Level Playing Field

“Is that the third question?” he asked without looking at me. He was staring off into space.

“No! it’s a…continuation of question two. So maybe like question two point one…?” I tried to explain. I still wanted to ask him another question for my third one.

“I’ve actually told you this before but maybe you don’t remember,” Edward replied. He still wasn’t looking at me.

“Really? Then can you repeat it again? I’m all ears,” I replied as I nudged his leg with my foot lightly to get his attention.

“You should marry me. If I were you, I’d marry me as soon as possible,” Edward replied as he finally turned to face me.

“That’s not a joke, right?” I asked curiously. I mean, I guess he did tell me that before and things didn’t go down so well after that.

Instead of replying to my question, Edward took out his phone and typed a text. What is he doing?

‘Natalia will be staying over at my place tonight. There is no need to worry. The level playing field starts now, brother.’

Edward hit the send button before turning to face Natalia once more as he offered her an innocent smile.

…

**Earlier that day**

“What is this!?” Lucien shouted in his younger brother’s face as he slammed the necklace he was holding down onto the table.

“Well, good morning!” Edward greeted his brother gleefully.

“Edward…” Lucien said his brother’s name in a solemn voice.

“You came all this way to ask me this? You can see for yourself, right? It’s a necklace…with a custom star-shape diamond pendant,” Edward said with a small smile.

“So, it really is yours,” Lucien said with narrowed eyes.

“Well to be more precise, it belongs to Natalia now. I gave it to her. Is that all you came here for?”

Edward asked with an innocent smile.

“Why did you give this necklace to her? What do you want?” Lucien asked.

“I gave it to her so that she will be reminded to stay true to herself. I didn’t want anything in particular…

is there a problem?” Edward said casually.

“What did you tell Natalia about the event in her dreams?” Lucien asked sternly.

“I didn’t tell her anything…I promise, did she say something?” Edward replied. Technically, I didn’t tell her anything, but I did show her a few things…

“Natalia mentioned that she remembers a man with green eyes saving her from the incident in her dream. She believes that man was me…” Lucien stated as he gauged his brother’s reaction. Edward’s poker face was perfect.

“And…does that have anything to do with me?” Edward prompted as he shrugged.

“You know that I didn’t save her, right? I didn’t even know the incident took place until Natalia asked me about it a while back when she started having the nightmares,” Lucien spat. He was clearly getting outraged.

“What makes you think that I know?” Edward replied innocently.

“Because you were the one who saved her! Am I wrong? Tell me I’m wrong…” Lucien shouted without restraint.

“So…what if I did? You’re here because you already know, right? The event in Natalia’s dream really happened and the one who saved her was me. It was never you. Her first love is not you; it has always been me,” Edward challenged Lucien.

“Listen, I’ve protected her for ten years. During that time, what have you done for her?” Lucien challenged his brother back.

“Me? I stepped aside to let my older brother protect her while he pretended to be her first love,” Edward shot back.

“It doesn’t matter who her first love is. That was more than ten years ago, right now she loves me,”

Lucien argued with confidence in his voice.

“How certain are you about that? She’s always been in love with me, Lucien. All these years, you were nothing more than a substitute for me and her memories of me,” Edward stated with confidence of his own.

“Of course, I’m certain. She just told me that she loves me,” Lucien replied as he glared at Edward.

“Hahaha...then tell me, why are you so worried about a necklace?” Edward replied as he laughed a little.

“You’ve always left her alone. Why are you taking interest in her now?” Lucien asked curiously.

“I’ve always stepped aside for your sake. Even when father chose me as his heir to replace you, I ran away so that you could revert to being his heir. Never in my life, did I want to compete with my dear brother. I’m not cut out to be part of the Rosenhall family like you and Francesca are and that is precisely why I can tell that Natalia cannot continue to live as part of this damned and fucked up family,” Edward stated clearly.

“This family that you hate so much is what is protecting the girl right now and has been for over ten years,” Lucien reminded his brother in a cold voice.

“Are you sure? Isn’t it because of this family that she’s currently in the position that she’s in?” Edward asked rhetorically.

“I will marry Natalia and she will remain in the family. That is the only way she can be protected,”

Lucien stated firmly.

“This family killed our mother. You know that better than anyone. Are you going to ignore everything and watch as it kills Natalia too? She can’t be locked up forever,” Edward argued.

“She will be fine as long as she has me. Edward, stay out of this like you always have,” Lucien said with a warning.

“You’re not the chosen one Lucien. You must think that you are and therefore you have absolute right over her. I hate to break it to you, but you’re not. You’re just a candidate and you’re not the only one,”

Edward replied as he shook his head.

“What are you talking about?” Lucien asked, his lips pursed into a thin line.

“I’ve always given you an advantage over me by letting Natalia forget about me. However, from now on, we’ll start all over again and it will be a level playing field this time,” Edward went on.

“What do you mean by that?” Lucien asked as he furrowed his brows suspiciously.

“If I die, promise me that you will protect what is inside this envelop…ring a bell?” Edward asked as he smiled cunningly.

Slowly, Edward placed a black envelop onto the table.

--To be continued…