Why was this happening?
As per Nadir’s request, I’d moved to the couch so he could lie on my lap. I’d sat on the edge, and Nadir had lain down fully.
And, of course, he’d put his head on my lap.
No, really. Why was this happening?
I’d thought Nadir had been excited for his first-ever date. We’d been first-date buddies! That was cute! Also, I’d figured he might’ve been disappointed that people had intruded on our date, so I’d offered to wash his back. Why? Because I remembered that, recently, Abel had told me this was a romantic gesture for men.
Clearly, I’d been out of my damn mind to suggest this. Getting caught up in the heat of the moment was going to be the death of me. I was fully aware of this now. Thankfully, he hadn’t gone along with that plan. Fortunately, Nadir had kept his composure. I’d almost done something that would’ve rendered me unmarriageable!
Wait. Had he really kept his composure, though?
I stroked Nadir’s head as it rested on my thighs. He squirmed a bit. Was he ticklish?
“Um, Nadir?” I said.
“Yes?”
“What are we doing, exactly?”
“I’m resting my head on your lap.”
Well, yes. I knew that. That wasn’t what I was asking.
“Um...”
“What?”
“Nothing...”
✦ ✦ ✦
I decided it was best to keep quiet.
His head felt quite heavy on my lap. Was my own this heavy, I wondered? Feeling the weight against me, I occasionally stroked his hair. It felt like I had a cat napping on me, except it was the head of a twenty-two-year-old man.
He was kind of cute, though. Nadir was precious when he was quiet. Occasionally, he nuzzled my palm. Okay, this was very cute. He was a grown man. Was it appropriate to find a grown man “cute”? Well, no matter. He was cute indeed.
As I continued to stroke his head, I began to nod off. Nadir, too, looked like he was drifting to sleep.
My heavy eyelids were about to succumb when the door suddenly flew open with a loud bang.
“You guys! The food’s getting cold—”
Only then did Ben notice Nadir and me, and promptly turned red as a tomato.
“I-I saw nothing!” he stammered. “I didn’t see you guys do anything indecent! At all! Really!”
“We weren’t doing anything indecent in the first place!” I protested. Despite denying his wild assumption, however, I still blushed.
“You inopportune little...” Nadir begrudgingly sat up. “Ben, why do you always have to get in the way?”
“Eek! You’re mad at me!” Sensing Nadir was about to rip him a new one, the butler timidly moved behind me on the couch and gripped my shoulders.
This incensed Nadir further, and he quickly yanked Ben away from me, leaning in close to the butler’s face. “Now listen here, Ben,” he said sharply. “Do not touch Brianna so casually. Remember this, and remember it well. Understand?”
“Y-Yesh, shir!” Ben stuttered.
Nadir, seemingly satisfied, turned to me. “We’ll continue this another time.”
“What?” I asked. “I thought this was a onetime thing...” I meant to say more, but he glared at me, and I quickly nodded instead. Why was he threatening me? All I’d wanted was to comfort him! I’d been doing him a kindness!
Ben, having cheered up a bit, suddenly piped up. “Oh! Lady Leticia asked me to inform her if you did anything inappropriate, Young Master. Shall I let her know?”
“Absolutely not!” Nadir and I replied in perfect sync.
Rattled, Ben replied simply, “Okay.”
✦ ✦ ✦
“A woman’s friendship is so fleeting.”
I’d gone to visit Leticia at the royal palace, and now she was glaring resentfully at me.
“Hm? What do you mean?” I asked. Why was she looking at me like that?
She shook her head. “It’s all right. I understand. This is just how it is...”
Maria, the handmaiden standing beside the rather melodramatic Leticia, handed me a book for some reason. “Her Highness read this recently.”
“Let’s see,” I said. “Friendships and New Love? What is this, a tale about broken friendships?”
“She has been rather anxious because of it,” Maria explained.
“Mariaaa!” Leticia snapped, snatching the book from her handmaiden. “Shush!” Maybe she was embarrassed that she’d been reading a romance novel; she returned it to the bookshelf with a faint blush on her cheeks.
Incidentally, wasn’t every book in this room handpicked by the crown prince? Was he indirectly implying Leticia should prioritize love over friendship? My curiosity about the book lineup was short-lived, however, as Leticia’s annoyance forced me to pry my gaze away from the shelves.
“You’d rather keep my brother company than me, huh, Brie?!” she said. Why? Why would she say that? “I-I mean, you haven’t been coming to the palace much!”
“I’m busy with work,” I explained. “What did you expect?”
“But you could at least come more often!”
“Uh, okay...” Why did it feel like I was being chastised like a husband who was barely ever home?
“I mean, isn’t friendship the most important thing of all?! Isn’t it?!”
“Her Highness read this recently as well,” Maria said.
“Gauging Distance in Friendships... And it opens by saying you should keep a moderate distance.”
“Maria!” Leticia protested. “This is just for reference! For reference!” It was most definitely not just for reference. “Look, that’s not the point! My problem here is...” Leticia snatched the book from me, gripping it so tightly it creaked. I hoped the poor book would survive. “It feels like I’m losing to my brother!” Maybe she was agitated, because she put the book back in place a little too roughly. “I can’t stand losing to him of all people!” she stressed. “I hate it! You understand my feelings, don’t you?!”
“Uh, not really, since I don’t have siblings...”
“Ugh! You just don’t get it!” she snapped, waving her hands in frustration.
It wasn’t as though I was choosing not to understand!
Maria tapped me on the shoulder. “She’s just jealous. Don’t mind her.” She had a muffin in her mouth as she spoke. When did that happen? Today’s muffins were delicious, though. There were various kinds, but I was particularly fond of the chocolate ones. Truly delectable.
“Mariaaa!” Leticia snapped.
Jealousy, huh. I wasn’t close enough to Nadir to warrant that level of jealousy! Well, lately he had been a little nicer to me, I thought. And I did think he was cute, sometimes. And he did rest his head on my lap.
“See! You’re thinking of something and blushing!” Leticia exclaimed. “This is why I was opposed to you two living together! You must be doing unspeakable things with him! I’m sure of it!”
“Would you not drag me into your wildly salacious delusions?!” I demanded.
“I am not delusional!”
“She recently read a book titled Suddenly Married! My Husband Is Surprisingly Gentle, you see,” Maria informed me.
“Mariaaa!”
My goodness. Would she please stop being influenced by books? Wait, had the prince chosen those too? Oh no. I couldn’t keep thinking about it! I was getting curious!
Shaking my head, I sipped on my tea.
“Men are wolves!” Leticia said.
“That, by the way, was in a book she read recently called—”
“Mariaaa!”
Right. Yes. I couldn’t afford to give in to my curiosity.
But I did think perhaps I’d borrow Gauging Distance in Friendships.