Cordelia was rendered speechless. "I said us!"Not just to me and you. He's also nice to Neil and even Aurelia!"Before I got to know him, I thought that all the royals were high and mighty. Alexander changed my view. He's down to earth."Darling, why do you think that's the case?"Why? His love for a person extended to people around that person!Alexander was only looking out for the group around Cordelia because of her! Hah, an unexpected romantic!Zephyr took a deep breath. His fingers on the cutlery clenched, his knuckles turning white. There was no change in his expression, though, only rolling currents underneath his calm eyes."Maybe he wants to get the Irwins on his side." He smiled. "The Irwins are significant in Southeast Aciatic and are relatives to the Harrises. Getting you on his side gives him a higher chance of inheriting the throne.""Then why does Victoria—""This is where Alexander's brilliant!" Zephyr looked aloof. "Victoria's arrogant and domineering, but h
Neil had never thought he would see Victoria standing outside. He took a step forward subconsciously to shield Aurelia."Why? Aren't you introducing us to each other?" Victoria smiled, but her gaze toward Aurelia was piercing.This was her first time meeting Aurelia face to face. She was rather surprised.Previously, the people she sent to follow Aurelia reported to her what the girl looked like. Now that she saw her today, the girl's beauty surprised her.It was no wonder Neil kept coming for her all day long.Victoria bit her lips and forced a smile."Since you're not saying anything, I'll introduce myself!" She extended a hand. "I'm Victoria Charles. I'm also—""Also, the royal princess," Neil said in a low tone.His gaze was alert, and his brows were furrowed. Various thoughts flashed in his mind…Aurelia looked at her dumbly as she stood rooted in a loss."Your Highness." Neil nodded politely. "We didn't know you'd be here. It's rude of us! You… aren't here for clothes,
"That's impossible!" Neil said without any hesitation.He looked at Victoria coldly as if his gaze could cut.Victoria's smile was unfazed. This was the effect she wanted. The angrier Neil was, it proved that the more he would not trust Aurelia. This way, she would be able to come in between them."Neil, our uncle has taught us that we can't judge a book by its cover since we were kids!" Victoria said softly, "You haven't spent much time with Ms. Chilton, and you got to know each other in Chaiseland. How could you be so sure?"Besides, even if she does end up together with the owner's son, it's her private life. You have no right to stop her."Neil turned away, looking annoyed.Victoria continued. "Neil, we aren't promised to each other, but my uncle has repeatedly mentioned it to General Harris. He didn't agree to it but didn't reject it either!""What are you trying to say, Your Highness?""Don't worry." Victoria consoled, "If you don't want to be with me, I won't pester you
Neil was even more disgruntled.The shirt was a man's design. Why was she embroidering a rose on it? Did she not know that the rose stood for romantic love and longing!?Neil stood before Aurelia and knocked on the table.The moment Aurelia saw him, she flashed a relieved smile."Uncle!""Mm." Neil wore a poker face as he pretended to catch a glimpse of the shirt."Is this… a jacket?" he asked. "You made it?"This was a piece of traditional garment that Southeast Aciatic men generally wore on formal occasions."No!" Aurelia's smile was brighter than the sun. "This isn't new. He has worn it before. It's just that the collar's a bit worn, so I'm patching it up for him.""Him?" Neil frowned. "Which customer?""Not a customer. It's May's eldest son.""You…"Neil's eyes widened. Victoria's "She's engaged" echoed in his ears suddenly.Neil had asked for a favor from someone for the first time in his life over her temporary residence permit! He had braced himself to borrow the fo
Aurelia's heart thumped wildly.She was going to have a nosebleed from how tantalizing everything was! She was probably not the only woman who could not handle it, right? If it were any other woman in this world, she was sure they would not be able to handle this either!What should she do now, though?The chest muscles, abs, and Adonis belt looked really good. Maybe she should give them a feel? She was already so close to them anyway. It would be a real waste not to take the advantage presented to her…Aurelia cast her eyes down and tried to calm her breathing. Her breaths only grew more urgent the more she wanted to calm them down, and her cheeks flushed redder the more she tried to compose herself…She could only screw her eyes shut.It was like two little monsters were fighting in her heart.Neil looked at the girl's mental struggle in amusement but suddenly felt a rush of heat in himself. He licked his lips and waited for her next move like a hunter waiting for his prey.J
It was only then Neil realized that he had sat the whole afternoon in the tailor shop with a bare upper body.Not many people came this afternoon to tailor or collect clothes, but the few of them that did were frightened when they saw someone like this sitting in the shop.Although the man looked handsome, his scowl was dark, and he had his upper body bare… He did not seem decent at all!This was how Neil managed to deter the few customers they had.He had pulled the buttons of his shirt, so he could not wear it either. He sighed and put on the shirt, tying the ends of it together since there were no buttons and vaguely revealing his solid chest.He was going to leave when Aurelia came in with a bowl of cold rose-flavored jelly.The first thing she said when she saw him was: "Why are you still here!?"She then hid the jelly to herself and said, "This… This is mine."Neil felt speechless and suddenly thought the girl was a fool. Yeah, he was famous and charismatic. How did he ru
'Shorten it?' Aurelia was at a loss.Neil went closer to her, his tone probing. "Didn't I tell you that the queen likes the clothes you made? If you get the chance to become an embroidery artist in the palace, you'll get citizenship very soon, and you can make more money."Would you want a chance like that?"Aurelia felt like this was a stroke of luck hitting her right in the face.However, in her 18 years of life that was neither too long nor too short, according to her experience gained from her hard days, the better something sounded, the more dangerous a trap it was.The queen must have met so many talented people. Why would she insist that an unknown person like her go into the palace as an embroidery artist? Moreover, the palace was not a fun place to be. She did not have to be there to know it. Even when she did not know what the royal family was like, she had watched dramas. Those were people who looked calm and unfazed, but the struggle for power was overwhelming.Aure
Zephyr frowned. To him, what Alexander said was rather strange.It did not matter that he did not covet Cordelia. What did he mean by he "dared not"?Instead of just speaking normally, he looked down, pursed his lips, and chuckled. What did he mean by all that?Zephyr thought he had met many people. However, when he met Alexander, only then did he realize there were people in the world that he could not see through.After falling into silence for a moment, he said, "You asked me if I recognized you before. I gave it a long, hard thought, but I just can't recall.""It's okay." Alexander maintained a warm smile on his face. "It's all the way back to when we were studying. It makes sense that you forgot.""Your Highness… studied at Walton as well?""That's right." Alexander put his hands together while rubbing his thumbs softly. "It's just that I had bad grades. You definitely never noticed me."However, he was willing to repay his kindness all his life…Zephyr nodded. Half of th