knew it was the safest thing for Lila, but another part of me also felt guilty to look her in the eye after knowing what I’d done.
I thought that being with Alessandra in that way would be some sort of miracle cure to the way I felt about Lila, but it hadn’t worked. If anything, my feelings for Lila had only intensified. All I’d been able to do was wonder what things would have been like with her, instead of Alessandra.
“Excuse me, girls. You may change out of your gowns. Zoe will be coming by in a little bit to do a practice run of your makeup and hair,” Alessandra explained before crossing the room. She followed me out into the living room and then down the hallway that led to the rest of the palace. “What is it, Sebastian? I was busy.”
“Busy tearing apart my slaves, I see.”
“I wasn’t ‘tearing apart’ your slaves. I was simply offering my own personal feedback.”
I knew she was jealous of how stunning Lila looked in that dress, but I didn’t want to have that argument with her.
“The dress looked stunning.” I darted my eyes over to meet hers. “I would appreciate it if you’d keep your own personal thoughts to yourself from now on. I will be the one who decides if I approve of my slave’s appearances.”
“Okay, fair enough. I suppose I wouldn’t want you to have any input when it comes to my slaves,” Alessandra agreed with a nod.
“Anyway, the reason I wanted to speak with you is because the final RSVP list is in,” I continued. “As much as I know you wanted everyone from the vampire world to attend, there are two Royals who did not RSVP.”
“Oh? And who would that be?” Her eyebrows rose in question.
“Well, Emilio Craven, for one,” I informed her.
Alessandra nodded and tossed her dark hair over one shoulder. “Well, I didn’t really expect him to make a presence, if I’m being honest. Why would he want to interact with the covens who he plans to control one day?”
“That’s a valid point. I also personally don’t care to be around him right now.”
“Oh? And why is that?” she asked.
“Why would I want to be around the guy who wants to be the reigning leader of all the vampire covens in the world?” I asked.
Of course, there was another reason for my disdain for Emilio. If it weren’t for his scheme to rule over all the other covens, I wouldn’t have been faced with the decision I needed to make. I would have had no reason to even consider marrying Alessandra.
“I understand your point,” the princess said, “but I see it a little differently than you. Personally, I want to see Emilio.”
“Why?” My eyebrows shot up in question.
“Because I’d like to give him a piece of my mind... and warn him that there’s no way he will take me down. Or, I hope, us.” She glanced over at me pointedly. “Have you made a decision yet?”
I darted my eyes away from hers. “I really don’t want to talk about this right now.”
“You do realize that the ball is in only two days from now, right?” Alessandra asked. “There’s not a whole lot of time left for you to make a decision.”
“I’m well aware. I just don’t want my choice to be swayed by anything you could possibly say to me right now,” I explained. “I need to make a decision on my own... without your influence.”
“I understand.” She nodded her head in agreement, but I couldn’t help but notice that she didn’t look too happy. It made me feel slightly guilty, even though I knew that I shouldn’t have.
Her reaction only put more pressure on me. I needed to figure out a way to break the news to her.
I needed to let her know that I’d decided I wasn’t going to marry her.