Earning the Love of a Princess-Chapter 275: Violet: Trust Me

Ilse leaned forward to press her forehead to the prince’s chest as she blew out a shuddering breath. Laughing quietly, Leo stroked her back in a manner that almost appeared tender to Violet’s shocked eyes.

"Is it as pleasurable for everyone else?" Ilse rasped. Her frame continued to tremble in the prince’s embrace as she pushed down her bunched skirts.

"That was only the beginning of it." Leo said. "You can stay here a little longer, can’t you? I can show you the rest."

"Maybe a little longer." Ilse looked up and Violet wanted to slap the silly, dreamy expression off her face. "But I’ll need to get ready for attending Her Majesty at dinner."

"My mother has a dozen ladies to wait on her. Surely she can do without your company for one night, can’t she?"

Ilse shook her head gently. "I genuinely like Her Majesty’s company and she has been melancholy. I think it’s because her health has not been the best. I don’t mind being at her side at all."

Violet saw Leo wrap an arm behind Ilse’s backside and pull her body hard against his own. She couldn’t see his face but heard the smile in his voice. "Are you suggesting that you prefer her company to mine? That wounds me, you little vixen."

"Of course not! But a lady can’t just disappear for hours without raising any questions." Ilse sighed. "Vy’s always talking about how important our reputations are and sometimes it makes me want to pull my hair out. But she’s right."

"Oh, her. I suppose if you don’t show up soon, your difficult sister will probably turn the castle upside down looking for you?"

"Shhhh." Violet heard Ilse’s quick murmur of protest. "Don’t talk about her that way. Vy means well, she just has a funny way of showing it."

"Really? Then tell the moody little wench to smile more and to stop giving herself airs. She walks around looking like she thinks she’s the smartest creature under the sun. No man wants a woman who thinks herself smarter that him. If she’s so clever, why doesn’t she know that?"

Violet clenched her fists so hard that she felt her nails digging painfully into her soft palms. Why wasn’t her own sister defending her more fiercely?

"I’ll wager you a ducat that the moment you go back to your chamber, she’ll demand to know where you’ve been." the prince continued. "She strikes me as the jealous sort."

Ilse shook her head and wrapped her arms around Leo’s neck. "She knows to just let me be, as I do with her. Vy and I trust each other. We turn to each other when we’re struggling, of course. But right now, I’m not struggling. I think that right now, I’m exactly where I should be."

Violet heard Leo laugh again as Ilse pulled his face down to hers for another kiss.

If she hadn’t clapped a hand over her mouth at that very moment, Violet knew she would’ve screamed out loud. Instead, she turned away from the door and pressed her back against the stone wall, shaking with silent rage.

She could hear the sounds of Leo and Ilse kissing heatedly again, every moan and sigh. Unable to bear it a moment longer, she tiptoed away. As soon as she turned the corridor corner, she began to run.

Violet ran through the castle, driven forward to put as much distance between herself and her sister. She swept through spaces without looking at where she was going, occasionally bumping into people without bothering to apologise.

Eventually, her burning lungs forced her to slow down. Looking around, she realised her feet had instinctively carried her to the castle’s western wing. Violet tried to calm her frantic breathing as she made her way down the corridor to her bedchamber. The last thing she needed was to run into a gossipy lady-in-waiting and be seen looking upset and out of breath.

Violet stepped into her dim bedchamber and shut the door behind her. For a second, she stood, unable to move. The room suddenly felt cramped and oppressive, as if she was being forced to share the space with a stranger.

She sat down on a corner of the bed, determined to wait for Ilse and confront her. Violet swore she’d tell her, in great detail, how shameful her actions in that little storeroom were.

Violet waited. As the minutes dragged on, she heard the chapel bell tolling the quarter hour, then the half hour.

Still no sign of her twin. She waited.

Violet tried desperately not to think about why Ilse was taking so long to return to their room, but she failed. As much as she tried to shut it out, the little voice in her mind taunted her with question after cruel question.

Were Ilse and Leo still alone? Were they lying together that very moment?

Was Ilse shaking and crying out with pleasure under the prince’s hands again?

What would it be like to be touched by a man and know that he desired you, Violet couldn’t help but wonder? Not just any man either, but one that was obviously skilled enough at the act to make a woman moan and pant so shamelessly.

Lord, she hated them in that moment, hated them both. Prince Leo for being a typical, shortsighted man and chasing a pretty face with no substance behind it.

And now she hated Ilse for taking an opportunity that should’ve been Violet’s.

That was the crux of the issue, wasn’t it? That was why Violet felt almost sick with anger. Not because she cared whether Ilse had been immodest or not.

But because it should’ve been Violet in Leo’s arms all along.

She was the sister that could’ve take greater advantage of the prince’s attention. She knew she could’ve used his lust as leverage to increase her own influence, if only given the chance. She might’ve even succeeded in manipulating the prince into helping the Duchy of Orravalo clear some of its debts!

Violet had no great illusions about being able to hold such a shallow man’s attention in the long term - who could, really? Prince Leo’s attention would inevitably wane, no matter how beautiful or brilliant a woman was. But she would’ve plotted carefully and used her time under his gaze wisely.

Whereas Ilse would have no idea how to strategise! She’d end up just squandering such a golden opportunity. By the time Leo turned his back on her, she’d have nothing to show but a ruined reputation.

"Damn you, Ilse." Violet muttered bitterly. "Damn you for always getting to enjoy life’s gifts first and leaving nothing for me."

- - -

She was so caught up in her dark thoughts that she was actually surprised when the bedchamber door slowly swung open.

"Ah, sister. Where have you been?"

Ilse’s slim frame seemed to almost jump with shock when she heard Violet’s voice asking the question. She turned around, eyes searching the shadowy room, until she saw her twin on their bed.

"Oh lord! You nearly scared me to death, Vy!" Ilse laughed shakily. "I didn’t even see you at first. Why haven’t you lit any candles in here instead of just sitting in the dark?"

"You didn’t answer my question." Violet replied very calmly. "I asked where you’ve been."

The way Ilse’s eyes slid away guiltily was hard to miss. So were her flushed cheeks and swollen, rosy lips. "I was out for a walk around the south gardens." she finally replied.

"The gardens? In the middle of a lightning storm and yet your gown doesn’t have a drop of water on it? Try again, Ilse."

"Why do you want to know so badly where I was? It’s not important. Trust me." Ilse tugged off her circlet and veil, tossing both onto the room’s single bedside table.

Violet raised her brows. "It’s a little hard to trust you when you’re lying to my face so openly. Especially when you’ve never kept anything from me before."

Ilse had the decency to look shamefaced. "I know, Vy. I guess...just know that there’s a few things I’m not yet ready to talk about. But I promise I was safe and unharmed." She began unbraiding her hair and the gold streaked waves spilled down her back. Violet felt a surge of envy at seeing Ilse’s glossy mane.

Envy seemed to be the order of the day, she mused sullenly.

"You were with a man all this time, weren’t you?"

Ilse sucked in a sharp breath, unprepared for her twin’s directness. She quickly looked away again and made a show of combing her hair with her fingers. "Why would you ask me such a thing?"

"Because I saw you." Violet said, her voice flat and heavy. "I saw what you did."

"What do you mean? You saw what?" Ilse gave her the wide eyed look that had fooled so many in the past.

It won’t fool me, Violet thought grimly. Not this time.