Chp.29: Was it selfish?

On the day of Janice's wedding to Noah Gilbert.

"Wow Janice, finally you are getting married. How do you feel?" asked Baroness Bella who was helping Janice with her veil.

"I'm excited. I feel like I have found the person that I was supposed to find from ages ago." Said Janice as she stood there in her bridal gown.

"I hope we stay happily together forever." She said as she looked into the mirror.

"But how is King Welhem agreeing to have this marriage so silently. Isn't this like his insult?" asked Baroness Belle naively.

Janice snickered for a moment and said, "I feel sorry though, I thought I was saving Kyte." She said with cunningness hidden in her words.

Janice Tyler was no normal woman, to begin with. She was powerful in hiding things and telling half-truths in between the lines, but her special power was to make people fall for what she wanted them to see. Though Baroness Belle was herself the master of various fields of witchcraft arts, Janice was just not one but two steps above her.

Baroness never got to know what Janice meant by those words just like other people. But there was someone else who heard these words of Janice and decided to never fall in love with her.

"What are you doing her master?" a voice came and stood behind him as he was standing outside the door of Janice's Bridal room.

"Zen Belor.", said Noah in an almost inaudible voice.

But Zen was the captain of the guards at the Gilbert duchy, and so he was the sharpest.

"Yes sir." He responded in the same soft and low-pitched voice.

"Prepare a carriage for me and my soon-to-be wife. We will be going to our holiday villa as soon as we are done with the wedding." Ordered Noah. Zen bowed and took off for his job.

"Did I ever ask you to come and help me that night?" he thought to himself. His lips trembling to say those words and eyes desperate to know the complete truth as he saw Janice stand there in the purest and most beautiful bridal gown.

"Why did you have to save me? You saved me only because you thought I was Kyte? And now I am going to marry a woman who is already in love with someone else." Tears took place of the helpless emotions of his eyes.

He couldn't bring himself to go inside that room and tell Janice that she looked beautiful. That he was waiting for almost his entire life to meet the girl he always saw in his dreams who would help him to free himself from the curse that was taking his life. And loved him and only him.

He just couldn't tell her that he fell in love with her first. And that was the curse. The worst curse that just made it harder for him to breathe.

The hall was set and the priest was standing there along with Noah Gilbert. People with dazzling dresses and exquisite jewelry in the room.

"I am finally marrying him. The man for whom I tricked the entire kingdom. I don't know if it is a crime or not but one thing that I know is that I'll be happier if I am with him." She thought to herself.

It was time to walk down the aisle. The big doors to the room where everyone was, finally opened.

Everything was glittering and the sun rays made the windows of the chapel feel like the room was no less than heaven. But most importantly he stood there at the end of the room. With a black suit which was his family heirloom. A smile that made Janice's heart beat faster and a hand that made Janice smile even brightly.

He extended his hand towards her as she reached them, she gladly took her hand, but she felt a sense of unknown distance.

He quickly left her hand and she was shocked by his actions. "What is happening?" she thought.

"Maybe I just my illusion I guess." She let it go as some trivial matter.

But something inside her knew that something very wrong was going to happen. The priest started to narrate and they also said their vows. She looked into his eyes in hopes to find love and affection, but instead, it was lonely despair, and immense hate.

"Why? What is happening?" suddenly these words took place of the happiness that filled her since that night when she saw Noah and saved him.

It felt like the entire world that she was building got mixed with dust. The irony was, no one noticed it, just like the lies she was telling everyone since that night.

Things went on smoothly.

"I wish you happiness for life." Said Duke Gilbert, Noah's father.

"Thank you, father." Said both Noah and Janice as they accepted the blessings.

The wedding wasn't as grand as it was supposed to be but was rather very low-key. People who came were close confidants of both the Tylers and the Gilberts. Soon it was time for the wine and dance. Janice and Noah sat there.

She couldn't bring herself to ask Noah what happened, but still to start some kind of conversation she went ahead," I am sorry this all got planned so quickly. I should've been more mindful."

"I'm the one to apologize. You saved me and it seems like I ended your life." Said Noah with a sarcastic smirk. Janice couldn't put her finger on what he was trying to say.

As she was going to ask him what he meant, Zen Belor came forward to whisper something in Noah's ears.

"Call Rupert." Said Noah as he got up. Janice was completely clueless.

"Come. Let's meet someone special." Said Noah as he extended his hand towards Janice.

She held his hand and they started to walk to the side chamber. "Who does he want me to meet?" Janice was puzzled.

"Master, they are inside." Said Rupert who was standing by the door.

"How will you react Janice? How will you smile? How happy are you going to feel? I want to see it all. Though it will cut my heart into million pieces I want to know how much you love him." Noah thought to himself and opened the door.

As soon as Janice saw the people inside the room, she became pale and shocked to the point to get speechless. She was terrified.

"Your highness?" words came out of her mouth like a scared child. Trembling in fear but she controlled her expression to not show it.

"May you have a pleasant day your highness crown prince. I and my wife are delighted to have you at our wedding." Said Noah as he made a bow.

"How could you Janice?" Kyte directly went ahead to Janice who was standing behind Noah.

"You were engaged to me. I told you I will win and come back. Why did you have to do this to me?" he asked her expecting answers that Janice didn't want to give. His eyes were close to tearing with not a single shred of happiness for the war he won and came back.

He was broken. But she was broken too. Suddenly a wave of thoughts came to her as a pang of guilt.

Noah didn't seem interested a bit as to what was going on. He decided to stick to his own decision and not interfere with them.

"Is this karma? I can't get Noah's heart because I broke Kyte's?" she thought to herself at the moment.

But the answers to their questions were hidden deep in the past.

Who was right and who was wrong didn't matter for everyone did everything for themselves first.