Chapter Thirteen

Two days had passed now since Gabrielle's late-night visit to Evan's room.

Two. Torturous. Days.

The Martís were surely busy noble people on weekends.

On Saturday afternoon, he was introduced to all the Ladies of the houses friendly to the Martí's by Lady Caterina.

Lady Margarida of House Cádiz, most likely Lady Caterina's soon-to-be mother-in-law of David. Lady Amalie of House Duron, mother of Lady Amandine, Belle's best friend. Lady Ginebra of House Ruiz, Lady Victoria of House Soler, and Lady Georgine of House Rousseau. These last three Ladies didn't have any relative bond with Lady Caterina but were close friends with her for a long time.

The Ladies were too noisy, to begin with. When they saw him they couldn't help making a fuss over him. They exclaimed how cute he was, how lucky Gabrielle was for having such a handsome and well-mannered fiancé from a faraway country, who was a descendant of a noble house with so much power and renown back in the days.

They asked him so many questions. They varied from trivial questions about daily life in Derbyshire to embarrassing questions such as "Did you have many girlfriends back in school?" "When did you kiss a girl for the first time?" "Have you ever seen Queen Elizabeth in person?". Evan certainly choked on his tea or while munching crumpets many, many times.

Luckily enough for him, his personal life-saver Belle was there to ease the noble ladies' hunger for juicy gossip. At last, Evan was beginning to feel less intimidated and less irritated when having Belle around.

Lord Stefano's colleagues weren't so far behind Lady Caterina's tea parties' usual guests.

Lord Enrique of House Cádiz, father of Lady Danielle. Lord Hugo of House Duron, father of Amandine. Lord Esteban of House Ferrer and Lord François of House Laurent. Once again, Lord Esteban and Lord François were not family related to Lord Stefano but were good friends with him since their youth, even before he met Lady Caterina.

These four gentlemen were the quartet that frequented the Martí Manor on Fridays in the evening to play pool, poker or darts, drink expensive fine wine and share their knowledge and discoveries about the most recent study papers that they had read —and to boast about their wives and children, which was also something quite important to them. They had come over on that Sunday since the previous Friday was Prince André and Lady Madeline's engagement gala.

David and Pablo were also there with their father. David was good at pool, but bad at darts and did averagely at poker. Pablo was quite good at poker, he did averagely at pool and was also pretty bad at darts. Much to everyone's surprise, Evan was really good at darts but was horrible at both pool and poker.

"Well, well, well. It seems at last one of my sons will be an avid darts player." Lord Stefano said that the previous day, making Evan blush beet red due to the given name. That and the rest of the Lords' laughter, such coarse guffaws...

The worst part of attending Lord Stefano's ludic evening meetings was certainly going to be that Belle wasn't going to be there to save him from awkward or embarrassing situations. He was going to need to save himself on his own…

And yes, the Lords also asked him some bashful questions, not like the Ladies', but some of them, like "How attractive do you think Gabrielle is?" or "So? Have you ever gone all the way with a girl before?" were even worse than the ones the latter ones asked.

But, trying to look at things in a bright, more cheerful way, the Avevian noblemen seemed to like him quite a lot. He was now far away from the place he used to call home, and, oddly enough, he was starting to feel more at home here in Avevia than he did back in Derbyshire.

It was the morning of Monday now, Evan and the Martís were having breakfast in the informal dining room. The morning sunlight filtered through the glistening glass of the grand windows and lit the room naturally. The sound of cutlery gently crashing against fine porcelain plates and the aroma of freshly baked bread filled the ambiance.

Mrs. Havisham and Adelyn were serving the family and Evan that morning. Adelyn was pouring warm milk into the cups of various flavored tea, while Mrs. Havisham took care of adding more omelet, scrambled eggs, or toasts to the plates of the nobles on their command.

"Ah!" Adelyn yelped in pain.

And suddenly, Lord Stefano was yelping in pain as well.

Apparently, Adelyn had burnt the side of her finger with the scalding edge of the porcelain pitcher and accidentally spilled the boiling milk on Lord Stefano's lap. The result was a startled Lord Stefano with the upper side of his trousers wet with boiling milk.

"Adelyn! Look at the mess you made! Go look for a new pair of trousers for Lord Stefano immediately!" Mrs. Havisham exclaimed, utterly angered.

But Lord Stefano made a gesture with his hand to stop Mrs. Havisham's ruckus. Then, he glanced at a mortified Adelyn who was apologizing to her boss nonstop.

"Adelyn, may I take a look at your finger?" He asked calmly, like trying to soothe her with the nicest voice tone he could find.

Silence flooded the room suddenly. Everyone in there stood still, their glances fixated on Mrs. Havisham, all of them astonished. Mrs. Havisham looked utterly mortified, and her response for all of the looks she got was staring at Adelyn to try and get rid of all of the attention.

Everyone's gaze was now focused with attention on Adelyn and Lord Stefano. Lord Stefano was now inspecting Adelyn's burnt finger very carefully.

"It's a minor burn, my dear, but I'd recommend you to turn on the kitchen's faucet and let some cold water get in contact with the area. The pain can worsen if you don't take care of it." He explained.

Adelyn looked up to look him in the eye, worried.

"I-I'm so sorry, My Lord. I-I can take care of the burn later on, y-you're having breakfast right now, y-you need someone to serve you." Adelyn stuttered, afraid and ashamed.

"The health of my personnel comes first. I insist, go and soak your finger with cold water, you won't be able to keep working properly with a burnt finger, sweetie." Lord Stefano reassured her with a warm and caring smile.

Adelyn sketched a thankful smile.

"Thank you very much, Sir."

And with this, she firstly bowed deeply at Lord Stefano. Then, she bowed to the rest of the Martí family. Finally, she proceeded to leave.

"But, My Lord, your trousers… they are drenched!" Mrs. Havisham exclaimed, her voice sounded indignant.

Lord Stefano sighed and emitted a slight, gracious chuckle.

"Minerva, you were always so disciplined, and I appreciate that from you very much." He praised Mrs. Havisham.

The maid gave him a puzzled look, as if she were trying to decipher what he was going to say next, and maybe fearing it. Lord Stefano was always such an unpredictable man...

"But, Adelyn is just a young and inexperienced girl." He said, with a slight, tender smile printed on his aged face. "I beg you to make things a bit easier for her until she gets a solid grasp on how to serve the nobility. You know very well we've never been too hard on any of our personnel members, not even you when you started working here, and Adelyn won't be an exception." He added.

"I understand, My Lord. I'll take your advice on board, and always comply with the orders you'll give me." Mrs. Havisham replied, her face still looked quite astounded and bashful.

"Speaking of orders, Minerva, I beg you to bring me a pair of clean trousers. You can leave them in my bedroom, I'll finish the meal and change into them as soon as possible." Lord Stefano ordered slyly.

Mrs. Havisham's eyes opened wide.

"B-But, My Lord! You're having breakfast with your family right now! Who is going to serve you?!" She got scandalized.

Lord Stefano let out a couple of light amused guffaws.

"Don't worry. We can take care of it ourselves. Right, honey?" He eyed Lady Caterina.

"Of course, dear. Please go and look for a clean pair of trousers for my husband, Minerva. Don't worry so much about us. You've been very helpful this morning, thank you." Lady Caterina replied with a stunning and sweet smile.

Mrs. Havisham's jaw nearly dropped.

"O-Okay… If those are your orders… I wish you a lovely rest of the meal."

Mrs. Havisham bowed deep and swiftly at them and left the dining room. She probably left with a flurry of upset thoughts and a bundle of unsaid words she'd have been eager to say, both to Lord Stefano and Adelyn as well. Yet she would have to remain silent due to her staff member position.

At the moment Mrs. Havisham walked out the arch, an agitated Philippe came into the dining room. He dabbed a napkin on his forehead before starting to speak. He seemed quite startled for some reason.

"My Lord, Prince Michel is here." He uttered, breathing heavily.

Everyone's eyes opened wide as if they had seen a ghost. Especially Evan's, who probably knew the reason why Prince Michel had paid them such a sudden visit —no, he was one hundred percent Michel was there to see him.

"He's asking for Sir Evan's phone number." Philippe said finally.

All the looks were now focused on Evan. And he wished, prayed for the earth to swallow him whole on the inside.

"Evan, do you know Prince Michel?" Lord Stefano inquired, sounding confused but also rather curious.

Evan blushed, his cheeks turned a bright shade of pink.

"Y-Yes… We're sort of childhood friends. I only spent a few weeks with him at a summer camp back in 2005." Was his brief explanation.

"Oh, that's lovely!" Lady Caterina said enthusiastically. "Two childhood friends reunited after years by the great decision of fate. Evan, dear, please go and exchange numbers with Prince Michel, he must be as excited as you to create new memories!" She encouraged his soon-to-be son-in-law with a cheerful grin and gestures.

"That's interesting to know, Evan." David added. "Father, if Evan and Prince Michel become good friends, then that might boost our influence and relationship with the Royal Family. Don't you think that would be quite beneficial for all of us?"

Lord Stefano hummed and scratched the lower side of his beard, pensive. Then, he spoke:

"Well, that is indeed true, son of mine. But I would also like Evan to enjoy the company of his old friend after so many years." He sketched a simple smile.

There was a brief pause between his sentences, then, he looked at Evan with gentleness.

"With this, Evan, we're saying that you're more than free to spend time with Prince Michel and any other Avevian noble or citizen you befriend whenever you want to. We don't want you to enclose yourself in our manor, socializing is also part of being a noble after all." He pointed out.

He put his hands in the air lightly and shrugged, indicating he had run out of words to continue speaking.

"And, well, what to say? We don't want to keep wasting your time here in the dining room, go out and have some chit-chat with your childhood friend." He finished this last sentence with a gentle smile and made a gesture with his hand to point beyond the arch and out of it.

Evan nodded lightly and took the napkin off his collar, then he sat up and bowed at the Martí family.

"I hope you enjoy the rest of the meal. It was delicious, many thanks, and see you in a while." He pronounced these words with a polite voice before leaving.

Evan proceeded to follow Philippe through the many arches and hallways of the manor. Four days had already passed since he arrived in Avevia and he still had some trouble finding his bedroom.

But in his defense, the Martí Manor was absurdly huge for a family of five —four bedrooms in use and four others for guests! His house back in Derbyshire had only four bedrooms, one for his parents, one for him, and two for guests. Just how many guests could the Martís have in one night?

And let's not talk about the rest of the rooms: a playroom for Lord Stefano, a formal playroom, an informal one, a workshop, two office rooms... Gabrielle even told him they were thinking of adding a small building in front of one of the side entrances to build a Scandinavian-style sauna there. Dear Lord, so many rooms!

They finally reached the entrance door and went through it. Evan made out an imposing jet-black limousine with miniature Avevian flags firmly fixed on each corner of the vehicle.

The weather outside was truly beautiful. The temperature was warm, with cool coastal breezes and radiant sunlight shining on the outer gardens of the manor.

The chauffeur of the royal limousine got out of the vehicle when he saw Philippe and Evan approaching from afar. Then, when they were close enough to the car, the unknown driver proceeded to open the back door next to where Prince Michel was sitting.

The door opened and revealed a smiling Michel looking at Evan enthusiastically. Evan couldn't help but reciprocate this gesture and smiled at him like he used to smile when he was a six-year-old little boy so smitten with his best friend.

Still sitting inside of the limousine, Michel said:

"Good morning, Evie."

Evan's smile warped into a pout and his eyebrows furrowed in annoyance.

"Evie? Please, I thought that nickname was dead and buried in the past." He complained.

Michel laughed joyfully, making the hair on Evan's forearms stand on end, and his pupils widened at such a melodic sound.

That laugh could put an entire choir of angels in shame.

"You never complained when I called you Evie. What is it now that you don't like it?" Michel teased playfully.

"Sir Clarke! Show more respect to Prince Michel, please!" Philippe exclaimed, seeming somewhere between upset and embarrassed.

"Don't worry, Sir. Evan and I have known each other since we were little kids, I won't ever be offended by our banter." He reassured. "Also, due to safety reasons, I'm not allowed to get out of the car, I'm really sorry."

"Yes, otherwise you'd be already lifting and tossing me in the air and ruffling my hair." Evan sketched a sarcastic smile and rolled his eyes.

"Don't forget about playing around with your glasses, I don't recall you wearing them when we were children." Michel added, and he drew a cheeky grin widely on his handsome face.

"Yeah, I started using glasses when I was maybe ten..." Evan explained as he scratched the back of his head. "But anyway, Philippe said you were here to get my phone number?" He asked him.

"Oh, yes! Here." Michel grabbed his phone and handed it to Evan. "Type your number, you can also give me yours so I can add mine for you." He suggested.

Evan snorted, doing his best to suppress heavy laughter and holding back a goofy grin.

"What's so funny?" Michel asked, raising his perfectly shaped eyebrows and getting spread by Evan's grin.

"I'm so sorry, but this scene almost looks straight out of a romance novel." He attempted to conceal a toothy grin while he searched for his phone in his pockets.

When he found it, he simply handed it to Michel.

"Here. No homo, just in case." He joked, half lying.

If Michel asked him out and Evan wasn't engaged, he'd say yes a thousand times.

Michel snorted and laughed lightly again as he typed his number on Evan's contacts. Evan did the same as him. Once they were done with the exchange, they gave their respective cell phones back again.

"Happy now?" Evan asked Michel, raising his thick reddish eyebrows as he saved his phone in his pocket once more.

"Yes, but there's still something I'd like to ask, though." Michel said, saving his phone in the pocket of his jacket as well and crossing his slender legs, making it look as if he were about to make Evan some kind of offer and, why not, giving him an enticing look with it.

"Oh? What is it?" Evan inquired, and his eyes widened slightly with curiosity in them.

"There's an Irish pub in Île des Pinsons, I thought you and Gabrielle would like to go with my brother and me tonight. We're going in civilian clothes, nothing fancy actually; I wanted it to be just a normal night out with friends."

Evan hummed, wondering if Belle would be okay with it. Lord and Lady Martí had told him already that they wanted him to make friends and not stay at the manor for too long. But what would they say if Gabrielle came with them as well? They were going to be three men after all. And it was also a decision of Belle's.

"To me it's fine. I'll ask Gabrielle, though, I'm afraid her parents won't let her go out at night, especially since with your brother we're going to be three guys. Maybe even she will feel frightened or intimidated, I don't know. I'll keep you updated in any case, though." He informed.

Michel nodded in agreement and sketched a slight, content smile.

"Alright then. Expect me to text you sporadically during the day. You know," He let out an exhausted sigh. "Prince duties… They might sound and look like something stupid, but actually, they're driving me out of my mind."

Evan chuckled, trying his best to sympathize with Michel's feelings.

"I don't think they're something stupid. If life as a soon-to-be Avevian nobleman is difficult already, I don't even want to imagine what it is like to be one of the princes." He said, and Michel smiled at him with tiredness.

"You can get an idea at least. That's nice of you, not many people understand that being a part of the Royal Family carries a lot of responsibilities with it…" He puckered his mouth and looked away for a moment. Then, he glanced at Evan again. "Well, I expect your response for tonight now that you have my number. I should really get going now, though, I'm really sorry…" He furrowed his eyebrows slightly upwards, looking apologetic.

"Don't worry, I don't want to keep you from your duties, otherwise you'll most likely get in trouble, and I don't want that." Evan chuckled. "One last thing: I'll be having a video call with my parents this evening. Knowing how they are, I highly doubt it will last more than fifteen minutes, but just wanted to tell you in case you text me and I don't reply right away."

Michel simply nodded and waved his hand as a goodbye.

"Goodbye Evie, say hi to your parents for me." He said, gaining a glare and a fed-up hand gesture from Evan. He simply chuckled at this. "Take care, and hope to see you soon!"

With this, the chauffeur closed the door of the seat. He thanked Philippe and Evan quickly for receiving Prince Michel, and then he hopped on the driver's seat to make their way out of the manor.

Now, Evan had both Gerard and Philippe's eyes stuck on him, giving him weird, inquisitive, and puzzled looks. He didn't even need to raise his gaze and look at them to confirm this fact. He would certainly have to give them a good explanation on why he and Prince Michel were having such an informal, almost impertinent exchange...