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“ORIANA, do you have a moment?”
Oriana was sitting beside Lucian, spacing out, when someone called to her. Standing behind the back of the couch was none other than Vincent.
“Heya! What’d you eat today?” Miguel, who’d apparently accompanied Vincent, asked Kai.
Kai and Constance scooted closer together to make room for him to sit, and as if it were the most natural thing in the world, Miguel plopped himself down beside them. He was like a big cat, with a knack for slipping in past people’s defenses and for slipping into small spaces.
“What’s wrong?” Oriana asked.
“If at all possible, I’d prefer to speak privately,” Vincent answered with a thin smile.
Oriana slipped out of the lounge with him. In the past, she wouldn’t have thought anything of it, but now his private invitation had prompted a strange anticipation in her.
No, no, no. It’s nothing like that. This is nothing special, she told herself. Darn it, why is love so illogical…
She knew that, as far as Vincent was concerned, this was nothing out of the ordinary. But it wasn’t nothing to her, being called away from her friends like that to speak to him alone. As she walked behind him, she continued to contemplate how contradictory and yet perfectly reasonable love was.
That scent—his scent—that I caught on his robes earlier, I recognize it. Oriana stared at his sleeves, which fluttered as he walked. Memories of that afternoon came rushing back to her. It wasn’t all that long ago that I used a towel soaked with his sweat to wipe away my own, never giving it a second thought.
All it took was for his hand to almost touch her—that was enough for her to act like a fool. If only the shame could kill, then she might be spared the continued embarrassment.
This is bad. My mind’s all messed up. I hope I can get over these feelings quickly.
What could she even do to end them? Would time resolve the issue? She was so inexperienced with this that she had no idea. Was it normal to be this self-conscious?
Oriana tried to keep herself hidden in Vincent’s periphery as she took a deep breath. Her feelings were threatening to burst out of her, and thanks to that, she could feel her cheeks warming up.
They made it to a window just outside the lounge. Vincent stopped there and pressed his back against the glass, his hand resting on the windowsill. Oriana had a perfect view of the outside from where she stood, but it was dark as pitch with only a few shriveled, lonely trees dotting the discernible landscape. The air near the window was cold too, which helped her emotions settle.
“Is your eye better now?” Vincent asked.
“My apologies for worrying you, but it is much improved now.”
After what transpired in the library, Oriana had hurried back to the dorm and fixed her makeup, which she was glad for now. She never dreamed they would run into each other again today, and she certainly didn’t want to speak with him at this close proximity with her makeup all smeared.
“Glad to hear it. Actually, I bought you a gift.”
“Oh? Thank you,” she said. “How very like a friend to do that.”
“It is, isn’t it? This is the first time I’ve ever bought one for anyone.” Vincent grinned proudly. It was so dazzling that she feared she might melt into a puddle on the floor if she gazed at him for even a second longer. Oriana jerked her head away unnaturally, hoping to spare herself such a fate. “I was…waiting for the perfect timing to give it to you.”
“Thank you,” she said.
“Why is your face turned like that?”
“I saw a bug.”
“A bug?” Vincent repeated, perplexed.
“It already flew off,” Oriana assured him.
“All right, then.”
By the time she turned her gaze back toward him, she’d managed to put on a poker face—or at least as much of one as she could muster. She tried as much as possible to keep the emotion from showing on her face as she accepted his gift.
“They’re sweets. I bought them at the Enchanted Voyager’s station.”
A fitting present for a friend. Oriana politely accepted the gift bag with treats stowed inside. “Thank you. I apologize for not having anything to offer in return.”
“No, please don’t worry about it. I bought this for you because I wanted you to have it.”
Naturally, since we’re brand-new friends, after all. There is no more meaning to it than that. Don’t expect anything else, Oriana, she admonished herself.
“So, uh…you’ve never bought a gift like this for Miguel before?”
“Our territories neighbor one another. We don’t live far enough away to exchange gifts like that. Besides, I would never go out of my way to buy a man a gift.”
In other words, this was just a special perk for being his first female friend.
Oriana hugged the bag to her chest and smiled faintly. “Thank you again. I’ll enjoy eating these, I’m sure.”
“Yeah. I’m sure you’d have preferred noodles, but unsurprisingly, they didn’t sell them.”
Oriana froze. “You…know that I like noodles?”
“It’s all you ever eat.”
He actually…noticed that. Oriana closed her eyes and took a deep breath. I can’t believe every little thing manages to get my heart racing to the point I can’t even breathe properly. Love is no joke.
If they continued speaking on this topic anymore, she wouldn’t be able to stop herself from grinning like an idiot. So instead, she thought about changing the course of the conversation.
“What did you do during summer break?”
“You already know, don’t you? I spent the whole break attending every opera house hoping to catch a glimpse of you.”
“Well, then your scheming bore fruit, considering we did actually meet.”
“Yes, but it was only for three seconds.”
When she laughed, Vincent laughed too.
“I never dreamed I would see you there,” Oriana said.
“Indeed, but my toil paid off.”
“You’re really going to continue that joke, huh?”
Vincent nodded. “It’s the truth, after all.”
“Well, then my apologies for putting you through so much. I was happy to receive your birthday wishes.”
Memories of their unexpected meeting at the opera house flashed through her mind. If she had seen him looking that handsome now that she was aware of her romantic feelings, she might have screeched like a banshee without even meaning to.
“If only other eyes hadn’t been on us. I wish we could have talked longer,” he said.
“Come to think of it, you and my father were already acquainted.” She suddenly remembered how friendly the two had been, even as they kept their close relationship on the down low.
“Yeah. He did me a favor when I was younger. A bit of a shameful story from long ago, so I haven’t really told anyone about it.”
“Well, so as not to bring back memories of such embarrassing times, I shall be sure to keep it a secret that you two know each other.”
“I would appreciate that.” He flashed a smile at her that was all too gentle and brilliant. She had to count to five as she turned her gaze away, trying to calm herself. Looking at him directly was like gazing straight into the sun. In other words, unthinkable.
“The duke was rather friendly as well,” Oriana said, trying to distract herself.
“If my father accosts you again like that in the future, you can simply call my mother over. He’s powerless before her.”
“Summon the duchess directly? Me? You’re asking for the impossible.”
“Give it a shot. We are friends, aren’t we?”
If we’re friends, you should hop in to save me, Oriana thought. She opened her mouth to say as much jokingly but froze up. Memories of the girl who’d been standing beside Vincent rushed back to her. Assuming we were to find ourselves in such a situation, he’d surely be busy escorting Sharon Beezel. He wouldn’t have time to bother with me.
Sharon was beautiful, and her status matched Vincent’s. Oriana had never considered her own ancestry or her father’s status before, but now for the first time, she was envious of Sharon for being born into the aristocracy.
Oriana couldn’t bring herself to ask Vincent about Sharon, either. Not about their time together at the opera or how intimate the two had seemed the other day. It took every bit of willpower to keep herself from inquiring, and she only resisted because she worried he might sense her jealousy rather than interpret it as friendly conversation. Besides, she didn’t really want to hear anything about Sharon from his lips anyway.
I’m not doing so well at this friendship thing, she thought. Much as she wanted to be there for him the way he wished, the more she clung to their status as friends, the more likely it seemed she’d let her true feelings slip.
Oriana stepped closer to the window, pressing her forehead against the glass. Her reflection gazed back at her. Although she had adjusted her makeup to perfection, her gloomy expression detracted from it. This was not at all the expression of a girl who was with someone she loved.
But I can’t help it, she reasoned. I’m not supposed to fall for him.
Oriana tried to tell herself things were better like this. And with that thought in mind, she sighed, fogging up the glass. She lifted a finger and pressed it against the pane. Vincent drew close to her, his face practically right beside hers. Apparently he was curious what she was about to write.
Um…? Isn’t he standing awfully close? Uh, yeah. Super close.
Had she ever allowed him to be up in her personal space like this before? Perhaps she had. Noblemen like him were accustomed to escorting women, so they naturally had less of a sense of personal space, so she’d probably dismissed it before and thought little of it.
I can’t do this. I can’t even remember how I used to act with him before.
Oriana drew her brows together, utterly perplexed, and bit down on her lip.
Vincent studied her, mystified as to why her finger remained perfectly still. “Oriana?”
“Oriana,” Yana called at the same time, her voice overlapping with Vincent’s.
Oriana whipped around to face her friend, feeling as though Yana’s interruption was a blessing—the Dragon God’s divine intervention.
Yana and Azraq were just exiting the lounge together. Yana said, “I was thinking about returning to my room for the day.”
“All right. I’ll go too.” Oriana stepped away from the window, careful not to accidentally brush against Vincent in the process. She hugged his gift bag in her arms and bowed her head. “Goodbye for now. Thank you again for the gift.”
“Yeah…”
Oriana hurried over to Yana’s side, not even bothering to glance at Vincent’s face before she left. As soon as she reached her friend, the princess immediately started walking. Azraq followed behind them, his broad black blocking Vincent’s gaze from following after them. That brought Oriana such relief that all the tension seemed to leave her body.