Chapter 94: Not her home

Chapter 94: Not her home The hall went silent, and even the music stopped for that moment; Abrielle was stunned and aggrieved. She knew what was happening. This was an incident in the novel that had just been enacted by her. Callista, being accompanied by the crown prince to his victory banquet, is humiliated by the scornful wife of the first prince, who is jealous of the attention Callista is receiving because Cedric is considered Lucian’s rival. Callista’s eyes welled with tears, unable to stand the humiliation, and she ran out of the hall, followed by Lucian. Abrielle didn’t bother to search for Cedric. She knew he would be arriving about now. Just as expected, she was yanked off the floor and then pulled out of the hall under the judging gaze of Cedric. Her eyes were on his broad shoulders as he took her away. Abrielle bit her cheeks as she tried to control the urge to cry, even though she didn’t want to cry, but the tears started to flow. How was this happening? She had avoided staying close to the entrance, but the incident still happened, and most importantly, why was Callista wearing a blue dress the same as her instead of the red dress? Everything ended up happening just like the plot; Callista ended up matching outfits with her, and she was about to be reprimanded by Cedric, who thinks she deliberately poured the wine on Callista. Abrielle tripped, almost falling again, but was stopped on time by Cedric, who was now looking at her with teary eyes. His fingers curled into fists. "Don’t believe her pitiful expression she is pretending. A scornful scheming woman." A voice whispered, that same annoying voice. He gritted his teeth because how could that expression be fake when she looked genuinely aggrieved? He was already in a bad mood after discovering the shift in support as more nobles were leaning towards Lucian after winning his first war, which was nothing compared to the feat he had achieved in battle. That aside, the entire day, he had been busy in the palace working on the investigation as requested, so he could not accompany Abrielle for the victory banquet, but the moment he saw her looking breathtaking in blue, accompanied by Alfonso, that rage doubled. "Why did you do it?" He asked because, from the outside view, it seemed like Abrielle deliberately spilt the wine on Callista, but he didn’t want to believe that. A part of him wanted to believe she wasn’t vicious like everyone says, including that haunting voice. He was expecting her to say, I didn’t do it on purpose. It was an accident, and even if she was lying, he would have accepted her answer. "I did it because I was a vicious, jealous woman who couldn’t stand the fact that she was wearing the same dress as me," Abrielle said while bowing her head. She didn’t want to look at him. The judging gaze he might be giving her. Cedric’s jaw clenched and his gaze sharpened. She admitted it, "but was..." He didn’t want to accept it, remembering her gaze from earlier and how helpless she seemed. "But what Cedric?" She snapped at him, still bowing her head. "Would you believe it if I said it was an accident and didn’t wish we wore the same dress? That I don’t care if she has the spotlight." She asked, leaving him speechless. Would he have believed otherwise Cedric asked himself. She gave him the answer, and he believed it, which is why he was doubting. "Try to think about your actions, or rather, go back home." He groaned in frustration about how to handle the situation. He has to find a way to salvage her reputation; it was her official first event as his wife, and this happened. "That place isn’t my home," Abrielle muttered; his pretty castle that was actually a cage wasn’t her home nor this Kingdom. She didn’t belong here. Cedric was stunned by her answer, his mind went to her failed assassination attempts. "All she wants is to kill you and end up with Lucian. Don’t you remember how she was looking at him? He would always be better." The voice told him. That wasn’t true, Lucian was not superior to him. What was wrong with him? It was like his thoughts were divided into parts, urging him to hate based on the facts available. Why? The other wanted to blindly believe her, but how could he believe someone who wanted him dead? "Unfortunately for you, my home is now yours." He then left. He could not stand seeing her broken, she could not even look at him. The voice kept on telling him it was an act she was putting on to fool him, but all he really wanted to do was pull her into a hug and tell her it was alright, yet he couldn’t. As soon as Cedric was gone, a whimper was heard. Why was she crying when he was acting according to how the plot predicted? No one would believe her; she was the lonely villainess who sought out her husband’s love but never got it. She was hoping for a comforting word from him, but it would never happen. The Cedric that teased her and actually gave a fuck about her was gone the moment Callista arrived. "Why do I even care?" She muttered her emotions in disarray. "It is because you love, or rather like, him. He is your husband after all." She heard the familiar annoying masculine voice. She glanced up to meet Alfonso’s blue eyes. "Love him, that is ridiculous." She scoffed. This was all the plot; it wanted her to have feelings for Cedric so that everything would act out perfectly. Alfonso smiled and then gave her a handkerchief. "Wipe off your tears; if you stay here, it will make you appear more guilty. This is your first impression to the public." She heard Alfonso urge her, his gaze was weirdly warm. Abrielle accepted the hankie, "Why are you here?" She asked him. "To give you a comforting hug knowing you deserve one. Your first appearance was ruined because of a clumsy mistake." He said pulling her into a hug that stunned her. Close to the entrance, a tall figure was approaching. After debating with the annoying voice in his head that kept on forcing him to think that she was all bad and evil. He could not forget that gaze all he truly wanted was to give his wife a comforting hug. Was it crazy if he didn’t care that she wanted him dead and just wanted her not to look hurt? He was crazy to care about her, but his feet froze when he saw her in the arms of another man, clinging onto him. Without saying a word he left because he could not bear it. Why couldn’t he be her home?