255/257 To Choose
255/257: To Choose
At the West Wing of the Royal Estate, Lamaris Kingdom
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Princess Ri noticed almost immediately how Beatrice was sulking. It was subtle, the way her shoulders were just a bit too stiff, the way her gaze lingered on nothing while the world moved around her. And that long face…
Beatrice was usuallyposed, confident in a way that did not demand attention, but today there was an unmistakable weight clinging to her presence.
Beatrice was someone Ri cared for deeply and looked up to like little sister, and the two of them were very close.
In truth, Ri had long believed that they might one day be sisters in name as well. Beatrice’s father, Minister Marius, had been very close to her mother, and Ri was not naive enough to miss the signs that there had once been something more between her mother and the minister.
Ri set aside the papers she had been reviewing and leaned back in her chair, watching Beatrice from across the sitting room.
“You look like you want to set something on fire,” Ri said lightly.
Beatrice blinked, clearly startled, then sighed and dropped into the seat opposite her. “Is it that obvious?”
“Painfully,” Ri replied. “Do you want to talk about it, or do you want me to guess and make it worse?”
Beatrice let out a small, humorlessugh. “Uriel.”
Ri exhaled slowly. Of course it was. She had also noticed how Beatrice’s eyes would twinkle whenever she looked at Uriel. Ri was well aware that her mother was quietly pairing the two, ying cupid while pretending to be entirely nonchnt
about it.
She found herself liking the idea. Uriel was one of the cousins on her father’s side whom she loved the most, and all she wanted was for him to be happy, with someone who truly deserved him and whom he deserved in return. If she could help in any way, she would dly do so to bring the two of them together.
Beatrice ran a hand through her hair, frustration written all over her face. “I do not understand him. One moment he looks at me like I am something he cannot look away from, and the next he treats me like I am an inconvenience. Like my presence alone irritates him.”
Ri folded her hands together, listening.
“I know he likes me,” Beatrice continued, her voice firm despite the confusion in her eyes. “I am not imagining it. I have caught him sneaking nces more times than I can count. He stiffens when I am close. His attention always follows me even when he pretends otherwise.”
She shook her head. “And yet he acts like a stone. Unmoving. Closed off. As if he has decided that nothing will ever reach him again.”
Ri sighed quietly.
“Uriel carries more ghosts than most,” she said gently.
Beatrice frowned. “I know about Rizza. About the past. But that does not make sense to me.”
Ri leaned forward slightly. “Rizza’s death broke him.”
Beatrice’s expression softened, but she did not look convinced. “was not his fault.”
“I know,” Ri said. “And so do you. But Uriel does not see it that way.” She paused, choosing her words carefully. “He reacted impulsively that day. The mate pull was strong, overwhelming. He made choices driven by instinct, not reason. And when Rizza died, all that was left was guilt.”
Beatrice’s hands curled into fists on herp “so he decided he do not deserve happiness.”
“Yes,” Ri said quietly. “I believe he thinks any joy he reaches to will end the same way. Destroyed because of him.”
255/257 To Choose
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Beatrice scoffed softly. “That is unfair.”
“It is,” Ri agreed. “But grief rarely listens to fairness.”
Beatrice leaned back, staring at the ceiling. “The mate pull ruined everything,”
Ri lifted her brows slightly. “You sound very certain.”
“I am,” Beatrice said without hesitation. “And I am grateful it no longer exists.”
Ri tilted her head. “You truly believe that?”
“Absolutely,” Beatrice replied. “Imagine this. You are in a rtionship with someone you love. You choose them. You build something real. Then suddenly another person appears, and your emotions betray you. Your body, your instincts, everything pulling you toward someone else.”
She shook her head. “That is cruel. That is not fate. That is maniption.”
Ri’s expression darkened slightly.
“I know,” Beatrice continued. “At least now, without the werewolf instincts controlling us, we have free will. We can choose who we love. Who we stay with. Without some invisible force rewriting our emotions.” She looked at Ri. “That matters.”
Ri nodded slowly. “It does.” Her gaze drifted briefly to the window, memories stirring. “I became a victim of the mate pull myself.”
Beatrice straightened. “Cain.”
“Yes,” Ri said softly. “He used it. Twisted it. Made me believe what I felt was destiny when it was nothing but maniptionyered on instinct.” Her hands tightened slightly. “Without the mate pull, he would never have had that power over me.”
Silence settled between them. Then Ri’s eyes sharpened with a sudden spark of thought.
“Perhaps,” she said slowly, “Uriel needs to be pushed.”
Beatrice looked at her sharply. “Pushed how?”
Ri’s lips curved into a thoughtful smile. “Sometimes the only way to make someone face their feelings is to remind them they are not the only choice.”
Beatrice blinked. “I do not follow.”
Ri leaned back, clearly pleased with herself now. “A ball.”
Beatrice stared. “A ball.”
“Yes,” Ri said, warming to the idea. “One prepared specifically for you with all eligible, unmarried nobles invited. A proper prospect gathering.”
Beatrice’s eyes widened. “You want to parade me in front of potential suitors?”
“I want to remind Uriel that if he continues pretending you do not matter, someone else will not,” Ri replied calmly.
Beatrice hesitated for only a second. Then she smiled, slowly but brightly.
“I like it,” she said.
Riughed. “Of course you do.”
“If he thinks I will wait forever while he hides behind guilt,” Beatrice said, lifting her chin, “he is mistaken.”
“That is the spirit,” Ri said approvingly,
Beatrice’s smile softened, something hopeful shining beneath it. do not want to force him. I just want him to choose.”
255/257. To Choose
“And now,” Ri said gently, “he may finally have to.”
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Liam Prescott