Chapter 15
1158 Words
CHAPTER 15
“You’re Highness, let me introduce myself. My name is Beatrice Ivonne Taylor, the only daughter of Count Taylor. Nice to meet you, your highness.” Lady Beatrice bowed and curtsied.
“I see... How’s your father?” Noah asked.
He’s clearly not interested, but he only asked to not be rude. Lady Beatrice didn’t notice this, however, and was even eager to continue the conversation.
“He’s actually feeling sick, so he wasn’t able to come tonight, but he did send his regards.” Lady Beatrice answered. For someone whose father is sick, she answered pretty enthusiastically.
“I hope he gets better. We’ll excuse ourselves now, Miss Taylor.” Noah said nonchalantly.
“Uh-w-wait...” Beatrice tried to think of topics to keep the conversation going, but she had none. She sighed and gave up.
Noah was about to lead Tatiana away, but Tatiana was frozen still. She didn’t move and was only staring at Beatrice.
“Tati?” Noah called her, which made Tatiana came back to her senses.
“Uh...huh?” She looked at Noah confusedly.
“Let’s go?”
“Uh, yes—but, wait.” Tatiana looked at Lady Beatrice who was now glaring at her.
“Lady Beatrice Taylor, right?” Tatiana asked and smiled at her.
“Yes, how are you, Lady Tatiana?” Beatrice answered without a choice.
“I’m great. By the way, I just want to say, you look very pretty tonight, Lady Beatrice." Tatiana said. "Ah, we should leave now. Have a great evening.” Tatiana smiled at her again before she turned to walk away. Noah followed after her, and Lady Beatrice was left dumbfounded.
That should be enough, right? She won't think I have a bad personality anymore.
Tatiana wanted to make a good impression on Beatrice. The reason for this is that when the time will come and Noah and Beatrice will marry each other, Beatrice won’t think Tatiana is a threat to their relationship. It’s another one of Tatiana’s safety nets if things will go bad later on.
Noah, on the side, was looking at Tatiana confusedly. It was already shocking that Tatiana didn’t push away the girl who tried to talk to him, but she even complimented her.
“Are you feeling okay, Tatiana?” Noah asked.
Tatiana looked at him and nodded.
“Yes, why won’t I be alright?” Tatiana laughed nervously.
Noah's eyes narrowed but decided to ignore it anyway.
“Good.”
They walked back together to the stage.
While walking, Tatiana was starting to worry that Beatrice and Noah haven't danced yet.
Is it because I’m here? Right, maybe he can’t leave me because he felt responsible as my partner.
Tatiana thought about how she could push Noah and Beatrice together.
“Actually, I’m not feeling well. I think I should just retire for the night.” Tatiana reasoned and bowed. Noah furrowed his brows.
“What? Are you okay?” He asked worriedly. “Ah! Right, I think you should rest for tonight. Let’s go, I’ll accompany you home.”
Noah stood up and was about to carry when Tatiana stopped him.
“W-what are you doing?!” She shouted quietly. Noah looked at her confused.
“I’m carrying you to the carriage.” He answered like it’s matter-of-fact.
“What?! No! I’m fine, I can walk on my own!” Tatiana fretted. “And, you can’t leave now. You should stay here and enjoy the party,” she added.
Noah should not leave the banquet. He must stay and meet with Beatrice, like how it's supposed to be. That was the whole point of her reasoning, in the first place.
“No, I’m your partner and your fiancé. I can't leave you alone, especially now that you're not feeling good.” Noah replied and furrowed his brows.
“But, I’m really fine. I’ll feel bad if you have to leave early because of me.” Tatiana reasoned once again. “Uhm... I’ll go now. Bye!” Tatiana took the chance where Noah wasn’t able to reply and run away with haste.
By the time she arrived in her carriage, she was huffing and panting. She suddenly felt like she was Cinderella who have to return before midnight.
Tatiana looked back to the grand hall, and when she saw that Noah didn’t follow her, she sighed in relief.
“Please bring me to the Cromello’s residence.” She said to the coachman. The coachman nodded and off they went.
Meanwhile, Noah was left stunned on the stage. The guests were busy so they didn’t pay attention to them, but some did saw Tatiana running so they were curious about what was going on.
Noah just stood there and was still trying to process what just happened.
Did she just run away from me?
Noah couldn’t believe that the elegant lady, Lady Tatiana, run in her heels just to get away from him.
Hah! I can’t believe I just got left alone by my own fiancé.
Noah let out a huff and started chuckling over this absurd thing that just happened. The guests were looking at him strangely, thinking that the prince had lost his mind.
But if I think about it, she looked quite cute.
Thinking this, Noah left the hall with a smile on his face.
---
On the other side, Kai was waiting for an opportunity to talk to Tatiana. However, he got distracted once and Tatiana was already gone.
So, he approached Noah, who had just come out from the hall, instead.
“Your Highness!” he called. Noah turned to look at him.
“Ah, Arder. Did you find out anything?” He asked.
Kai was contemplating whether he should talk about Tatiana and decided to not tell him about it in the end.
“No, I didn’t. I was...distracted.” Kai lied.
Noah nodded and patted him on the shoulder.
“I see. You should know that I don’t treat everyone this nice.” He said in his usual cold voice.
Kai trembled in fear but still kept his stance.
“I-I understand, your highness. Please forgive me.” Kai bowed and apologized.
“I’ll let you off this time." Noah was about to leave when he remembered something. "Also, don’t look for that woman again. I found her.” Noah said and Kai looked at him with shock.
“P-pardon, your highness?” Kai stuttered.
It can’t be. He can’t possibly know that his fiancé was the woman he was looking for, right?
Kai stared at Noah nervously.
“She was closer to me than I expected,” Noah muttered under his breath, but Kai was able to hear it. “I’ll go now.”
Noah walked away and left Kai stunned and frozen.
He knows...
Kai doesn’t know if this will harm Tatiana in any way, but he has to warn her. But how?
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reyankleyr
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