Reinhard was in a foul mood. He was sitting in the dark quietly sipping his champagne. His mind wandering to Alyssa and her laugh. His eyes zeroed on her hand which was touched by Noah.To distract his mind, he pulled out his phone to see an encoded message. A rare and genuine smile graced his face. He wanted to laugh at the young hacker"s stupidity. He had sent an encrypted message to the person who is a much higher level than him. It greatly amused him. Without typing any codes, he decrypted the message with his mind. He was a level 11 hacker. One of a kind hacker. The G.o.d among the G.o.ds.
"Thank you for your praise. I wish I had a teacher so I can learn faster."
He read the message and wrote another encrypted message and sent it.
"Are you here alone Your Highness Crown Prince Theodore." A sweet voice called him. The voice was so oddly sweet that it made Reinhard cringe. It was just like a pointed nail screeching against any smooth surface.
"No, I am with my best friend. Can"t you see?" Reinhard wanted to tell his snarky thought to the lady but he was the man of few words so he just glanced at her direction.
The lady approached him and introduced herself, "I am Violet, daughter of Prince Ja.n.u.s."
"Pardon me, princess, I didn"t know you," Reinhard replied politely.
Violet"s smile stiffened at the mention of the word "princess". She adjusted her expressions and said. "It"s alright. Mind if I show you around." Violet extended her hands for him to take.
He was the guest on Prince Ja.n.u.s and it was Violet"s upcoming age ball. In addition to this, both of the kingdoms were friends on the surface. So, to be seen as polite and friendly on the surface, Reinhard agreed to her.
"Sure." He said walking past Violet.
Violet clenched her extended hand in a fist and followed after Reinhard. Reinhard didn"t want to socialize with anyone so they walked towards the garden.
Alyssa and Noah were sitting on a bench talking about random stuff about their lives. It was mainly Noah who was talking. Alyssa felt glad when Noah turned to his usual behavior.
"I have to go to the washroom." Suddenly Noah told Alyssa.
"Why?" Alyssa asked without even thinking getting "a look" from Noah which clearly said, "are you that dumb".
Alyssa rubbed her nose in embarra.s.sment. Then she asked, "Do you know where it is? Do you want me to come with you?" Alyssa asked. She didn"t want another woman to come clinging herself on Noah.
"What do you think? Am I a kid?" Noah huffed. He rose from his seat and headed towards the door bypa.s.sing Reinhard and Violet who were coming in the garden.
Alyssa glanced at her phone and saw an unread message she opened the message and was about to write a reply when she saw Noah"s watch fallen on the ground at the foot of the bench. She knew just how important that watch was meant to him. It was given by Noah"s father. The leather strap of the watch had become dull and torn but even though Noah always kept it with him and treasured it. Alyssa knew that he will turn frantic if he will not find the watch so she stood up from her place and ran after Noah in haste. But before she could make even two steps she collided with a hard wall, or what she thought it was. She was unable to balance herself and she fell on the ground.
"Why were you in a hurry sister?" Violet"s sickly-sweet voice came from the above.
Violet raised her head holding her bruised nose with her free hands. She looked in front of her and what she thought as a wall was Reinhard"s hard muscular chest. She also saw Violet approaching her to help her from the ground. But before Violet can touch her, Alyssa got up from the ground on her own dusting her clothes. She didn"t want to ruin her mood because of her so she quietly murmured her apology and was about to walk past them when Violet once again spoke.
"Was that your sugar daddy?" Alyssa"s feet froze on the ground. Her eyes became colder and her palms balled into a fist. Just one more from Violet and Alyssa was ready to punch her. without saying anything she raised her legs to walk away when Violet once again said, "Was he the one who bought you this costly dress? Are you really a mistress sister?" Violet"s voice dimmed and became full of grief. It was as if she was really worried about her sister"s indecent behaviors.
"Who are you acting for? There"s n.o.body here. Quit your acting. I am not like you Violet who tears a family apart. And don"t call me your sister again you are not my blood. You are not my family. Show your filial duties to my mother and make her like you." Then her eyes landed on Reinhard, "I pity you for becoming her center of attraction" with this Alyssa started moving.
"Wait", a voice called her, but this time it belonged to Reinhard.
Violet"s eyes shown. She knew Reinhard will insult her and take her side. She felt like her pitiful acting gained him over. She portrayed herself as a pitiful adopted daughter who was bullied by the real daughter of the household. Reinhard walked towards Alyssa and handed her the phone which she had dropped earlier with an opened text message.
"Sorry," he said surprising both Violet and Alyssa.
"Excuse me", with this he left both of them standing there on their own. Alyssa thought he was apologizing because she fell because of him. She didn"t think about it further and went to find Noah to give him his father"s watch.
She went inside and found Noah looking around the hall like a lost puppy. There were beads of perspiration on his forehead and his s.h.i.+rt was in a mess. He looked like he was about to cry. Alyssa wanted to laugh at him but she controlled her laughter and approached him to give him his watch.