165 What If

The talk with Aston was quite strange in Katherine's opinion. Not only was the Prince friendlier than Katherine ever imagined, he also was very attentive while not at all suggestive.

Stranger still was that he evidently knew whom exactly she talked about when she asked him if he could find her maid.

"You don't need to worry about Hazel. The girl is perfectly safe", he told her with a smile and took a sip of his tea. "We just can't transfer her here since someone might try to find this place by tracking her. But I assure you, it won't be long before your happy reunion."

"How long?", she inquired anxiously. "And why are you so oddly well informed about the matters of my maid anyway? It's almost as if you have your eyes on her."

The Prince's eyes widened and he nearly spilled his tea when he rushed to defend himself: "No, no, it's just because my sister in law likes her maid very much, so I looked out for her for a bit. See, my brother is very dear to me, so I hope you and I can also get along."

Katherine squinted her eyes in suspicion. "I hope that is really all there is about your interest in her. Because just to make it clear: Hazel is an innocent girl that deserves someone who treasures and marries her as his or her one true partner. Neither can be fulfilled by you, so if you truly want us to get along, you better not try to pursue her."

Aston's aimable smile became wry the further he listened. He set down his tea on the delicate table between them. "A maid and me? Really now. I assure you, I know the impossibility of this and you don't need to worry at all! Though I'm a bit hurt that you trust me not in the slightest, given that you are my brother's wife now... We are family! I've got your back when brother and you got in that ambush. Yet it seems you think so little of me. I really feel hurt, ya know?"

The sad little puppy that unexpectedly took the place of the prince surprised Katherine so much that a disbelieving giggle escaped her throat before she could hide her mouth behind her hand. "Really hurt? We don't even know each other good enough. And he's actually not your brother, you know?"

"Ah, but we are gonna get to know the other, right?", the puppy asked and batted his eyelashes. Katherine's last comment was completely ignored. "Since there are very few people on my brother's side, we need to work together, okay?"

"Um", Katherine made, unsettled. "I - I guess so. But what are we working for anyway?"

"To make him more human of course!", Aston exclaimed, and a brilliant smile exploded on his face that nearly blinded her. "Of course, he's a great hero already, but I just love the way he is now. More affectionate and brotherly than he has ever been! You need to keep this up. Whatever you did to turn him this way, I will support you all the way!"

"Huh?" Katherine blinked, now utterly confused. If she wasn't sitting, she would have taken a step back. "Me, turning him human? I did nothing. Really. I - He wouldn't even let me come close enough to change anything about him."

Disbelief written all over his face, Aston raised his brows. "There is nobody closer to him than you. Do you know what he was like before meeting you? He was cool, so cool that it froze himself up on the spot! Never ever would he do anything uncalculated. Feelings were at most a distraction to him. So different from now!"

A satisfied smile lingered on Aston's mouth, when he boasted: "Today, he told me that he actually likes me as his younger brother. He talked about his feelings! Do you know what a great evolution that is? And it all started when he met you, I assure you. The day I first met you was the day he first joked with me. I am positive that with your help he will continue walking the way of light and finally be true to his feelings! We will be the best brothers there are in this world, regardless of our blood relation!"

Aston seemed completely engrossed by this idea, so much so, that he didn't even notice Katherine's mood shifting.

"That seems like I'm really important to him. Then why did he lie to me for so long?", she whispered sorrowfully, and lowered her head. "How do I know it was me who triggered all these changes? How can I be sure that I am not deceived again?"

The last question was also the main reason why she left Nathaniel's side. She knew she was at the boarder of trusting another individual so completely like she had formerly trusted Ethan. Though reason told her that Nathaniel wasn't the same as her cousin, both men had kept secrets from her. How could she be sure that Nathaniel's would always be less horrible than Ethan's?

For a long time, she hadn't realized what a monster her cousin was and she was afraid that the same thing might happen again. For sure, she didn't have a family that could be hurt anymore, but Nathaniel was about to take the throne of a nation. There were uncountable lives at stake if this man ever turned evil. Should she stay by his side, then anything he did would also fall back on her. She would similarly be responsible for every single life in the Icelands. Seeing that he kept secrets from her, she wondered if she would really approve all of his decisions - those in the past as well as in the future.

But what choice did she have? The only choice was to leave him, and she could never bring herself to do this. She loved him. Regardless of what he might do to the world, this man had showed her kindness when she had nothing. They had grieved and rejoiced together. She could not part with him.

'Up till now, he didn't even do anything bad', she consoled herself silently. Hopefully, he would continue like this in the future, just with less secrets. However, if he did not, she would not look away again. She had learned her lesson with Ethan. She could not let a whole nation suffer under an evil ruler. If Nathaniel ever turned into the demon she first thought he was, that would be the end. Not for her feelings, but for his life. She would have to kill him. And after this, who knows if she herself would still want to live?

Just imagining this outcome made Katherine tremble, though the fear and pain she felt didn't have a real source yet. She prayed to all the gods that what she promised to herself now would never be necessary. Yet having seen reality once with her cousin, she just had to make it clear to herself that she would act differently if the story ever repeated itself. She would not tolerate the evil actions of her beloved ones again. But before that all, before she unjustly judged him, she should try to place her trust in her husband.

Because Nathaniel was not Ethan. And as of now, she believed that Nathaniel, despite his errors and secrets, was not evil.