Unrequited

"How rude!" Noah said as he stood up. "The princess did not give you the permission to touch her. Please refrain from touching her highness again," Noah firmly said as he glared at Adonis.

"Why, I thought each and every one of us here are equal? Why are you referring to her as a princess right now?" Adonis said and he licked his thumb once again. Noah gritted his teeth as his face turned sour.

The words he said earlier backfired. He just didn't want anyone touching Krishiella like that.

"That's not the issue right now. What I'm trying to say is it's rude to suddenly touch someone like that. Her highness is a lady. It's especially rude to touch a lady without her permission. Whether it was her highness or another lady, please do not do that again," Noah said with a warning tone in his voice.

"Noah, that's enough. And you..." Krishiella looked at Adonis who had a playful smile on his face, not even bothered in the slightest. The princess sighed and said, "Stop being so disgusting. Why would you lick something that was on my face? And why would you invade my personal space like that?"

"Because I want to," Adonis replied briefly and took a macaron from Krishiella's plate. "Thanks for this," he said and stood up as he winked at her.

Elliana stared blankly at her brother who was acting weirdly.

'What's going on?' She thought to herself as she watched her brother walk away with a smile on his face.

Krishiella sighed and massaged her temples. "Elliana, please tell your brother to stop bothering me like that," Krishiella said as she felt a stinging sensation in her head. Her head was throbbing and felt more painful as time went on. Her face paled and she felt like her head was going to crack open from the pain she's feeling right now. Cold beads of sweat also started drolling from her forehead, down to the sides of her face.

"Ah, yes," Elliana said as she looked at Krishiella with worried eyes, wondering what was wrong with her. But before Elliana could even ask Krishiella, Noah had already asked her first.

"Princess, are you alright?" He asked as he looked at her with worried eyes. Elliana, upon witnessing Noah's great concern for the princess, felt a bit sad. Jealousy and sadness crept into her heart, making her feel shitty.

She was guilty for feeling that way because she knew that the princess did not look too good, yet she felt jealous of her for having Noah's attention and concern like that.

Even though she's a very beautiful woman and she's currently wearing a dress right now, that didn't mean that she can have Noah's attention. She knew that the way Noah looked at her wasn't that of a master and servant. She knew that there was something more in the look in his eyes.

She wasn't a princess. She wasn't as gentle and as kind as Krishiella. She wasn't naive and sweet. She doesn't give off the same kind of aura that the princess does.

She was a tomboy who only knew how to hold a sword and nothing more.

She felt insecure. But she knew that feeling that way won't do her any good. Even though she has feelings for Noah, Krishiella is still her best friend and she doesn't want to ruin their friendship just because she felt a little jealous.

"Noah, can you please help me head to my room?" Krishiella said as he looked at Noah who had a worried expression on his face.

Elliana, once again, felt jealous.

"Krishiella, I'll bring you to your room myself. The women's dormitories don't let men inside. I think it's better if I go in Sir Noah's stead. I'm quite capable of bringing you there, too," Elliana said before Noah could even answer.

Noah just looked at her with disapproving eyes because he thought that his chance to get closer to the princess was taken away by someone else, and that someone is Elliana, the woman who was in love with him.

Although he wanted to protest, he couldn't. It was because he knew that if Elliana wanted to carry Krishiella all the way to the dormitories, she could totally do that.

"Okay, thank you," Krishiella said and smiled a little as her face turned paler than it was earlier.

Noah helped her stand up together with Elliana. He looked at the young captain and when Elliana noticed that Noah was looking at her, she looked at him, too.

When their eyes met, Elliana's eyes trembled upon seeing how annoyed Noah looked. Again, she felt her heart throb in pain. She thought it was because Noah wanted to bring Krishiella to the dormitories himself but the truth is Noah actually was annoyed at himself for not being able to do anything at a time like this, especially since it's something concerning the princess, the person he serves and the object of his unrequited love.

He cared for her, truly.

"We'll be leaving, then," Elliana said as she supported Krishiella's waist and slowly walked away from him.

Little did the three of them know, someone has been observing them from afar. Even with Adonis earlier, one of the greatest mages in the continent, no one could sense the man's presence.

"Hmm... This is amusing," the man muttered to himself as he grinned while looking at Noah who was standing helplessly in the middle of the cafeteria, watching Krishiella and Elliana leave.

The man felt amused that Krishiella had two men who were in love with her. Back then, he only knew about Adonis, the person who was originally the top candidate for the princess' fiancee, but now there's another one.

"Noah, was it? I wonder how things are gonna turn out. Not that I think it would work out for him, though." He said as he giggled.

"Just as I thought. This is gonna be fun."