Chapter 156: He Doesn’t Love…

’Why am I here?’

Ezra thought with dread, his stomach twisting the longer the carriage kept moving.

The quiet felt suffocating, like every second stretched just a little too long, giving his thoughts too much room to spiral.

He somehow found himself in Alyce’s carriage with Lior, on their way back to his house.

Somehow.

He still didn’t know how that happened.

Alyce had somehow convinced Ezra to let her bring him to his house because she wanted to speak to him privately.

And the worst part?

He didn’t even remember agreeing properly.

’Why does she even want to talk to me? We barely know each other.’ Ezra thought nervously, his fingers curling slightly against his sleeve as he sat across from her, trying not to look too stiff.

Then his heart stops in realization.

’Does…’ Ezra glances at Alyce, who was still smiling, staring outside her window, looking completely at ease, like there was nothing strange about this situation at all. ’…she know I like Helios?’

The thought hit him so suddenly it almost made him feel sick.

She wouldn’t, right?

Even Helios didn’t know.

How could Alyce ever know—

“You have known Heli for around a decade or so, yes?” Alyce asks gently, not looking at him, though there was still a graceful smile on her face.

’Just act normal. She couldn’t possibly know.’ Ezra thought, forcing himself to breathe properly again as he straightened a bit. “Yes, Your Highness.”

“Which means, you know him a lot.” Alyce says, glancing at Ezra now.

Ezra was slightly stunned, caught off guard by how direct she was being, but he nodded anyway, even if it felt strange to admit.

“Yes, I guess you can say that.” Ezra didn’t want to lie, but it felt weird saying just “yes” as well.

Alyce pursed her lips together as if contemplating, and then she fully turns to Ezra, giving him her full attention.

’She looks so serious now.’ Ezra noted, his chest tightening a little as he tried to keep his expression neutral.

“Because Heli trusts you, I have decided to trust you as well.” Alyce says seriously. “And I trust that whatever I am going to tell you now, you would not tell anyone, especially Helios.”

If it was about Helios…

’I am definitely telling.’ Ezra thought immediately, almost on instinct.

“I have come to a realization that Heli doesn’t love me, and I wish to ask for your help to get him to love me, or at the very least, like me enough to marry me this year.”

Oh.

Nevermind.

Ezra was NOT going to tell Helios this.

His mouth opened slightly in shock by how forward Alyce was being, his thoughts completely thrown off balance by the sudden confession.

“Oh! You like Heeyos?” Lior asks Alyce directly, tilting his head, completely unaware of the tension that had just filled the carriage.

“Lior, you can’t just ask someone—” Ezra was about to whisper-scold the child, already feeling embarrassed on Alyce’s behalf, but Alyce laughs.

“Yes, I am actually engaged to him.” Alyce answers, very carefree, as if Lior’s bluntness didn’t bother her at all.

“Really?” Lior asks amazed, his eyes lighting up.

’He doesn’t even know what engaged means—’

“What does engays mean?” Lior asks, making Ezra internally laugh because he anticipated it.

“Engage means they’re going to get married.” Ezra explains, even though it hurt his whole body to say it, the words feeling heavier than they should have.

“Married like husband and wife?”

“Yes, married like husband and wife.” Alyce confirms, her tone still light, but there was something underneath it now. “But usually engagements only last a few years, for Helios and I we…”. She sighs.

She didn’t finish, or rather, she didn’t want to.

There was something there she was holding back, and even Lior seemed to notice the shift, going a little quieter as he looked between them.

Alyce takes a deep breath, then gathers herself, smoothing everything back into place as if nothing slipped, and smiles again.

“Marriage doesn’t always mean love, and I have prepared myself for that.”

She looks down with a familiar look of heartbreak on her face.

An expression Ezra knew so well.

It wasn’t loud.

It wasn’t dramatic.

But it was there in the way her fingers tightened slightly against the fabric of her gown, in the way her shoulders stilled like she was holding something in.

’…that look…’ Ezra thought, his chest tightening without meaning to.

He had seen that look before.

Too many times.

Mostly on the mirror inside his house.

“But the fact is, it doesn’t mean it hurts any less that I have fallen for Helios but it seems he doesn’t reciprocate.” She whispers, clutching onto the skirt of her gown.

There it was.

The truth.

Said plainly.

And somehow that made it worse.

“That…that’s not true. Prince Helios adores you, Your Highness.”

The words came out before Ezra could stop them.

It was automatic.

Almost defensive.

Because that was what he believed.

What he had always believed.

All Ezra’s heartbreaks were caused by Helios’ affection for Alyce.

For all the times Helios prioritized Alyce, for all the times Helios would excuse himself for Alyce.

All the times Helios would talk about Alyce, putting her in high regard.

’You adored her.’

So why couldn’t Alyce see that?

“That may seem like it to you, Ezra. But unfortunately, your intuition, no matter how clever you are, cannot compare to a woman’s intuition.”

Alyce says with a soft chuckle, though there was no real amusement behind it.

It sounded tired.

“He only got engaged with me for convenience, perhaps for the race to the crown prince position. Either way, I thought I would be okay with it until…”

She trails off.

Her grip on her skirt tightens again, the fabric creasing under her fingers.

Ezra watched her carefully now.

He didn’t interrupt.

Didn’t rush her.

“Until?” Ezra asks, quieter this time.

And very careful.

Because something about the way she paused felt important.

“Until I’ve started feeling he was yearning for someone else in secret.”

Oh.

Oh wow.

Ezra felt very awkward now.

He did

His entire body went still, like even moving would make this worse somehow, like even the smallest reaction would give something away that he wasn’t ready to face.

’…someone else?’

Because was this true?

Helios was engaged but yearning for someone else?

’No… that doesn’t make sense…’

Or did it?

Ezra’s thoughts started tangling with each other, pulling in different directions, refusing to settle into something simple.

He didn’t want to invalidate Alyce’s feelings.

And honestly? He won’t.

Because at this point, Ezra really didn’t know everything about Helios.

That realization sat heavily in his chest.

What others know about him was completely different from how he knew the prince.

That much, he had learned over the course of days.

Too many things didn’t match anymore.

Too many things didn’t align with the version of Helios he had built in his head for years.

’Maybe I really don’t know him as much as I thought…’

So now, Ezra forces himself to smile, even if it feels a little strained at the edges. “Even if you do not think Prince Helios loves you, and that he might be yearning for someone else…you have the ring, do you not?”

Ezra points to the ring on Alyce’s finger, and even he couldn’t help but notice how it caught the light.

It was the biggest engagement ring he had ever seen.

A little too big for Ezra’s taste..

It was too perfect.

“Y-Yes…but…”

“With all due respect, Princess Alyce,” Ezra continues, keeping his voice steady, “I think you are worrying for nothing. Prince Helios is the type to keep his commitment, and if he did love someone else, he wouldn’t keep his engagement with you. He wouldn’t… hurt you, or whoever that person is. Don’t you think?”

He almost hesitated on that part.

Almost.

But he pushed through it.

Because that was the Helios he knew.

Or at least… the Helios he believed in.

“That’s right…if there is one thing I know about him, it is that he is a man with values.” Alyce says.

Ezra nods, a bit more firmly now, like he was convincing himself as much as he was convincing her. “He may just be distracted with the problems happening in the kingdom, and with the other princes doing well, he might not want to marry right away unless he’s—”

“But if we got married, and ended up having children. A son. He would be king anyways.”

Ezra pauses for a brief moment, then answers, softer this time.

“Which he doesn’t think is fair. Prince Helios still has the pride of a man. He wants to earn the crown by his achievements, not by default.” Ezra explains gently. “I am sure he…”

Ezra couldn’t believe the position he was in now.

“…he may not love you, but that doesn’t mean he won’t be a faithful husband.”

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