_Too nervous in the presence of his eminence

"Come in after a minute," prince Cargan instructed after meeting her blue eyes without cringing unlike others when they first see her multiple-shaded blue eyes.

Although, there was a glint of something he tried well to conceal. Something she saw.

It was disapproval or disgust. As if all the shades in her eyes were soldiers wielding pointy arrows to puncture his comfort. He did not like them one bit, Afina noted.

Indeed, the prince was a disliker of colors and she was a walking bomb of one.

Made her wonder why he wanted for her who possess a lot of his dislikes to come work closely for him.

As if her eyes were the only thing he wanted to see by asking for her to look up at him, he walked back in the direction he came from.

Afina's eyes were fixated on him as he entered behind the blinds. She could examine his back frame now since he wasn't looking.

She saw that the man was as fairly built as his Royal Advisor. If they were friends, she would have sworn they workout together and visit the gym together.

It would forever remain in her head how pinkish his skin was when he was naked just a few moments ago. His legs looked strong and energetic too.

If she did not stare at other parts of his body, his legs, those two got a massive dose of her stares.

"Go in now." she heard Royal Advisor Celio say to her.

Right, it was a minute prince Cargan had said.

She was being forgetful again. She rushed into the room but reduced her pace when her goddamn heels started to make audible funny noises by the strange way she rushed.

The room was too silent and having her heels sounding so loud like that was ungainly.

She already had her share of awkwardness today.

By the time she entered behind the blinds, the first breeze that blew to her almost sent her staggering.

The heavenly ambiance in this room. The emphatic aura, the potency in the atmosphere, and the air around it were enough to send a divine person with a weak qi slumping on the floor.

If she wasn't of the green qi, she might have not had the energy of taking the careful steps she took closer to the prince now.

He was laying in the pool of sand, half of his body out and the other buried in the pool. His chest was bare again.

Was he naked yet again? Afina wondered as she stopped in her tracks a few steps away from him.

This was the legendary cultivation pool of prince Cargan. Oh, the news did not do justice to this heavenly progeny.

The darkness in the room was as a result of shut windows and too many black curtains encircling the room. Some dark curtains were dividing the cultivation pool from the rest of the room, making it all way too gloomy. On a slight part of the curtains shielding the long window was parted but the sun was not fully out yet.

Afina knew if the sun was out and shining, the illumination of it on the cultivation pool would be magical.

It was like a scene from a horror movie. The atmosphere almost seemed like a villain's lair if it wasn't for the heavenly air emanating from the cultivation pool.

A lot of things Afina never thought she'd witness, she was witnessing in a whole day.

Who knew she would ever see the legendary cultivation pool in reality? Who knew she would even be standing by it?

History had it that it was more than eight hundred years old and it had been a haven of prince Cargan's.

"The wine." she suddenly heard his deep ringing voice.

She was confused and lost.

Could the prince read minds?

He vibrantly shook his outstretched hands and analyzed his words. "Fill in the cup with the wine and bring it to me."

Oh, that was her job anyway!

The only reason why she was here although she found no sense in it.

Abruptly, she rushed to the stand standing close to the left side of the pool and filled the cocktail glass on top of it with some of the contents of the wine bottle on it.

White wine. Gia informed her that the prince liked those a lot and that was the only type of wine he drinks.

She noticed the liquid from the bottle was dripping on the stand before noticing the cause.

She was shaking. Her hands were shaking as she filled in the cup and that was the reason for the wine pouring.

Oh, dear...

She had never been this nervous her whole life. She was the type who scarcely got nervous over things but this situation was tense and higher than even her.

She gave two blows of air from her mouth and chastised herself to behave.

Finally, she was able to fill up the cup without wasting any more of the wine. She prayed the ones that had already dripped on the table would dry up before they could be noticed.

She was careful not to overfill the cup as Gia had instructed. Oh, Gia— what would she have done without that girl?

Afina stood upright and walked up to the prince. Thankfully, he was not looking at her. His gaze was on the view of the sky from the parted blinds. If he loved the sky so much, why cover up himself so much and not open all the curtains?

He took the cup from her, still not awarding her a single glance. He only retrieved his outstretched hand and took a sip of the drink.

Afina liked it that way though. He would not see her shaking hands when he wasn't looking even if he did notice them.

She only just stood upright when his voice boomed again.

"Why is the color of your hair still blue?" he inquired.

Was she supposed to answer that?

As in, answer to the Prince?

She was not supposed to keep him waiting like this when he asked a question, was she?

No, that was probably the last thing she should consider doing.

"They— they– the dye never stays." her voice vibrated, exposing all the nervousness in her system.

That betrayal!

The query she much expected came after. "What do you imply?"

"No matter how many times I try, my hair never dyes. The blue will only remain even if I apply all shades of other colors." she supplied, hoping that was enough of an answer.

She was expecting a shocked expression or some queries more but prince Cargan killed her expectations.

He turned to look at her now, her toes pressed together inside the heels.

"Interesting," he said and took another sip of his drink.