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Before I met Theresa, shopping was just another chore. It wasn’t fun, and it certainly couldn’t occupy most of my day. I didn’t have time to waste browsing for things I didn’t need and couldn’t afford. But shopping with Theresa before the gala was fun, even though we were shopping for the foreign princes, and the prospect of shopping with her and Belle had me smiling well before we reached the bookstore where Belle worked. I don’t think I stopped smiling until Theresa and I returned to the palace just before dinner.
“Are you eating with the princes again?” Theresa asked as the carriage came to a stop.
“No,” I said quickly. “I’ll eat in my room.”
The look she gave me told me she had something to say about that, but she held her tongue while we traversed the palace halls, with my guards following close behind. She’d been careful throughout the day to say nothing about Nokto in front of them, though she had made me recount the experience to Belle in the privacy of a dressing room. That led to a lot of blushing on my part and squealing on Belle’s. Then they made me go into the next store by myself, and when I looked back and saw them jumping up and down outside the display glass, I knew Belle was now in on the secret. Whatever it was.
“You can’t avoid Nokto forever,” Theresa said as soon as she closed my bedroom door behind us.
“It’s not just that,” I said, heading across the room to open the curtains rather than looking at her. “He figured out Chevalier spent the night with me, and I don’t know if any of the other princes found out, but I don’t want to deal with them if they did.”
“Fair enough,” she said. The rustle of fabric behind me told me she was making the bed. “What do you want for dinner?”
“Whatever is available.”
She laughed softly. “You know, princesses are supposed to be picky.”
“Well, when you don’t know where your next meal is coming from, you can’t afford to be picky,” I reminded her.
“Which is not a problem you’ll ever have again,” she reminded me. “So, relax on your cushy sofa or your luxurious balcony, and I’ll be back with your dinner soon.”
I opted for the balcony, which was indeed luxurious. The overhanging roof, joined by white supporting pillars to the white railing, provided shade from the sun at all hours, even this late spring afternoon when the sun was reluctant to reach the western horizon. Rose vines crawled up the railing from the gardens below and wound around the pillars, entwining along the underside of the roof and adding their fragrance to the air. I went to the railing and pulled my braid over my shoulder to undo the ribbon. Licht and Nokto were down by the pond. They weren’t looking in my direction, but I felt a pang of guilt and turned away - straight into a solid chest. I gasped in surprise and stumbled back against the railing, my heart clamoring with sudden panic before I realized it was Chevalier catching my shoulders to steady me.
“Oh, Cheva-”
He interrupted me with a kiss that woke a swarm of butterflies within me, numbing the pang and muting the clamor. There was nothing except the feel of his lips on mine, the touch of his hands gliding down my arms, the fabric of his jacket under my fingers. It wasn’t a deep, passionate kiss, but it wasn’t just a peck, either. He wore a satisfied smirk when he pulled back. I couldn’t even pretend to be mad.
“Have you ever heard of knocking?” I asked, smiling up at him.
“I knocked,” he replied. “You didn’t answer.”
“That doesn’t mean you can just barge into my room. What if I wasn’t decent?”
The look in his crystal blue eyes made me regret that hypothetical question immediately. I felt the warmth rising in my cheeks, and I bit my lip, wishing I had more room to evade him. The nervous butterflies in my stomach didn’t know if they were excited or scared.
“You’re trapped, little dove,” he said, taking a step forward to emphasize his point. There was nowhere to go with him pressing into me and the railing digging into my back, but the sparkle in his eyes spoke of mischief, and the butterflies settled on excitement when his hands cupped either side of my waist.
“Don’t you have work to do?” I asked, somehow keeping my voice calm while my heart raced out of control.
“No,” he replied, his breath warming my lips.
“What about dinner?” I continued, wrapping my arms around his neck. “Have you eaten yet?”
“Theresa is bringing my dinner with yours.”
His lips brushed against mine, and I closed my eyes in anticipation. He hummed, as if he were considering me, and then he licked my lips.
“Chevalier!” I exclaimed, my eyes flying wide open. “What are you doing?”
“Deciding if I want an appetizer.”
“I am not-”
He cut my objection short with a kiss, hungry and intense, and, once again, he won. I had a feeling he would win a lot. His dizzying kisses could end any teasing argument, and probably a real one, too. And the way he touched me, avoiding sensitive areas but still leaving sparks wherever the warmth of his hands moved, was just unfair. A man with no romantic experience should not be this good at making my temperature rise and my heart race. Even if he was a genius who could learn anything simply by reading about it.
He had a lot of romance novels in his private collection. I might be in trouble. Maybe Nokto was the safer brother.
Nokto.
I pushed back on Chevalier’s chest, suddenly worried Nokto could be watching. The question in Chevalier’s blue eyes only added to my inner turmoil.
“Could we sit down?”
He stepped closer again, wrapping his arms around my waist to keep me in place. “It doesn’t matter if he sees us.”
Of course, Chevalier knew. He always knew everything.
“But I don’t want to hurt him more,” I said in a small voice. “Not…not today.”
Chevalier pressed his forehead to mine. “What happened?” he asked softly.
“You don’t know?”
“I know he gave you a dance lesson, and the topic of your mother came up, which upset you. And I know he hates to see you cry as much as I do, and he didn’t tell me everything.”
Nokto told him? But he had to know Chevalier would realize there was more to the story. Why would he tell him?
“Well, we hugged, and then he…kissed me,” I said reluctantly, and then I hastened to add, “But it was just a peck, and he left right after that.”
I waited with bated breath for Chevalier’s response. He wasn’t tensing around me the way he did when he got angry, but he couldn’t be happy about his brother kissing me.
“You didn’t know.”
And, of course, Chevalier knew how Nokto felt about me. Although why he was focusing on that rather than the kiss confused me more than ever.
“No, I didn’t. It doesn’t bother you?”
“Yes, it bothers me,” he admitted in a self-deprecating tone. “I’ve had an irrational desire to keep you to myself since you started working for me. Long before I developed true feelings for you, I hated the way my brothers looked at you, and the mere thought of another man touching you drove me to distraction. That has only become worse with time. The more I get of you, the less willing I am to share.”
He sighed, his breath fanning my flushed cheeks. I didn’t know he felt that way, and I didn’t know what I was supposed to do with that information, but it made me a little uncomfortable. And…maybe a little gratified.
“But I’m acquainted with the difficulties of restraining myself around you, and I can’t fault him for one mistake,” he continued. “However, if it happens again, I won’t be so forgiving.”
I looked up at him with wide eyes. “Is that why you had me clean your room in the mornings? Because you didn’t want your brothers around me?”
“Yes,” he said, a wry smile on his lips. “Although that created additional problems for me.”
“Such as…?” the butterflies prompted me to ask.
He chuckled and shifted to whisper in my ear: “Such as watching you move around the room and wondering what you’d feel like in my arms. Or seeing your smile and wondering if your lips tasted that sweet. Or listening to you hum and imagining you saying my name.”
The butterflies were not always the best decision makers.
“I-I think you should stop,” I said, slightly breathless as my heart and breathing sped up from his honeyed words.
“And I was right,” he murmured. “You fit perfectly in my arms. Your lips are as sweet as the rest of you. And I love to hear you say my name.”
I bit my tongue to stop from saying it when he nibbled on my earlobe, but a soft whimper came out instead. He kissed my earlobe, and I squeezed my eyes shut, trying desperately to focus on the words I should say.
“D-dinner will be here soon…”
He chuckled again and kissed my cheek before stepping back. “And I’ve already embarrassed you in front of Theresa once today, haven’t I?”
“She understood once I explained it to her,” I said, looking down at my skirt as I smoothed it to avoid his smirk. “And the doctor’s giving me medicine tonight, so I won’t have nightmares tonight.”
“What do you intend to do once the medicine is gone?”
I bit my lip as I thought about it. “Well, you can’t stay here every night. You’re trouble enough as it is.”
“Dinner’s here!” Theresa called through the open glass doors. Chevalier took my arm and led me inside, where she was setting the table for two, complete with a wine bottle and two glasses.
“You’re moving in with Ivetta,” he told Theresa in a cool, commanding voice.
“What?” she asked, looking up at him with wide green eyes. I was just as startled as her.
“She sleeps better with another person,” he explained, pulling a chair out for me.
“Oh, that is a good idea,” I concurred as I sat down. “You’re always complaining about your lumpy bed and the way your roommate snores, so why not?”
Theresa finished setting the table, pursing her lips thoughtfully. “This won’t interfere with my love life, will it?”
I had to laugh at that. “You can still date, Theresa. I don’t have nightmares every night.”
She straightened up and shrugged. “Then sure, why not? I’d be a horrible maid if I let my mistress hide behind bathtubs every night.”
This morning, the mention of that would have embarrassed me. But after Chevalier’s reassurances and the understanding I received from Theresa and Belle - followed quickly by a flood of questions about what went on between Chevalier and me the next morning - I had to smile.
I had a lot of reasons to smile.
Like talking over dinner with Chevalier. He said little about his day, as usual, but he wanted to know every detail of mine. Breakfast with his brothers, Sariel’s test, shopping with Theresa and Belle - and he was interested. He was always interested in what I had to say, no matter how mundane I thought it was. And I realized while I recounted my excursion into the city that Sariel’s plan was working. The way people reacted to me went beyond what I would expect of commoners relating to royalty. There was a general air of friendliness and excitement about every person I met. Because I was one of them, and I gave them a connection to the palace. Just like Sariel said.
And after dinner, I had more reasons to smile. I gave Chevalier a book I’d bought him from Belle’s bookstore, newly imported and highly sought-after, and the way his eyes lit up told me it was new to him, which was always an achievement. Then we took advantage of the lingering daylight to sit side-by-side on the settee on my balcony and read in silence. It was nice. Even when a startled shout followed by a string of curses rose from the gardens below, telling me the prank Jin and Clavis set up earlier in the day had been successful. Chevalier and I just looked at each other and then returned to our books. We’d hear about it the next day.
Or I’d hear about it from Theresa when she came back later to move in and help me get ready for bed. Another reason to smile.
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