“Oh, please. They’d drag me and my pen off to the altar to be worshiped then.” Oriana didn’t even give a moment of thought before refusing him. It came as a bit of a shock.
The previous Oriana probably wouldn’t have blinked twice before accepting my offer. Strange as it is to say, I suspect she’d have even eagerly accepted a blunted pen nib from me. That just goes to show that I’m not that important to her yet in this timeline.
Crestfallen as he was, Vincent did his best not to let it show on his face as he next asked, “So, what kind are you using then?”
“I’m not really that picky, so I use all sorts of different ones. In fact, Daddy has bought so many different ones that if I don’t help use them up, we’ll have a veritable mountain of them just sitting around.”
Oriana’s facial expressions changed rapidly. He was seeing far more variation now than he had seen that first time she spoke to him in the courtyard.
She’s opened her heart to me a lot since then.
It was so precious when she shared things about herself with him. He found it adorable the way she pondered this and that as she spoke to him, and he nodded slowly the whole while.
“Interesting,” he said.
“He recently obtained a bunch of ink samples from a new deal he made as well.”
“Yeah?”
“One of the servants accidentally broke one of the containers, not knowing it had ink in it.”
“Yeah?”
“They rushed to summon the cleaners since it was working hours, but the mage who was supposed to remove the stains was still half asleep, so they only made the staining even worse. It was hilarious!”
“Oh really…” Vincent’s eyes were glued to her small lips as she excitedly recounted the tale, and he was midway through giving a perfunctory response when someone suddenly snatched his head. Startled, he craned his neck.
Miguel had suddenly appeared behind the back of the couch, his hand on Vincent’s scalp as he gazed down at his friend. When Vincent gave him a questioning look, he leaned in close to Vincent’s ear and said, “You’re staring too hard.”
Vincent’s shoulders jumped as the meaning of those words registered instantly.
Miguel grinned wryly, pleased that his message had gotten through. “Welp, good luck. I just remembered I have something to do, so I’m gonna head back.”
“All right.” Vincent clapped one hand over his face, covering it, while he used the other to give a small wave and bid his friend farewell.
“See you, Miguel,” Oriana said, waving as well.
Miguel glanced back over his shoulder once and returned the gesture before taking off. More likely than not, Miguel had no errand to attend to; he’d merely left his seat, so he could deliver a warning to Vincent since the latter was failing so utterly at hiding his romantic interest in Oriana.
Well, this is embarrassing.
Vincent lifted his chin, praying his cheeks weren’t feverishly red thanks to his friend’s words of warning/encouragement. Miguel’s abrupt departure had cut his conversation with Oriana short, so now Kai and Lucian’s chatter drifted into his ears instead.
“Yeah? I couldn’t see anything from where I was standing, so I have no idea.”
“You big dummy! What a total waste! I can say this with confidence, though: they were definitely white.”
Everyone else, besides Vincent and Oriana, had dispensed with the greetings and changed the topic by now, hence why Kai and Lucian were locked in a fervent exchange.
“What was white?” Oriana asked, joining their conversation.
Lucian jolted in surprise. “Wha— Don’t just suddenly hop in on our conversation!”
“Huh? What are you so on edge for?” Oriana grumbled. She was uncomfortable with the way he’d snapped at her.
“I didn’t see, so I have no idea, but Lucian swears he got a peek. At a girl’s underwear, I mean.” As if for emphasis, Kai repeated, “And I mean it, I really didn’t see anything.”
Vincent’s intuition had told him they were probably discussing something inappropriate, and as it turned out, he was right on the money. Exasperated, he glanced at Lucian.
Oriana’s reaction went above exasperation; she was thoroughly disgusted. She thrust a finger in Lucian’s direction and shouted, “Get him, Constance!” Her expression revealed not even an ounce of emotion, and at her command, Constance left her seat.
“With pleasure. I will be sure to pound his face beyond recognition.”
“Stop it, you barbarian woman! Even just one hit from you is no joke!” Lucian’s face contorted in horror as he tried to scramble away, but Edda caught him immediately. “What the hell! This has nothing to do with you guys anyway!”
“How does this have nothing to do with us when you’re peeking at girls’ underwear?!”
“Stuff it! It’s not like I was crawling on the ground trying to sneak a look at them! Blame the stairs and the wind! It’s not my fault!”
“You could have enough grace to pretend you didn’t see anything or at least not talk about it, you know!” Heidemarie snapped at him. Unable to contain her anger, she threw a fist at his head while Edda pinned him in place.
“Yowch! I was only discussing it because Kai said he couldn’t see anything!”
“Then tell me afterward in secret at least,” grumbled Kai.
“Excuse me?” Heidemarie shot him a look, as if to say: That’s not really the problem right now, and you know it.
Unable to withstand her gaze, Kai awkwardly glanced away.
“Lay off! All of you, shut your traps! Is there a healthy man out there who wouldn’t be interested in seeing girls’ underwear? Huh?! Morons!” Lucian roared defiantly, desperate to defend himself.
With a completely serious expression on her face, Oriana replied, “Vincent wouldn’t be interested, I’m sure.”
Wha?
Unable to comprehend how he was being dragged into this conversation, Vincent froze up. There was no custom in the world he was used to living in of having these sorts of salacious conversations. Not to mention, Vincent didn’t really speak to other men.
“You aren’t, are you?” Oriana turned her innocent gaze to him, eyes full of trust.
Vincent absently responded, “Uh, no.”
“‘Uhno’?”
Lucian managed to slip away from Edda, and as he stood beside the still-paralyzed Vincent, he patted him on the shoulder and gave a thumbs up. He was grinning at Vincent, but Vincent didn’t want to return the gesture.