[color=#b97703]“I just don’t get it.”[/color]

“Your Majesty, please sit down.”

Jacob frowned as he watched his king pace in the living room of the executive suite. Not long after the reality had set in that Iris was gone, Caspian had switched from shock to what look like a mixture of frustration and denial. The young monarch was frowning at the floor, wracking his brain to figure out when things had gone wrong as he clutched Iris’s note in his closed fist. The last time he’d seen her, he’d thought they had been on the same page. She hadn’t been happy in the resort, but he’d told her he was going to fix it. So why would she disappear on him? It didn’t make any sense.

[color=#b97703]“How do we even know she actually wrote this?”[/color] Cas stopped pacing just long enough to hold up the crumpled paper between his fingers. [color=#b97703]“What if someone found her and took her? She wouldn’t do this. Iris wouldn’t have just walked away like this. Besides, where would she even go if she did leave? She doesn’t know her way around the city, and she couldn’t have gotten out without someone seeing her—”[/color]

“Your Majesty, breathe,” Jacob stopped him. “I understand that you’re upset, but you might be overthinking this just a bit…” He held up his hands innocently when the king shot him a glare. “Really think about it. Who would have taken her? If someone from our military had discovered her hiding here, I would have received a call about it, and I’ve heard no reports about any breeches in security at the border. No one has come into the capital who isn’t supposed to be here.” He lowered his hands. “As much as it pains me to say it… I believe Iris left of her own free will. I’m sorry.”

Cas held the other man’s gaze for a moment longer before he lowered his with a defeated sigh. [color=#b97703]“I know,”[/color] he shook his head, numbly reading the note in his hand one more time. [color=#b97703]“I just can’t believe she would do this to me. I… I told her I loved her, and she said she loved me. If she wasn’t lying, then why would she just vanish like this?”[/color]

“I can’t answer that,” Jacob stepped closer. “But if you want my honest opinion, I think this is for the best. If Iris wasn’t as committed to the relationship as you were, then it was better for the break to happen while the repercussions only affect the two of you.”

Cas nodded wordlessly, still reeling from the shock of his discovery. He didn’t want to believe that Iris had left him, but all the evidence pointed in that direction. She was gone, and she’d left a note specifically for him. For whatever reason, she’d decided to end things between them, and now he was left standing in an empty room, wondering if there was anything he could have done to prevent her from leaving.

[color=#b97703]“Maybe I deserved this,”[/color] he murmured after the silence had dragged out for a few minutes. [color=#b97703]“Honestly… she was miserable with me. I tried to make it better, but I couldn’t give her the time and attention she deserved. I think I was being selfish when I assumed we could make it work even when I was always working and barely had time to talk with her for half an hour every night. She probably got sick of waiting for me to be a better partner.”[/color] He rubbed one eye with his fist as he felt his emotions threatening to boil over and then blinked as he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“You did nothing wrong,” Jacob disagreed. “You’re the ruler of an entire country, Caspian. By choosing your people over one relationship, you made the right decision. Even though it may hurt now, all of Aspiria will be better off because of your dedication.”

[color=#b97703]“I know,”[/color] Cas sighed, stuffing Iris’s note into his pocket after one last glance over. [color=#b97703]“But it still doesn’t change the fact that I feel like my heart’s been ripped out of my chest.”[/color]

Jacob nodded, “Breakups are a bitch… But in any case, we should go back to the palace. There’s no point in lingering here any longer than we need to.”

[color=#b97703]“Sure,”[/color] Cas replied noncommittally. [color=#b97703]“I’ll need my schedule pushed back tomorrow morning though. I’m not going to bed until I find the bottom of a whiskey bottle.”[/color] With one last look around the messy suite, he let out his breath and followed his security guard back to the hover car, managing to keep his composure until they were inside the vehicle, and the deep ache that gnawed at his stomach finally took over. Hot tears rolled silently down his cheeks, and he stared blankly out the side window, wishing he could have done something to keep Iris from walking away and wondering where she had gone.