Of course, the son they wanted me to marry.He loves reading,his mother’s voice echoed in my mind; no wonder he was a librarian for the academy. And that explained his familiarity when I couldn’t place it before; he looked equally between his father and mother.
Might as well be courteous despite our previous interactions. “I’m Beatrix Gadreel Havenglow.” I bowed meekly.
“No need to introduce yourself,” he whispered, caressing my cheek, oddly reminiscent of Amos’s action. “My wife.”
Did he just —
He did.
“Forgive my impertinence, my lord, but we are not married, nor betrothed,” I stated evenly, keeping my tone neutral to hide the fact I didn’t appreciatehisimpertinence.Don’t get me wrong,I wouldn’t refuse if our families deemed it appropriate to marry us off. He was cute in that gloomy, scrunkly kind of way, and I was at ease with him even when he was being a creep staring at me from dark corners.
The last statement sounded way better before I voiced it out in my head.
“Notyet,” he grumbled, letting my face go.
I didn’t need any more presumptuous men right now. I was already making progress. No need to complicate it further, right, universe? Or the fates? Or whichever entity was worshipped here?
Theodore caught my attention again when he placed a different book next to the one I was reading. “More detailed information,” he mumbled, his words slurring together.“Advanced, but more practical than the theoretical one you’re reading.”
Just as with our only other conversation before, he was being very thoughtful. Maybe that was why I was so comfortable with his creepiness. His good-looking face only helped. “Thank you, Lord Theodore.”
“Theodore,” he corrected me as he walked away.
“I guess he already approved of marrying you, my lady,” Mia commented when he was out of earshot. My unamused face made her smile.
Chapter Seventeen
Things were too good to be true sometimes.
Most of the time.
I thought I was safe when the rest of my Saturday was uneventful, despite the chaotic morning. My knights were very behaved too; although I noticed they were more touchy-feely with me. Not that I was complaining.
Physical affection was my number one weakness if it wasn’t already obvious enough. And the best manifestation of that? Sex, of course.
When Sunday morning came, right at the crack of dawn, the mail system delivered a letter to the dorm. Came directly from the Crown Prince himself, wax seal and all. He requested — decreed — me to come to Aerahelm’s royal mansion alone, located somewhere outside the academy grounds.
Meeting the Prince by myself was nerve-wracking. To calm myself, I dressed as close as possible to my usual fashion frommyworld. It made me happy. Ever since I learned short skirts weren’t unusual in this city, I requested Mia to shop for new dresses to wear on the weekends. I had nothing against long skirts; I just liked the mobility of the short ones.
When Mia returned from the shopping trip, I learned she had impeccable fashion sense since all the dresses she picked were very appealing to me. One such dress was a white, fluffy one with a wide skirt that ended mid-thigh, long and loose off-shouldersleeves, and cinched at the waist with ribbons. I paired it with one of my many leather boots because again, practicality.
Seeing this, my knights refused to leave me alone as we traveled by horse to the mansion. I sat in front of Robin, while Reuben was on a different horse, trotting beside us. Why we couldn’t have used the carriage was unknown to me, although I was enjoying traveling on horseback, anyway.
One of Robin’s arms held me at the waist, while the other held the reins. “When he sees you like this, how can he resist?” He whispered, the fluttering of his voice sending tingles down my spine. We were so close I could feel his heartbeat on my back, and his hardness taunting me.
“I want him tonotresist, or how else can I get myself out of this mess?” I teased him, knowing full well the insinuation he meant. I seriously doubted the Prince was interested in me in that way. Claude, maybe, in the convoluted way his mind worked; but the Prince saw me as a toy to keep the Hero entertained.
“Surely you’re not saying what I think you’re saying?” Robin grunted, holding me tighter. “Maybe we need to get that thought out of your head before you arrive, my lady.” As he said this, his hand moved lower to my abdomen, and my breathing went faster. I knew he was only teasing me back, but the image of getting my rocks off on top of a horse, in plain sight? Totally inappropriate, but so appealing.
Good god, why did he have to rile me up before meeting the Prince?
Reuben trotted closer. “Robin, I think it’s unwise to have Bea entertaining such thoughts right now.”Thank you for saying it, Reuben!But when I glanced at him, his eyes were glued on Robin’s hand, desire so obvious it made my body tighten at the knowledge. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’d do the same if I sat with him.
Even though they were only doing their duty to keep me sane and healthy, as Mia pointed out, I could tell they genuinely desired me. The past weeks of their looks, touches, and words all made sense after what happened on Friday. How long had it been since they had begun wanting me? Did it start before or after I arrived?
Was it even right to get jealous ofmyself? I was still the sameme, sort of. Kind of. Maybe?
But they had never thought of me that way before. Or even if they did, I never noticed, or they never made me see. To be fair, because I rarely left the manor, I didn’t need to have my personal knights with me always. They worked the manor’s security like the other guards or had their training. Sometimes they were sent on assignments, like helping the hunters for food before winter.
