Mondo Pastello | girlxgirl | Comple... - Chapter 35: Chapter 35

Bartholomew was the only who refused to start thinking of the possibility that Cornelius might not be found. Or, if he is found, then it would involve him being a corpse. I regretted everything I said to Bartholomew when I tried to get him to not get his hopes up, as well as every single syllable I told Sarina. I, however, made the decision to not attempt an apology right away and instead waited it out. Family was more important than my relationship problems, however dearly it hurt me.
We almost had a case where Bartholomew ran away, but luckily the night patrol was especially on guard around the missing twin's other half. Father nor Mother punished Bartholomew's escape attempt, but had surprisingly opted to spend the entire night awake with him as a source of comfort. Everyone in family held a deep concern for Bartholomew. This fact was supported by the bewildering scene I had seen from my balcony. The Honourable Lady Matilda, the girl who hated our family with all of her guts because they were declared the side branch, had actually offered her support to him. When Matilda and Lewis got involved, you knew the intensity of the situation skyrocketed.
A family meeting was scheduled and usually I didn't despise them, but this one I did. This one involved the entire royal family, which wasn't all that unusual. I dread when Princess Alice's family come over but when the Mother Queen was present, everything was either serious or amusing. This one would be all business, but the worst part was that everyone entered with sombre expressions, and there was one chair left open.
"My family..." my grandmother began at her position at the head of the table, taking my mother's usual seat. "You will not like what I have to say,"
"Then don't say it," Matilda retorted under the her breath, her mother shooting a silencing glare towards her. Matilda said nothing further.
"The manhunt will be called off," Mother Queen revealed, Bartholomew immediately retaliating.
"What? No! We cannot call it off! We have to find Cornelius!" he said, rising from his seat and placings his hands firmly on the table.
"Bartholomew! Sit down!" Mother said from across the table, Father gently pulling on Bartholomew's shirt until he took his seat again. Our grandmother sighed deeply, her old wrinkles contorting.
"I am so sorry, my grandchild, but there is only so much we can do," her voice was frail from old age yet the wisdom in her eyes scared me.
"We are the bloody Royal Family! We own four countries! How can we not do anything more? This isn't just some commoner who ran off, it's the bloody prince! Surely there is more we can do!" he sounded desperate and many looked away from his roaming eyes, guilt evident on their faces. They pitied him.
"We must face the possibility that he will not ever return," Bartholomew slammed his hands down.
"Unacceptable!" Mother went to scold him but the Mother Queen intervened, shaking her head.
"I am truly sorry, Bartholomew. This is a tragic lost for the entire nation and our family. But, I cannot allow to lose even more family," she said with a sharp glare and instantly everyone knew what was going to go down. "Princess Alice, Duchess Hannah; would you please leave the hall with your respective households?" it was completely awkward when nine people left the room, giving us concerned glances. Our household that should've been five members now sat in front of the Mother Queen at four.
"Mother? What is this all about?" the Queen addressed her mother, concerned. The Mother Queen sighed deeply.
"All of this happened because of the differences between the children's personalities and how you two tried to raise them. Therefore, you will now discuss everything that has caused this, unbiasedly. I will act as 'referee' and make sure nothing gets out of hand, but it is completely and utterly unacceptable that the main Royal Family is not open with each other. There will be no objections, for this is a command," I had never heard her sound so serious, and she certainly had never used her power over us. We all twiddled uncomfortable under her stare, even Father, until she eventually sighed and calmed a bit. "Let's begin. Cornelius had a panic attack because of the fighting that started with Bartholomew and Vincent. Bartholomew, would you kick-start this conversation by explaining your side of the story? There will be no interruptions," she said strictly, looking straight at my father who nodded weakly.
"Uhm, okay. I vandalised Dad's jet because..." and thus the inevitable conversation broke out which we all dreaded, Mother Queen conducting us like an orchestra and keeping us from getting overly furious with one another. Each of us had time to say everything we've ever wanted without interruption, and I felt lighter by the end of it. Needless to say, we were all in tears. It took a while to get our stubborn father to understand our side of the story, but although he did not agree with it, he made the promise to attempt to. It was the closest thing we could manage to him feeling how we felt.
Bartholomew would be punished, that was a given from the start, but not by being shipped off towards an institute. His punishment was not yet decided, but so far it included scrubbing the jet of all paint. Cornelius and Andrew's involvements with the jet never came out, but I didn't overly complain about that. It was mostly Bartholomew's fault.
My coming out had my father stumped for a long time. Mother quickly accepted me and the thought of Sarina as my girlfriend, and I guess that was made my father accept it in the end. Because it was Sarina, and he liked her. Told me how he respected her standing up for me in front of Caleb and that we deserved each other. It might have sounded a bit strained, but it was far from a lie and that made me incredibly happy.
Mother Queen wasn't surprised that I was bisexual and simply shrugged her shoulders, saying that in these modern times everyone is might as well be. My mother had not expected those words from her and it was then that I realized exactly how far my mother had strayed from my grandmother's teachings. They barely knew one another.
The twins' show for the Royal Variety Performance was cancelled, and rightfully so. One of the duet partners was missing, and when this came up again, sorrow drowned in us all.
The rest of the family was called back in and with lighter hearts and clearer minds, we informed them of what caused the entire situation. They were family and deserved to know more than anyone.
"You're a lesbian?!" Matilda retorted at my coming out. I shook my head at her, trying not to get angry.
"No. I'm bi," I answered back.
"Bipolar?" Lewis chipped in, seeming to have found a funny joke and just needed to make a comeback.
"Bisexual. I might as well be bipolar though," I whispered that last part to myself, my mother looking carefully over me. I was stilled stumped that I had said all those things to Sarina. I didn't know I was capable of such terrible things.
"Does that mean you'll hit on me if we weren't family?" Matilda seemed curious, sitting back in the chair with her arms folded. I immediately began to laugh, the entire table looking towards me in question. Jasper seemed a bit amused as I slammed down my hand, getting dead serious as I looked straight into her eyes.
"Not if we were the last people on Earth," her jaw immediately slacked and my mother gave me a gentle slap to the arm.
"Melanie!" but it was so worth it. The atmosphere became lighter and Mother Queen seemed at peace. She suddenly stood up, all talking die down as we regarded her with questioning gazes.
"I told you all the search will be called off for Cornelius," she suddenly said and the room turned tense again, everyone wondering why she brought it up again. "There is a reason why I would call it off on only the fourth day," as if on cue, the doors the hall swung open. All eyes turned towards the creaking sound before hitched breaths sounded in the air. There, standing with clean clothes, wet hair and a guilty smile, stood His Royal Highness, Prince Cornelius Darlington.
Bartholomew was the first out of his seat, running across the table before leaping off at the end. Cornelius took off in a sprint, meeting his brother halfway as they collided into the most emotional hug they have ever shared. The rest of the family surrounded the twins' reunion, their cries filling the hall. Father moved forward and dropped to his knees, taking both of his sons into his large arms. Mother began crying on her own and hugged Mother Queen, letting out all bottled up emotions. I was trying to contain myself from crying but as soon as Jasper laid his hand on my shoulder and looked into my eyes with a happy expression, I couldn't hold it in. I broke down, clutching onto my cousin for dear life.
My little brother was back. After everything we've gone through, the deities brought him back to us.
The twins pulled away from each other and eventually each family member had their arms wrapped tightly around Cornelius. I just mostly cried into his shoulder, questioning his whereabouts. Where had he been? What had happened?
"H-how?" my mother eventually voiced, clutching her little boy.
"Border patrol picked him up," Mother Queen answered. The Queen retracted, confusion etched into her face as she regarded Cornelius's guilt-ridden face.
"Border patrol? You were headed out the country?"
"Actually, in fact, border patrol picked him up when he came back to the country," Mother turned to Cornelius with question.
"Where did you go?" he chuckled nervously and scratched the back of his head before letting it fall, completely apology etched onto his expressions.
"I went to Belgium," he admitted, everyone's reactions vary from amusement to confusion to anger.
"Belgium? Belgium?! What would you go there for?" Bartholomew was the one who asked, shaking his brother by the shoulders. Cornelius chuckled in response.
"I never told you this but I found out that our private investigator actually lives in Belgium," he told his brother with a sly glint. There was a second before realization hit everyone.
"Private investigator?! What PI did you ever get into contact with?" the King was in between ferocity and resentment. He looked as if he wanted to do nothing but curl up under a blanket and die. The twins laughed sheepishly, the entire family eyeing them suspiciously.
"Forgot about that one," Bartholomew avoided eye contact from everyone.
"We, uh, hired a PI when Melanie began to sneak out of the palace to see what she was up to," the Queen looked as if nothing more could shock her at this point. "But we dismissed him!" he tried to save their tailpipes.
"After three years of him stalking me!" I immediately retaliated, feeling that we might as well get everything out.
"And what did you do after that? Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't you hire him to follow Caleb?" now all eyes were on me. I scoffed.
"I thought he was cheating on me. It's more valid than 'my sister looked happy and we wanted a part of that' you little creeps," they laughed at my reaction and soon I couldn't stop myself from joining. My father looked as if he wanted to drag us all to a church, my mother wondering where she had gone wrong. The rest of the family found it more amusing how messed up the main family was.
But that was what differed us from every other Royal in history. And I wouldn't change a single thing about us if I could.