A long pause of silence dragged on.

That moment of silence was probably for me. Rest in peace, Elizabeth, because that just killed me.

What the hell was Ashton saying? That was supposed to be a secret. Why was he just blurting it out like that? The betrothal was going to be broken anyways.

“You’re… you’re what?” Noah stuttered.

His face was a picture of immense shock. His eyes drifted to me and I tried to revive myself from my own shock.

“Betrothed,” Ashton repeated tauntingly.

“Ashton!” I gasped. I could feel the color draining from my face.

Kevin sighed and muttered something to himself.

“Is he serious?”

I glared at Ashton and then turned to Noah. His eyes were disbelieving and troubled.

“Yeah. Kind of.”

“Kind of?”

“It’s weird.”

“Betrothed? Not engaged, but betrothed? That still happens in this century?”

“It does if you have my luck,” I grumbled.

“Okay, that is…” Noah slumped against the wall. “Wow.”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you,” I sighed, going over to him. “It was supposed to be a secret.”

“My bad,” Ashton smirked.

“Anyways,” I ignored him, “It can be broken.”

“That’s good.” He breathed a sigh of relief. “But I thought only royals and nobles got… betrothed,” he winced at the word.

“Well…”

He looked down at me and I stared at my feet.

“Ashton,” Noah mumbled and then his eyes widened. “You’re the prince?”

“You figured it out,” Ashton clapped. “So there is a brain in there somewhere.”

“Turn the sarcasm off, Ashton,” I huffed.

Noah sighed, pretty shaken up at that fact. “I need to talk with you. Alone.”

I nodded and walked off with him. Ashton made to stop me, but I shot him a glare that reminded him that I was angry and he just sighed and decided to leave me alone. That was the best decision he’d made all day.

“He’s the actual prince? As in the real deal?” Noah asked when we’d gone a few feet away.

“Yeah. He’s the second son of the royal family. It is kind of hard to believe.”

“Kind of?”

“Okay, very hard to believe.”

“He’s such a jerk.”

I laughed at that description. It suited Ashton.

“He is. But he can be a nice guy when he wants to be.”

Noah scowled. “I don’t like him. How can someone so rude call themself a prince.”

“Hey, you can’t tell anyone about him being the prince,” I said softly. “It’s really important.”

“So what are you? Elizabeth by day and Princess Elizabeth by night?”

“I already told you that it’s not like that.”

“Then what is it like? Because this isn’t making any sense to me. He’s the prince,” he emphasized. “The name Queen E really suits you now,” he scoffed.

I took a step back. Well, that hurt.

He realized the way he said it and sighed. “I’m sorry… I don’t know what to believe anymore. How am I supposed to compete with a prince?”

“Compete? What are you competing for? And you don’t have to call him the prince,” I whispered the last part. “No-one else is supposed to know.”

“I won’t say anything,” he mumbled.

“I trust you,” I smiled and he gave me a sad smile.

We walked back over to where Ashton and Kevin were engrossed in conversation. I still refused to look at Ashton. He just blew his own cover for no reason.

The sky was dark now and it was getting colder. I rubbed my arms, wishing I’d worn something warmer.

“Are you cold?” Noah asked, immediately taking his jacket off. He wrapped it around my shoulders.

“Noe, you’ll be cold without it.”

“I’m fine, Queen E, believe me.”

Ashton watched wordlessly, and then looked at his watch. “We should go.”

“Bye.” I hissed.

“I meant together.”

“I know what you meant.”

Kevin chuckled at that.

“Look, if you hurt her in even the slightest way, you’ll regret it, believe me,” Noah warned. “And don’t give her a hard time at school.”

Ashton smirked at me. “We’ll see.”

“I’m serious,” Noah growled. “Believe me.”

“Whatever,” Ashton dismissed. He glanced at me and I huffed and looked away.

“We have a meeting tonight,” Kevin reminded Ashton with a yawn. “If you miss this one, Jackson will give me hell.” He smiled at me. “Bye, Liz.”

“Wait, I’m coming with you!”

“No you’re not,” Ashton said, catching me before I could escape.

Kevin flashed me a dazzling smile. “See you tomorrow,” he waved as he walked to his car.

That traitor! I rolled my eyes at him. I could still feel Ashton’s burning gaze on me.

“I hope you’re happy,” I huffed and he grinned deviously.

Noah sighed and kicked at the ground sullenly.

“You two could try being friends now,” I suggested with a smile.

“No.”

“Not a chance.”

“Come on guys. Hug it out and make up.”

“No way.”

“Not happening.”

I sighed as they both shot down my peace offer. I’d have to try again another time.

“You do know that what you heard today should stay here.”

“I know, your highness,” Noah retorted. “I won’t say anything. But I’m not doing this for you, believe me.” His eyes flickered to me.

“I thought that might be the case. Well, whatever your reason,” Ashton's voice became steely, “I trust you know better than to say anything.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Noah fanned him off and turned to me. “You sure you’ll be okay with him?”

“I’ll live,” I sighed forlornly.

“Okay,” he said slowly. He tucked a few strands of loose hair behind my ear. His eyes softened as he looked at me. “Be safe.”

“Let’s go,” Ashton said, taking my hand.

I pulled my hand from his and folded my arms.

“Bye Noe.”

“Bye, Queen E.”

Ashton looked slightly irritated at my reluctance to acknowledge him and stalked off to his car. I trailed behind him. He opened the door and I got in.

“Thank you, your highness,” I rolled my eyes.

He smirked. “You’re welcome, princess.”

I stared at him in annoyance. “I’m upset with you.”

“You don’t say. You’re not making it very obvious at all.”

“You might be more sarcastic than your brother.”

“I highly doubt that,” he laughed. “Cav would drive you crazy.”

“Did you have to do that?”

“What?”

“First you fight my best friend and then you tell him we’re betrothed.”

“Technically, I was your friend first,” he pouted.

“Were you?” I asked dubiously. “It’s kind of hard to imagine being friends with you.”

His pout turned into a scowl.

“And it wouldn’t kill you to slow down a little.”

He slowed his speed with another scowl.

“Thank you.” There was a beat of silence, so I asked, “Why did you tell him about the betrothal though?”

“Because I wanted to.”

“He found out that you’re the prince because of that.”

“Yeah. I had a feeling he would.”

“Yet you did it anyways.”

“I know he won’t say anything.”

“I know he won’t, but you don’t even know him. How could you be so sure about that?”

“Because revealing my identity would hurt you too, and I know he won’t do that. So, it doesn’t matter if he knows.”

“You should be more careful,” I sighed. “Your parents don’t want anyone to find out.”

“They’re all going to find out eventually,” he sighed. “The crown prince will have to be revealed soon. The whole kingdom’s curious and the government keeps fuelling them.”

“It’s an honor,” I said softly, “Despite everything, the majority still supports the monarchy. That’s why they want to see the crown prince.”

“It’s not my title though,” he muttered. “Cav should be the one doing this. He wants to, but the king won’t allow it.”

“You keep calling him the king… do you have to? Dad sounds more natural.”

“He’s more of a king than a father,” he spat. “He thinks it’s too risky for Cav to take the throne because he’s sick.”

“He told me about that,” I frowned. “He said it was a really rare sickness.”

“Yeah, less than 0.001% of the population has it. There’s no known cure.”

“It’s that rare?” I raised my eyebrows in surprise.

“Yeah,” he sighed. I glanced at him and just realized how tired he looked.

“You were gone the whole day. You must be tired.”

“I’m fine,” he lied, but a yawn gave him away. “I’ll be fine.”

“You’ll be fine when your body gets some rest. You should have told me you were tired. Noah could have driven me home.”

Ashton scowled. “As if I’d let him do that.”

“You know, Noah’s a really great friend of mine.”

“Then he should stay in the friend-zone where he belongs.”

“What?”

“Nothing.”

He pulled up at my house. “Looks like we’re here.”

I gave him a small smile. “Good night, Ashton.”

“Good night, Elizabeth.”

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