Darius approached the large sofa before slowly lowering himself onto it. He looked around the library as if reminiscing on so past mories of the place. At the sa ti, Salena shifted nervously from one foot to the other as she stood a distance away from the prince. Darius grey eyes landed on her and then his lips curved into an inviting smile.
“Co here and sit down with ,” he said as he gestured for her to approach him with his graceful fingers.
“I-I am fine here...” she murmured as her feet refused to move forward.
“I’m not fine with you standing all the way over there. Co over here...” Darius said as his eyes narrowed slightly at her.
Salena felt a cold shiver run through her body at his intense gaze and she could tell that the next ti that she resisted his command, the prince wouldn’t be so pleased with her. Although she didn’t want to get close to him, she couldn’t think of a valid reason to disobey his command. Salena slowly approached the sofa where the prince was seated.
“Co closer,” he urged casually.
Salena gulped nervously before willing her shaky legs to take a few more steps forward until she ca to stand right in front of where Darius was seated. He stared up at her before his lips curved into a small smile. His hand gracefully swept over the velvet fabric of the sofa next to where he was seated before he patted that empty spot invitingly.
“Sit down here next to ,” he instructed.
Salena’s eyes followed the movent of Darius’s hand as her eyes widened. She shook her head slowly from side to side in denial while thinking that there was no way that she could possibly take the seat so close to the prince.
“I apologize, Your Highness. I am a maid, and we are not allowed to sit...” she began apologizing and voicing the only excuse that she could co up with.
“Are maids allowed to ignore a prince’s orders nowadays? Was there a change in the rules that I was not made aware of?” Darius spoke up in wonder before she could finish her protest.
His words managed to shut Salena up very well; however, she still hesitated to sit down next to the prince, and it had nothing to do with the rules of the palace. Her heart began racing faster and harder in her chest as she struggled to deal with the imnse pressure of his presence. Suddenly, Darius grabbed her wrist tightly in his and before she could do anything but let out a small, surprised cry, he pulled her down onto the sofa next to him.
“That wasn’t so hard, was it?” he asked teasingly.
Salena sat with her back as straight as possible with her hands clenched in fists on her lap. She was so aware of how close she was to the prince and the fact that they were alone in a place that people never visited.
“I prefer that we sit and talk. It’s much more comfortable this way,” Darius said with a smile.
Salena couldn’t find it in her to reply to him in words, so she just nodded her head in understanding more than agreent. Her body felt so stiff, and she wondered if he could hear the sound of her loud heartbeat given how close he was to her. She could feel the prince’s eyes on her face, and she tried desperately to avoid his gaze.
“I heard that Leonard has been visiting Mila every day,” Darius said casually.
“Yes. Prince Leonard was also here today,” Salena confird softly.
“I see. What did they do together?” Darius asked patiently.
“The prince ca to help Mila study,” Salena replied in brief.
“What else?” Darius asked imdiately.
Her fists tightened on her lap as her chest started to feel tight from the tension. Darius stared at her with intense interest as he waited for more of her report while Salena continued to hesitate. After taking in a deep breath, she made up her mind to continue with the report.
“I got a call from Mila for so fresh ingredients. Apparently, she wanted to cook for Prince Leonard,” she reported.
“Cook? That’s a little unusual...” Prince Darius comnted before he looked thoughtful.
“Is it? Is it...abnormal for her to cook for Prince Leonard?” Salena asked in a whisper.
“Yes, it is quite unusual. There’s nothing wrong with it, so you don’t need to worry for your friend. Mila didn’t do anything wrong,” Darius quickly reassured her.
“I see...” Salena whispered before letting out a sigh of relief.
“What else did they do?” Darius prompted for further information.
Salena shifted nervously on the sofa as she fought an internal ntal war with herself about how much more she should tell Darius. So far, she had told him everything that she knew except for her accidental discovery of the intimate acts between Mila and Prince Leonard. She pressed her lips into a tight line as she ca to the decision that there was no way that she could tell Darius sothing like that.
“That is all that I know. After that, Prince Leonard left,” Salena replied without eting Darius’s eyes.
Darius’s grey eyes narrowed at the shy girl sitting next to him. He could tell that she was holding sothing back. Her nervousness was plain to see and so was the blush that had crept up from her neck onto her face. The fact that she was not eting his eyes also gave it away that she wasn’t telling him everything. Darius let out sigh while thinking that her report hadn’t been all that useful even if it wasn’t entirely useless either. Of all the things that she had told him, she still hasn’t told him the most important piece of information that he wanted to know.
“Salena...” he called her na calmly to get her attention.
“Y-Yes?” she stamred in her reply.
“Look at ,” he commanded sternly.
With great difficulty, Salena gathered her courage and forced herself to turn and look directly at Darius’ face as she was ordered to.
--To be continued...
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