Allen watched as Lyn walked over to the water. The girl"s clothes drenched and her clothes stuck to her body, "They should find a place for her to get change," Allen thought. When he slept beside her, he noticed how she kept tossing and turning in her sleep. At first, he thought that staying beside him was uncomfortable. But it was not like that. She has a slight fever. Allen said nothing about it, but maybe he ought to have."If you are not careful. You shall fall off the edge."
"I"m fine—" Lyn doesn"t get a chance to finish her sentence; since Allen sees her lose her balance. Allen quickly catches the girl, causing them to land on the position where he was on top of her.
"You were saying?"
"Um, right," Lyn laughed, "My bad."
What a bright and cheerful laughter, it"s been a long time since he has heard such a sound from her. Allen brushed his fingers on her black locks, gently caressing her cheeks. If it"s now, should he not be able to tell? Whether romance is impossible for them?
To his surprise, Lyn quickly scrambled off, "We should get going, I don"t think Rhys realized we left."
"Yeah…"
Allen deeply sighed, "Did he scare her?"
...
Main Research Building
Allen did not want to separate from Lyn and stick by her side. But while the third Princess kidnapping altered their plans. It did not mean they could deviate too much from the original plan. It simply means Lyn has more to do, now that her sister is in the enemy"s hands. His gaze flickered onto the woman who was cleaning up the bookshelf. She barely batted an eyelid when the servants escorted him inside. For the last few minutes, she didn"t say a word, and neither did he. The two of them shared that trait in common, they were not very talkative people.
"Shouldn"t your chaperone be with you?" Allen inquired. He broke the silence, realizing that the longer he delayed things. The more difficult it will be for Lyn.
Allen held himself to another gla.s.s of wine on the table. It felt good to relax and be himself for a bit. After what happened with Lyn earlier, Allen was in deep thought and thinking about his next move.
The person cleaning away is Lady Rei, a woman with a mix of eastern and western blood like Lyn. Despite her appearance, though, the woman liked to lie low and wore conservative clothing.
"She is outside the door as we speak. After all, we do not want rumors to fly about the Wind Kingdom"s Prince visiting another woman when he"s been rus.h.i.+ng to get married."
A chuckle pa.s.sed his lips, "You heard?
"How is your cousin?"
Allen sighed, "When I am here, you dare mention my cousin?" Allen didn"t know why, but he got oddly sensitive whenever people would compare him to his cousin. Perhaps he has some sort of complex.
Rei laughed, "Indeed, you are quite the man in contrast to your brother. There is no need to compare. If you didn"t show such displeasure towards other females other than your relatives and fiance, perhaps I would have inquired on your wellbeing. Your cousin is a lot more approachable."
"It"s because I look solemn and intimidating. And for your information, that man is no longer the same as he once were," Allen said. Perhaps it was because of the rumors about the King, his father about to retire. But, it seems like he"s finally shaped up and stopped acting like a careless young man.
"I prefer honest people, not men who hide behind their masks." she retorted.
Allen shook his head. Where on earth is this conversation heading? Or rather, how did their conversation ends up like this? Didn"t he come here to ask for her a.s.sistant? How come they are talking about their likes and preferences? This almost feels like a marriage meeting. Marriage, huh? Lyn"s face appears in his mind, and he looked over at Lady Rei who sat opposite him. Now that he thought about it, this woman was supposed to become his fiance.
While many people speak about how grand the Wind Kingdom is, and how rich they were. The elders have an old fas.h.i.+on viewpoint. They dislike spending wealth unnecessary and ensured that all the Princes marry simple women. Strong woman, not too pretty not too ugly, and intelligent. Those traits fit
Quite some time had pa.s.sed since he last thought about it though. His father suddenly canceled their engagement. Thankfully, it was before anything was actually finalized. So nothing had been signed, and it ended as a mere discussion.
Eventually, the elders will hear about Kazuya and Lyn. This entire time Allen has surpa.s.sed the news, but how much longer can he keep that up? When they hear about it, it"s just a matter of time before they try to set him up with another woman. Just the mere thought of it gave him a headache. Allen decided to answer the woman"s inquiry regarding Iura.
"Iura is doing quite well for himself," Allen trailed off and thought back to the man who saw him off, "Thank goodness. If he remained that way any longer, I would have kicked him out of the castle and send him away before father did."
His father tolerated his cousin"s actions too much. Perhaps it"s because he and his brothers are very serious people and take after him. Father sought laughter and comfort from Iura.
"He should be. If the rumors are true, he found somebody he likes."
Allen sighed. It seemed that woman has made a name for herself in all the regions. Allen raised his eyebrows and pretended to ponder on an answer. How did Lady Rei acquire that information? Allen made sure that n.o.body spread that rumor around.
Rei sighed, "Don"t look at me like that. I occasionally send messages to Iura, and he mentioned it to me. Well, more than once," Rei finished tidying up the books and gave some instructions to a servant.
"Indeed." This is a surprise. He never knew Iura kept in touch with Lady Rei. Now Allen understood why
"But more than Sana, I"d like to meet your fiance."
Allen had to admit; this was the first time Lady Rei surprised him. Many people have tried to catch him off guard, only to fail after all. Naturally, it would surprise anybody. How many years have pa.s.sed since he knew her? Even after the engagement ended, he still saw her quite a bit. Over the years, Rei has not mentioned this at all. Allen looks at her suspiciously, but Rei carried on.
"I want to meet her," Rei said, "I"ve heard all sorts of rumors my Lord. Some say she"s hideous, how she has to wear a veil in public. Ugly and yet has a sweet and delicate voice. Of course, there are those who say her voice is rough, and sound like a man. But those came from an unreliable source. Then some say she has fair skin and is hiding behind a veil because she"s too beautiful."
Fair skin as white as snow. Luscious black hair, jewel-colored eyes. Her lips are the same color as a gorgeous rose. Lyn is a stunning beauty, but the girl thinks too little of herself and does not see it.