17 Capitulum 15 - Forgotten Memories 6

Leo left that day. And all Luciera did was to cry her heart out as she sees the guards drag Leo's cold body out of her room.

"This is your punishment, Luciera," her mother said as she steps into Luce's room.

"You fell in love with a commoner, that is already a great sin to royals!"

But Luciera paid her no heed as she was busy mourning for the loss of her beloved.

Her mother kept rambling on and on about her sin, but she couldn't even make herself listen. Her chest felt so heavy and her head was spinning. Leo's departure had seemed to take its toll on her for she could not utter even just a small word.

She saw her mother shake her head before leaving her room by slamming the door, leaving her alone again.

The dark shadows of her room weren't dark enough to compare whatever it is inside her head. Her thoughts were far more darker.

She stared blankly outside her window, watching the scenery she used to love. But now, it seemed to have lost its place in her heart because she could no longer feel the tug whenever she sees it. Probably because Leo now left, taking her heart with him.

---

Minutes turned into hours. Hours turned into days. Days turned into weeks, but Luciera still could not bring herself to speak.

Her mother still visit her from time to time, but she can't even force herself to look at her, no matter how hard she tried to. Knowing that she was one of the people behind Leo's death.

This was her daily routine. Wake up, eat, cry, sleep.

This routine continued, until one day.

"I have prepared your engagement to the prince of the kingdom not far from ours," her mother said, pulling her out of her reverie.

Engagement? To a prince?

This caught her attention. After for so long, she finally looked at the woman who she used to idolize. The woman she used to want to become when she grew up. Her mother.

"W-what?" her voice sounded husky and broken as she did not utter words for how many days already.

"You are to the marry the prince Charles. You have no problem with that, right? After all, you used to be friends," with that, her mother left her room.

Yes. They used to. But she ended all ties with him once he became too obsessed and possessive with her, even when they were not even together.

---

Luciera did not leave her room, until the day of her wedding.

She couldn't even smile as she walked down the aisle. She felt numb. And that was the only thing that reminded her that she was still alive.

"Milady," a servant knocks from behind her shut door, "it's time."

Luciera, however, made no attempt to stand from her bed. Not that she wanted to, anyways.

She heard gentle and rhythmic knocks on her door, but she did not even stand. The knocks get louder and harsher, yet she was not even fazed by it. As if she was no stranger to such ungentle treatment.

"Luciera!" she hears her father's loud, booming voice just outside her door. His irritating voice only made her roll her eyes and bury her face once again in her hands.

She hears loud rustling from the direction of her closed door but she did not even care. They wouldn't be able to open it, anyways.

Luciera only stared at the pieces of furniture she used to block the entrance of her room, the door. She sees them slightly move, but the door remained shut.

Luciera knew she'd survive in this hell of a room anyways.

The small heels of the shoes she had worn clicked against the cold floor of her room as she approaches the chest she used to hide and store her secret stash of a few jars of water and food. She knew this was bound to happen, where she'd hide from her family in her room, so she ought to have prepared herself for this.

Luciera walks back to her bed before she takes her journal from the small compartment of her vanity.

With her back against the bed frame, Luciera begins to scan her journal once again. It was long ago where she wrote her last entry.

'Leo is such a bully.' read the few words of the last part of her final entry.

She caresses the words with her index finger. The thought of her bright and joyful childhood with Leo brought a smile on her face. She missed him terribly. But she knew, there would be nothing in this world to bring him back.

Death is permanent, unlike everything else in this world.