I Don't Want This Bad Ending

At the parlor, two steaming cups of tea were placed on the table as the two people were sitting opposite to each other.

"It's been a while, Eve…"

It was Gab. He smiled at her as he painted the appearance of Evelyn to his mind.

After he was on the verge of death's door and was in bed rest in the Royal Palace, the man in front of Evelyn seems to be as good as new.

"I'm glad the royal doctors seem to have specially taken care of you." She sipped the tea and said her honest thoughts.

Evelyn was really glad to see Gab back on his feet and was now able to visit her. She was thankful for Gab trying to protect her back then when Ishid attacked her.

"Are you really okay now? There's no injuries left?" 

"You don't need to worry, Eve… I'm a beastkin, I have fast regenerative ability." Gab reassured her. Then, he also drank the tea that was placed in front of him as if he needed to wet his dry throat.

"I'm sorry… I couldn't even protect you properly when Ishid attacked you."

Evelyn paused the hand midway that lifted the teacup and looked at Gab who's clenching his hand like what he just did back then and what he said earlier was worthy of punishment. The crimson hair that was hanging low made him look like a sinner that was on his way to his execution.

She places the teacup down the saucer and gazes at him.

"Gab…"

A voice full of benevolence resonated at the four walls and Gab lifted his head slowly. He saw a smile that contained an apology. Gab became confused as to why Evelyn was making such a face.

"... raise your head, Gab. I should be the one to do so. What you did that day was an act of bravery befitting that of a General."

"Even if I'm the General of the beastkin kingdom, I'm still your knight."

Evelyn lightly smiled as she sipped her tea as she recalled her old memories where they swore to each other to become partners in crime.

'...though I betrayed his trust first…' she lamented.

Click!

The teacup was brought down in the saucer and made a small sound which made Evelyn stare to where the sound came from. As there are only two people in the room, Evelyn already knew who did it but she became curious as to why Gab's countenance became serious.

"Is there something wrong, Gab?"

Closing his hand together into a clasp and looking straight to Evelyn's direction, Gab speaks his mind.

"I was being summoned back to my country. So, I will leave the Levingstone Kingdom after the coronation of Prince Edickart…"

"I see… you've been away for a while and considering the things that happened in this Kingdom, your king must have been worried." Evelyn concluded.

"That's why… I want to ask you a question..."

"What is it? Of course… I'll tell you anything as long as I can."

"Actually, the moment that I thought I could never see you again something came into mind…"

Evelyn also brought her tea down to properly reply to what Gab said.

"What is it?"

"… do you remember that night when I came into your room and I told you about my feelings? Do you have an answer to my question?" Gab spoke as he looked at Evelyn's eyes.

Evelyn looked at him and wondered why the atmosphere seems to have turned around in a different direction. She tried to recall the night that he was talking about and the only thing that came up was the night Gab confessed his feelings to her.

"That night… Do you remember?" Gab asked again when he thought that Evelyn was too quiet for a while.

Of course, how can't she remember? That was the night that she saw a different look of Gab. The all blushing boy was looking at him more seriously and passionately like a grown man who learned a thing about love.

Evelyn was left speechless when she saw that. Then she remembered the words he spoke.

["Eve... "] 

Gab whispered her name like a man who desperately missed her.

["Yes…?"]

While Evelyn casually answered to her name. And in response, Gab called her again. This time, his voice was more resolute.

["Eve…"]

["Yes… Gab?"]

She softly answered his call. Evelyn thought that Gab right now looks like a puppy. She tried to stop the smile that was etching in her face and Evelyn waited for a while before she continued to ask.

["What is it, Gab?"] Evelyn continued to ask that time as the answer never came to her. After a while, the response made her speechless for a second.

["I like you…"]

Gab slowly whispered with a fire in his crimson eyes. Evelyn felt like she would get sucked if she looked at his eyes for a second longer, that was why she decided to smile.

"I like you too." she replied to ease the awkward tension that was building up in the room.

Evelyn recalled Gab's reaction that time, he knitted his brows as if he knew that she was brushing the confession as a mere affection towards friendship. He knew that there was something off in her response that Gab instinctively knew.

["No…!"] Gab shouted and continued to clear things out.

["You don't understand! I like you as a woman! No! I love you, Eve… I love you ever since we were young…"]

Evelyn dumbfoundedly stared at his eyes. She didn't know what to do. Her cherry lips opened and closed but no words seemed to come out.

She felt that her mind became a blank canvas that night but today Evelyn instinctively knew that she could not get away this time and that Gab needed to directly hear it.

"Gab... I-"

***

The royal palace was busy since the break of dawn and since the afternoon the nobles carriages are forming a line at the entrance of the main palace, all dressed up and prepared to witness the new era.

Edickart was looking at the window and was watching as the aristocrats got off from their carriages one by one.

Today is the day that he will be crowned as the King of Levingstone. He rushed the coronation as the citizens of the Kingdom were getting anxious as to what happened in the middle of the capital. 

And to divert the mind of the nobles and the commoners, he needed to quickly make an action.

Edickart was dressed in a white suit embedded with a gold thread that forms the royal insignia in his left chest with the royal cape hanging on his shoulder. Edickart's blond hair shines as the rays of light touch his head, soon a golden crown embedded with gems will be placed in his head. His emerald orbs shine differently with determination as the day he was waiting for has come and the dream of making the Kingdom even more righteous and prosperous will start in his reign.

"Your Majesty, it's time…" one of his trusted aides said.

"Yes… it's time to make a change to this Kingdom."

***

Evelyn saw the now crowned King Edickart at the terrace of the Bright Palace giving a speech for the citizens of the kingdom. The Bright Palace, situated near the entrance of the Royal Palace and is close to the where the commoners can see their King through the terrace, it's used during coronation of a new king or crown princes. And today, it was being used again to celebrate the new king that would take the seat of the throne.

Looking up while Evelyn was blending in the crowd, she thought that the story of the novel that she purposely abandoned has changed the ending and the lives of the characters that were in it.

'This is the ending that I gained after struggling to changed my fate...'

As a villainess, Evelyn didn't die. Saint Elise was sentenced to death along with the Pope and the twelve councils for harming the citizens in the pretext of saving them from evil. While the Crown Prince Edikcart was still crowned as the King, he no longer had Elise as his fiancee.

The second Prince, Adley, who's supposed to be the reason for starting a war against Edickart to get the throne and fight for Elise's hand, went missing and people don't know where he went to or if he was killed by Ishid, the real mastermind behind it all.

As for Allan who was supposed to hate his sister all her life was now trying his best to get close to Evelyn after learning the whole truth of their tragic past. While Silvester became the King of the Perspiru Kingdom, he became close with Evelyn and was doing everything he could to help her when she needed it.

"What are you doing here?"

Evelyn was caught off guard and her reminiscing about the original story got interrupted by the voice that she heard. She turned her head to her right and looked up to see Cabel looking down at him with a smile plastered in his handsome face.

"Are you waiting for someone?" Cabel grin mischievously as he reached for her hand and put it closer to his lips.

"...is it me?" Cabel continued to tease Evelyn and kissed the back of her palm.

Everlyn while looking at Cabel, still her hand on his lips, continued to recall the original story as she compared it to the outcome. 

'This man, who looks like someone straight from a painting where his beauty seems to resemble the moon in the night sky, who was supposed to be a womanizer in the original story and would only found his love and would only straighten his ways for the Saintess and will give his attention and affection for the heroine, Elise, had confessed to me so suddenly and desperately told me that he loves me since a long time ago and believed in me that I'll remember the lost memory I had with him and waited for me to come back when everyone thought that I had died… this man who passionately looked at me right now loves me with all his heart …'

Evelyn then smiled sweetly at Cabel who was looking at him with hearts in his eyes.

"...you're right, I was waiting for you."'

Cabel dashingly smiled at the response that his lover gave to him and held her hand tight.

THE END.