Chapter 53

-: Flashback :-

Conjuring up stories to entertain others had always been one of his traits. So when he was asked who gave him the right to trespass by the fiery eyed child, Nathan should've easily deceived her into believing one of such stories. Much to his surprise, he was flabbergasted.

"Are you deaf? This is my garden. How dare you set foot here?" The authority in the small girl's sweet tone made him more bewildered.

"I'm not trespassing. My lady." He shortly added.

"And why should I believe that? You could be a barbarian for all I care."

"Barbarian? With this face? Oh my lady, I don't think you know much about barbariac facial features." He smiled, wiggling his eyebrows in a coy manner. She looked unamused.

"Who are you?"

"I am the youngest child of the royal-branch family, the 'Belles'. My birth name is Nathaniel, but everyone prefers Nathan." Her expression showed a bit of shock.

"You're a lord? And you're here? In this ruined garden?"

"Well, I came to pay my deepest condolences to you and lady Howards. And since I don't get to spend much time out of the godforsaken castle, I decided to stay a week. Mainly explore."

"My mother isn't a lady." Her voice was sour.

"She deserves to be treated like one. However, I haven't gotten to know your name yet."

"It's Carina. I must get going." Nathan smiled again and before she could leave, placed a gentle kiss on her little hand. The two bade their goodbyes as Nathan's eyes sparkled in curiosity.

"I heard you met the youngest lord today?" Her mother asked calmly over dinner, which was plain soup, as they were going through a tough time.

"He was trespassing in my garden and I scolded him for it", Carina casually replied as Thomas tried to fill her bowl without spilling the tasteless liquid.

Sophia sighed in annoyance, " Why can't you just behave? He is a lord. If someone had seen you behaving like that, you could've gotten punished. When will you learn to be polite?"

"What is there to be polite for? He was committing a crime and I simply stopped him." Before the conversation could proceed, Sophia silenced the little girl as their poor excuse of a dinner was getting cold.

The next morning Carina found a bouquet of Dandelions at their doorstep, containing a letter. It was from indeed that trespasser and it simply said morning greetings. Her mother was overjoyed to see the letter as she thought Nathan must've took a liking to her.

She heartily went over to his stayabouts, the Belles' country cottage, to invite him over for dinner. Carina simply didn't like the idea of dining with him, but had to keep silence as Thomas explained they could have a tasty dinner if they were having guests.

"I hate Dandelions", Carina's first words at the dinner table made Nathan raise his brows.

"I'm extremely sorry for that my lady. My mother fancies Dandelions over every flower. I thought you might too. What a coincidence, I don't like them either."

He flashed a charming grin, the maids swooning at the 10 year old boy. His sweet words however proved to be useless as Carina simply nodded and chose to converse with Thomas instead.

That was when Thomas first caught his attention. A lean, tall boy with messed up hair and dirty, unfit clothes, who reeked of 'low class cologne'. Yet, Carina's full attention was on him, that low born.

Nathan narrowed his eyes. He didn't like what he was seeing. Something inside him decided right then, that he would make her look at him, choose him. Thus began Nathan's unquenched thirst for Carina Howards which resulted in him killing off his own brother, for he was a 'waste of space'. But Thomas, was still in the picture. After making Carina his, he would surely take care of Thomas too.

-: End of flashback :-