Chapter 356

Julian must have stormed out of the room, because in the next moment, he burst into the hallway. We were face to face, our eyes meeting, both pairs widened.

Was Bridget telling the truth? Did Julian truly have a crush on me?

Julian wasn’t denying it. But then, he wasn’t saying much of anything at the moment.

“Jul-an?” Elva asked.

Julian startled, as if he hadn’t realized she was there. He glanced down at her, and then back to me.

“Sorry, Elva,” he said, and then stepped around us and disappeared down the hallway.

Bridget came out next. “Don’t you dare ignore me, you – oh.” Her face, which had been twisted with anger, quickly shifted into a more neutral friendliness when she saw me. She didn’t smile, however, until she saw Elva beside me. “Good morning, you two.”

“G’morning,” Elva mumbled.

I didn’t return the good wishes. Instead, as the shock of learning of Julian’s crush subsided, I began to comprehend the other words of the argument between Bridget and Julian.

Julian had seemed certain that Bridget had known Ronan. Was that true? I didn’t want to believe it, but Bridget was starting to acquire far too many coincidences for me to give her the benefit of the doubt. It seemed like every time something terrible happened to me, she always had motive or opportunity.

If she did in this case as well…

There were too many coincidence. She needed to start telling the truth and not deflecting like she usually did. Less and less people were ready to defend her now. Maybe this was the time she would finally give straight answers.

“Bridget, are you intimate with Prince Ronan?” I asked.

Her phony smile immediately dropped. “God, you are just like Julian. Are you going to accuse me too? Of having something to do with this?”

I didn’t directly accuse her, but I supposed my silence might have given my opinion on the matter away.

Bridget puffed up her chest like a rooster about to crow. Her face split into an ugly glare. “Why would I need to interfere with the race, Piper? I’m the strongest swimmer and the best athlete here. What need would I have to cheat?”

“This isn’t about cheating,” I said. “I could have died, Bridget.”

“That’s not my fault. Maybe if you were a stronger swimmer, you wouldn’t have found yourself in that situation,” Bridget said.

I blinked, surprised by her cruelty. Was she… blaming me for my own near-drowning? No other species could swim as quickly and powerfully as even the laziest of the merfolk. Even a champion werewolf would not have been able to escape an attack like what happened to me.

“You are just trying to undermine my win,” Bridget snapped.

She was so out of touch. So self-absorbed. She couldn’t see beyond her own bubble, her own life. Maybe she really did have nothing to do with this, because she was too caught up in admiring herself to bother with me.

No, I couldn’t forget her hatred of me. Now that she knew Nicholas and I were secretly coupling, I imagined that hatred only grew.

I couldn’t write her off just because she was self-absorbed. I needed to remember that she was an actress and an expert at gaslighting.

“If you did have anything to do with Prince Ronan’s escape or his attack on me,” I said, “the truth will come out.”

“The truth will show I’m innocent,” Bridget said firmly.

As the others began to arrive for breakfast, I dropped the argument with Bridget, who seemed content on never speaking to me again, and we all walked into the dining room.

The arrangements were similar to before. By now the third table had been entirely removed and two tables remained. Two chairs were at the second table, presumably for Bridget and Nicholas, while the other table housed enough chairs for the rest of us.

Elva was a little shaken after the argument with Bridget, so I sat her between me and Veronica, who, when she saw the state Elva was in, began to cheer her up with small magic tricks. When Veronica made some colorful sparkles dance between her fingers, Elva finally brightened once more.

Jessica sat on the other side of me. She’d brought a book this morning, and placed it open beside her plate. It must have been a good book, because she seemed entirely engrossed. I made a mental note to ask her for a recommendation later.

The fifth chair at our table, the one meant for Julian, remained empty.

As the food began to be served and there was no sign of him, Veronica glanced at me with a question in her eyes. I didn’t know how to begin to answer her question.

Between Julian’s accusation of Bridget knowing Ronan, and Bridget’s accusation that Julian had a crush on me, the whole situation was a tangled knot I hadn’t untied.

“I’ll tell you later,” I mouthed.

Veronica nodded. Then her eyes went to the open door behind us. The way my chair was positioned, I couldn’t see what was there. When I turned, I saw that Nicholas had just arrived.

Nicholas frowned as he looked at the empty chair at Bridget’s table, the one he was expected to sit in. Slowly, his gaze shifted to the empty chair at our table, the one Julian had seemed to abandon for today.

Nicholas glanced between the two for a moment, then appeared to make up his mind. He moved straight for the chair at my table and sat down.

Veronica gave him a kind look. “Good morning, Prince Nicholas.”

“Nick-lass!” Elva cheered. Her mood had entirely lifted now. “Good morning!”

“Good morning, Veronica. Elva.” He returned each of their kind expressions. Then his eyes fell on me. “Good morning, Piper.”

Nicholas’s smile for me was softer than for the others. It warmed me from the inside out, healing all the cuts that fighting with Bridget had sliced into me.

“Good morning,” I said, and felt my heat cheeks. It was silly. So often I interacted with Nicholas, yet each time, my heart raced as if it was the first time all over again.

I remembered how handsome he had been at the Academy. He was nothing like he was now, merely a boy back then. But his smile was kind and his eyes so focused on me. Many other things had changed from then to now, but not this. Never this.

From the other table, Bridget scowled openly at us.

After breakfast, I was worried about Julian. If the crush rumor was true, or even if it wasn’t, he and I needed to have a talk.

I left Elva in the care of Veronica, Nicholas, and the nanny, and then went in search of Julian, following his direction from when I had last seen him before breakfast.

I found him outside on the deck, drinking a bloody mary. He was leaning up against the railing, resting on his elbows, with his drink placed in the space between him. Leaning like he was, he could reach the long straw placed into his drink.

He looked miserable.

I didn’t say anything, just came up beside him and leaned on the railing beside him.

He was obviously having a difficult time accepting what had been said with Bridget.

I didn’t want him to worry, so I decided to give him an out.

“You don’t need to explain to me,” I said. “I know you don’t have a crush on me. I won’t believe Bridget’s lies.”

Truthfully, I was unsure if the crush was real or not. But I offered this olive branch in the hopes that the denial would make Julian feel better.

Instead, he shook his head.

“Piper,” he said. “They aren’t lies.”