What else are you thinking about?

"I did come secretly and told your servant not to announce my arrival. But I didn't think you would ignore me like this."

Selah lifted her face from the book she had just been reading, then she closed it with a lightning-fast movement. Aeneas laughed at her.

It felt like Selah had just been caught doing something wrong…

"Sorry for not noticing your arrival, Your Highness," Selah said hastily.

"What are you reading?" asked Aeneas with a grin on his face.

Selah keeps the novel she just bought earlier away from Aeneas. "It is nothing. Just something to cheer me up."

The grin on Aeneas' face grew wider. "Oh, really? Then why did you have to hide it from me like that?"

Because the contents of the book are beyond my predictions! shouted Selah in her heart.

The ladies at Lady Xavia's tea party just said that the novel's contents are about "a knight who falls in love with his master's daughter". When Selah even gave a peek at the story, the early part of the novel didn't suggest anything dangerous. But as soon as the knight confessed his feelings in the middle of the story…

Suddenly the story becomes erotic.

They mentioned earlier that the knight and the princess were a romantic couple, even though many things stood in the way of their relationship. They also mentioned kissing several times. But she didn't expect them to do anything more than kiss. Is this really a trending read? Aren't stories inspired by actual events? Does that mean something like this is real? So Selah thought as she read it.

If Aeneas had found out what Selah was reading, he would have immediately ridiculed her!

"What were you thinking that made your face turn red?" whispered Aeneas who was suddenly beside Selah.

"Don't whisper like that in my ear," Selah said, pushing Aeneas away. "Let me show you to the living room now, Your Highness."

"What if I want it in your office? I also want to have fun with you without anyone disturbing you."

"Your words sound like the ultimate temptress–"

Wait!

Selah immediately pushes Aeneas away firmly. She stared at her fiancé with narrowed eyes suspiciously. An incident that was like… exactly like the one in the novel!

So what? Aeneas will do it with me? No, no. Clear your mind, Selah. How can you be influenced by a crap novel like that, she thought.

"Now, what else are you thinking about? Even though I was in front of you."

Aeneas looks at her with the gaze described in the novel as a "desiring gaze". Selah's hand, which had been trying to push her away, was now blocked by Aeneas and kissed by him. Aeneas seems to incarnate as a knight in the novel.

"What are you trying to do?!" Selah shrieked in surprise when Aeneas drew closer.

"I want attention. I've come all the way here, but you're like this."

"Don't sulk, Your Highness. It doesn't suit you at all."

"I can't tease you." Aeneas was now right in front of Selah. Their distance is too close. Selah stuck. "I can't sulk either. So, what exactly can I do as your lover?"

"No, nothing." Selah was about to get up from her chair, but because they were too close, she bumped into Aeneas and the man sat on her lap. "Hey-"

Just at that moment, Janette opened the door of her study.

They stare awkwardly.

"I-I will leave the food cart here." Janette rushed into her food cart. "Sorry to bother you both. Excuse me."

Aeneas' laughter bursts out instantly.

"Get off my lap now!" Selah said, annoyed.

"Did you see how her expression just now? Poor maid," commented Aeneas, still laughing.

"There's nothing funny about that, Your Highness," Selah chuckled. "Please come down now."

"Ah, don't want to. I want to do this first," said Aeneas, then hugged Selah. "When else can I hold you in my arms like this? Since I'm not tall, hugging you feels like hugging a sibling."

"It's not that you are not tall, but I am too tall," said Selah. She felt Aeneas's embrace strengthen. "You heard me, didn't you?"

Aeneas did not answer. There was no sound in the room, and all Selah could hear was Aeneas's irregular heartbeat.

Is he sick? thought selah. She wanted to ask, but somehow the moment didn't feel right. Aeneas seemed to want to be like this first and let Selah hear his heartbeat.

One, two, three… Count it and feel it. Even after waiting a long time, Aeneas's heartbeat is still racing. This unbroken heartbeat can mean many things; pain, nervousness, fear… Which one is Aeneas feeling? Why does he feel that way?

"In a few days, His Majesty might summon you," said Aeneas in a whisper.

"His Majesty… You said he is sick and sleeps more often," Selah replied.

"These few days, I made it better." Aeneas took a deep breath, but his pulse did not improve. "When he wakes up, I will tell him the wedding date."

Been silent for quite a while. Actually, how did Aeneas control King Tristan's consciousness? "You think His Majesty will summon me after that?"

"Yes, you are the first noble to receive the title of Crown Prince Blair's ex-fiancee. Even if he has permission from His Majesty, he will still want to see you."

"Okay. Are there certain things I am not allowed to say when meeting with His Majesty?"

"No... I just wanted to tell you so you don't get tense."

"Looks like you're the one tensed." Selah rubbed Aeneas's back gently. "Can I ask what's wrong?"

"If His Majesty says anything about me... you just tell me honestly everything you feel for me–except about me wanting to kill him and Blair," Aeneas said quietly. "If His Majesty says something about me that you have never heard before, believe him."

Aeneas's heartbeat was increasingly erratic, making Selah's heartbeat also erratic. Somehow Selah felt nervous. It felt like he was about to hear a painful truth.

"Baron Tullia said… I shouldn't hear anything about you except what comes out of your own mouth," Selah said carefully.

"If it's King Tristan, Blair, or Sir Azel, you can believe it. If the person is Mother, immediately change the subject."

"If that person is you?"

Slowly Aeneas let go of his embrace. He lowered his head, looking Selah right in the eye. His hands, which turned out to be cold sweat since earlier, rubbed the side of Selah's face. The coldness of his hands touching Selah's ears made her skin tingle. Aeneas's touch was too soft, making Selah afraid of other things.

This man in front of her who was kissing her not only kept a big secret about herself.

Aeneas is also trying hard to hide the great fear that King Tristan and Blair might have caused him.

And, that must be what made Aeneas want to kill them.