Wilford's POV

"Will..."

I smiled at Dark, putting my book down. "Yes?"

He looked at me with a straight face. "You should spend some time with Emerson."

I sighed, putting the book on the nightstand. "Aren't I already doing that? I'm giving her princess lessons. I'm spending time with her by doing that."

Dark shook his head. "You know what I mean." He took my hand. I think you should stop acting like a king all the time, and start acting like her grandfather."

"Dark..." I sighed again, putting my other hand on top of his. "I can't. I can't get close to her, and then one day watch her leave, or die, or..." I took a deep, shaky breath. "I think it's better for me to just distance myself."

Dark shook his head. "The two of you have been distancing yourselves from each other since she came back. You need to repair your relationship with her."

I scoffed, pulling my hands away. "Me? I did nothing wrong."

"You snapped at her, Will. For no reason, might I add. Do I have to take you to the mirror?"

I winced, shaking my head. "No, please don't. I... guess you're right. But what do I do?"

Dark shrugged. "I don't know. Ask her parents what she likes, and pick from that."

"Oh, I already know what she likes."

"Name some. I'll help you pick from them."

I sat up against the headboard. "Okay. So, she likes peppermint, black roses, music, singing, dancing, and acting."

"Okay, that doesn't help much. What does she really want to do?"

I thought for a moment. "Well, she really wanted to get to know Elaine better..." I snapped my fingers. "That's it!"

"Wait, what?" Dark gave me a confused look.

"I have an idea." I got up from the bed. "Don't worry about a thing. I'll be back later." I gave him a quick kiss, then walked out of the bedroom.

I wandered through the halls for a little bit before walking up to Emerson's door. I head giggling on the other side and thought that she was with Rebecca. I knocked, and the giggling stopped.

"Come in." Emerson said from the other side. I took a deep breath and opened the door, stepping inside. I was surprised to see not Rebecca, but Elena sitting next to Emerson on her bed. Emerson looked up at me. "I wasn't expecting you to come. Is something wrong?"

I shook my head. "No, nothing's wrong. I just... want to show you something." I glanced at Elena. "You can come with, Elena."

The two girls looked at each other before getting off of Emerson's bed. "Where are we going?" Elena asked as I led them out of the room and further down the hall.

"Somewhere. It's a surprise."

"Will it be a good surprise?" Emerson asked.

"I believe so." We reached the pair of mahogany doors, and I turned towards them. "Okay, girls. I'm going to open these doors, and you will be able to go in. But before I do, you must promise me something."

Emerson nodded. "Of course. Anything."

I took a deep breath. "You must never tell anyone about this room, or invite other people to come in. You two may come in whenever you like, but please make sure no one if following you and don't break anything. Dark, Mark, Jack and I want this room to be perfectly preserved. Okay?" They nodded. "Good." I turned back around and opened the doors.

The girls gasped at the large bedroom before them. It had light blue walls and a white ceiling and carpet. Along one wall was a large mirror, vanity, and walk-in closet. Along the other was a huge bed with light blue sheets and a door leading to a huge bathroom. Pictures and little items were carefully placed on the walls, each telling a different story.

They walked in, looking around at everything. "Woah." Elena whispered. "This is beautiful."

"Who lived in here?" Emerson asked, walking over to the bed. She sat down on it, and instantly sank in. "This is like heaven."

I glanced around, closing the doors quietly. "This was your mother's room." They stared at me. "Carefully preserved, just like it was on the day she left."

Elena grabbed Emerson's arm. "This is off-bounds. No one is allowed in here."

"I'm the king." I told her. "I can do whatever I want."

Emerson eyed a picture standing on the nightstand and carefully picked it up. "This is the same picture in the locket."

I nodded, sitting down next to her. Elena sat on the other side. "Yes. That day meant a lot to her." They looked up at me. "It was they day before Mark adopted her. It was when she knew that she wanted Mark to be her friend forever." I smiled sadly. "Little did she know that he was going to adopt her in a little less than twenty-four hours."

Emerson put the picture on her lap. "She was really important to you, huh?"

I sighed. "You have no idea. I was there with her through almost everything."

Elena bit her lip. "I heard. Through her parents' divorce, then those orphanages, and everything in between. You guys meant a lot to each other."

I nodded. "Yeah, we did. And while everyone saw me as the insane Fallen Angel that I am, Emerson saw me as the kind, emotional person that I once was and brought that part of me back."

"How?" Emerson asked. "How did she do that? How did she see you like that?"

I but my lip. "Well, for starters, do you remember the way I acted when you came back?" Emerson gulped, nodding. "Well, believe it or not, that used to happen frequently . Emerson was always the one to soothe me and calm me down. And she always knew when I felt upset. She always helped me feel better. And in return for that, I saved Danielle's life and invited Mark, Jack, and Anti to her eighteenth birthday party."

Elena smiled. "I remember Danielle telling me that. She was really happy that you did that."

"What did you do?" Emerson asked.

"Well, when they were dating, Danielle was just a regular soldier. Women weren't allowed in the Royal Guard, so she has to pretend she was a guy. Long story short, we found out about it. I was supposed to kill her for breaking the law, but... I couldn't. I couldn't hurt Elaine like that. So I let her live."

Elena grinned. "That's probably the sweetest thing that I've ever heard."

I smirked. "See? I'm not what everybody says I am."

Emerson smiled shyly, looking down at the picture. "Yeah. You aren't."