Chapter 23

"Scarlett!" Someone said loudly, banging on my door. "Dammit somebody get me the key for this!"

I sat up straight in bed, clutching the sheet to my bare body.

"Oh my God." I whispered, shaking Oliver awake.

"Scarlett!" My dad yelled again, banging on the door.

Oliver sat up straight, his wide eyes meeting mine.

"We're dead." I whispered, glancing over at the clock.

3:16am.

What the hell did my dad want at this hour?

"Scarlett!" My dad yelled again, pounding on the door.

"Shit." I whispered, jumping up from the bed.

I grabbed Oliver's hand, pulling him up from the bed.

"Scarlett." Oliver hissed, covering himself up with his hands as he was left completely bare.

I grabbed a blanket from one of the chairs and shoved it at him, barely managing to hold the sheet around myself as I pushed him towards the closet.

We stumbled down the two stairs, our feet getting caught up in the sheet.

"Sh." I giggled, putting my hand over his mouth as we neared the closet.

Oliver turned around, pressing a kiss to my lips before disappearing into the closet.

I quickly shut the doors and pulled on my bathrobe before rushing over to the door.

Just as I reached it, however, it unlocked and my dad burst through it.

I jumped back, my eyes widening.

"What the hell?" I said before I could stop myself.

I gasped, covering my mouth before he could reprimand me, but my dad didn't seem to mind my language.

"Scarlett." My dad whispered, his eyes turning sad.

I froze.

How did he know that Oliver was in here?

Did Parker rat us out?

What was about to happen?

What would the Queen say?

"It's not what you think! We didn't- We're not- It wasn't-"

"Get dressed, Scarlett." My dad sighed.

"But dad!" I exclaimed. "I didn't do anything, I promise! I-"

"She's only got a few moments left, it's time to say our goodbyes." My dad said quietly.

I looked past him into the hall and realized that it was alive with tons of movement and surprisingly bright for the middle of the night.

People were walking quickly, the lights were all turned on, and it sounded like the middle of the day of an event.

"Wait..." I whispered, my brain slowly comprehending what he was saying. "No..."

Chills ran through my body as I felt my stomach sink.

"Put on some proper clothes. Tell Oliver to get out of the closet and go wait in the formal sitting room with Jessica and Parker." My dad said softly.

"How did you-"

"A father always knows. Get dressed." My dad said quietly before turning to walk away.

I shut the door, my heart pounding in my chest.

I slowly turned around as Oliver walked out of the closet, his face filled with concern.

"Hey..." He whispered as we walked towards each other. "What's going on?"

I closed my eyes, wrapping my arms around him tightly.

"She's dying."

Oliver let out a sigh, smoothing down my hair as he softly kissed my forehead.

"So much for being normal teenagers..." I whispered.

"You should get dressed." Oliver whispered, giving me a soft squeeze before stepping back from me.

I nodded, turning to walk into my closet.

I pulled on some underwear and a bra, then wondered whether to go casual or fancy. I pulled on a pair of dark jeans that rolled at the bottom and a grey sweatshirt.

It wasn't until I was pulling on my shoes that Oliver pointed out that it was his football sweatshirt.

I looked down at my front and sure enough it said 'QB - 6'.

I just gave him a soft smile, standing up straight with a deep breath.

"I'll see you in a bit." I whispered, kissing his cheek before quickly walking out of my room.

My heart was pounding in my chest as I rushed to the Queen Chambers.

Too many memories were flooding through my mind from when my mom died.

My dad had woken me up in the middle of the night, taken me to my mom, where she was taken off of life support.

But I was eight years older than that and I was about to be in charge of a nation.

This was time to toughen up.

I lightly knocked on the door before slipping inside.

Aunt Clara stood up from the chair next to the bed, wiping tears off of her cheeks.

"Bye momma." She whispered, kissing the queen's cheek before turning to walk away.

"Goodbye, darling." The queen whispered.

Aunt Clara gave my arm a squeeze before leaving me alone in the room with my grandmother.

"Scarlett, come here." My grandmother beckoned me towards her.

I felt sick to my stomach as I slowly sat down in the chair that had just been vacated by Aunt Clara.

"You look terrified." My grandmother commented.

I slowly nodded. "I am." I admitted.

She just sighed, reaching to take my hand.

I took in her appearance.

She looked noticeably worse than just a few hours ago at dinner.

As if sensing my confusion, she gave me an explanation.

"Sometimes, terminally ill patients have a bit of a plateau at the end, a final burst of energy. I was foolish not to have seen it before." She said softly.

I felt tears fill my eyes.

"I'm not ready for this." I whispered.

I knew it was selfish of me, but I couldn't see myself in the position of power that my grandmother held.

"Yes, you are. Scarlett, you have been ready for this moment for years now." My grandmother said seriously, squeezing my hand in hers. "Trust me, it's not as scary as it seems."

I just nodded, my stomach twisting unpleasantly.

"You're lucky, you know." My grandmother smiled. "Because you have Oliver to get you through this."

I offered a soft smile.

"When I was your age, I took over this nation with nobody to support me the way that boy does. He loves you, Scarlett, anyone can see it." My grandmother said softly. "Don't let him go easily. If you marry him, then Castello will earn a wonderful royal. If you don't marry him, then you'll be able to look back fondly on these years as the time you spent with him."

I had absolutely no idea what to say.

What do you say to the Queen of such a great nation on her death bed?

But luckily, she did most of the talking.

Little bits of advice, memories of her reign as queen at my age, lots of things that I knew in years to come I'd look back on and keep a part of me.

"Be smart with Oliver, Scarlett." She said softly a while later. "It's fun to get wrapped up in love for a while but please keep in mind that you have a reputation to uphold. Mistakes aren't too kind to queens such as yourself, and no man is as good as your father."

"Don't worry about me." I said softly. "I have you as my role model, and Castello will only improve." I offered a smile.

"That's the spirit." She winked, squeezing my hand again.

The rest of the day was spent with family coming and going from the room, lots of nurses and doctors tending to the queen.

I didn't say much and nobody said much to me.

I think they could all tell that this was a lot to process.

At 4:54pm, Queen Adeline of Castello passed away.

And I became queen.