Desire and Duty

“Mila…” Prince Leonard called my name and his voice sounded so gentle that it made me feel guilty to the core.

“Y-Yes?” I replied with a stutter.

“Can you give me your hand? I just want to hold it,” he asked and then he flashed me a very charming smile when he saw me hesitate.

“Ok…” I murmured.

Slowly, I slipped my hand into his opened one. The warmth of his hand immediately enveloped mine as his fingers curled around my hand and held it. Although things were supposed to be different between us tonight, the touch of his hand on mine felt comforting as always.

“Tell me what you think about what Madame Sand told you,” the prince urged as his blue eyes studied my face intently.

I was supposed to bring this up to tell him that I wasn’t at all interested so I was very surprised that it was the prince who brought this up first.

“To be honest, I think there’s been a very big misunderstanding about this. I’m just a maid and that is how it should be. I don’t want to be an honorable maiden