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I ran my fingers along the worn leather spines, scanning the flaking gold titles for the right book. This section of the library found a lot of use despite its dull contents. Family records. It was easy to see which were the oldest, most well-established in Rhodolite. Families like the Michels had multiple shelves to their name, and the Lelouchs had a respectable section as well, whereas newcomers like the Dompteurs had little more than a single book. Property holdings, business dealings, connections to other families via marriage and friendship—it was all here in its driest, most boring, most unadorned form. The bare facts, and nothing more.
“The Howards,” I mumbled, pulling the most recent volume bearing that name free from its neighbors. A shadow fell over the cover.
“Studying again, little dove?”
I jumped and spun to face him. “Chevalier! You—”
But then I met his mischievous blue eyes, and the scolding I intended to give him for startling me died on my tongue. He leaned over me, resting his forearm against the shelf above my head, and I didn’t mind admitting how much I missed that arrogant smirk after not seeing it for a week. Especially since he wasn’t due back from his extended series of inspection tours across Rhodolite for a few more days.
“Business concluded more quickly than anticipated,” he said, his mind-reading skills no worse for wear after his absence.
“Good,” I said, a smile spreading across my face. “Well—” My smile faltered. His last stop before returning to the palace was the Obsidianite border to meet Gilbert in-person for the first time since our engagement ceremony two months ago. From what little I’d heard, the political scene in Obsidian was tumultuous, at best. “Is that good?” I asked hesitantly.
He nodded. “The situation in Obsidian is stabilizing. If all goes well, he may return for a visit soon.”
I breathed out a sigh of relief. “I’m glad.”
His smirk widened. He leaned closer and caught my chin in his fingers, his breath ghosting across my lips. “I return earlier than expected, and yet another man holds your attention.”
“Concern, not attention,” I corrected him, catching his teasing mood. I placed a quick peck on his lips, knowing that wouldn’t satisfy him, and added, “I don’t have to worry about you.”
As I hoped, he kissed me again, harder and longer, pressing me back against the shelves and effectively ensuring he was the only person on my mind. The sweet smell of roses enfolded me, a smell I always missed when he was gone, even surrounded by a garden full of the flowers. His smell was a little different. A little earthier, like there was a touch of vetiver in his cologne. A little mustier, like maybe the barest hint of sweat, too. I couldn’t quite describe it, but I wished I could bottle it up for when he was gone and I felt a little lonely.
I had a problem. A tall, handsome, eminently alluring problem.
“Do you have any plans for this afternoon?” he asked, his voice a low murmur that sent shivers down my spine. The man hadn’t been back ten minutes, and he already had the dormant butterflies in my stomach awake and dancing the waltz. But I knew his game, and I shoved at his chest to make him take a step back.
“No, Chevalier, I am not ready to ask you for help with my Garnetian language studies,” I said. “I’m making good progress without you. Probably better than I would with you.”
He plucked the book from my hands and slotted it into the shelf behind me, undeterred. “I’ll take that as a no.”
I feigned a dejected sigh as he took my hand, although I offered no resistance to his tug toward the exit. “Do I get to know what you have planned?”
His silent smirk could be just as dangerous as Clavis’ sometimes.
A few minutes later, he helped me into a carriage already waiting for us at the front gate. I didn’t bother asking where we were going. He wouldn’t tell me until he wanted to, anyway, and this was the perfect opportunity to talk to him without interruptions.
And cuddle, of course.
“I’ve been thinking about the twins’ birthday,” I began, shifting forward a little for him to slide his arm around my waist. “Nokto gets a party every year, but Licht doesn’t, right?”
“Correct.” He pulled me flush with his side, and I leaned against his shoulder.
“I don’t want to upset Licht when he’s starting to open up, but I know they’ll both have more nightmares the closer it gets to their birthday, and I’m guessing the worst ones will be the night before. So, I was thinking we could do something that night. Not a big party, of course. Something small and intimate, maybe like Yves’ baking nights. Do you think they’d be okay with that?” I looked up at him in question. His smirk had morphed into a soft smile.
“Yes, they would.”
“Okay, good. Um, so my next idea is a bit strange.” I dropped my gaze to our laps, where his left hand rested between us, entangled loosely with mine. “Since they probably won’t want to sleep, I thought we could start in the kitchen, just like any other baking night,” I said, walking the fingers of my right hand toward our joined hands, “and then move to a lounge or a drawing room for a pajama party. They’ve all seen me in a dressing gown, anyway,” I continued, tracing circles on the back of his hand. “We could play games, tell stories, that kind of thing. I’m hoping Belle and Rio can come, too, so I wouldn’t be the only woman. And if you’d like, I can ask Theresa, although she isn’t really close to either of the twins, and I don’t want to overwhelm Licht with too many people. So…is that okay?”
I looked tentatively up at him again. He was still smiling, which was a good sign. I hadn’t expected him to be upset, but I knew it was an odd request, even disregarding concerns of propriety. I didn’t much care how it looked to anybody else, though. Licht hadn’t celebrated his birthday since he was nine years old, and I really wanted to change that. His brothers’ birthdays were national occasions, complete with a distinguished guest list, a banquet, and a ball. Just because Licht couldn’t handle that didn’t mean his birthday had to go uncelebrated, especially now that he was coming out of his shell. The rare smile so seldom glimpsed before was breaking through often enough for the servants to have seen it. Theresa told me there were even whispers among the maids that a sighting of that smile was a good omen. If sacrificing a night’s sleep would keep him smiling and keep the nightmares from pulling him back into their grasp, then that’s what I needed to do.
Assuming Chevalier didn’t have a problem staying up all night with his brothers, too. Because I knew that would be the condition for him allowing me to do so. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust them. He’d never admit it, especially since there was no rational reason for him to feel this way, but sometimes, he got jealous.
“And if I say no?” he asked.
As opposed to most of the time, when he was an insufferable tease.
I sighed and shrugged with an exaggerated motion. “Well,” I said, detaching my left hand from his, one deliberate finger at a time, “then I’ll just have to think of something else. And since this is so important, I’ll need to eliminate any distractions.” I lifted his right hand from my waist with my left hand and scooted away. “It might keep me occupied for the rest of the day. Maybe the rest of the week.”
Suddenly, his arm snapped tight around me, and I went from the cushioned seat to his lap before I really knew what happened. He planted a kiss on my giggling lips and pressed his forehead to mine.
“No.”
“Then you like my idea?” I asked, wrapping my arms around his neck.
“I approve of your idea,” he corrected me. “What of his little princess?”
I couldn’t help but smile whenever I heard that nickname. That moniker for Rachel Stotts always came colored with a touch of amusement, just as Chevalier said it now. She'd earned it the second time she and her family visited the palace, when she’d gravitated to Licht in the same way she’d always done. Everybody knew of their special relationship, and everybody loved it. To her five-year-old mind, he was the perfect Prince Charming. She adored him, and the feeling was obviously mutual.
“Well, she certainly can’t join a late-night party, and I’m worried about piling too much on Licht all at once,” I said. “I thought maybe he and I could visit the Stotts a few days before the party.”
Chevalier hummed his agreement. “Nokto may want to accompany you as well.”
The open windows let the sweet smell of freshly cut hay bales drift in, a reminder of autumn’s advance as horses’ hooves clip-clopped and carriage wheels bumped along the cobblestone road. Across the fields of yellowing grass, the greens of the forest were losing their vibrancy among emerging oranges and reds. Yves had just celebrated his twenty-seventh birthday; in less than a month, October ninth, the twins would celebrate their birthday together for the first time in seventeen years; and less than a month after that was Chevalier’s birthday. I didn’t know what to get him. Everything I had came from him. He was the king of the nation, the wealthiest member of the royal family, and second in wealth within Rhodolite only to his own grandfather, from whom he stood to inherit an additional fortune. There was nothing he needed that he couldn’t get himself.
It was easier to plan the twins’ birthday party and set Chevalier’s birthday aside for the time being.
The carriage jostled to a stop, bringing me back to the here and now, where I suddenly realized with a flush of embarrassment I’d been sitting on Chevalier’s lap the entire ride through the city. I pushed off from him and added an extra shove to his shoulder for good measure when he chuckled at me.
“You’re the worst,” I told him.
He smirked and leaned in close, the feel of his breath on my ear sending my temperature up another few degrees. “I missed you.”
Then he placed a soft kiss on my cheek and stepped out of the carriage, as if he hadn’t just reduced me to a swooning puddle with three simple words. My legs felt like jelly. I needed air. It was a good thing he told me that while I was sitting, because fainting on the street wouldn’t have been ideal.
“Little dove,” he called, the predator in his crystal blue eyes surveying his wounded prey with pleasure.
I swallowed hard and took his hand. “You—”
“Ivetta!”
The familiar female voice coincided with tinkling bells and a hug that nearly tackled me to the ground before I’d gained my footing. Chevalier’s hand came to the small of my back to steady me as the remaining breath squeezed out of me.
“Belle,” I gasped.
“I didn’t know you were coming!” she squealed.
Rio held the glass shop door open behind her with his own wide smile, the little brass welcome bells at the top still tinkling as their motion slowed. “Your highnesses,” he said, bowing with a flourish. “Um, Belle?”
She released me from the hug and frowned at me. “Why are you so red? Was I hugging you that hard?”
“Well…” I began, casting a sideways glance at Chevalier. Belle’s brown eyes followed my gaze, and a knowing smile lit up her face.
“Wait a minute. What did you—no, never mind.” Her eyes were back on mine, large and shining. “Look, look, look!” she exclaimed, shoving her left hand in my face so I couldn’t miss the ring on her finger. A rush of joy swelled in my heart.
“Congratulations!” I said, hugging her this time. “When did he propose?”
“Today,” Rio said proudly.
“Where’s Theresa? Is she here?” Belle asked, slipping free from me and bouncing toward the carriage to peer through the windows.
“No, not today,” I said, laughing at her exuberance. “Chevalier surprised me.” I looked over at him and raised an eyebrow. “Did you know about this?”
His silent smirk answered the question before Rio spoke.
“I might have mentioned it to somebody at the palace,” Rio said airily. “Are we going inside, Belle?”
Belle ignored him and grabbed my shoulders. “Can you send Charlie to get Theresa?” she asked.
I laughed and shook my head. “She’s actually on a date right now, but I promise I won’t spoil the surprise for you.”
“A date? During the day?” Belle asked, releasing my shoulders and tilting her head to the side.
I took a breath to speak and then stopped, biting my lip. “Let’s go inside,” I decided. She would make even more of a scene if I told her any more while we were standing in the street.
“Wait. Who is it? Is it Jin? Did he finally ask her out?”
I turned Belle to face the open door and pushed her to get her moving. “No, he didn’t.”
“Who is it?” she whined. Rio shook his head and laughed as we passed him. I waited until we’d all crossed the threshold and the bells rang again as the door swung closed.
“It’s Leon."38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBlRKMauzcE
