Chapter 46 - 44

Dahlia never finished telling her what had happened between their mother and Linda.

She had ended the story by telling Aurelia that Linda killed their mother, and before she could explain anything else, she started feeling very strong kicks that forced her to return to her room and rest.

Now, the only person Aurelia could probably rely on to tell her the rest of the story was Darius. Unfortunately, he didn’t seem to be in the mood to talk.

He stood across the room with his shoulders tense and his back turned toward her as he took off his shirt, preparing to change into his nightclothes.

Aurelia watched him from the bed, the warm light from the lamps illuminating his figure. She could see the tension in the way he moved, the stiffness in his shoulders, and the occasional clench of his jaw.

He was upset.

And it wasn’t hard knowledge to know it had everything to do with what happened at the dinner.

With everything that had happened, Aurelia was slowly beginning to wish she were back in the North. She would rather deal with the girls she had turned into trees and Diane’s constant annoyance than the tension hanging over this place.

At least she knew what to expect there.

Here, every conversation seemed to uncover another part log their family history, and she wasn’t sure how much more she could take without learning the whole thing.

Her lips parted, but she hesitated.

What was she supposed to say?

Darius was still standing with his back to her, pulling on a clean shirt. The soft rustle of fabric filled the room, but he didn’t say anything.

Aurelia shifted slightly against the pillows, watching him for another moment.

"So..." she started.

"The food at dinner was good," Aurelia said carefully, her eyes still on him.

Darius turned.

"What did Dahlia tell you?" he asked as he walked toward the bed.

Aurelia bit her lower lip, thinking about how to phrase her words. "She told me... about Linda and Aaron." She watched him sit at the side of the bed. "About your mother..."

His expression hardened.

Aurelia moved closer, wrapping her arms around his torso as she rested her cheek against his shoulder.

"It’s fine if you don’t want to talk about it..."

It wasn’t right to push him if he wasn’t ready to tell her. She closed her eyes, one hand resting against the curve of her stomach as she waited.

A few seconds passed.

"I once told you my father used to hit me..." he finally said.

Aurelia’s eyes snapped open. She straightened slightly, her gaze drifting toward his back. The memory of those deep gashes across his skin returned to her mind, and she felt that same unpleasant ache in her chest.

"Yes, I remember."

"He did that because I used to be better than Aaron." He scoffed. "He hated that I outshone his bastard..."

Oh.

Robert was another nominee for Parent of the Year.

She shifted closer, wrapping her arms around him.

"I’m sorry," she whispered. "Did your mother know?"

Darius didn’t answer immediately.

"Yes... sort of."

"Sort of?" Aurelia lifted her head, trying to get a better look at his expression. The candlelight cast shadows across his face, making his features appear harder than usual.

"She didn’t know he was hitting me. I never told her." He lifted his hands and buried his face in his palms. "I didn’t want to tell her that her husband was hitting her children. She was already so stressed out with Linda and all her schemes."

Aurelia’s arms tightened around him.

"It’s okay."

"She did find out. Eventually, I was probably twelve or thirteen." He lowered his hands, his gaze fixed somewhere in front of him. "That day, Father hadn’t been around, and I was sleeping. She found out about my scars."

Aurelia felt something tighten in her chest. She had a feeling this was the part of the story where everything went completely and utterly wrong.

"She marched to Father’s study. She was absolutely furious." His jaw tightened as he remembered. "Linda had been there. They got into a fight, and, long story short... I found Linda stabbing my mother."

She didn’t say anything just yet. The weight of his words settled between them, leaving her unsure of what she could possibly say to make any of it hurt less.

"You watched her kill your mother?" she asked softly, her heart aching for him.

"Yes."

Aurelia’s arms tightened around him, her fingers curling into the fabric of his shirt. She wanted to say something, anything, but every word that came to mind sounded useless.

Darius remained quiet, his gaze fixed somewhere over her shoulder. The candle beside the bed flickered, casting a soft glow across his face, but it did little to soften the pain in his expression.

"What happened after?" she asked carefully.

He swallowed, his jaw tightening.

"I don’t remember everything." His voice was low. "I remember shouting. I remember my mother falling, and Linda standing over her with the knife."

Aurelia felt her chest tighten.

"I remember screaming down the halls when she chased me." His words were starting to grow heavier, each one carrying the weight of something he had kept buried for years. "The servants heard me. They saw Linda chasing me with a bloodied knife."

He went quiet after that.

Aurelia couldn’t bring herself to ask any more questions. She could almost picture Darius as a child, running through the castle halls with fear and confusion written across his face, not knowing where to go or who would protect him.

"By morning, when Father came back, he had already told everyone that my mother had killed herself."

That bastard.

Aurelia tightened her arms around him, pulling him closer as her voice cracked. "I’m so sorry. You didn’t deserve that."

"He even refused to bury her in the royal cemetery." His voice trembled, and he lowered his gaze to his hands. "After that, there was no one left to care for us."

"Linda and her son became crueler. They were just evil, and Father watched every bit of it."

Aurelia’s arms tightened around him, her fingers gently gripping the back of his shirt.

"Is that why you left?" she asked softly.

"Yes." He answered quietly, his eyes lowering. "I was tired of his cruelty. For years, until I turned nineteen, he stole every victory I earned and put Aaron’s name on it. But what finally made me leave was..." He paused, his jaw tightening. "He wanted Aaron to qualify as Alpha in the eyes of the people so badly that he almost broke my legs to make it happen."

Aurelia stared at him, her heart sinking as she tried to imagine what he had endured.

This man was cruel.

The thought of it made her stomach turn, and she was sure pregnancy had nothing to do with it this time.

How could someone be so cruel to their own child? She might have been used to Asteria’s neglect, but at least her mother had never acted on the thoughts of physically harming her. Darius had grown up with something far worse, a father who had watched his suffering and allowed it to continue.

Her hands lifted to his cheeks, cupping them gently in her palms.

"You didn’t deserve that."

"I didn’t," he said, meeting her eyes.

"We both have horrible parents." She wasn’t sure why she’d said it to him at that moment, but it earned a small chuckle from Darius.

"We do." His hands covered hers against his face. His thumbs brushed lightly over her knuckles before he continued, "Let’s not be like them."

"Let’s not."

For a moment, neither of them said anything. They both couldn’t change the way their parents were but perhaps they could make sure their child never had to experience the same kind of pain.

The pain of neglect, abuse, and hatred. Aurelia wouldn’t let her child, or any child for that matter, experience that kind of cruelty.

She knew she wasn’t perfect, and neither was Darius, but they wouldn’t become monsters.

Aurelia was about to pull away when a knock suddenly came through the door. It was frantic and heavy, each bang making them turn toward it.

Their heads snapped in that direction.

"Who is it?"

"A servant!" came the hurried reply. "The Princess is about to give birth!"

___

Author’s Note:

Thank you so much for all the love and support you’ve been showing this story. ?? It genuinely means a lot to me.

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