Disguised Before The Alpha Prince

Chp 52

Pearl POV

As I walked down the narrow path lined with wildflowers, my heart started to beat faster. Cecil’s little cottage came into view, the ivy still curling up the side of the stone walls, just like I remembered. A wave of warmth rushed over me. It had been weeks but it felt like years.

I raised my hand and knocked twice on the wooden door.

There was a pause. Then, the door flung open with a loud creak.

“Perin—” Cecil’s voice caught halfway through the name as her eyes scanned my face. Then, she gasped.

“Pearl!” she squealed, throwing her arms around me before I could say a word.

I stumbled back a little from the force of her hug, laughing breathlessly. “Careful, you’ll knock me over.”

“You i***t!” she scolded, pulling back to look at me. Her eyes were already glossy with tears. “You didn’t write, you didn’t visit, you just vanished into that academy!”

I smiled sheepishly. “I missed you too.”

Cecil reached out and cupped my face, shaking her head with a mix of disbelief and joy. “You look so different… your voice well, it’s still soft, but you’ve changed. You’ve really changed in a good way though.”

“You think so?” I murmured.

She tugged me inside, slamming the door behind us. “Yes! And you look tired. Sit down. I’ll make tea, and you’re telling me everything. Every single thing.”

Her voice was bossy, just like always, but her eyes never stopped looking at me as if making sure I was really here and not just a dream.

I sank into the old chair by the fireplace, letting the smell of cedar and herbs wrap around me like a familiar blanket.

Cecil busied herself with the kettle, glancing at me every few seconds.

“I was so worried, Pearl,” she said suddenly, her back still turned. “I knew you were safe with the disguise, but still… I was scared. That someone would find out. That someone would hurt you.”

My chest tightened at her words. I didn’t answer right away.

But then I said, “A lot has happened. Some of it… hard to explain. But I’m okay. I’m really okay now.”

She turned back to me with a soft smile, holding two steaming cups. “Then we’ll talk about everything. But not like this, like friends, not like secret-keeping idiots. Okay?”

“Okay,” I whispered, smiling.

For the first time in weeks, I felt like I was home.

Cecil handed me the cup of tea with a warm smile, but as I reached out to take it, my eyes fell on something beneath the sleeve of her dress.

A dark, swollen mark, red and raw peeked from under the fabric of her forearm.

My heart stopped.

“What’s that?” I asked sharply, already grabbing her arm before she could pull it away.

“Pearl, it’s nothing—”

“Don’t lie to me, Cecil.” My voice shook. I pushed up the fabric, revealing the long, ugly welt that curved around her arm like a lash from a whip. “What happened?”

Cecil bit her lip and looked away.

My grip on her wrist tightened gently. “Tell me.”

There was a long pause, the silence thick between us only the quiet hiss of the boiling kettle filling the space.

Then, she finally whispered, “It was your aunt.”

My breath caught in my throat. “What?”

“She was furious when she found out I helped you,” Cecil said, her voice trembling, eyes fixed on the mark. “She said I betrayed the family. That I deserved punishment for lying and for letting you go.” She gave a small, bitter laugh. “She said I needed to be reminded of my place.”

I stared at her, the cup trembling in my hands.

“She whipped you… because of me?”

Cecil finally looked up at me. “You had to go, Pearl. You had a chance to live. To become someone. I wasn’t going to let her keep you trapped there like a caged bird. If I had to suffer for that—so be it.”

Tears stung my eyes as guilt slammed into my chest like a wave.

“Cecil…” My voice cracked. “I never— I never wanted you to pay for helping me.”

She gently pulled her hand back and gave me a small, brave smile. “You’re worth it.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat as I stared at the girl who had given up her safety, her peace just so I could be free.

“I’ll never let anyone hurt you again,” I whispered. “Not her. Not anyone.”

Cecil reached across the table and gently squeezed my hand. “Then make everything you’ve gone through mean something, Pearl. Win. Get that title. Change your fate.”

I nodded, tears still clinging to my lashes. And in that moment, I swore I would protect her.

I couldn’t take my eyes off the fading bruise on Cecil’s arm. Even though she tried to smile, tried to brush it off like it was nothing, it wasn’t. Not to me. The wound wasn’t just physical. It was a scar of the life I’d escaped, and she’d been left behind to endure.

I reached for her hand again, gently this time. “Cecil… does she still treat you like this?” My voice was barely a whisper. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to hear the answer.

Cecil looked down at our hands, her lashes fluttering low. A pause stretched between us before she finally shook her head.

“No,” she said softly. “Not anymore.”

I blinked, startled. “What do you mean?”

“She changed… a little,” Cecil added quickly, her voice quiet but honest. “After you left, she was furious for days. She screamed, broke things, and blamed me for everything. I thought she’d never forgive me.” She paused, then continued with a faraway look in her eyes. “But one night, she came to my room. She didn’t yell. She just… sat beside me and said that maybe she’d been wrong.”

I stared at her, heart pounding.

“She said she couldn’t keep you caged forever. That no amount of locked doors or iron rules could suppress who you really are. And maybe she finally saw that locking you away wasn’t protection, it was punishment. She realized… she was trying to turn you into someone you weren’t.”

Cecil gave me a soft smile. “She didn’t exactly apologize, but she hasn't hurt me since. She even lets me walk into town alone now. It’s like… she’s slowly trying to make peace with your choice.”

I sat there in silence, stunned by the words I never thought I’d hear.

My aunt, prideful, cold, commanding had finally seen the truth?

A strange mix of relief and ache settled in my chest. Maybe a part of her really had loved me… even if it was buried under years of fear and control.

“I wish she’d told me that herself,” I murmured.

“She’s too proud,” Cecil said gently. “But I think… she still watches over you in her own way. And she’s finally understood that you were never meant to live in the shadows.”

I looked at Cecil, and something shifted in me, something quiet and strong.

“I’ll prove to her that letting me go wasn’t a mistake,” I said. Cecil smiled. “You already have.”

I sat beside Cecil, the quiet of her small room wrapping around us like a familiar blanket. My fingers absentmindedly ran over the edge of the sleeve she’d pulled back just moments ago, but my mind was far away back in that tall, shadowed house where my childhood had unfolded like a cautious story.

“How… how is everyone back home?” I asked softly, eyes not quite meeting hers. “Is she… is Aunt eating properly now?”

Cecil blinked at me, a little surprised by the question. “Your aunt?”

I nodded slowly. “I know she works herself too hard. Even when I was there, she'd forget to eat sometimes. She'd skip meals just to finish ledgers or inspect the house from top to bottom before sundown.”

I let out a small, dry laugh at the memory.

“I remember once,” I said, voice warming, “I tried to cook her a meal. Just some broth and bread. I was only twelve, but I thought it would make her happy. She scolded me so much for stepping into the kitchen unannounced but then she ate every last bite without a word.”

Cecil smiled, eyes soft. “She kept that bowl.”

I looked at her in surprise.

“She never let the maids throw it away,” Cecil added. “Said it wasn’t practical to waste a perfectly good bowl, but I knew better. She kept it because it reminded her of you.”

That caught me off guard.

I leaned back, remembering another small moment, those quiet afternoons when I would sit near her while she read, and even though she said nothing, she’d reach out occasionally and brush my hair behind my ear without looking up.

“She wasn’t always cruel,” I whispered. “There were moments—tiny ones—when I saw something else in her. I think she just didn’t know how to love gently.”

“She did love you, Pearl,” Cecil said, her voice sure. “She still does. She just… didn’t know how to let go of fear. Or control.”

I nodded, swallowing the lump that had suddenly formed in my throat. The past had been thorny, yes, but it wasn’t all sharp edges. There were fragments of light hidden between the shadows, memories that still lived warm in my chest.

“I hope she’s okay,” I murmured. “Even if we’re apart, I don’t want her to… forget to take care of herself.”

“She hasn’t,” Cecil said. “She still wakes early, still does her rounds but lately, I’ve noticed she sits by the window in the afternoon. Just… thinking. Sometimes she holds the locket with your mother’s picture inside.”

That almost broke me.

I looked out the small window, the sky tinged orange as evening crept in, and whispered quietly mostly to myself, “I’ll come back, Aunt. I’ll return… when I’ve earned everything I set out for. And when I do, I want you to be proud of me. Just once.”

The golden light of the setting sun poured through Cecil’s window, casting a warm glow across the wooden floor. I sat on the small stool beside it, watching as the sky shifted from gold to a soft lavender hue. The breeze was light, but the silence in the room felt heavier than usual.

My heart ached with unspoken words.

Reaching into my bag, I pulled out a small piece of parchment and a quill. I hadn’t written to her, not even once since I left. But tonight, something stirred within me. Maybe it was seeing Cecil again. Maybe it was the memory of that old bowl. Or maybe it was just… time.

I dipped the quill in ink and began to write slowly, deliberately.

> Dear Aunt May,

I hope this letter finds you well, even though I don’t plan to send it, at least not yet.

There’s so much I want to say, but I don’t know where to begin. Maybe I’ll just start with this: I miss you. I miss the creak of the hallway floorboards in the morning, the scent of herbal tea you always brewed but rarely drank, and the sound of your footsteps when you paced near the window at night.

You weren’t always easy to understand. But now that I’ve been away… I think I’m beginning to see you differently. Maybe it wasn’t just coldness. Maybe it was fear. Maybe grief had made a fortress of your heart, and I couldn’t see past the walls back then.

Still, I want you to know something. Even if I left, even if I ran, I'm trying. I’m working hard to become someone. Not just for me, but for the both of us. For Mother. For Father.

I remember the night you gave me my mothers locket. That was the first time I saw the real you. Not the strict woman in stiff dresses, but the aunt who hid love behind rules.

I won’t let you down. I promise. One day, I’ll come back, not the scared girl you once locked away, but a woman you can be proud of.

Until then, take care of yourself. Don’t skip meals. Rest. And if you ever sit by the window and wonder if I think of you… I do.

I always do.

With love,

Pearl

I stared at the letter once it was finished, a single tear sliding down my cheek. I folded the parchment carefully and tucked it away in the bottom of my bag, pressing a hand over it as if to seal the emotions with it.

One day, I’ll give this to her.

But not yet.

I looked back out at the darkening sky and whispered, “Not yet.”