The wrong Valemont brother

CHAPTER 3

CRESSIDA’S POV

“Where?” I asked.

“The west wing, my lady,” she replied.

My brows knitted together.

The west wing was a private place, only few people cared to go there. And that was where he wanted to meet?

What was so important that he couldn’t say it to me at the ball?

A man and a woman were forbidden from meeting in secluded places, and for a noble lady who was a few weeks away from getting married, this was a taboo.

But again, I was too curious to simply ignore this. Sparing him a few minutes shouldn’t be a bad idea. Right?

I entered the west wing, following the servant’s direction. Here, the music from the ballroom had gradually faded.

Lord Lucien was standing near the window, waiting for me.

I let out a sigh as I watched him slowly turn his body towards me.

“What could you possibly want with me?” I tried not to roll my eyes.

“You came.” He said coldly.

Was it not possible for him to say a sentence without sounding so jerky? I mean, why was he so bent on getting under my skin by every means possible.

“You asked to speak to me.” I pointed out.

“And you could have refused to come.”

“If I had, would you have let it go?” I was getting annoyed.

“No.” He shook his head.

There was silence between us for a few seconds.

“Do you intend to marry Sebastian?”

This was unexpected, of all the things I thought he would say, this wasn’t one and somehow that managed to annoy me even more.

“That’s a rather strange question to ask your brother’s betrothed, is it not?”

“That is not an answer.” He said.

I was not sure of what he aimed at doing, but it didn’t seem like he was going to back down.

“Yes.” I replied.

He looked at me closely, like he was trying to read something out of me.

It was exhausting, but his next question caught me off guard.

“Do you love him?”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Do you love Sebastian," He repeated.

I didn’t answer immediately, I had never thought about this before.

There was clearly a difference between loving someone and simply accepting that you were promised to them.

“What concern is that of yours?” I shot at him in my defense.

“None.” He replied.

“Then why ask?” I tried not to raise my voice.

It was clear that he was doing this to annoy me on purpose, I didn’t intend to give him any sort of satisfaction.

“Why do you suddenly care about who your brother marries after being absent for years?”

He didn’t give any reply, that kept me going because it meant I was slowly getting back at him.

“I’ve known Lord Sebastian my whole life,” I said. “There’s no reason why we can’t be together.”

“Knowing someone your entire life does not mean you know them.” He said.

“What?” I gasped, completely amused by how he spoke. “Are you trying to warn me against your own brother?”

He moved closer to me. “If I were, would you listen to me?”

I didn’t understand his question or where it was heading, but I knew one thing for certain. This man was crazy.

“…”

“Lady Cressida!”

I heard my name being called from a distance. I quickly turned to the direction of the sound, It was Lord Sebastian calling.

Lord Lucien stepped back, creating room between us.

I turned to leave, but suddenly stopped and turned back to him. “Why did you really summon me here?”

“I didn’t.” He stated.

“What?” I froze.

“I asked to speak with you,” he said with a blank expression. “I never summoned you.”

I returned to the ballroom with a whole different mood, Lord Lucien’s questions still tugging my mind.

Do you intend to marry Sebastian?

Do you love him?

I hated that he had to ask me such questions, I hated it more that they bothered me for the first time.

I didn’t know what I wanted, I had never thought of anything. I only knew that I was to marry Lord Sebastian and fulfill my duty to my family.

But what if there was something more I wanted? Something I was yet to figure out?

“Do I want this marriage?” I mumbled inwardly.

These questions had planted a strange seed of doubt in me, one that stubbornly clung to me no matter how hard I tried to shake it off.

But what if I truly didn’t want this marriage? What kind of chaos would it cause between our families? What would people say about me?

I suddenly felt trapped by my own thoughts, not knowing how to handle this mixed feeling I was having.

I looked across the room and spotted Lord Lucien. His eyes were already on me.

I should have looked away. But this time, I didn’t.