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Guilty

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Chapter 12: Guilty (Ronan's POV)

I was sitting on the two-seater couch at the foot of Grace's bed, getting my hand stitched and bandaged up. I sighed, resting my elbow on my knee, and looked at her. She was standing by the door, one arm folded across her chest and the elbow of the other resting on it while she bit her cuticles, watching me nervously. 

The doctor cut the bandage with a pair of scissors and then taped it down. "All done. Try to keep that out of water for at least forty-eight hours. I'll come back in a week to take those out." 

I held up the bandaged hand. "I need to have this on for a week?" 

Both the doctor and Grace stared at me in disbelief. "Um, I'm afraid so," the doctor nodded, chuckling awkwardly. "Don't do any heavy lifting or anything that could open the stitches." He turned to Grace. "I'll be off then." 

"Thank you so much," she smiled. "Ms. Bella will show you out." 

He bowed his head once and then she held the door open, revealing Ms. Bella, who was still waiting, ready to sneak the doctor back out of the palace before anybody noticed. Grace shut the door with a sigh at the same time I stood up and grabbed my coat. 

"I'll be outside." 

She didn't move, still blocking the door. I grabbed the handle with my uninjured hand and she knocked it off. 

"Okay," I said slowly, trying with my injured hand. She pushed my arm away. I rolled my eyes, looking at the ceiling before turning my attention to her. "What?" 

"Are you stupid?" 

"It's my job, Princess." 

"To slice your hand open?" 

"To keep you safe, even if that's at the cost of my life. In this case," I held my injured hand up, waving it. "The cost of my hand." 

She smacked my arm roughly. "Couldn't we just move out of the way? Leave?" 

"If we left, he wouldn't be caught. He could come up here too then." 

"He could. But then at least you could do something about it away from the crowd. We put so many people in danger." 

"My job isn't to protect all those people, it's to protect you." I stepped forward and she sunk further into her door, her back hitting it while she looked up at me, blinking. "You're getting confused. I was hired for you, I get paid to protect you, not the guests. Keep that in mind. I'm a bodyguard, not a palace guard." I grabbed the doorknob but she threw my arm off again. I closed my eyes and let out a frustrated sigh, putting my hand up on the door beside her head. 

She stopped breathing before putting a hand on my chest and trying to push me off. I grabbed her wrist, pinning her hand to the door. "I'm talking to you," she gritted out. 

"And I'm warning you," I replied. "My patience is wearing pretty thin, I now have stitches and a sliced open hand, all for you. I don't get paid anywhere near how much I should. And I have no idea how long I have to do this for you. You're safe, you're alive, just be grateful for that and let me do things my way. It's none of your business how I do these things as long as it keeps you safe. Understood?" 

"I was only worried," she mumbled, pulling her wrist out of my grasp. 

"I understand you're worried about your guests and family, but—" 

"My guests and family?" She laughed dryly. "I couldn't care less about my guests and what family? Atlas? He knows how to protect himself, that's not who I'm worried about." 

"Then what the hell are you worried about?" 

"You!" 

I stared at her, both of our gazes unwavering. 

"You're my bodyguard, aren't you? That means if anything happens to you—" 

"It's not your fault," I cut her off, knowing exactly where she was going with this. "What happened to me tonight, whatever happens to me in the future, it's not your fault." 

She sighed, resting her head on the door.

"What happened to Finn wasn't your fault either." 

She stared at me. "He could be alive if I listened to him right away and called for help." 

"No, he couldn't. His wound was fatal, he died on the spot." 

"How do you know?" 

"I did my research as your guard." 

"I feel guilty," she admitted. 

"Don't feel guilty on someone else's behalf. It's not your fault, it's whoever's truly responsible for it. Princess, I'm here to replace Finn as your guard. Not as your friend. I need to leave." 

"You're not here to replace Finn," she scoffed. 

"Didn't you hear your father when I got here?" 

"I never hear him, I tune it out. But I heard you." My eyes scanned her face. "I heard you telling everybody that you weren't here to replace Finn. Even you thought what my father said was disrespectful. It was. Plus, we could never be friends, Mr. Stone." 

"Right, we couldn't." My eyes settled on hers. "Too many complications." 

"Way too many," she mumbled, rolling her tongue over her bottom lip. 

My eyes darted down to her lips before I took a breath and cleared my throat, taking a step away. She sighed and walked around me, sitting down and taking her heels off. "I'll be outside." 

"Could you, um—" She looked at me. "Please tell me before you head off to your room. I'll lock the door." 

I shook my head, "You don't have to." 

"No, but I'll feel safer if—" 

"I'll be right outside. The whole night." 

"What? You won't sleep?" 

"Not tonight. It would be unprofessional if I just left you alone. I'll do checks, so don't panic if I open your door and make sure you're okay in the middle of the night. Just try to go to bed." 

"Hmm." She nodded softly. "Goodnight." 

"Night," I mumbled, opening the door and leaving, standing right outside. There's a high chance I'll be in trouble when tomorrow morning comes. There's a high chance I'll be fired. 

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

I stood in front of King Elijah and his wife, my hands together behind my back while I stared at the ground, taking all the curses and scoldings that he spat at me. I don't understand why he likes to do this at the main entrance, outside. Probably hoping I'd get heatstroke. 

"Do you understand the severity of this situation?!" 

I let out a small sigh, mostly ignoring everything he said. 

"I'm talking to you, Ronan!" 

I lifted my head up, looking at him. "Of course, I understand the severity. I'm the one who got hurt." 

He scoffed, shaking his head. "And you don't think you deserve to be fired?" 

"Frankly, no. My job is to keep your daughter safe, not to make sure any threats aren't entering the palace, that's the job of palace security. If they let someone slip inside only because he was dressed as a waiter, I don't think that's my fault. When I saw him, I made sure to keep my eyes on him, and when he tried hurting the princess, I made sure he couldn't. Is that not my job?" I lifted a brow. "Sir?" 

"Grace could have been hurt!" Judith exclaimed. As if she cares, she probably wanted Grace to be hurt. 

"She can always be hurt, she's a princess who goes out in public. My duty is to keep her safe in those situations, and I did." 

"He doesn't even feel guilty for putting her in a dangerous situation," she complained, turning to her husband. 

My eyes fell to the entrance where I saw Grace walking over, despite Atlas who was trying to convince her to stay inside. She just woke up. I glanced at my watch. It's noon. She was wearing a black silk nightgown with a matching black silk robe. Is that all she wears to bed? 

She threw Atlas' arm off, shooting him a hard glare while mumbling something. She walked outside, running her fingers through her hair in frustration before folding her arms across her chest and looking between us. "That's because he isn't the one who put me in that dangerous situation," she said to Judith. "What is going on?" 

"You'll be getting a new guard soon," her father sighed. 

She turned to look at me, squinting a little under the bright sun. "No, I'm not," she laughed. "Are you serious?" She stared at her parents in disbelief. "He's the reason I'm alive today and you want to fire him? For what? Doing his job correctly? Would you have preferred it if he failed?" 

I clenched my jaw. She needs to stop throwing jabs and accusations at her mother. I have no proof and if it really is Judith behind all this, the last thing we should be doing is angering her. 

"Would it have been better if he—" 

I cleared my throat loudly and she turned to look at me. I shot her a pointed look, shaking my head softly. 

She sighed, rubbing her eyes. "You can't fire him, dad. Please." 

"Honestly, honey, I fail to see what's so special about him. I think all those compliments he's received from working in the past with royalty have gotten to his head. He failed to keep her safe, we should just get rid of him and get someone who is much better at their job," Judith rambled on to the king. 

"It's not his fault!" Grace snapped, yelling now. 

Oh, my god. What part of not provoking Judith does she not understand? I know it's hard because she's angry, and it's not her fault in any way, but we don't have the upper hand here, we can't just do whatever she wants! 

"If you fire him..." 

Oh dear God, no. 

She fell into thought before blinking in realization and looking at her dad. "If you fire him, you can forget about making an alliance with Wildfell." 

I let out a breath, closing my eyes in defeat. 

"That alliance is crucial for the kingdom!" Judith scolded. 

"Then you marry him," Grace scoffed, rolling her eyes. "If you want me to marry Lucas, you will not fire him. And..." Her eyes cut to mine. "I get to decide when he leaves." 

I held her gaze, not sure of what she was trying to do. 

"What is that supposed to mean?" her father huffed. 

"That means I get to choose when he'll be dismissed. He'll be my guard as long as I wish. Even if that's after I get married." 

"What? You want to take him to Wildfell with you?!" Judith's eyes widened. 

"Is that a problem for you?" Grace asked me, raising her brows. 

I shook my head. "No." 

"There." She turned to them again. "Now decide. You can fire him and I can tell the James family that I won't be marrying Lucas. Or you can just let him work here and I'll follow your plan. Your choice." 

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Chapter 12

I literally was JUST sick like one or two weeks ago and now I'm sick again. My throat hurts SO bad I can't even talk wtf is this. why? literally why? Y'all know the kind of bad throat where only one side of your throat hurts and burns and it even hurts to swallow or yawn? YEAH THAT KINDA BAD THROAT

anyways, enjoy the extra updates since I'm not doing school rn

next chapter: safe