“I-I’m sorry…I’m so sorry…” I apologized immediately when I snapped out of my own thoughts. I bowed repeatedly as I continued to apologize for my mistakes. It wasn’t the first time that my troubled thoughts had distracted me from my dance lessons, but it made me realize that the condition of my mind was getting worse. The fun and engaging dance lesson that I had with the Duchess Flavia may not be sufficient to keep my mind from thinking of the prince any longer. “I don’t want you to apologize, I want you to focus. Let’s take a break. You should drink some water, come over here,” she said as she waved me toward her. “Thank you…” I thanked her to stop myself from apologizing again. I felt so guilty about my attention straying right in the middle of class. The duchess had been nothing but kind and helpful to me and that made me feel disappointed in myself for treating her lesson like it wasn’t important. She led me to a bench where we could sit to take our rest and drink water. “You
“Why do you want the prince to come and see you?” she asked as her face suddenly turned serious. Why did I want the prince to come see me? I blinked rapidly in surprise at her question. Although I wasn’t sure what I had expected for her to ask me, I was certain that I didn’t expect her to ask me something like this. “Umm…because I want to see him?” I replied questioningly. Why else would I want the prince to come and see me?“Hmm…that’s not quite what I was asking. So let me try again…” she said after giggling softly. “I am sorry. I don’t think I quite understand your question,” I replied softly. “Not at all. Let me try asking you again. Why do you want the prince to come to see you?” she asked with a smile.It might have been the first time that I found her smile so unnerving, and I wondered what she saw with those twinkling eyes of hers as she stared at me. “I just…want to see him…” I replied in a small voice.“Why is that? What makes you want to see him?” she asked further.
“You’ve mated with him more than once before, right? Who knows? You may already be pregnant…” the duchess said and for a moment she looked genuinely excited. “I don’t think that is the case…” I replied softly. “Hmm? How can you be so sure?” she asked with widened eyes. “Well…” I murmured when I remembered the prince’s warning.Despite his warnings, I didn’t think that I could talk to anyone about how we went about our intimate duties. It was just too embarrassing for me to voice out loud and that was precisely why I struggled to answer the duchess’s question. Just as I was about to apologize to her for my inability to give her an answer, the sound of her clapping her hand together echoed in the dance studio. “Wow, I have to say that this is more than a little unexpected. I guess the rumors that I’ve heard about Prince Leonard not wanting to become the next king might be true after all…” she said before she smiled again at me. I wasn’t sure what the prince truly wanted for his fut
The look of pain that flashed across her face made my chest clench uncomfortably. No matter what, I didn’t like seeing anyone suffering like that. The other thing that I didn’t know was why she was telling me this. “You should say something. You’re so silent now that it scares me,” the duchess said before she smiled at me. The painful and stressful look on her face was now gone and it was like she had reverted to the cheerful and beautiful young-looking duchess that I was used to seeing and spending time with. “I’m very sorry. I just don’t really know what to say…” I confessed truthfully. “I guess I can’t blame you. If you find what I just told you burdensome, you can just pretend that I never said anything and that you never heard anything,” the duchess suggested brightly. How I wished that things would be just that simple. I didn’t find her words burdensome; however, I had to admit that it did complicate things. Not wanting to add more problems for myself, I decided that the co
Although I didn’t quite understand the meaning of her words, once again I couldn’t see the downside to the deal that she was offering. She could tell me the information that I so badly wanted to know and in exchange, I’ll follow her instructions. When the time came for me to follow her instructions, I could refuse if it went against my will. “Let me ask you again, Mila. Do we have a deal?” she asked again. “Yes…we do…” I replied after a brief moment of thought. “You’re a very smart girl. I wouldn’t mind helping you…” she said before she smiled brightly. It felt like flowers would bloom in the presence of her bright smile and the warmth of her voice as she giggled. “Please tell me what Prince Leonard has been up to…” I demanded immediately. I couldn’t help but feel impatient. It was true that I wanted desperately to see him; however, I was also worried about him. It wasn’t like him not to turn up to our lessons without reaching out to me. Then there was the matter of that woman t
I watched as the duchess continued to giggle while rubbing her hands together. A shiver ran down my spine and I felt very spooked out about how she was acting. I had known that her character was a complex one, but I didn’t count on her being some kind of maniac on top of everything else. “A fever or a sprained ankle? I’m sorry but I don’t think I understand…” I said without hiding my apparent shock. “You’ll do as I say, right? We did make a deal with each other…” the duchess replied with a pleased smile. Every sense in my body told me that something abnormal was about to happen. Duchess Flavia stared at me intensely and I could sense her excitement and that just confirmed that I had somehow gotten myself involved in another mess without really understanding anything at all. “Even if you say that…” I began protesting. The duchess shook her head from side to side before putting up her hand to signal for me to stop talking. I swallowed my words of protest when I decided to listen to
There was no longer time for me to change my mind about this. I watched in absolute terror as the duchess put a beautifully manicured finger up to her lips to signal for me to stay silent as she waited for the call to connect. “Oh, Prince Leonard…” the duchess said through the phone. My entire body stiffened at the mention of the prince’s name. Unlike the carefree way that she usually spoke, the duchess’s voice was now clearly laced with worry as if she had just witnessed an emergency. I gulped while thinking that her acting skills were spectacular. My eyes immediately dropped to my unhurt ankle that was supposed to be sprained while I thought about how I would get through this. Of course, knew that this was a foolish quest and that I would be nothing more than mincemeat if the prince were to find out that we were literally lying to him. Apart from the fact that it was already too late to turn back time now, I had to admit that I might be willing to go through with this if it meant
“What if he starts to suspect that this is all just an act? Won’t we get punished for this?” I asked. “He won’t find out. Just keep telling him that it hurts and that you’re so sorry. The trick for him not to blame you for anything is for you to overly blame yourself. It’s simple, really. If you blame yourself enough, he won’t blame you and will start defending you. Try it and you’ll see for yourself just how simple men can be…” she said with absolute confidence. How simple men can be…?“I’ll stand by the side to see how things turn out at first. If things start to go well between you two, I’ll take my leave immediately so you two can have some alone time, ok?” she said before giggling a little. I was sure that she was imagining some sweet and touching reunion between us, but I couldn’t seem to share her thoughts. Being alone with the prince while putting on an act just to get his attention felt so wrong to me and it made me scared about being alone with him. “He should be here an