After all that we've done together and all the time that we'd spent together, despite our hearts failing to connect, it seemed like the time that I spent with the Prince made him know me quite well. It did occur to me that he might understand me more than I understood myself at that moment because he seemed to sense my fear. Perhaps I have changed as a person because I found myself feeling uncomfortable and detesting what I could have so easily done in the past.“Come over here, Dahlia. I want to get a closer look at you,” the prince instructed as he gestured with his index finger for me to approach him.His gray eyes stared at me before flickering slowly down the length of my body and then up again until our eyes met. Despite the dark situation that was going on regarding his father and the associated political instability of the country, there was an unmistakable look of desire in his gray eyes. The look in his eyes sent a chill down my spine along with my realization that the Princ
While I had been thinking about myself and how to make use of the prince, he had been genuinely thinking of me. “I’m sorry…” I repeated again even though I knew that my apology wouldn’t help solve anything but lighten my own guilt.Once again, I’m doing something for my own sake instead of for others…“If you don’t want to play Gomoku, shall we play another game instead?” the prince suggested as he slowly stood up from his seat. It felt like I could hear the sounds of ice breaking right beneath where I was sitting, and I knew that I had ventured into dangerous territories. Desmond kept his eyes locked on me as he slowly approached me. My entire body froze as my pulse quickened while my mind wondered if I still had it in me to give him all that he wanted. The prince leaned down until his face was mere inches from mine. “What are you doing?” I asked in the shaky whisper.“What do you think I’m doing?” he replied to me with a question of his own. His hands reached out towards me befo
“We don't talk about much honestly, just a bunch of random things and whatever comes to mind,” I replied honestly.There was no reason for me to lie because there was nothing worth keeping secret between us or worth keeping from my parents. Our meetings were so planned and predictable that I would have considered them boring had it not been for the prince’s entertaining attitude and the interesting game of Gomoku that he taught me. Although slowly, I was learning the tricks of the game and I could feel myself getting better. If nothing else, the meetings with the prince came at the exact right time when I needed a very good excuse and a very tempting distraction in my life.“Can you be sure to tell us some more insight or at least something interesting the next time you return from seeing the prince?” my father ordered before rolling his eyes at me and clicking his tongue to show his dissatisfaction and annoyance.“I'll try…” I replied vaguely although I knew that nothing new would ev
At first, I thought that it was going to be once or twice and that it wouldn't hurt to go out with him because I had gotten a little bored of our repeated meetings. Our first date outside was in a quiet private setting although we were out of the palace. The prince took me on a perfect date where we went to a private luxurious restaurant, a private afternoon tea session together, before he took me shopping at a private jewelry boutique.Despite my active refusal to accept his gifts, I ended up going home with a luggage filled with precious jewelry. I can still remember the wide-eyed excited face of my parents when they found out that I did not return home empty-handed.“I couldn't turn him down on the spot, so I ended up accepting all these gifts. Anyways, I think we should send it back to the palace so that it can be returned,” I told my parents without any excitement. I truly had the intention to return all the gifts that I had received back to the prince because I couldn't see why
I did not at all share the prince’s confidence and an uneasy feeling developed inside of me when I wondered what exactly our relationship was. It wasn’t hard for me to imagine what we would appear like in the view of other people when we made our appearance together. People were always so ready to gobble up gossip and they were undoubtedly prepared to get the wrong idea about us. However, I didn't even understand what my relationship with the prince was actually like. Were we just close friends, or are we something more? To say that I was confused would be an utter understatement. “If that's something that you would like to say, you can go ahead and say it, Dahlia,” the prince said as he stared directly at me. “I actually don't have something to comment or say but I do have something that I would like to ask you,” I replied as I sat up slightly straighter than before. After reminding myself that I didn't actually have much to lose, I decided to ask the prince directly.“What are
“Well, if I had to put it frankly then I would say that I want us to start dating,” the prince replied. “That's not possible,” I replied immediately with the response that came naturally to my mind. “Really? Well, that is interesting…” the prince replied softly as he began rubbing his chin. I was still stunned by my sudden response; however, I already had a pretty good idea why I blurted out that response. Surprisingly, the prince didn't look surprised and neither did he look disappointed. Just when it seemed like he was ready to say something else, the car came to a stop and it seemed like we had arrived at our destination. “Don't worry, we'll pick this up later,” the prince told me before he reached out a hand and patted my shoulder.I stared at him silently for a brief moment as I tried to find the words to say to him. After failing to find the right words in time, I just let out a long sigh of resignation as I waited for us to arrive at our destination.Had I known what was go
“I hope it helps that I'm here to share your pain,” I muttered sarcastically. “If you keep on talking, this event will surely get less boring,” he said before chuckling softly. “Is that so?” I replied back while making sure to keep my voice down so that no one would overhear us. I kept staring straight ahead although I could feel the prince’s gaze resting on my face. He clearly wasn’t paying any attention to the presentation and he didn’t even bother to put on an act. “Of course. It’ll get even better if I can hold your hand,” he replied before reaching his hand out for mine.I moved my hand away from his at the last moment and the prince ended up laughing at my attempt to get away from him. He was clearly enjoying himself and that meant that he had made the right decision in bringing me along with him. After what I thought was an excessively long presentation, the main part of the event finally came to an end. However, it seems like the role of the prince at the event wasn't yet
“An answer?” I asked as I narrowed my eyes at him. “That's right. You asked me a question, and that was my answer to you,” the prince replied as he stared directly into my eyes. His gray gaze was steady as he looked back at me, and I could feel his sincerity and that bothered me even more than before. “I don't know what you're talking about…” I muttered quickly before looking away. “Are you sure that you don't understand or is it more like you don't want to understand…” the prince pointed out without willing to let it slide. “Regardless, you shouldn't have kissed me right in front of everyone like that. Do you realize what you've done? Photos of us kissing will be everywhere for everyone to see!” I could no longer control my anger and ended up raising my voice at him. I sucked in a deep breath before rolling my eyes backwards and clenching my fists tightly as I imagined the mess that this scandal would create. “Be my girlfriend,” the prince said, and I could tell that he was b