Chapter 32
1979 Words
CHAPTER 32
Noah left the residence of the Cromello with a smile on his face.
His conversation with Tatiana was not what he expected. He wasn’t able to get the response he wanted, yet he felt like he didn’t leave empty-handed.
As much as he wanted to stay and tease Tatiana more, Noah has a lot of things to do waiting for him back at the palace. Firstly, he has to deal with the aftermath of the bombing incident. There is also this issue with the name ‘Julio’ that he needs to somehow clear up in two days.
The man named ‘Julio’ is Tatiana, but he couldn’t possibly involve Tatiana’s name in this mess. At the moment, he still has no idea how he should deal with it, but he has to make up for something sooner or he’ll end up not having anything to show to the officials.
Noah arrived at the palace and he immediately drowned himself in his work in his office. He already has a lot to do, and the bombing incident just added another mountain of paperwork.
Meanwhile, Tatiana was still recovering from her conversation with Noah.
She was left puzzled by his actions. Noah already knew the truth yet he didn’t push her to admit it.
What was he planning?
From what she heard from Aaron, the only clue that they have is the man named ‘Julio’. Tatiana figured that the Crown Prince must be feeling pressured right now. The officials must have expected him to find out more about this man ‘Julio’ before their next meeting in two days.
That must probably be why he visited her personally. However, what Tatiana couldn’t understand was that he knows she is Julio and yet he didn’t report her. He was capable enough to force her to admit, or he could use this against her and threaten her.
If one were to think about it, it was a big opportunity that landed on his hands. The information he knew was big enough to benefit him, yet he chose to not do anything with it. Though she was grateful, it still confuses her.
Is it possible that the Crown Prince is trying to protect me? But why? Was it because I’m the sister of his most trustful aide? Or because I’m the daughter of the chancellor of the empire?
Whatever the reason was, it is undeniably unusual. According to the novel, Noah detests Tatiana. He was supposed to be cold and doing whatever means to get rid of her.
Yet, in the present, Noah was nothing like the character in the novel. In fact, he was warm and gentle towards her. Not to mention, he refused Tatiana’s proposal to nullify their engagement.
Even during their earlier conversation, Noah began cold and sternly, as if he intended to corner Tatiana, but then changed his mind and concluded their conversation without pushing her to confess.
What causes these changes?
Anyhow, it turned out good in the end. However, she still felt uneasy that the Crown Prince now holds one of her secrets.
“My lady, are you okay?” Mia, who just entered the room, asked. Tatiana nodded.
She's had a lot on her mind the last several days. Questions keep coming, but she has no means of answering them. It was like she’s solving a puzzle with missing pieces.
Tatiana let out a deep sigh and thought of her next move.
For now, she has opted to focus on the most pressing issue at hand—the bombing incident. She needs to figure out why it happened despite the fact that it was not addressed in the novel. And the only way to find out why is to figure out who caused it in the first place.
However, with how the investigation is going, she doubts she’ll be able to hear good news from them anytime soon. The investigation started going in the wrong direction because of her mistake. She gave the name ‘Julio’ to those assassins without thinking that they can use it to their advantage. Because of this, the officials, even her father, and brother, we're all looking for a man who doesn’t exist. That alone caused delay and several errors in the investigation.
It was also because of this that the Crown Prince has to feel immense pressure from the emperor and the people.
It was no doubt, Tatiana’s fault, so what else should she do but help the Crown Prince resolve this matter? The question now is: how?
Tatiana was thinking deeply when she heard a knock on the door. Mia immediately walked towards it and opened it.
It then revealed a knight, who bowed down at Tatiana.
“Good afternoon, my lady. There’s a man outside the gates who wanted to talk to you. He didn’t give his name, but he said you’ll know him if I mention Alayon Hills.” the knight reported.
Alayon Hills?
At first, Tatiana was confused, but later on, she realized what it meant. Alayon Hills was the place where she trained during the past year.
It’s Kai! He’s here!
It has been days since she sent out her reply back to Kai. However, because of the events that came after another, she completely forgot that they have yet to meet.
“Let him in and bring him here,” Tatiana ordered, her face showing eagerness.
The knight bowed down before leaving the room to follow his lady’s orders. On the other hand, Mia was looking confusedly at her lady. She was curious about who the man was that made her lady act so enthusiastically, but of course, she didn’t dare to ask. Instead, she bowed and left the room as well to get some refreshments.
When Mia left, Tatiana started pacing back and forth across the room. She was feeling uneasy about meeting Kai again after so many weeks. It will also be the first time she’ll meet him after her he found out her identity, hence why she felt even more anxious.
For some reason, Tatiana felt extremely nervous about how Kai will react when they meet. She owes him an explanation, but where does she even start?
Moments later and there’s another knock on the door. Tatiana immediately went back to her seat and composed herself before answering.
“Come in,”
The door opened and it revealed the knight from earlier. Beside him was a man who had familiar ginger hair and green eyes.
Kai...
Tatiana stood up to greet him.
“Greetings, my lady.” Kai greeted and bowed. Tatiana smiled at his actions.
She felt strange seeing Kai acting so formal all of a sudden, but she was truly happy seeing him again.
“How have you been...Kai?” Tatiana asked softly.
“I’m...doing well, my lady.” Kai managed to answer, and Tatiana smiled once again.
“Please have a seat.” Tatiana offered and they both took a sit while facing each other. Mia, then, came in and served the refreshments.
Kai and Tatiana were silent for a while, even when Mia left the room. After a couple of minutes, Kai decided to break the ice.
“So... I see that you're Lady Tatiana now...” he started.
Tatiana sighed and looked at him with guilt.
“I’m sorry for hiding it from you, Kai. It was not my intention to fool you.”
Kai stared at her for a moment before smiling widely and shaking his head.
“Don’t worry, J. I’m not angry. I guess I’m just surprised,” he said., but paused when he realized his mistake. “Ah! I called you J, unknowingly. Forgive me as I’m not used to calling you Lady Tatiana just yet,” he added, acting formal all of a sudden.
Tatiana chuckled at his poor attempt of being formal.
“It’s okay. You can call me J whenever we’re alone, and you can treat me like usual. After all, aren’t we still best friends?”
“Of course!”
Tatiana smiled widely at his answer. It’s a good thing he wasn’t angry at her, and that they were still friends despite her lies. Kai was one of the few friends she made that she actually cherished, so she was relieved to still be on good terms with him.
They were surrounded with silence once again when Tatiana decided to finally ask one of the questions that has been bothering her for days.
“So, what happened to you? Did you not join the knight’s exam?”
Kai sighed before answering, his expression turned from happy to guilty.
“No... I didn’t join the knight’s exam.”
Tatiana frowned in confusion. “W-Why?”
It took Kai a moment to answer.
“Well, it’s embarrassing for me to say, but after you left, I suddenly felt unmotivated...” He looked down and sighed. “I'm not sure either, but on the day of the exam, instead of going to the exam hall, I just found myself leaving the town and traveling all the way here to the capital.”
Tatiana was silent for a moment. She had not expected her sudden departure to have such an impact on him.
“I see...but, you still have plans to become a knight, right?” she asked.
“Yes, if there’s an opportunity, then I’ll make sure not to miss it again,” he answered and smiled. Tatiana smiled back as well.
She could still vividly recall Kai’s enthusiasm whenever he talks about his dreams of becoming a knight. As such, it saddens her to think that he wouldn't be able to achieve his dreams because of her. Even in the novel, he was destined to become a marvelous knight. That is why she had decided to help Kai become a knight and fulfill his dreams.
Tatiana took a sip from her tea when she remembered something.
“By the way, you mentioned in your letter that you have to tell me something important. What was it?”
“Ah right!" Kai's face then lit up as he remembered his purpose in meeting her. He then cleared his throat before continuing, "I came to tell you that His Highness, the Crown Prince knows your skills already. He found out that you're an incredibly skilled fighter.”
Again, Tatiana frowned in confusion.
Why is the Crown Prince suddenly included in this? Perhaps...did Kai and the Crown Prince meet?
“What do you mean? How do you know that? Did you meet His Highness?”
“Hmm...” Kai looked up, like thinking of how he should start explaining it. This just made Tatiana become even more impatient. “Well, it’s a long story, but to summarize, I met the Crown Prince because he was looking for a mysterious man who had saved a poor boy from three bulky men. I discovered that the man was actually a woman, and as the child's guardian, I was the one who spoke with His Highness. The prince then instructed me to locate the woman at the celebratory banquet, which is how I learned of your identity. The Crown Prince also verified that you were the mysterious woman he was seeking at that time.”
Tatiana was speechless from what she just heard.
So that’s what happened. It was Kai who helped the Crown Prince, after all.
However, she can’t really blame Kai since he didn’t know it was her in the beginning. Anyhow, at least some of her questions were finally answered.
Tatiana took a sip from her tea and thought deeply of the information she found out just now. Then, suddenly, like a bulb being lit up, an idea popped into her mind.
She stared at Kai with seriousness and asked,
“Kai... can you do me a favor?”
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reyankleyr
- Writer
