Chapter 120: Between Threats and Kisses

"Do not ever try to lay a finger on me again," Darius said coldly. "I don’t care who you are or what you think you deserve. You have already insulted Basil once today, and I won’t tolerate you coming near me as though you have any claim over my life."

He took a step closer, his eyes hardening.

"And as for the insult you threw at Basil today, you had better watch yourself. I will make sure you pay for it. Don’t mistake the king’s decision to end this engagement for a guarantee that you will escape the consequences of your own words."

"Darius," Basil said quietly.

The prince’s expression softened almost imperceptibly as he turned toward him. He stepped to Basil’s side, then guided him toward the door, making it clear that he had no intention of wasting another moment in the room.

Sonia remained on the floor, watching them leave. Her mind struggled to catch up with what had happened. The engagement was over.

The king had rejected her, the queen had humiliated her, and Darius had shoved her aside as though she were nothing.

The future she had been so certain of only moments ago had vanished before her eyes.

Eleanor helped her to her feet and held her close, shooting a furious glance toward the doorway through which the princes had disappeared.

Jonathan, meanwhile, remained seated.

He barely noticed his wife’s efforts to comfort their daughter. His mind was occupied with Darius’s final threat, replaying the prince’s cold expression and the absolute certainty in his voice. Having witnessed Darius’s temper and ruthlessness firsthand, and seen how he had dealt with the Thorn family, Jonathan was certain that no amount of political influence would protect his family if Prince Darius decided to make good on his promise.

The prince was not one to hesitate when someone crossed him, nor was he one to show concern for the consequences of his actions.

He had never been one to think twice before acting on his anger or to make an effort to preserve appearances when angered. He had also never seemed to care about anyone other than Prince Basil. That last part was what Jonathan found particularly strange, considering that the two princes had known each other for less than three months.

Jonathan slowly rose from his seat, his jaw tightening. He had to find a way to protect his family, and there was no way he would let this engagement end just like that.

*****

"Are you okay?"

Darius sat so close to Basil on the sofa in his suite’s sitting area that their shoulders nearly touched. His body was angled toward his brother, and his gaze remained fixed on Basil’s face, carefully studying every shift in his expression as though searching for any sign of distress he might be trying to conceal.

Basil turned to look at him, one eyebrow lifting. "Why wouldn’t I be okay?"

Darius shrugged, though his eyes remained serious. "I don’t know. Perhaps because the girl you were supposed to marry just spent an entire meeting insulting you in front of your family, then lost the engagement and immediately tried to replace you with me."

Basil stared at him for a moment before letting out a quiet sigh. "And why exactly would that bother me?"

"Because you were engaged to her for years?" Darius suggested. "Because your families had an arrangement, and now it’s over? I thought perhaps you might be upset about how everything turned out."

"Darius, I never loved Sonia." Basil’s answer was immediate, without the slightest hesitation. "If things had been different, if she had never insulted me, I might have married her simply because it was expected of me. Our engagement was an obligation, nothing more. I would have gone through with it because I was raised to believe that I had a duty to fulfil, not because I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her."

He paused, watching Darius’s expression.

"And even if things..." He hesitated, searching for the right words. "Even if things between us hadn’t become what they are now, that wouldn’t have changed anything. I never looked at Sonia and imagined a future with her. So, no, I’m not heartbroken over a marriage I never wanted in the first place."

Darius studied him for another moment, as though making certain he meant every word. The tension that had settled in his shoulders since they left the reception room finally began to ease. He had been worried that, beneath Basil’s calm exterior, there might be some hurt he was refusing to acknowledge. After all, an engagement was not something one simply walked away from without consequence, especially one that had existed for so many years.

But hearing Basil speak so plainly, without regret or hesitation, brought him a relief he had no intention of examining too closely.

"I’m happy to hear that," Darius said, a smile slowly spreading across his face.

Basil narrowed his eyes at him. "You’re strange."

"Am I?"

"Yes. Very strange."

Darius’s smile widened. Before Basil could ask what he found so amusing, Darius leaned over and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek.

Basil immediately turned toward him, startled. "What do you think you’re doing?"

"Kissing you."

"I can see that. Why?"

"Because I want to."

Darius leaned in again, planting another kiss on Basil’s cheek before he could move away.

"Darius!" Basil protested, pushing at his shoulder. "Please stop."

Instead of listening, Darius tilted his head and aimed for the other cheek.

"Don’t start," Basil warned, trying to hold him back with both hands. "I’m serious. Don’t you dare start."

Darius drew back just enough to look at him, his expression so innocently pleased that Basil immediately became suspicious.

"Don’t you dare."

"I haven’t done anything."

"You just kissed me twice!"

"Aww, you’re counting. How sweet. But I can’t help it. You look so kissable."

"Darius!"

Darius leaned forward again, this time pursing his lips as he aimed for Basil’s mouth. Basil immediately pressed a hand against his face, holding him at arm’s length.

"No! Absolutely not!"

Darius tried to move around his hand.

Basil pushed his face away.

Darius tilted to the other side while Basil followed him, keeping his palm firmly planted against Darius’s cheek. For several seconds, they struggled like that, with Darius stubbornly trying to reach him and Basil doing everything in his power to keep their mouths apart. Darius even stuck out his lower lip in an exaggerated pout, making a disgruntled "Mmmph!" sound and looking so ridiculously aggrieved that Basil could no longer maintain his stern expression.

A laugh escaped him.

He tried to suppress it, but another followed, and soon he was laughing so hard that he had to lean away from Darius to catch his breath.

"If only you knew how you looked!" Basil managed between laughs. "You look so stupid!"

Darius finally stopped trying to kiss him. He sat back, watching Basil with a smile that had lost all its teasing arrogance and softened into something far more tender.

"Perhaps," he said. "But at least I made you laugh."

Basil’s laughter gradually subsided, though the smile remained on his face.

Darius looked at him for a long moment. Ever since they had left the reception room, Basil had carried himself with his usual composure, but Darius had noticed the subtle difference in him. He had been quieter, his expressions more restrained, as though he had retreated into himself while everyone else dealt with the consequences of Sonia’s behaviour.

Now, however, his face had brightened. His eyes sparkled, and there was a warmth in his expression that made him look almost radiant.

Darius was glad. More than glad, really. If he could make Basil smile like this, even after everything that had happened, then he wanted to keep doing it. He wanted to be the reason Basil laughed, the person who could draw him out of his thoughts when the world became too much, and the one who could make him feel that he never had to pretend to be unaffected when he was hurting.

He wanted to see that smile again and again.

"What are you staring at?" Basil asked, catching him in the act.

"You."

Basil blinked. "..."

"You’re so enchanting when you smile," Darius added, his gaze lingering on Basil’s face. "I could spend the entire day looking at you and still not get tired of it."

Basil rolled his eyes, but the corners of his mouth lifted again. "You really are strange."

"And you keep saying that as though it will make me stop."

"It might, if you have any sense."

"Then it’s a good thing I’ve never claimed to have any."

Basil shook his head, smiling despite himself.

He opened his mouth to say something, but the words never came as a knock sounded at the door. "Basil, are you in there?" the queen called from the other side. "I would like to speak with you for a moment."