“I...Umm...” I murmured as I hesitated.
“You don’t have to be shy about it...” she coaxed before smiling at .
I wished that the only emotion that I felt at that mont was simply shyness; however, that was very far from the case. I felt so conflicted, and all my emotions were a ss as I struggled more with myself than the pressure that everyone seed to be putting on to answer that question.
“I’m...” I began saying before I had to stop.
“Are you embarrassed? Well, there’s no need to be. I’m just very curious about your relationship with the prince. So, tell , what exactly is your relationship with Prince Leonard?” she asked again as her eyes stared directly at my face.
“I...I’m just...” I murmured as I felt my body tremble slightly.
“Mila...”
I heard the prince’s voice calling my na almost at the sa ti that I felt the warmth of his hand on my bare shoulder. My heart skipped a beat before relief flooded my chest. I turned to stare up at Prince Leonard’s face; however, he wasn’t looking at .
“Prince Leonard...” I whispered his na.
“I didn’t think that my lady would attract so much attention,” he said calmly.
“Your Highness...” Lucinda murmured.
“I appreciate your efforts in making sure that Mila feels welcod here. This is her first visit to this country so she might not know how things work around here,” Prince Leonard continued.
“I was just...” Lucinda whispered before trailing off into silence.
I was too focused on Lucinda that I hadn’t realized when the prince returned to the dining room. The way his hand tightened slightly on my shoulder made feel uneasy.
How much of our conversation did he overhear?
I wanted to see his face, but I didn’t dare look up. Although his tone was calm and polite, I could tell that the prince wasn’t in the best of moods.
“Trying to welco her and also trying to get to know her better...” the prince finished her sentence for her.
By that ti, everyone’s attention was on the three of us. I felt a lump form in my throat when I started fearing that I might have caused a rift in the good relations between the two countries because of this. I should have been more careful while the prince was away. Despite not quite understanding what was going on, I could tell that their conversation was filled with tension. I didn’t dare interrupt their conversation in fear that I would say the wrong thing that could potentially make everything worse. That was when it occurred to that maybe I could reach him in another way.
‘Prince Leonard...’ I called his na softly in my mind.
I wasn’t sure if our minds were still connected enough for him to hear , but I thought that it wouldn’t hurt to give it a try. It was probably because I hadn’t expected it to work that I was so surprised when he gave a reply.
‘What is it, Mila?’ he replied.
Now that he had replied to , I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to tell him. However, I needed to say sothing that would sohow smooth things over.
“Exactly. I guess, just like everyone else, I was curious about Lady Mila. I also thought that she looked a little down, so I wanted to entertain her with so small talk,” Lucinda replied before smiling beautifully.
‘Is what she’s saying true?’ the prince asked as he kept on staring at Lucinda.
‘Well...I guess...’ I replied with so hesitation.
‘I thought as much...’ he replied a little coldly.
He thought...what?
“I appreciate the concern that you have shown. Since you went out of your way to ask Mila about our relationship and everyone else seems curious enough about it, I’ll make it clear to everyone here right now. Mila is soone very important to ,” Prince Leonard declared as he wrapped an arm around my shoulders.
Silence swallowed up the entire room for a few seconds as everyone reacted in pure shock. Even I was shocked at the prince’s direct words. However, instead of celebrating and focusing on the joy that I felt from hearing that I was special to him, I was more aware of the fact that Prince Leonard was in fact feeling angry. Although he did very well to hide it, I could sohow sense his emotions.
“Shall we leave?” I whispered as I turned to glance up at his face.
“Are you feeling unwell?” he asked in reply.
“A little. I think we should leave...” I replied with a slight nod of my head.
I wasn’t lying when I told him that I felt unwell; however, I didn’t feel sick. The tense atmosphere and the way that everyone was staring at made feel ‘unwell’ enough to want to leave the room. Most importantly, I wanted to get the prince out of there as well.
No one dared speak a word to us as the prince helped up and quickly led out of the room. I could feel their eyes following our movents, but I decided to ignore them. Although I wasn’t sure why Prince Leonard seed so irritated, I could guess that it had sothing to do with the fact that Lucinda asked an insensitive question.
I felt like I had regained my freedom again when we were finally back in the suite that had been prepared for our stay. Prince Leonard lowered himself onto the sofa before shrugging off his suit and letting out a sigh. He looked more tired than I would have liked to see, and it was just the first day of the trip.
“Co here, Mila,” the prince urged as he waved toward him.
I sat down next to him on the sofa and his arm was imdiately around my shoulder before he pulled close against his body. His arm around and the heat of his body against mine felt so reassuring. It was such a protective gesture and it reminded of how I had wrapped his arm around my shoulder before we left dinner.
--To be continued...
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