Chapter 74
The Palsen estate was unusually quiet that afternoon.
Bella sat alone in the rose garden, absentmindedly running her fingers over a white rose. A gentle breeze stirred the petals, but it did nothing to calm the storm inside her heart.
For years...She had believed she would become queen.
She had imagined standing beside Lucian, wearing the royal crown, proving every noble who whispered about her birth wrong.
Instead...She had been left behind.
A single tear slipped down her cheek before she angrily brushed it away.
"I will not cry over him again."
Footsteps approached.
Her grandmother, Lady Margaret, slowly sat beside her.
Neither woman spoke for several moments.
Finally, Margaret sighed.
"So... it is truly over."
Bella gave a bitter laugh.
"It ended long ago."
"You simply refused to admit it."
Bella lowered her eyes.
"I thought if I waited... if I stayed close to him... he would remember what we had."
Margaret gently took Bella's hand.
"My child. You loved the dream more than the man."
Bella remained silent.
The words hurt because they were true.
She had spent years chasing a future that no longer existed.
"I lost," Bella whispered.
"No."
Margaret smiled gently.
"You simply chose the wrong battlefield."
Bella looked at her grandmother.
"You are beautiful. You are intelligent. You understand noble society better than most women twice your age. You have charm.......... But you placed your entire future in one man's hands."
Bella slowly looked away.
"I suppose I did."
Margaret squeezed her hand.
"There are many roads to happiness."
Bella smiled sadly.
"I don't even know what happiness looks like anymore."
Just then a servant approached.
"My Lady... Lord Charles Ashford has arrived."
Bella blinked.
"Charles?"
A few minutes later, Charles entered the garden carrying two small paper bags.
Bella frowned.
"What are those?"
Charles looked inside the bags dramatically.
"My dignity."
Bella raised an eyebrow.
"I lost it while buying these."
He handed her one bag.
Bella opened it. Inside were freshly baked honey pastries.
Her favourite.
She looked up in surprise, "You remembered?"
Charles shrugged casually, "You cry less when you're eating."
Bella couldn't help it.
She laughed. A real laugh.
Charles smiled.
"There she is. The terrifying Lady Bella I know. I was beginning to worry someone had replaced you."
Bella shook her head, "You always joke."
"Someone has to ", He leaned back comfortably.
"Life is miserable enough without helping it."
Silence settled between them.
Unlike with Lucian...It wasn't uncomfortable.
Charles finally spoke, "I heard."
Bella nodded, "So, everyone has."
"I don't pity you."
Bella looked at him in surprise, "I hate pity."
"So do I.", He picked up another pastry.
"I do, however...", He paused, "...hate seeing my friend hurting."
Bella stared at him.
Friend.
Not Lady Bella.
Not a political match.
Just...His friend.
Charles smiled softly, "You know...I've always admired you."
Bella laughed, "For what?"
"You survived noble ladies. That's harder than surviving war."
Bella burst into laughter, "You are ridiculous."
"I've been told."
Another comfortable silence followed.
Charles looked toward the roses.
"My mother has been trying to force me into marriage."
"My father too ", Bella smiled knowingly.
"Mine has started again as well."
Charles nodded, "They've even started introducing ladies."
"My condolences."
"They all ask the same questions."
He cleared his throat dramatically.
"'What are your hobbies? Do you enjoy poetry? Would you fight a dragon for me?'"
Bella laughed so hard tears formed in her eyes.
"And would you?"
Charles pretended to think deeply, "Depends."
"On what?"
"How big the dragon is."
Bella shook her head, "You really are hopeless."
"So, they tell me.", He looked at her seriously.
"I've known you almost our entire lives.... You've seen me embarrass myself more times than I can count.... And you've never laughed at me."
Bella smiled, "I laughed on the inside."
"I knew it."
She laughed again.
Charles' expression softened.
"Bella...If you are ever tired of pretending to be strong, you don't have to pretend around me."
The smile slowly disappeared from her face.
No grand declaration.
No dramatic promises.
Just...Quiet understanding.
She suddenly realized something.
With Lucian...
She had always tried to become the woman she thought he wanted.
With Charles...
She had never needed to pretend.
He already knew every stubborn, sarcastic, difficult part of her...
...and stayed anyway.
She looked at him for a long moment, "Charles..."
"If...", She hesitated, "If one day our parents suggested marriage..."
Charles nearly dropped his pastry, "I wasn't expecting that question."
Bella smiled shyly, "I'm simply asking."
Charles thought for a moment.
Then smiled.
"I think..."
"I would spend the rest of my life laughing."
Bella looked confused, "Why?"
"Because no one else could argue with me as professionally as you."
Bella rolled her eyes, "You've ruined the moment."
"I know."
"It's my greatest talent."
She laughed again.
This time...It came naturally.
Perhaps...
Not every love story began with butterflies.
Some began with friendship.
With laughter.
With understanding.
As Charles walked her back toward the manor, Bella glanced once toward the distant royal palace.
The ache in her heart remained.
She no longer wanted Lucian.
But she could never forget what had happened.
And somewhere deep inside...
The name Aurora Ambrose still stirred a quiet bitterness.
Not because Aurora had stolen Lucian.
But because Aurora had unknowingly become the measure against which Bella had always felt herself compared.
She sighed softly.
Perhaps one day...She would let that resentment go.
But today...
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