Kiss Me Not

The next morning, the sudden news of Leila and Edward's divorce kept spreading like wildfire, even more so than the good news about the royal wedding and how the new Queen was also pregnant.

Speculation after speculation kept on popping up. Did one of them cheat on the other? Was it a loveless marriage? Was it actually just a hoax to keep other proposals from getting to them? The list went on to how ridiculous each rumor could get. However, the most popular of them all was that Edward had a mistress and that it finally came to a head, leading to their divorce.

"For the last time, I have no comments."

Leila sighed as she shot down the umpteenth reporter for the day. It was getting ridiculous now, with these nuisances even tailing her just to somehow get their scoop at what really went down. Not that she'd even tell them what happened. It was her business and hers alone.

"Is it true that-"

"No comment," Leila shook her head in exasperation at yet another reporter. "And can you all please leave me alone? I just want some peace and quiet for once."

"Your Highness, Princess Leila, is the reason why-"

"No comment."

"Do you have an idea as to why-"

"No comment."

She knew she should just lock herself inside her room at this point. But then, she'd still hear them clamoring at her front door just giving themselves a reason to somehow break it down. It was stupid, but there was simply no other option for her to take. Then again…

"For the last time, no comment," she sighed. "And no further questions."

Without even so much as letting them get another question in, Leila slammed her door shut on the reporters' faces. She didn't care if it was bad optics anymore. All she wanted was some actual peace of mind for once.

"I've got to get out of here," Leila pinched the bridge of her nose. "Maybe get out of town or something…"

Looking at the calendar, she shook her head as she looked at her schedule. She didn't know how or when she'd do it, but she had to get some distance away from these rabid reporters.

"Wait…" She remembered how her daughter was convincing her to come with them to see Cain's mother at country V.

Leila blinked at the calendar as she remembered one more option available to her. If she recalled correctly, Kimmy and Cain were about to go on their own getaway sometime in the future. It'll probably be a good decision for her to come with them. She even had the perfect alibi with her not running away. Instead, she could frame it as her just visiting the mother of her future son-in-law.

"I'll have to get clear up my schedule then. As well as confirm their departure date…"

With a plan slowly forming in her head, Leila nodded to herself. All she had to do was talk to them and sort things out. She might as well inform the others about her plan while she was at it.

Which meant she had to go to the palace… which also meant she had to meet her brother. She could only hope that this would be the last headache she would give him in the future. Sean took care of everything quietly. But as the saying goes… There were no secrets that you could keep hidden forever, especially with these media people who just love to dig up graves just for a scoop!

"Well, there's no time like the present…"

Looking at it now, it'd also probably be a good time for her to start packing as well. If she was going to the palace, she might as well move back and get away from these annoying vultures of the press.

Grabbing her bags and stuffing in her essentials, Leila gave herself one last look over before going back to her door. She'd have to fight through the idiots again just to get out of her place, but it'll be worth it. Hopefully.

***

After strong-arming her way to safety, Leila finally found herself back in the Royal Palace. The silence was already a Godsend after living for days of reporters just hounding her heels for any sort of answer.

Walking up to the palace, a part of her was still apprehensive. It was just too much stress for her already loaded brother to handle and yet here she was again, giving the royal family a mess to clean up.

"Leila? Are you alright? I already asked Sean to handle this matter quickly," Lucas said as soon as he saw her sister.

"Tell me. Are you alright? Did they pester you too much?" Lucas worriedly asked again when Leila did not respond. "You should stay here till we make sure that the media's tired of hounding you."

"Yeah… And for that, I'm sorry," Leila apologized, moving closer to her brother with a downcast expression. "It should've been good news this morning with the royal wedding and even with the royal baby coming, but I just killed it with my marriage scandal, didn't I… I just didn't wanna cause you more stress. You're already so busy with helping Gavin in running the country and all that. My marriage is just a footnote when compared to real matters."

To her surprise, however, she felt Lucas's arms wrap around her body, pulling her into a hug before he spoke, "You shouldn't be saying that. If anything, I should be the one apologizing. I couldn't even take care of you properly that you had no choice but to keep the fact that you're hurting from me."

Leila couldn't help but tear up as it all came crashing down. Wrapping her arms in kind, she let out all of her grievances one sob after the other. The warmth of her brother's arms soothed her senses, helping her relax as she finally realized that she was once more in the safety of her family.

"No matter what happens, we're still family," Lucas stressed out, hugging his sister tightly as he soothed her. "Whether you think it's just a small problem, or maybe even something that you think is far too much to handle, we'll always be here to help you out. You don't have to face your problems alone."