I Gave The Prince To My Sister And Found My True Mate Chapter 12
After Lucian said that, I couldn’t relax for a single day.
He kept appearing in Cedar Valley.
Sometimes he sent desserts from the kitchens of the Royal Castle. Sometimes he had an assistant deliver a bouquet of fresh peach-colored tulips. Sometimes he simply used the excuse of discussing Council votes with Father and spent the entire afternoon at the Alpha’s residence.
Mother was flattered beyond words, convinced the Crown Prince was preparing for Rosalie’s engagement.
Rosalie, however, was far more perceptive than she was.
Little by little, she realized something was wrong.
That day I was sitting on the terrace mending a training uniform when Rosalie came over with a coat draped around her shoulders.
“Audrey.”
I looked up.
“Your flu hasn’t cleared. Why are you out here in the wind?”
She sat down beside me, smiling, though there was no warmth in her eyes.
“Has Lucian been coming to see you lately?”
“He comes to talk to Father about Pack business.”
“Does he?”
Rosalie gave a soft laugh, her fingers unconsciously twisting the hem of her coat.
“Then why, when I went out yesterday, did I see his car parked outside the East District chapel? And you just happened to be in the passenger seat.”
My hands stilled.
When I left the chapel, Lucian had forced me into his car and driven me all the way to the border of Cedar Valley. The royal vehicle hadn’t concealed its markings. Anyone could have recognized it.
“If you saw, why didn’t you ask him directly?”
Rosalie looked at me, and her expression turned unfamiliar.
“Do you really want to give me the red card?”
“You’ve already asked me that many times.”
I set down my needle and thread and met her gaze.
“If the person he truly wants is you, I can’t keep him. If the person he wants is me, you can’t take him away.”
Rosalie’s face darkened.
“What do you mean?”
I stood up and, for the first time, looked down at her.
“You tell me—who exactly do you think Lucian keeps coming here for?”
Her lips trembled lightly, but no more words came out.
I sighed and turned away.
In my last life, I had swallowed those words for half a lifetime.
On the day I died, she had worn the Luna Queen’s installation gown and told me, with a victor’s poise, that I would never deserve that position.
Now, at last, I had handed that same doubt back to her.
But there was no satisfaction in it.
Only emptiness.