Chapter 214 - Liam's Heart Belongs To Her
"NO matter what decision she makes at the end, we still need to protect her. She appeared nervous. She is trying to exercise her power but she is not aware of the right way to use her power to her own advantage," Jace commented truthfully as he stared ahead.
"You don't have the right to make such analysis of the princess. No matter what, she is still the princess. Our loyalty lies with her. We will still have to apologize to her sincerely until she forgives us enough to make jokes.
"She is the only direct line heir to the throne. She is the only worthy member of the southern royal family. We have to protect her as though our life depends on it because it does."
"Why then did you leave her in the dangerous environment of the orphanage home?" Jace asked the thought he has had no choice but to ponder on for a while now since he could not come with a satisfactory answer or reason.
"She is had to grow so she could shine brighter. But I actually wonder now a days if I made the right decision to leave her there because she still a scared little cat who still needs our protection," Mr. Hart said shaking his head with a doting smile.
"Why then did you send her to the Whitfred family when she could have been anywhere else including in our family. She could have had the opportunity to grow stronger.
"From what I took notice while being friends with her, it was not very easy for her in the Whitfred family and she could have gotten hurt thousands of time over.
"Why did you not send her directly to the palace or somewhere else?"
Mr. Hart shook his head slightly. He could not understand why he son seriously wanted answers to satisfy his curiosity now after a long time.
"I am just curious," Jace said with an innocent smile that did not fit his cold appearance.
His father could not resist his urge to reach forward out and tousled his son's hair with a happy smile lifting the corners of his lips.
Jace found his father's action very confusing but he felt warmth spread. "I know who stabbed me," Jace said to distract his father from what he was doing to appear like that warmth he felt did not exist.
"I know you miss your brother and you blame Rose for it but you should not. It will only make you appear petty. You really should not look at her like she stole your brother.
"You brother has been head over heels for her from the moment he saw her. You should know that more than I do. I guess fate brought them together. He loved her long before he knew he was born with a responsible to protect her with his life.
"He had long being playing that part before I found you two. He fought really hard to remain with her at the orphanage. He was very unwilling until I told him he needed power to protect her and he could not get that power in the orphanage.
"I had to swear over and over again that I was not her enemy and that her mother was a friend of mine and he will be able to help her revenge if he leaves the orphanage. He went to B city with us because of my persuasion and that was solely for Rose.
"All he did after going to B city was for her. The first thing he did the moment he got an opportunity to leave the house was to threaten the life of a tattooist into drawing a rose tattoo on his chest.
"He was under-aged and I was angry because his first tattoo was supposed to be over family's crest but then I knew that he was almost out of control and he will not listen to what I had to say. I could not tell him to clean the tattoo.
"I could only punish him with our family's law. The moment I saw that tattoo on him, I knew my son no longer lived his life for himself but for a woman who as far as he was a member of our family, he will never have.
"When it was time for him to leave, I knew it was pointless to try to stop him because he was going to find a way to her no matter what I do to try to stop him. His heart was with her," his father narrated with a smile as he remembered his uncontrollable elder son.
Jace remained quiet as he listened. He could not help but feel that his father was getting old to be able to sit down with him and talk about his elder brother.
He shook his head with a frown to ward off the bad thoughts that began coming to his mind. He wanted none of what he had imagined to happen. He made up his mind to have his father go for checkup the following day no matter how his father tries to refuse.
It might be a hard task because his father believed he was going to live long and he did not need doctors to tell him how good his body was when his body was his and not the doctors.
"Don't give me that look," Mr. Hart said when he noticed his son was looking at him like he was an ancient elder like those ones the kings goes to get a blessing of longevity from.
"Oh," Jace could only say as he looked away.
"Do you know I am good cook?" Mr. Hart asked out of the blue.
"UH?" Jace asked with his mouth now saucer shaped.
"We could invite your brother and his wife for dinner at our home. I really wanted to give my daughter in law food but things did not turn out right and she had to leave early.
"Let us have a family meal. I really miss your brother's presence around the house. He was very introverted and he was always locked up in his room. It is now I know that he was in that room making money for himself to protect her," Mr. Hart sighed tiredly.
Seeing his father's Jace made sure to send his father to his brother's hospital for checkup as early as eight tomorrow morning.
"You know what? I used to love a woman so much. In fact, I still love her so much but I feel so guilty because I could not protect her and she died when I was away only for a period. I had also failed her making her unable to trust me.
"She turned to wrong people for help but your brother is the real man. He actually got married to her. When he was young and I asked him what his dreams were he simply told me his dream was to marry the princess and become king with her.
"I tried to get rid of that dream from his list. I tried to set him up with different women but he did not even glance at them. Even during his coming of age ceremony, it was by tradition that he could pick a woman but he sent the woman out of his room immediately.
"They thought he was gay to refuse such a beautiful woman but he refused. I tried to be like that for the woman I loved but I needed sons to continue the line.
"I needed sons to protect her children," Mr. Hart explained with a sad laughter that sounded painful. "I even had sons for her. My son fell in love with her daughter and succeeded in marrying her. He is the real man."
His father met his gaze and smiled. He smiled and looked away. It was all for Rose even his existence. It was all for her. He could never beat the position she held in the hearts of the two men of his family.
Fate was cruel to him. He was stabbed by the boyfriend of the only girl he has ever liked and his father was too engulfed about talking about Rose and his mighty brother did he did not show that he cared.
"That young man, it will not be easy to handle him. Your brother knows about him and he is trying to find more information about him. The guy is not only a psychopath but he also has a secret worth uncovering.
"Your brother will help you. We have more things to take care of you should leave that to him. Also, don't try to be a hero like your brother.
"You know the identity of that girl. She can never become a part of this family. You might have to order her death in the future she is the only weakness that psychopath has," Mr. Hart gave his son a heartless advise along with a gentle assuring squeeze of his shoulder.
So his father heard him.. Now he wished his father did not hear what he said earlier or simply ignored.