I am not the Villainess

Chapter 83

CHAPTER 83

Tatiana thought about it—the reason why Noah asked her out.

At first, Tatiana assumed Noah was merely plotting something. She thought Noah wanted to show the public that Tatiana would marry His Highness and become the next Crown Princess. She believed that this date was simply a ruse to get Tatiana to retract her statement about their engagement being nullified. And she truly believed that was really the case when Noah gave her those lavender roses.

However, as she spent the day with Noah, she started doubting his true intentions. Noah wasn't acting like himself. He wasn't cold and indifferent. Instead, he was gentle and sweet. Noah was already a gentleman in his own way, but he was more attentive to Tatiana now than he had ever been before.

Tatiana believed that Noah acting that way was weird. But most importantly, it made Tatiana wonder,

“Do you…have feelings for me…your highness?” she asked.

It bothered her for a while now. It just didn't make sense to Tatiana how Noah was acting all kind to her.

He was supposed to ignore her, despise her, and even regard her as an enemy, but instead, he was doing exactly the opposite. Although Tatiana knows that her past actions may have changed a big part of the novel, it was still not enough reason for Noah to suddenly act like this towards her.

There was another long silence between them as Noah only stared back

at Tatiana. He pondered.

Why did I ask her for a date? Do I have feelings for Tatiana?

Noah’s engagement with her started because of the original Tatiana’s request. She was so obsessed with His Highness that she wanted to marry him without even thinking about the consequences that came after it.

But despite her bad reputation, the emperor still agreed to it. This was due to Tatiana's prominence and popularity, which could be advantageous to Noah. Tatiana was still the lady of House Cromello, the most powerful house right below the Imperial Family. She was still the social butterfly of the high society, and she still held influence among the people. That's why the emperor agreed to Tatiana's request to be engaged to Noah without hesitation.

Tatiana was only 12 years old when she requested the engagement. They were engaged for six years now, or four years if excluding the time Noah was at war. And in those four years, Noah could still recall Tatiana's enthusiasm about their engagement. She'd make a big deal out of it, even referring to herself as the 'soon-to-be-Crown-Princess,' simply to scare other ladies away from His Highness. Tatiana even coaxed the emperor to have their engagement to be officially announced to the public on her coming-of-age.

The point was, Tatiana wanted this engagement from the start. But after Noah returned from war, she suddenly wanted to break off their engagement.

Truthfully, it wouldn’t affect Noah that much even without the engagement. It would only be a shame since Tatiana would be beneficial for Noah’s position, but it’s not that a big of a loss nonetheless. However, it made Noah feel confused and lost. It was just unthinkable that Tatiana suddenly wanted to break off their engagement.

At first, Noah thought it was just one of Tatiana’s impulsive decisions. When she said it was because she didn’t like him anymore, Noah believed she was just confused for a moment. He never took it seriously, however, the more he spent time with her, the more he realized that Tatiana was truly serious about it. Or maybe it wasn’t that she was serious, but because she simply changed... And her changes were what made Noah curious.

But…was this all merely curiosity? Did I really ask her out today and did all these efforts just because I was simply curious about her changes?

Noah doesn't know what to tell Tatiana because he, himself, was confused.

Noah doesn't believe in love, nor did he care for other women aside from his family. Aside from that, this was the first time he felt this curious about someone.

Then... do I like Tatiana?

When no one still uttered a word, Tatiana laughed awkwardly.

"I...must be out of my mind, your highness. Please ignore what I said," Tatiana took a deep breath and grinned at Noah as though nothing happened. She took the velvet box from the saddlebag and walked closer to Noah.

"Here, your highness," she said and gave Noah the box.

Noah looked at it, then back to Tatiana.

"What is it?" he asked as he inspected the box. Noah caressed the name written on top of the box.

Val...she remembered. Noah grinned.

"It's a gift... Though, it's not as much as the bouquet and the horse your highness gave me." Tatiana said shyly.

Noah opened the box and pulled out the item inside.

It was a men's bracelet, but it wasn't made of steel or any chains. It was a black string bracelet with a small ruby gemstone on the center. It may look plain, but the materials used were of the highest quality. Also, this is the only string bracelet in this world since it's not really a thing here yet. This was also why it took quite some time for Mr. Bryson to understand how to make one.

Tatiana waited for Noah to say something. She tried to read his expression while he was examining the bracelet.

Does His Highness like it? What is he thinking? Is he offended that I gave him such an item?

Tatiana couldn't help but feel nervous. Her gift was just a string bracelet with a stone. It wasn't like the expensive accessories nobles like Noah would usually wear. Besides, he's the Crown Prince of the empire. He might think she was mocking him for giving him such a dull item.

"Ah, if you don't like it, you can just throw it away, your highness," Tatiana said nervously and forced a laugh.

It was then that Noah looked at her.

"No...I like it. Thank you, Tatiana." he said.

Noah smiled, and at that moment, Tatiana forgot to breathe.

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