Chapter 7:
A few days after the ritual, there were now only a couple of days left before the weddings, and it was needed for both Eléonore and her parents to travel towards the royal castle, since hers wouldn't be a regular wedding, some 'negotiations' with the Germanian royal family had to be made before the ceremony, for that reason she was extremely nervous, not only would she meet Al's mother, but also it was her first meeting with him in more than a month.
Just as Eléonore and her parents were busy preparing for their trip, Saito approached Louise as he wanted to ask her something.
"Aren't you going to see the princess?" Not so long ago, an incident between Henrietta and Saito had shaken the core of Louise friendship with her and every time they met since then there was an awkward feeling in the air.
"I can't, I have to prepare for the wedding… and I also promised to take chii neesama's dogs for a walk" After saying that Louise walked away, avoiding him just like she always did when Henrietta was mentioned, he felt guilty about the whole thing and wanted the two girls to be the same way they were before.
"You seem troubled Saito san…"
Saito turned around surprised to find Cattleya who had witnessed the previous scene.
"I could listen to your problems if you don't mind"
"Sure, I could use some advice…"
After that, they changed location towards the house backyard, Cattleya had offered her room, but Saito refused, he definitely didn't want to cause a misunderstanding.
"Ok, I doubt anyone will listen to us here, so you can tell me what's troubling you"
Saito doubted for a second, what he was going to say wasn't easy but he wanted her advice.
"You see Cattleya san, a few months before Louise confessed to me I… we were staying in the royal castle, the princess was really sad since her mother wanted her to marry for political reasons, and she came to me seeking for comfort… despite that she had promised Louise that she wouldn't do anything like that again"
Cattleya was curious about that 'again', but that would be for another day.
"The thing is, she asked me if she should marry a man she didn't love, and I told her that she shouldn't… then she confessed her feelings for me… then we kissed… and were ready to do more…"
"Do you have feelings for the queen Saito san?"
"…No… it was just my lust that made me do that… I'd never considered leaving Louise for Henrietta… Louise is the only one I love… but you see... the thing is… she saw all of it…"
Saito looked miserable, Cattleya could see how remembering that incident pained him.
"I'll never forget the look on her face when she saw us kissing… she looked at us like… we had just plunged a knife into her chest… we betrayed her…I mean it was such a clichéd scene… two lovers meeting in secrecy behind her back… then she told us that… it wasn't her place to be there and ran away…"
Tears were forming on Saito's face as he said those words.
"I panicked, I told the princess that we were just friends and ran after Louise as fast as I could, but… because of certain reasons I was unable to catch her… I tried looking for her, I searched everywhere but I couldn't find her… it was only then that I realized just how important she was to me… that life without her was not worth living… it was nearly a month later that she came back to me and saved my life"
Saito took a moment to regain his composure, it seemed that the worst part of the story had passed.
"After that I was able to get her to forgive me… eventually she confessed to me and thanks to a letter I managed to convince Henrietta to write, now we're engaged and will marry in a few days, so everything's good between us… sure ever since that incident, her eyes lost that special glow that they used to have when she looked at me… but that's my punishment for hurting her feelings… "
Saito took a little pause, now it was time to address the problem.
"The problem is that Henrietta and her still haven't mend their friendship, every time they meet there's this feeling of hostility, and I feel guilty for that… no, it is my fault, if I had been true to my feelings… if I hadn't let my lust controlled me like that… they would still be best friends like they used to… so now I'm trying for them to be friends again to atone for the problems my indecisions caused."
Cattleya gave a long sigh… it was a complicated problem so she wanted to think things through before giving her advice.
"Saito san, the friendship between those two is something only they can fix… or destroy… you cannot force them to forgive and forget because you're just ignoring the problem and imposing yourself… that doesn't work… "
Saito looked at Cattleya's eyes and felt like it was his mother talking to him.
"Anyway, I recommend you leave them alone and focus on recovering Louise's trust… I believe that's the glow that's missing for her eyes that you mentioned"
Saito lowered his head.
"But Louise never really trusted me before..."
"Not true… it's correct that she doubted you whenever she found you with another girl, refusing to listen to your explanations and sure her anger usually got the better of her and made her say things she didn't mean and punish you violently but… didn't you noticed that in the end she always forgave you regardless of the situation… that's because deep down she really thought that you loved her and only her… but now she's not sure about that anymore"
Cattleya raised Saito's head and moved away.
"But it's not too late, you can still get het trust back, if she forgave you for cheating on her, it means that she still hasn't given up on you… So… just forget about the princess and concentrate on Louise, after all it would be unforgivable if you made your chosen one unhappy"
Saito felt relieved, speaking with Cattleya always made him feel better.
"Thanks Cattleya san, talking to you gave me good idea of what I should do… you'll really make a great mother someday"
"I can only hope you are right."
As they were leaving, Saito found Louise looking for him, her face looked a little angry and she had several dogs who were trying desperately to run away from her grabbed by a leash.
"Saito… what were you talking about with chii neesama?" Yep… she was pissed.
"You see Louise we were…" Saito wasn't sure what to say… this wasn't going to end well.
"I asked him about your travels… I figured out that, since you'd been in plenty of adventures with him, he could tell some wonderful stories about them and I was right"
Cattleya interrupted Saito, surprising Louise who now looked at her.
"…It can't be… you thought… that I would try to steal him away from you… "
Little tears were forming on Cattleya's eyes as she said that.
"No… of course not… chii neesama, I was just curious about it…"
Cattleya chuckled, she had already made Louise a favor without her knowing and now she wanted to give her a little advice.
"It's ok Louise I believe you… by the way you should consider letting go more of your leash, they won't try to run away if you do that…"
Then Cattleya moved past Louise and whispered as she did.
"…And even if they tried, I'll only hurt them far more in the end…"
