Olivia POV

"Good morning, Your Highness. You have a busy day today," a loud male voice enters my room, and I see a stream of light enter the room as my curtains are opened.

"When don't I, Antonio?" I scoff, rubbing my tired eyes, still waking up.

"Well, you only have one more week of cleaning. I'd advise you make it count before the rest of your family arrive," he bows quickly before exiting the room, presumably to stand outside and let me get ready.

Antonio was, well, my personal bodyguard. He had short black hair, brown eyes and was very tall. His job was to protect me at all costs, and I'm not sure why he wasn't hired sooner with everything that happened. Apparently he was a well-trusted guard already within the castle, so Uncle Felix seemed to trust him with my safety.

However, I knew for a fact that Felix also hired him to keep me behaving and report back if I was doing anything I shouldn't be, which meant there would be no nostalgic trips to the wall for me anytime soon. Or, at all, really. I had no other choice but to sit through my punishment and behave for my uncles. As much as I had fantasised about escaping behind their backs or while we were due to clean, it was impossible.

Antonio was with me all day everyday, and at night there would always be a guard outside my door. Both to ensure my safety and my obedience. I wasn't crippling with grief anymore, though, as I was kept busy often.

I wasn't sure if it was healthy, but I couldn't help but imagine Logan was with me sometimes. I would have little conversations with him in my head, and would get strange glances from my brothers when they saw my lips moving while I was cleaning.

Not only that, but I couldn't stop thinking about Christmas with him, but also how I was away from the family. The younger twins' birthday was more or less brushed over by the rest of the family and it hurt my chest to think about. I don't think they paid much attention to it, though.

It had gotten to the point where I frequently forgot that he was... dead. And it hurt when I remembered. I tried so hard not to get angry at Luke but I was constantly reminded of both him and Logan.

So, my head was a mess.

"Are you alright, Your Highness?"

"I'm doing it again, aren't I?" I shake my head, "I don't know what to do about it anymore."

"It's perfectly natural seeing everything you've went through," Antonio explains, but not daring to touch on any particular topic, "delayed stress can have an overwhelming impact and it's exhausting, but believe me, Miss Maxwell, this cleaning will do you good. I doubt you'd be doing much else and it's important that you don't have time to think."

I nod, "I know, it's just hard."

"Well, why not do something else? Cleaning obviously hasn't been very distracting these past couple weeks for you," my guard chuckles.

I shake my head, "we're not supposed to stop cleaning or we will do it all over again until it's done perfectly, or something along those lines."

Antonio chuckles again, "I highly doubt you were to take that literally. If it's for the good of your mental health I'm sure they'll understand a small break."

I look up at him, smiling. Maybe having a personal bodyguard isn't so bad after all.

"Hey," I knock a broom out of Liam's hands. He rolls his eyes, seemingly too tired to argue, "how would you feel about going outside?"

His eyes light up a little, "we can do that?"

I laugh, "yes, now move. The four of us are going out. We're going to enjoy the rest of the time our family are away and I don't have to avoid Luke."

"Well, don't rush all at once to welcome us back," a loud voice snaps the four of us out of our repetitive cleaning daze.

It had felt like our punishment had lasted forever.

"Theo!" I squeal excitedly, running down the large staircase to pull my cousin into a rib-crushing hug. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see my uncles and grandmother talking to some of the guards further away outside, and in front of them Luke was approaching the main castle doors.

He meets my eyes, and I can tell he is unsure how to act. It was safe to label our current sibling relationship as "awkward and complicated". Sucking up my stubborn nature, I walk over to him and pull him into a quick hug, "I'm glad you're back, brother."

He doesn't reply, not to my surprise, but he returns the hug. It's a step in the right direction.

"Uncle Felix," after welcoming the rest of my family, I approach the King and notice a wide grin on his face. I chuckle at his expression, "don't look so happy. We barely covered half the castle."

"Olivia, you know I didn't really care about your cleaning, the staff will resume their duties promptly," he replies shortly.

I nod, "how was the trip?"

"It went brilliantly," he smiles widely, and I catch his eyes wandering over to Luke. I don't question it, though, if it was something he would be willing to tell me I'd already know it. I figured I'd have to try and get a little closer to Luke to find out what was going on.

They both seemed in a good mood, however, so it clearly wasn't something to worry about. We have dinner as a family for the first time in a while, and it was much less painful than I had anticipated.

I felt happy for once that evening, but every now and then the heaviness in my chest reminded me of how horrendous the past few months had been.

"Ready to go to your room, Your Highness?" Antonio grabs hold of my arm lightly and I nod as he guides me towards the doors of the dining hall. We were followed, of course, by two guards who trailed a little further behind just in case.

"You seem in a better mood, if I do say so myself," he comments respectfully.

"Yes," I nod, "I was worried about tonight but I'm glad it's over now, sort of."

"You've been through enough, Your Highness. Remember if you need some time off to let me know and I will tell the King. It is in his best interest that you are well," he reminds me. I had heard it all before, but I nod politely.

I laid on my bed and closed my eyes in a sort of rest as I tried to calm my racing mind. I could hear Antonio's voice outside of my door, where he sometimes remained.

"You wanted to see me?" My brother's voice causes me to jolt up from my lying position.

"Luke? What? No, I-" I stared at my brother, confused.

He shakes his head, "Lewis and Liam told me you wanted to speak to me, apparently in some strange attempt to fix everything."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

He turns around to leave, but I knew I had to do something. We couldn't go on like this forever. Say something to your brother, you idiot!

"I forgive you."

He stops dead in his tracks, and slowly turns around, "excuse me?"

"I said I forgive you. I know it must have all been hard on you too, Luke," I admit.

"You know nothing about it," he scoffs.

"I know," I nod, "but I'm sorry for everything I did to upset you. I don't hate you for Logan's death. You didn't mean i-"

"Fine."

"What?"

"I said fine. Is that all?" He crosses his arms.

"Wha- that's all you have to say to me, Luke?" I stuttered in actual disbelief, "do you understand how much I've went through to get to this point?"

I had sucked up my own pride and told him I forgave him for murder. What else does he want from me?

"Yes. I need to see Felix, so-" he turns around on his heels and makes his way towards the door.

I run towards the door and close it before he can get to it, "you aren't leaving this room until you tell me what's going on."

"Aren't I?" He raises his eyebrows and tries to force me away from the door. I shove his chest forcefully, which actually seems to surprise him as he takes a few steps back.

"Do that again and you'll regret it," he warns lowly.

"Why are you pushing me away?" I frown, ignoring his threat.

"Why are you still trying, Liv?" He rubs his forehead with his fingers, "I'm a bad guy, okay? I do bad things. I don't deserve your forgiveness, so let's just leave it at that, okay?"

"No!" I yell.

"I said leave it!" My brother shoves me out of the way and I land on my side. He exits the room, slamming the door in the process. I lifted my head up, a little dazed.

"L-Luke?" I called out pathetically, but he was gone. I didn't know what to do.

So I walked out.

It was still kind of Winter, so it was cold outside. However, at that point I had no self-concern and consciously left without a jacket. I was so cold my body was involuntarily shaking, though in my state of despair it was almost satisfying. I didn't get far before a pair of hands grab my shoulders and snap me out of my daze.

"Hey-" I look up to see Lewis' concerned face staring down at me, "you didn't hear me shouting on you, is every- wait, why don't you have a coat on?"

I stared at him blankly for a moment, what was the purpose of this again?

"Come on, let's get inside before-" he grabs my arm lightly before I roughly push him away and continue to walk away from the castle. I knew the guards wouldn't stop me from leaving at the gates, I was allowed to leave as long as I was supervised, but I'd probably be gone before they realised I was gone.

"Liv? Olivia!"

I feel my younger brother's hands grip at my shoulders again, but he looked much angrier this time, "do I have to carry you back home myself? What are you doing?" This time his grip was much tighter and I knew he wouldn't just let me walk away again.

"You don't tell me what to do, Lewis. Felix let me out," I quickly say, looking back up at the castle to keep an eye out for my bodyguard, who I'm sure noticed my absence by now.

"Sure he did," Lewis follows my gaze, "listen, come back with me and you can tell me what's wrong, okay?"

I knew my mind wasn't in it's best state at that time but the thought of being dragged back there caused my body to break out in a sweat. No, I can't go back there right now.

Swallowing down the guilt in my chest, I raised my leg and kicked my brother as hard as possible in the back of his knee. As I had predicted, the surprise caused him to release me and I quickly, surprisingly not stopped by any guards, left the castle grounds. I should've taken the damn horse.

"Where am I going?" I breathlessly questioned myself, looking behind me to see- guards! Antonio the new bodyguard at the forefront, too. He doesn't seem to be doing his job too well if this is how easily I can get away from him.

So I ran, expecting to get caught immediately, but as I reached the villages I managed to get lost in all of the buildings. I then slowed down my pace when I found a sort of alleyway in between two shops. The sky was a dark pink, the sun setting.

I'll walk back home soon, that should scare them enough to teach them a lesson. I sank breathlessly against the brick wall. I wasn't too worried about being spotted, as my hair was tied back and my dress, though still expensive, wasn't my usual fancy gown. I fit in a little bit more in this attire. I sat in the alley, glancing towards the sunset and listening to the background chatter of shoppers and my own breath returning to normal.

Until a hand grabs my face and I feel a piece of cloth cover my mouth and nose.