Chapter 479 Nicholas' Proposal (2)
Sophie batted her eyes when she heard Nicholas' proposal. She was caught off guard because he did it when she didn't expect it. After years of living together in the palace, raising the children together, and basically acted as family without the title of husband and wife and never being intimate with each other, she had gotten so used to Nicholas' presence around her.
In the beginning, she thought Nicholas would try to get back together with her under the excuse that the children needed a father after Leland left and she needed his protection. However, he didn't do it.
He mentioned stuff like that in passing, that he missed the old days when they lived in Blackwoods, or comments here and there referring to Anne or Leia as his daughters when he talked about the children in front of other people. However, it was never unpleasant or forced. He made it casual and lighthearted.
After a while, Sophie got used to them and she never felt worried that she would have to reciprocate his feelings or consider marrying him again. Recently, when she did a reflection on their relationship, she did feel curious to know if Nicholas had truly given up on trying to get her back. He had stopped any mention of it, and their lives went on peacefully.
"Why... why all of a sudden?" Sophie asked with a trembling voice. "You surprise me."
"Sudden?" Nicholas looked at Sophie with furrowed brows. "I've waited for many years to gather my courage to ask you this question. It's not something I do out of impulse."
"Oh..." Sophie didn't know how to explain to Nicholas that. in her opinion, THIS seemed to be done out of impulse. She asked, "Don't people usually prepare when they want to propose to a woman for marriage?"
Nicholas scratched his head that was not itchy. He chuckled and looked at Sophie with a playful glint in his eyes. He asked her, "Do you remember when I proposed to you the first time?"
Sophie's face instantly turned red. Gosh... she did remember, even though it was more than twelve years ago.
They had sex for the first time. It was beautiful and the first for either of them. Nicholas woke up early, and he immediately thought to himself that he wanted to marry Sophie. So, he cooked and cleaned her hut before she woke up, and when she did, he suddenly popped the question. At that point, they had only been together for weeks.
After their first lovemaking, Nicholas just knew that she was the one he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. However, he realized that his father would never allow her to marry Sophie, and his mother was too weak to oppose the king openly. So, Nicholas had to take that drastic measure to ensure that his family had no choice but to accept Sophie.
That's why he decided to marry her as soon as possible. Not only because of that reason, but he also truly and sincerely loved her. She was his first love, his childhood crush, and he felt blessed to be reunited with her again after they were grown up.
Nicholas actually took it as a sign that fate was giving him a second chance to return Sophie's kindness after the girl helped nurse him back to health when they were little. Now that they met again in different circumstances, where he was the prince, and she was a poor orphan abused by her relatives, Nicholas wanted to get her out of her abusive family and live a good life with him.
Unfortunately, he lost that chance after he made a stupid decision, being young and rash. He regretted it for many years after his memory returned, and he thought the universe would never give him another chance to be with her. He had to settle with being just a co-parent and watch Sophie live a happy life with another man.
Even after Leland was gone from the picture, Nicholas didn't want to force his way in. He waited patiently and tried to always be there for her until maybe someday the right moment came again, and he could seize the opportunity to get her back.
And after years of being patient and supportive, Nicholas decided it was time to make his intention known and asked Sophie to marry him again. Worst case, she would just say no. And that's fine.
He would just try again when another opportunity presented itself.
"I admit that, at that time, I rushed to marry you because I wanted to force my family to accept our relationship," said Nicholas. "I know my father, and he would not allow me to marry down. He was forced to marry my mother because it was his duty as the king of this kingdom. If he made that sacrifice, he would make sure that I followed in his footsteps and married a woman that my family chose for me. My father... was selfish. If he wasn't happy in his marriage, then why should I be happy? I am sure that's how his mind worked."
He sighed and continued his words. "The rest, you already know."
Sophie nodded faintly. She and Nicholas once had this conversation to clear up everything between them. Then, Nicholas apologized to her verbally for what happened in the past. He took ownership of his bad decision-making and the fact that he left her suffering and alone, with two children under her care.
Sophie had also forgiven him for that, and both were later healing from that experience. Now that she knew who he was and what he went through as a child, she was so understanding and supportive. Never once she blamed Nicholas for wanting to cure his lycanthropy and, at that moment, made the wrong decision that led to her being left all alone.
"I understand," said Sophie. She lowered her face and smiled faintly. The memories of that day when Nicholas proposed to her for the first time and immediately prepared for their wedding, returned to her mind, and she couldn't help but smile when she replayed the moment in her heart.
They were so young and so in love.
Sophie remembered her teenage self loved the man so deeply. If she was asked about it now, she would say that her love for Nic never died. It just changed form. Now that they were older, she loved him with the maturity of two adults who had experienced so much in life together. It was different from the puppy love of a teenager she had back then.
"I just realized that you were impulsive back then, too," said Sophie. "Ahaha... you surprised me with that proposal. I just woke up and was still flustered after the experience from the night before."
"I thought about doing it properly this time, you know, to propose to you, with candles and flowers and whatnot, but I was too impatient today," Nicholas admitted. "I am sorry... if this disappointed you."
Sophie pressed her lips with her hand and shook her head. "Not at all. I am not disappointed. I was just... surprised. That is all."
"Ahh..." Nicholas was happy to see no obvious rejection from Sophie at this moment. If she showed a disgusted or uncomfortable expression on her beautiful face, Nicholas would know that Sophie was really against the idea of marrying him. However, he didn't see any of those negative emotions in her. So... did this mean... she would consider it?
"So....? After you got over the surprise... what does your little heart tell you?" Nicholas asked her.
Even though his expression was playful and his demeanor showed calmness, the truth was Nicholas's heart was trembling, and he was nervous about Sophie's answer.
Would she say yes?
Or not?
Sophie was silent. She had thought about this moment for a long time. Should she open the door to Nicholas to enter her life in a more intimate manner?
She was not perfect and had a lot of shortcomings too. And she would be lying if she said she didn't need a man in her life. She felt good about what she had and her accomplishments. She was no longer a poor and pitiful young woman. She could support herself and her children if she chose to.
However, here was the man who was her first love, the father of her children; at least four of them looked up to him as their father figure, and this man had proved himself to be loyal and supportive throughout everything she went through in life.
Yes, she could live alone until her last days on earth, but sharing it with someone was not bad too, right?
At this point, Sophie didn't see the downside in accepting Nicholas' offer to marry him. If anything, the only change would just be the fact that they could sleep together as husband and wife. Nothing else would change since Nicholas had taken the role of the protector of her family and the father to her children.
And if she wanted to be honest with herself, she missed those warm nights she spent in the loving embrace of a man.
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