The interview round was over and all of us girls were leaving to go back to our rooms. Just when I was leaving though I heard someone arguing in the back stage.

"Are you satisfied now? You ended up making a fool out of yourself, just like I said you would." King Rupert.

"You are making a big deal out of this for no reason father." Damon.

"Big deal. What are you, drunk? Do you not see how does this look? A random civilian who barely has enough money to fill his stomach is openly challenging you and you are tolerating all this. For a girl? And if I'm not mistaken, this very same gentleman was the one who had questioned you before on the selection day too right? Absolutely ridiculous."

I widened my eyes in realisation. They were talking about Vivian and I.

I could not see them but I knew that both of them were very upset.

"What's ridiculous father is that you don't understand me. You never did and you don't even try."

Damon paused for a while and then continued.
"This was exactly what happened with Courtney too. It's like history is repeating itself, the only difference is that instead of her now, it's Amelia."

What were they talking about. Who is this Courtney and why was I getting compared to her?

I didn't get to dwell on this for long though as I soon heard Damon say, "You don't have an answer now just like you didn't a year ago. Anyway, it was nice chatting with you father." I heard footsteps and I knew Damon was walking towards the door, outside which I had been standing.

To avoid myself from getting caught I quickly hid behind a nearby curtain and saw Damon walk away, extremely furious. There is definitely something I don't know.

***

On my way back to my room the only thing I could think about was the conversation I just overheard.
Courtney.
Who was she? What happened a year ago that made Damon so furious with his own father? What did King Rupert do?

I hadn't realized that I had reached my room as I was so taken up with these thoughts. Another thing I didn't realize was that Damon was standing right outside my door.

"What are you doing here?" I asked him.

"I just needed to get my mind off something so I thought maybe we could just hang out."

I knew exactly what he was talking about.

"But," he continued, "Why did you reach your room so late? I was waiting for quite a lot of time for you to return."

Oh shoot. What do I tell him?

"Um, I just quickly grabbed something to eat actually. I was starving after that interview," I partially lied.

He seemed to buy it and nodded.

"So," I said, "you want to come in?" I said as I opened the door with my key card.

"Sure but I won't be intruding right?"

I rolled my eyes and said, "Come on, you and I both know you want to come in."

He smirked and replied, "Well I didn't know you were that eager Amelia."

I hit his shoulder and when he narrowed his eyes I said, "I am two seconds away from shutting the door on your face."

He obliged and got in. I put the card in the socket and the lights came on.
Damon made a straight beeline for the bed and layed down with a thump.

"You have a habit of making yourself at home do you know that?" I said.

"Well technically YOU are in MY home. This is just a room I lent you."

I knew he was right so I changed the topic, "So, what's wrong?"

"My father being himself is what's wrong," he groaned and shut his eyes.

I sat down on the bed next to him and he got up into a seating position too.

"That's it?" I asked him, knowing there was more. I was curious about what I heard and I wanted to see if he would tell me.

"If you want to ask me about the conversation you just over heard then just do it straight up," he deadpanned.

My eyes widened like a deer stuck in headlights.
"W-what?" I stammered.

"I saw you when I turned to leave. You weren't fast enough in hiding behind the curtains."

"Why didn't you point me out then and there itself then?" I asked knowing there was no point in lying anyway.

"I think you have already guessed that father does not like you a lot. If he would have come to know that you were eavesdropping on our conversation, he would have had a fit."

I looked at him with guilt filled in my eyes, "Damon, I know how this must look. I'm really sorry. It's just you two were very loud and I couldn't help myself from finding out what the commotion was about."

"It's alright Amelia. We can cause quite a scene sometimes, I know."

"Wait a minute though. If you knew where I was why did you ask me then?"

"Amelia, that conversation I had had with my father was twenty minutes before you showed up. I knew it wouldn't take you that long to reach your room. So, when I asked you about your whereabouts, it was basically me asking you where had you gone after you heard our conversation."

"Yeah, I had gone to grab a bite. I tend to get hungry when I need to think things over," I replied sheepishly.

He simply chuckled at that.

"So, about what I heard back there," I said. "Who is Courtney?"

He shut his eyes at that as if he was in extreme pain. "She was the girl I loved."

I gasped at that. So I was right when I thought he had been in love before when he was addressing the audience back on the selection day!

"What happened to her?"

"It's honestly not something I'm comfortable talking about right now."

I nodded in understanding. He didn't have to feel forced to tell me such a thing.

"All I can tell you about her is that she was taken away from me. By my own father. In a way that no one should have experienced."

I felt bad for him. I didn't know what was it like to lose someone you loved but I knew it was very painful.

"Damon," I whispered and put a hand on his shoulder. "Can I ask you something?"

He nodded and looked at me.

"Why were you comparing me with her?"

He hadn't expected me to ask him that. He got up and started pacing around the room.

"It isn't that important," he said.

"Well if it is affecting you so much then I think it is."

"What do you want me to do Amelia?" he started yelling. "Put my heart out in front of you just so you can walk all over it?"

I got up too, confused, not knowing where he was coming from. "What the hell are you talking about?" I said.

"As if you don't know," he scoffed. I swear, his mood swing was like he was on his period or something.

"No, I don't. So stop yelling at me."

"You know what? Let's forget about this for a second," he said his voice at a normal volume now. "When were you going to tell me that Vivian asked you out?"

"What?" I replied.

He rolled his eyes at that. "Come on, you are telling me that Vivian hasn't asked you out yet? I saw your reaction when Vivian announced what he felt about 'someone taking the girl he liked away from him'. You looked like he had already told you all of this!"

"Yes I already knew about it! But what I don't understand is why do I need to tell all this to you in the first place! We aren't dating Damon. I don't even like you that way yet." The yelling had started again.

The look he gave me after I said that though gave me chills.

"Of course," he said his voice extremely low. "You don't even like me that way."

He started laughing after that. A laughter that made me want to crawl up under my bed and comfort him at the same time.

"Damon, I didn't mean that-" I started but was soon interrupted.

"No, no, you did," he said looking right at me.
"And it isn't even your fault you know. You were practically forced into coming here, weren't you? You liked Vivian but felt pity for 'poor Prince Damon' and that was why you agreed to come here."

No, no, no. This was all going the wrong way. He was making all the wrong assumptions and the hurt in his eyes broke my heart.

"Damon," I started, almost into tears. "You don't understand." I felt the need to prove him that I didn't like Vivian for some reason and looking at him absolutely shattered, made my heart wrench. I wasn't someone who cried often but being around Damon was changing me.

"No Amelia!" he screamt and I flinched. "You don't understand. No one does. All the things I did for you, all the things you let me do, weren't because somewhere deep down you had started liking me had you? It was just out of pity. You pity me, just like my father."

His yelling soon died down and he very softly said, "It's my fault isn't it. I was the idiot who fell in love with a girl I knew would never like me back."

I stumbled back due to the force of what I just heard.

"Y-you l-love me?" I stammered after a while, still in shock.
"Yes, I do. I love you Amelia Grayson." He said eyes filled with pain.
"B-but how? We only met just recently and-"

He chuckled and looked at me.
"You never noticed did you? Yes we only met two weeks ago but that wasn't the first time I had seen you Amelia. But what is the point of this conversation anyway? "
He said in anger and began to leave the room.

What?! What did he mean when he said that wasn't the first time he had seen me?
I held his elbow to stop him from going, "No, Damon wait."

He yanked my hand off and looked at me with pure hatred. "I have done enough of that. But you wouldn't know neither care would you?"

"Damon-"

"Don't worry, I won't kick you out. As much as it kills me to know that father was right about you breaking my heart I know you aren't a gold digger. You staying here will only make me aware of the people who we have neglected in the past. So sweet dreams Amelia, hope you sleep well."
With that he stalked out of the room.

How had this conversation gone from joking around to a full blown fight I'll never know. All I knew was that the revelation of Damon being in love with me had caused a very different feeling to rise within me. I knew what I had to do next. I had to clear the misunderstanding between us, not only for his sake but now for mine too.