The Wizard Prince's Rebel Soulmate

Chapter 5

Aurora stood in front of her wardrobe, angrily eying every single item on the hangers as if they were responsible for the situation she was in. She didn’t want to have dinner with that arrogant bastard, but after talking it over with Sofia, who had come to the library for their lessons about an hour late, with tousled hair, slightly smeared lipstick and a happy sparkle in her eyes, they’d decided that it would be better if she did. He had promised to answer her questions, and while he hadn’t given them any reason to distrust him just yet – other than being a horrible human being – it would be better if they knew his reasons for being here, so far away from his parents and his kingdom. And all alone.

But now, Aurora caught herself wondering what she should wear tonight, and she silently cursed herself for caring about her appearance. Maybe she should just put on her old jogging pants, the ones with the holes at her heals, because they were slightly too long and kept getting caught under her feet. And a stained shirt, that she used for training and was smelly from her sweat. That would show him.  

Sighing, she pulled out a pair of worn in, light blue jeans and the first t-shirt that she could find. But when she unfolded it, she realized that it had a big, pink heart on it and the word “Love” written over the chest. Ok, maybe she wouldn’t wear the first t-shirt, then. She pulled a blouse in various blue shades from the hanger and slipped it on, quickly closing the buttons, before pulling her hair into a pony tail. A glance in the mirror showed her, that she succeeded in her task. She looked alright, but not like she tried to impress him. Regular clothes, regular hairstyle, no makeup. Perfect.

She stepped outside into the living room area, and plopped down on the couch. It was almost 8 o’clock, and she was starting to feel hungry. Pulling out her phone, she started scrolling through t****k, waiting impatiently for Leandro to show up.

She felt his breath next to her ear, and it startled her enough to make her drop her phone.

“Would you stop doing that?” she hissed, shooting him an angry glare before fishing for her phone between the couch cushions.

“Why would I stop, when it’s so entertaining to watch your reaction?” Leandro chuckled and walked around the couch before holding out his hand to her. “Let’s go.”

She ignored his hand and got up, but he grabbed her before she could walk past him.

“Where are we going? Sandra needs to change our appearance first…” she reminded him as she followed behind him.

“No need. We’re going to my room.”

“Wait… you said we’d go for dinner?” Aurora stammered, but he just looked back at her with a grin.

“No, I said we’ll have dinner tonight, but I never said we would go out. I don’t like spilling my secrets when you look like someone else.”

He opened the door of the guest room with the number three written on it and pulled her inside, shutting the door behind them. Aurora looked around, noticing that this room, although very similar to hers, was decorated in darker colours. While hers was mostly light blue and white, this one was navy blue and mahogany.

The table next to the door was already set, a big pot standing between the plates, the cover was lifted just a little bit by the inserted serving spoon, letting steam escape together with a delicious smell.

Leandro pulled out a chair for Aurora, motioning for her to take a seat, before removing the cover and setting it aside.

“What’s this?” she straightened her neck, trying to get a glimpse.

“Malloreddus alla Campidanese,” Leandro replied, and when he noticed her confused stare, he added, “it’s a recipe from Sardinia. Malloreddus is a Sardinian fresh pasta, with a tomato-sausage sauce with onions and basil.”

“Did you make this?” Aurora asked incredulously.

“Well, I didn’t make the pasta myself, you can buy it pretty much everywhere in Italy nowadays, but I made the sauce. I could make the pasta as well, but I didn’t know what kind of tools you have in this kitchen.”

Aurora didn’t know what to say. He had gone through all this trouble to prepare this delicious food for them, while she was busy trying to find a way to show him, how much she didn’t want to have dinner with him.

“Uhm, you said this is a typical dish from Sardinia. Is that where you’re from?” She tried to hide her embarrassment by taking some of the pasta and putting it on her plate, hoping the steam would conceal her just enough that he didn’t see her reddened cheeks.

“No, the seat of the Southern Italian King is in Bari, so that’s where I grew up. But my mother is from Sardinia, and after my grandfather passed away, my grandmother moved in with us. She loved to cook, and I spent a lot of time in the kitchen with her. She was adamant to show me the ropes, saying that one day, I might fall in love with a woman who doesn’t know how to cook,” he laughed, taking the serving spoon from her and taking some of the pasta for himself.

“Isn’t your mother from a noble family as well?” Aurora nodded when he showed her the wine bottle, and he poured a glass for her.

“Yes, she’s from a very old noble family. But my grandmother wasn’t, and she never really took to the ways of nobility, she didn’t like having people cook and clean for her, so she just did it her way, I guess. And my grandfather let her do what made her happy.” He shrugged his shoulders, as if that was the normal thing to do. “Of course, my mother grew up like that as well, but she has many duties as the Queen, and the castle in Bari is bigger than our place in Sardinia, so even if she wanted to, she couldn’t take care of it by herself. She does cook though, when she’s free for the evening.”

A small sense of envy ran through Aurora. Would her mother have made dinner for her as well? Would she have grown up hearing stories from her parent’s childhood, eating special dishes that her grandmother prepared? Looking down at her plate, she avoided eye contact with Leandro and started eating. The sharp flavour of the sausage exploded on her tongue, followed by the acidity of the tomato sauce and the subtle freshness of basil. Instinctively, she closed her eyes to savour the taste.

When she opened them again, she noticed Leandro grinning at her.

“I’m glad you like it,” he commented, a hint of smugness in his voice, but she forgave him because in this moment, he deserved to feel smug. “Do you have any other questions for me?”

“Only one. Can you stop talking until we’re done eating? I would very much like to enjoy this dinner, and I’m afraid I can’t give it the attention it deserves with your voice in the background.”

He chuckled, but didn’t say anything, and they ate in comfortable silence until the pot was empty. Aurora was tempted to take a piece of bread and scoop out the little bit of sauce that was clinging to the inside of the pot, but she resisted.  

“Would you like some dessert?” Leandro asked, and she nodded. She would never say not to dessert.

He removed the plates and the empty pot, and put them on the chest of drawers behind him. There were two plates covered by aluminium foil, which he now carefully removed before putting it in front of her.

“Those are Seadas, another Sardinian specialty. It’s basically fried dough, that’s stuffed with fresh pecorino cheese. You drizzle them with honey before eating them.”

He passed her a small bowl with honey in it, and she used the spoon to add a generous amount of it to her portion.

“Did you buy those as well?” she asked while cutting off the first piece.

“Of course not, my grandmother would cry if I did,” he laughed.

The contrast of the sweet honey and the melted cheese was surprisingly exquisite, and Aurora caught herself thinking that she could get used to this. When all this was over, she should definitely go to Sardinia for an extended vacation, that included lots and lots of food.

When the last bite had disappeared from her plate, Aurora sighed happily.

“I have to admit, you surprised me, Leandro. I didn’t expect you to cook for me, and everything was delicious.”

He smiled at her words.

“But I would still like to know what exactly you are doing here in Pisa. And what happened to you last night, before you ended up in Guido’s office.”

“Alright. I assume you know about the situation back in our kingdom?” The smile had disappeared as he remembered what had happened a year ago. “My parents would have never believed that our own people would fall victim to the vicious lies King Riccardo’s spies spread around our kingdom. But they did, and he managed to plunge us into a civil war without too much effort. We had to flee to Sardinia, to my mother’s home, and at first, we thought this would be over soon, and we could get the situation under control rather quickly. No matter what you heard, my parents are very much beloved by our people, and I don’t understand what kind of brainwashing happened to those who are on King Riccardo’s side. Anyway, as it dragged on, I just couldn’t take it anymore, I couldn’t just sit still and do nothing. So me and my brother, Totó, decided to go to the other two kingdoms to see, if we could find allies that would help us fight against King Riccardo. Basically, we want to do to him what he did to us. I came here, my brother went to Northern Italy.”

Aurora listened carefully, but schooled her features to not give away her thoughts.

“I’ve been travelling through Central Italy for quite a while now, and heard about a group of people, who are preparing to rebel against their King. I was looking for your aunt, actually, but I guess I asked too many questions, or the wrong kind of people overheard me, and they tried to arrest me. I managed to get free, and get to Guido. Someone in Florence told me about him, and I hoped that I would be safe there. Then you showed up, and you know the rest.”

He talked about his injuries so casually, as if they were nothing, even though they both knew that he could have died. Suddenly, he leaned forward, and Aurora knew that the tables had now turned.

“Alright, cara, I answered your questions, I believe it is time you answer mine.”

The dangerous look in his eyes made her gulp, wondering what he would ask of her.