Claimed By The Tyrant King

Right...

School.

Julian hadn’t thought about it in a long time. Ever since they had escaped from Westmere, everything had happened so quickly that lessons and books had become the last thing on his mind.

"But... but I don’t want to go," Julian said with a pout. "I want to stay here."

Rebecca narrowed her eyes at him. "Is this because you don’t want to return to school?" she asked suspiciously.

Julian avoided her gaze, and when he didn’t answer, Rebecca let out a knowing sigh. "I knew it," she said, folding her arms across her chest. "You’ve had some time away from your studies, and now you’ve convinced yourself that you don’t have to go back anymore."

"You don’t even understand," Julian muttered bitterly.

His brows knitted together in frustration, and before Rebecca could say anything else, he climbed down from the chair with a huff. Keeping his head lowered and his lips pressed into a stubborn line, he marched straight toward the door. "Julian?" Rebecca called after him.

But he didn’t stop.

"Julian!"

The door opened and closed behind him before she could catch up, leaving Rebecca standing there with a weary sigh. She raised a hand to her forehead and gently rubbed her temple.

"The nerve of that child," she whispered to herself, although there wasn’t any real anger in her voice. She knew he was only upset because leaving the palace meant saying goodbye to the people he had come to love.

She had barely finished sighing when the door opened once again.

Thinking Julian had changed his mind, she instinctively looked up, only for her eyes to widen in surprise. "C... Cedric?"

He stood quietly at the doorway, his broad frame filling most of the entrance.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, unable to hide the shock in her voice.

Cedric didn’t answer immediately.

Instead, his gaze slowly drifted past her shoulder until it landed on the wooden box resting on the bed, along with the neatly folded clothes and packed belongings surrounding it.

Rebecca’s heart skipped a beat. Almost instinctively, she stepped sideways and stood in front of the box, shielding it from his view before offering him an awkward smile. "Did... did you need me for something?" she asked.

Cedric slowly shook his head.

Rebecca blinked. "Oh?"

A puzzled look crossed her face. "Then... why have you come?"

Cedric remained silent before finally speaking. "It looks like you weren’t planning to tell me anything," he said quietly. "You were just going to leave and let me find out after you were already gone."

Rebecca’s lips parted in surprise before closing again. She looked almost like a fish searching for words, but none came.

After a moment, she slowly shook her head. "No... that’s not what I intended," she replied softly.

Cedric’s expression remained calm. "Then why?" There was no accusation in his voice, If anything, there was only quiet disappointment.

Rebecca lowered her eyes and slowly turned away from him, unable to meet his gaze. "I..." she began before taking a slow breath. "I wasn’t ready yet."

The room fell silent.

Cedric, after a long moment, let out a quiet breath of his own.

Rebecca eventually turned back to face him. "But..." she asked softly, "how did you even find out?"

Cedric reached up and scratched the back of his neck. "Actually..." he admitted, looking a little awkward himself, "I went to the garden because I wanted to report something to His Majesty."

Rebecca listened quietly. "I arrived just as Their Majesties were talking," he continued. "I didn’t mean to overhear the conversation, and I left immediately."

His gaze dropped briefly. "But..." He paused before looking back at her. "I couldn’t stop thinking about what I’d heard."

The words had stayed with him long after he walked away because, he realized that now it was for real.

He hadn’t come to see her immediately after overhearing the conversation. Instead, he had spent a long while thinking about it, trying to understand why the news had unsettled him so much.

No matter how he looked at it, he couldn’t accept that Rebecca and Julian would really be leaving. Then, when he had finally decided to come to her chamber, he had unintentionally overheard the conversation between her and Julian as well. He had watched the little boy walk out with a deep frown on his face, and although he hadn’t meant to hear any of it, he had simply arrived at the wrong moment. Quietly, he explained everything to her.

Rebecca listened before letting out a slow sigh. She crossed the room and lowered herself onto the edge of the bed, her gaze falling on the half-packed belongings beside her. "Their Majesties gave Julian and me a place to stay when we had nowhere else to go," she said softly. "They gave us safety when we needed it most, and I’ll never forget that for as long as I live. But this palace was never meant to become our home forever. Julian deserves a place he can truly call his own, and I want to build a life that belongs to us instead of spending the rest of our lives living here as guests."

Cedric remained silent for a moment before speaking. "But what happens when your decision clashes with your son’s happiness?" he asked calmly, his eyes never leaving hers. Because this wasn’t a choice that would affect her but both of them.

Rebecca lowered her gaze for a brief moment before looking back at his and she sighed.

She folded her hands together on her lap as she continued. " But I do want him to have a permanent home, somewhere he truly belongs"

Cedric understood her reasoning. He truly did.

Yet for some reason, it still didn’t make the thought of her leaving any easier to accept.

After a brief silence, he finally asked, "Will you go to Merovia?"

Rebecca answered with a faint smile. "Probably..." she answered before slowly shaking her head. "Or perhaps somewhere else entirely"

Cedric watched Rebecca quietly. His eyes remained fixed on her, but his mind was elsewhere, wrestling with the words he had been trying to gather ever since he learned she was leaving. His heart thudded heavily against his chest, so loudly that he was certain she would hear it if the silence stretched on any longer.

Finally, before he could lose his courage, he spoke. "...Or would you perhaps live with me?"

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