Westalia spent the rest of the night in the main part of Le Chantier Palace while the dead bodies were removed from her suite. She stared out into the darkness from the balcony attached to the bedroom. After the earlier chaos, she was finding it difficult to relax. Despite the fact that people had died just hours ago, the night was as beautiful as always.
“Can’t sleep?”
Looking down toward where the voice came from, Westalia saw Leonardo, on a balcony diagonally below her, looking back up at her. It seemed that this room was close to Leonardo’s personal rooms.
“So much happened today. I’m still jittery,” Westalia replied.
“Yeah, I couldn’t sleep either. I thought I’d come out and get some air.”
Westalia was silent. He’d found her in a pensive mood. “You could come up here...if you want,” she said after a moment, motioning him to her own balcony.
As Leonardo stood beside her on her balcony, Westalia could feel the heat of his body where their arms touched. It made her feel safe.
“Are you okay? It must’ve been a shock,” Leonardo said.
“It was,” Westalia replied, placing both hands on the railing as she looked down. “When the man pointed his sword at me, I was terrified. Not because I could’ve died, but because I don’t know what would happen to Paige and the girls if I were gone. And all the people poisoned by Elizabeth Pink would continue to suffer...”
Leonardo was silent.
“I was reminded again that becoming empress would mean bearing enormous responsibility.” For a long time, Westalia had thought that she would be happy as long as she became a ruler, something she’d dreamed of for her entire life. But she could see now that that might not be the case. Even if she fulfilled her dream, she would still have to deal with troubles and hardships. She might even have her life threatened again, like it had been today. Throughout history, many people had died when caught up in the whirlwind of political intrigue that surrounded ruling households. This attempt on her life was nothing unusual—in fact, it was a natural part of the struggle for a throne.
“Are you getting cold feet?” Leonardo asked, resting his own hands on the railing and looking out at the night sky.
Westalia shook her head. “No, neither the risks nor responsibilities associated with being empress have any bearing on my desire.” On the contrary, she felt her yearning and passion for the position grow even stronger. She stretched a hand into the air and clenched her fist. “I’ll do everything in my power to grab that throne with my own two hands.”
Leonardo turned his face to look at her.
✦ ✦ ✦
“I know you’ll be a good empress. I told His Majesty that as well. ‘Westalia Lejainne was born to become empress,’ I think is what I said,” Leonardo said.
Even though he knew that she still didn’t have any flowers in her storeroom, he still continued to believe in her. She pushed a flyaway strand of hair behind her ear as she smiled bitterly at his unexpected overestimation of her. But the truth was, she couldn’t simply imagine any other future for herself.
Westalia suddenly grabbed Leonardo’s hand and placed a kiss on the back of it. He had calloused, muscular hands that had saved and supported her so many times. And it wasn’t just her; his hands had saved many people. She loved this kind man’s hands.
Leonardo’s eyes widened in shock. Westalia looked up at him and smiled. “Thank you for always supporting me.”
The prince’s surprised expression took on an air of mischievousness as he raised the hand up and placed his own lips to the spot where Westalia had just kissed. Westalia’s face flushed as if Leonardo had just kissed her directly. His deep green eyes, filled with heat, pierced her gaze.
“I was terrified when I saw the sword pointed at you today. I fear that one day you really will die because of your recklessness,” Leonardo said.
“Don’t go killing me off in your imagination. But everyone dies one day. You just have to live aggressively in the present because you never know when something might happen,” Westalia said. “Or do you want to lock me in a cage somewhere forever so I won’t do anything dangerous?”
“If I locked you up, would you even go quietly? You’d just pry open the bars and escape,” Leonardo replied.
“You know me so well,” Westalia said with a chuckle, turning to face him. They both let out a small laugh. She finally felt the stress of the day beginning to melt away.
“The more time I spend with you, the more indispensable you become to me. That’s why I’m so afraid of losing you,” Leonardo said.
Westalia, acting in her selfish, brash way, was causing nothing but problems for him, and she found it strange that he still loved her despite all that. No matter what sort of facade she put up, he was able to see through all of it. There was no way she could hide from him that she was just an ordinary girl who was scared and depressed.
“What do you even see in me? You must have strange tastes,” Westalia said.
“It’s better if I’m the only one who knows how attractive you are,” Leonardo replied.
“What does that even mean?”
Leonardo took her hand and squeezed it, pulling it up to rest against his cheek. Her fingers were cold from the night air, but gradually they grew warmer as they rested against his cheek.
“I want all of you. Hurry up and become my empress, Westalia.” Leonardo’s green eyes shone lustrously in the moonlight.
How bewitching... Westalia thought. She’d never known another man like him—someone who could melt the very core of her being with his seduction. He stroked Westalia’s hand and looked at her hungrily. His gaze was aimed at her lips.
“Stare all you want, but I won’t kiss you again. The promise was just until Remilena was found,” Westalia said. She’d promised to kiss him every time they saw each other in exchange for his help in finding Daniel’s daughter. She felt like she might have broken the promise a few times, but now it had expired.
Leonardo pulled on her wrist to pull her closer and put his hand on her face. Westalia pursed her lips and closed her eyes. Even though she expected a kiss on her lips, Leonardo teasingly pressed his mouth lightly against her forehead.
“Then I guess it’s up to me,” Leonardo said, looking down at her.
Oh, I’m powerless against him, Westalia thought as a sweet tingling spread from her forehead throughout her entire body.