Chapter Twenty-Five

It was Sunday in the afternoon already. Evan was sitting on an antique wooden chair with a puffy, comfortable seat as he played the prelude of Suite No.1 for cello by J.S Bach.

The afternoon sun rays lit his face and reflected on his glasses, something he always found annoying when practicing in a place with open windows. But he knew every string on the shaft by heart and how to play each note correctly, he played with closed eyes most of the time, this way, he'd feel a deeper connection with every sound that his cello made.

His cello was like his voice made a string instrument. Every word he couldn't speak, his cello spoke for him, every emotion he couldn't express, his cello showed for him.

Cellos, in his opinion, had a similarity with human voices. They could sound husky like the voice of a smoker, or sweet and melodic like the voice of a child.

Evan still couldn't believe that he possessed the ability to play such a majestic instrument…

The buzz of his phone interrupted the music he was making all of a sudden.

He put the bow aside carefully and checked the device: a message from Michel. Evan smiled goofily to himself, excited.

"Hey, love! How are you today?" Read the text, an emoji with hearts followed it.

He quickly texted him back:

"Pretty boring, I'm just playing the cello at the moment."

He saw Michel typing immediately.

"Well, that doesn't sound like something boring at all, my dear." Evan read, and then giggled. "Would you mind terribly if I started a video call?"

The redhead hurried and typed something to Michel back instantly.

"Of course not, but be quiet, okay? Don't call me sweet names or anything. Someone could hear us." He replied, and couldn't help but feel a bit crestfallen about it.

Michel replied with a simple thumbs-up emoji, and, after a couple of seconds, the video call started. Evan picked it up with no hesitation.

Michel was on the other side of the screen, smiling a toothy grin and his gorgeous eyes were shining brightly at the sight of Evan.

He seemed to be in a sort of gym, probably, since Evan saw some working-out devices behind the prince.

He had also done something to his hair: the front curls looked slicked back and the edge of one swirled graciously upwards, it also seemed he hadn't shaved his sideburns. He was wearing a simple white tank top. Apparently, he had been working out or something.

Evan couldn't find him more handsome and irresistible, he was indeed his prince charming…

"Hey!" He greeted from the other side of the screen.

"What's up? Working out day?" Evan teased and smiled flirtatiously.

"Yep, I work out on Sundays after lunch. Just by climbing all of those staircases up to my room, I digest all of the food." Michel responded, looking so excited about seeing his love again.

"Sounds fair, the Martís eat a lot, I'm just glad the food is indeed exquisite. It's been a while since I last worked out. In fact… I believe I haven't done it since high school…"

Michel let out a husky guffaw.

"How do you stay fit, then?" He inquired as he grabbed a bottle of water and sipped it a bit.

"I'm a leprechaun, I have magical cells in me that eat all of the fat."

Michel burst out in laughter. Almost spitting all of the water out of his mouth.

"Okay… You'll need to lend me those magical cells, then." Michel responded, making use of a joking tone of voice. "Jokes aside, if you ever stay the night at the palace, we could go jogging in the morning if you want to. I usually jog around the beach, I'm pretty sure you'll just love it."

Evan chuckled as he let his cheek rest on the palm of his free hand.

"Sounds like a good idea, but unfortunately I'm not really into sports, I couldn't be able to keep up with you… And you'll have to call an ambulance because I got sunstroke or something…" He joked again, even when his expression didn't look like he was actually doing so.

Michel laughed one more time. Evan loved it when he laughed, even more if it was due to his awful jokes. He simply felt tremendously happy when his love laughed.

"Alright, let's just change the subject, I can already see you sweating just from thinking about doing exercise." Michel stated. "What piece were you playing?"

"Just the Suite Number One by Bach, it's one of the most classics, and it's a bit complicated to play. But I like it, actually. I guess when you master it you begin to enjoy it and how it sounds." Evan replied, enthused by sharing his passion with his sweetheart.

"I think I've heard it before, but not completely. You'll need to record it one time and send it to me." Michel requested as he sketched a content, joyous smile, he did sound quite interested in it… And that made Evan feel glad and grateful.

"Sure, I'll do it. But also, didn't your father punish you? You know, for…" Evan rolled his eyes and pursed his lips to suppress a laugh. "Taking a stroll with me through the gardens to show me around?" He asked, wanting to burst out laughing, but clearly being unable to.

Michel let out a nasal laugh, also trying to hold back a couple of noisy guffaws.

"Yes, but I guess it's not a regular punishment after all… He just left me in charge of the next charity event's organization and stuff… Which might sound like an easy task right now, but I'm almost sure I'll terribly regret it when the moment comes…" Was the prince's answer.

"Oh, I see. What will be the next charity event? I didn't know the Royal Family took part in those." Evan inquired, hoping not to sound rude to Michel, the least he wanted was a fight just five days after having started something with him…

"We do, yes. Thankfully, our duties don't get limited to waving at the people and looking good for the cameras. Or at least my father doesn't like to limit them to just that, he raised us to take care of the country and be interested in our people's wishes and needs, to avoid being a decorative historic family, you know…" He tried his best to explain the matter.

It seemed that, after all, Avevia worked differently as a kingdom than the rest of the kingdoms that Evan knew. The Royal Family apparently took part in the political decisions and their words had weight, and they even worried about the less fortunate people living in their land… That was something admirable and that every monarchy should look up to.

"And the next charity event will be funding an animal shelter, lots of people will go and maybe they'll adopt a furry baby, I'll adopt a dog, in fact." He finished the explanation with a cheerful smile.

Evan's eyes opened widely at such an announcement. Michel was going to adopt a puppy!

"Really? That's awesome! Congratulations on being a dog dad, Your Highness!" Evan teased once more.

Michel burst out laughing again.

The prince was about to open his mouth to reply when suddenly, someone popped up in front of the playroom's glass doors: It was Gabrielle.

She was flashing a joyous grin and dressed in a cute coral pink summer jumpsuit with ruffled shoulder sleeves and a cotton belt with a large-sized bow of a lighter shade of pink. She was also holding what looked like music sheets in her hands.

She blurred her smile away when she saw Evan facetiming with Michel, looking as though she were feeling guilty about interrupting the pair of friends.

Such an expression didn't go unnoticed by Evan, and he decided to end the call to play being happily engaged to the noble lady again.

He really hated having to fake things… But it was necessary, even when it was so annoying and painful to lie to Belle and also hurt Michel's feelings with this…

He only hoped and prayed someday getting over all of this act and finally living a happy life with Michel and the dog that he was planning on adopting. That would have been wonderful indeed…

"Um, Michel… I'm really sorry, Belle just got here and I think she wants to spend some time with me." He apologized to Michel, sulking. "See you later? I'll ask Lord Stefano and Lady Caterina if I can go to the charity event and lend you a hand, I'm also sure it'll be a tough job to handle by yourself."

Michel smiled a bitter smile.

"Sure, I can send you the address of the shelter later on today, text me if you got the permission, okay? See you around. Treat Belle nicely, Romeo." The prince joked, and even when it didn't sound like it, there was a hint of painful jealousy in that last sentence.

After this, Michel hung up, and Evan did so, too.

Belle walked up to him and took a seat on the chair next to him. She flashed a smile with an unrecognizable emotion in it. As if she were annoyed, or even felt envious of Michel. And Evan started wondering if Gabrielle had begun suspecting of something between them already…

"Were you talking to Prince Michel again?" She inquired, her expression remained hard to decipher.

"Yes, he was telling me about the next charity event, he's planning on adopting a dog… By the way," He interrupted himself to change the subject. "What do you have in there? Are those music sheets for a piano composition?"

"Actually, the piano is just the companion, it's a composition for cello. I heard you playing Suite Number One and thought you could play this for me." Belle replied, using a rather flirtatious tone of voice with the last sentence.

She handed the sheets to Evan and he took a look at them: "El Cant dels Ocells by Pau Casals"

"I believe I've heard it before, but I'm not really sure of how to play it. So, sorry if I disappoint you, I'll try my best, though." Evan said, eyeing Gabrielle with nervous citrine eyes.

"You would never disappoint me." She replied, pecking his lips.

Belle walked up to the piano's bench and tested the keys for a couple of seconds. Evan let out a silent heavy sigh as he grabbed the cello's bow again. Belle then looked at him quickly to point out that she was ready, and Evan started playing the first notes.

It was a deep melody. Tremendously romantic and heartbreaking, it sounded like the sound a heart would make when desperately mourning for the sudden, premature loss of its other half. Remembering the best moments together and missing them, longing for them to come back someday, and craving for them to happen again, forever and always.

With this piece, he understood how hurt Belle actually felt… And it was his fault.

He had hurt an angel.