Irresistible Touch

Chapter 4

Lilian:

I fled home, broken out into a full, run-for-your-life sprint.

Even when I crawled into my bed, my mouth was still agape in disbelief.

My friend whom I had grown up with, my very best friend, had confessed to me!

I always thought that we would be friends forever, but now...

Dear God, please do not play such practical jokes with me!

I did not need love, and even more than that, I did not wish to lose a friend.

I simply had no idea how I was supposed to face William after this. I thought about it for a long time but still came up empty, so I decided to run away from this predicament instead.

With the excuse of visiting my aunt, whom I missed dearly after a long parting, I got permission from my mother, and off I went on a one-woman journey to another small town some ways away from here.

To my surprise, however, I bumped into Arthur's personal guard, Andrew, before I was able to reach my aunt.

I thought that it was just a chance encounter and was about to walk past him like we were two strangers when he called my name and stopped me.

"I was sent to look for you."

Surprised, I stopped and stared at him with wide eyes.

"You were sent to look for me? I'm afraid I don't quite understand."

Was Arthur not the one who had said that we had nothing more to do with each other? If so, why did he send his guard after me? Was Arthur going back on his word?

At that thought, I stepped back cautiously to pull some distance between us, which would also make it easier for me to run away if the situation turned for the worse.

Noticing my reaction, a derisive smile curled Andrew's lips. "The king is going to get engaged soon. You know that, don't you?"

"Everyone would know about such a big event happening. Who wouldn't?" I shot him a provocative smile in return.

Andrew hated me, and just as well, I found him an eyesore. Only, I had no choice but to show some level of courtesy out of need due to our positions, but I no longer had anything to do with Arthur, so why should I play along with this annoying bastard any longer?

The great disparity between my treatment of him then and now caused a light frown to form between Andrew's brows. He shot a glance at me and went on, "I came to remind you not to have any thoughts about the king, and do not try to ruin his engagement. Otherwise, I will not go easy on you just because you're a frail Omega!"

I was so furious at what I heard that I broke out in laughter.

Have thoughts about him? Ruin his engagement?

What kind of preposterous thing was he saying?

"Sir Andrew, I think you've got it wrong. Your lord and I share no other relationship besides that of wench and man. He paid me, I offered my services. That's all there is to it. I have absolutely no interest in that man, none at all! What's more, neither of us has any relationship with the other now, so please do not suddenly appear in front of me and cast such nonsense at me! Furthermore, even though I’m just a frail Omega, I will make sure of it that you pay the price for this unjust treatment if you force me over the edge. Try it if you dare!"

I was so angry that I could just run up to him and bite off a chunk of him, but I knew that was impossible for me to do.

Just as he had said, I was merely a frail Omega without any ability to fight or defend myself. There was simply no chance of me winning in front of a strong and powerful Beta such as him.

Regardless, just because I could not beat him in a fight did not mean that I could not beat him in an argument. A threat without action was nothing more than just words; who could not throw words around?

Andrew's brows furrowed even deeper. When he scoured me with his probing gaze again, I was so angry that I was shaking.

Thankfully, he withdrew his gaze soon enough. Otherwise, I might have lost control of my limbs and charged over to give him a good kick.

"I hope you're telling the truth." With that, he made to leave. However, after walking merely two steps, he turned back again. "The king is not aware that I sought you out today."

"Huh?" Just then, inspiration flashed in my eyes. "Sir Andrew, aren't you supposed to be the king's most loyal aide? What gave you the sudden fancy to start hiding secrets behind your liege's back?"

Andrew's feet paused in place. He answered calmly, "I will ask the king for punishment myself."

After he left, I snorted smugly to myself.

He was an annoying man without a doubt, but his loyalty to Arthur was unquestionable. Moreover, he was a terrible liar. I was sure that he would definitely approach Arthur on his own accord to ask for forgiveness.

Let me see... what would the punishment be? Would it be a flogging or a beating?

Serves him right for threatening me for no reason and making such baseless accusations!

The thought of Andrew being punished for his own hogwash made my day feel brighter and I felt wonderful. Even my fear of losing my best friend, William, faded away.

Sure enough, it was true that a bad mood could be cured by someone else's misfortune.

After a happy two days at my aunt's place, I decided to return home after getting over my bad mood.

As soon as I stepped into my home, however, my good mood disappeared without a trace.

Could someone please explain to me why William was at my house? And why was he talking to my parents as if they were all having a good time?

"Lilian dearest, you're back! Come and sit down, William brought lots of your favorite fruit! He picked it all just for you, you know?" My mother waved cheerfully at me as soon as she saw me and gestured for me to sit next to William. She also kept on winking at me. It was very obvious that she was trying to set the two of us up.

My father was sitting next to us with a big smile on his face, looking pleased.

William, on the other hand, kept his head down, throwing glances at me every so often before looking away again like some sort of shy maiden.

I sighed and ignored my parents' winking eyes that looked like they would cramp up from overuse and sat down far away from all of them with my arms crossed on my chest, watching them helplessly.

My father said, "William, the weather's absolutely wonderful today. Why don't you take Lilian out for a walk?"

I was at a loss for words. Go for a walk? I just came home!

Before I could argue against it, however, my mother pulled me up from the chair and pushed me out of the house.

"Yes, yes. It's such a wonderful day. It's perfect for youngsters like you to go out and enjoy yourselves. Now, hurry and go before you miss it, and don't worry about coming home early. We'll set some food aside for you when you return."

I sighed helplessly again.

Fine, I guess running away would not solve my problems. I might as well use this opportunity to settle things with him and tell him that I would rather just stay friends and that I had absolutely no plans to marry him or anyone.

"Let's go to the usual place."

"Yeah, sure."