Page 84 of Mermaid on Heels
“With every beat of my heart.” She didn’t move her hands from his chest even as he dropped them to hold her face instead.
Luke leaned down and kissed her forehead lovingly, his lips lingering for a moment before pulling back to look at her. Liriya stared up at him, her eyes dampening again, and saw his eyes were wet too.
Her heart fluttered.
She adored the way he treated her, like someone so special, like a treasure. Liriya had never felt this way with anyone before, no one had ever made her feel so enthralled like Luke did. And the thing she discovered just before he had walked into the room, now consumed her all over again.
She was falling in love with him. And the one thing she wished above anything was him to catch her fall and never let her go.
Cedric’s words came rushing back to her mind as she and Luke stared into each other’s eyes with a smile. She didn’t doubt a word he testified about his brother, but there was one statement made that sent Liriya’s mind reeling.
When he loves, he would love you like he’d leave his throne behind for you. That’s Luke, selfless and devoted to the core.
Would he really do that? Not that she wanted him to—she wouldneverlet him do that for her—but would he really? Was she orwouldshe ever be that worth for him if there ever had to come a choice between her and his kingdom?
Liriya would never know the answer because she was not going to make him choose between her and his kingdom. She cared for him, deeply. If he would have her, she would be his life partner and the queen to his people. There was no way she was going back to her underwater world again, leaving him and her heart in his hands. She simply couldn’t.
She had finally found love, and he was right in front of her. She was going to stop watching. She was going to dive in, let it consume her, and live in it.
Liriya heaved a contented sigh.
“What’s going on in your pretty little head, my little mermaid?” Luke’s lips twitched into a small smirk.
“I was just…” Another contented sigh escaped her, this time rousing pleasant goosebumps over her skin. “Feeling epic.”
“With me?”
“Obviously.”
Liriya laughed with him.
“We better get going… as much as I don’t want to,” Luke said, glancing at the clock on the desk once their laughter died out. “Dinner is about to be served. If we’re missing, someone will come looking for us.”
“And that would definitely be your brother. So, I agree we should go.” Liriya dropped her hands from his chest and looped her arm through his. “Besides, I cannot wait to stargaze.”
“Wow, someone is animated today.” Luke chuckled.
Liriya grinned.Yes, because I am realizing that I have fallen in love with you, and I want to discover the depths of this love.
Chapter 18
Bianca and Kitty received justice.
Luke summoned Earl Alphonse to the castle on the next day and ordered him to give Bianca back the money she had paid. When the man tried to claim his rights over the money, rather fearfully before the young king’s flaring eyes, Luke simply reminded him how he had demanded it from an orphaned teenage girl and said that this was his punishment for the greedy act.
Luke then made Earl Alphonse an example to every other wealthy family. He sent his royal heralds all over the kingdom with the message of what to expect if the rich threatened the poor over the debt owed. While the wealthy ones were disturbed about the new decree, the common people of Lectoria loved their new monarch all the more.
Liriya couldn’t be more proud of her Luke; the more she knew him, she fell more in love with him with each passing day. After their secret stargazing nights and early mornings, finally, Liriya’s day approached. While the rest of the elites welcomed the morning with expectancy and apprehension because tomorrow was the elimination day, Liriya welcomed it with open arms.
Returning from the tower after watching the sunrise that day, Liriya woke up her sisters and went to her room to get ready with Susie’s help. She had requested a private breakfast with Luke, her sisters, and Cedric. Luke had asked her how she wanted their day to go; because obviously, he had spent more time with her more than he had with any of the other elites already.
Luke was pleased with her request and immediately agreed to it.
Liriya met her sisters outside their room in the hallway and they set out together for the balcony where they had their breakfast on the first day. By now, Liriya had memorized some of the directions inside the castle—like this one to the private balcony—and she felt a little proud of herself for it. She also learned how to run—sort of—on steady ground, she had learned some dancing, and had overcome her unsettling feelings of the mermaid statue in the maze—all thanks to Luke’s keen efforts.
He asked to be her personal tutor and she couldn’t say no. Just as she had anticipated, lessons with him were full of fun that rivaled Cedric’s—especially when he tickled her sides during the dance sessions and picked her up unexpectedly to spin her around in the air.
Altogether, this week was the best Liriya had yet, even better than the ones spent with Bianca and Kitty.