May I, My Love? ✔

11. t h e n o r m a l i n s a n i t y

"There you are!"

I stiffened in my seat. 'Oh no! What is he doing here?' This was so not the time I wanted to see him. I was left with no choice but to face him with the brightest smile on my visage – which is precisely what I did.

"Hey Wyatt! What are you doing here?"

I stood up when I greeted him, and simultaneously hid my wig behind my back. He couldn't see this, because now that would be another embarrassment I didn't want to go through in one night.

'Alright Har, we act very nicely, talk to him for a minute, and then get out of this hell as fast as we can. It's easy. Simple. A piece of cake. We can do it okay?'

Okay!

"What are you doing here princess? I've been looking for you all evening."

He asked me with an almost pleasant smile on his face – as if his obsession with me was completely healthy and reasonable. As I met his gaze and tried to give him my best practiced smile, I had to try even harder to suppress the shiver running through my spine after seeing his abominable grin.

"Nothing. Nothing at all. I had just come outside for a while to get fresh air. And now, I must leave you to your work and head back inside. See you later!"

I had never known faking enthusiasm would be such a hard task to do. Still, my smile never wavered from my face, and I only hoped that my eyes still held their usual brightness. I decided to make a move by walking towards and then past him, but he caught me by the arm and stopped me.

So, he isn't falling for it.

"I am aware what's in your hand, princess. Did you try to hide from me by wearing that poor excuse of a disguise? You should have known, that I can recognize you anytime with your emerald pools. Better luck next time!"

He told me with a hard look in his eyes but he was chuckling outwardly. I could never understand a man like him. But, I was now tired of all his advances. When we were young, he wasn't as intense, but it has only gotten worse with time. And tonight, when I was already in a bad mood, I didn't want to be lectured by how and what I should be doing.

And so, I decided to end it once and for all. All this time, I was being mindful of our age, and positions in the royal family, but tonight, it seems like Lisa was the one who drank, and I was the one who felt inebriated. And the inebriated me took the plunge.

"Yes, I wore this disguise for you, and maybe it's now time for you to understand why I had done so. I have no interest in you and you shouldn't either. You are five years older than me, for God's sake!!"

Towards the end, my voice reached two octaves higher, but I managed to keep it under checks. We couldn't make a scene on such an occasion. I took deep breaths, not being able to comprehend where all of that dauntlessness was arising from. I must have really downed some spiked drink back at the ball. Did they even spike guests' drinks at the royal ball? Who knows?

But when I looked over to him, instead of seeing resentment or any sort of ire on his face, I could only catch traces of humor. Was he entertained by all this? What a sadistic creep!

"Its true that I'm five years older than you, but our prince too is three years older than you. Aren't you being too hypocritical here?"

"P-prince? What does the prince have to do with this? I'm talking about you, not him! How do you not—"

I was cut off by him responding to my questions without even hearing them first.

"Yes, there is a relation. I'm not blind. I could see the way you were glued to him and the way you were looking at him with those love-struck puppy eyes,"

He came closer to me until he was right in front of my face, his face lined with mine.

"I know you are infatuated with the prince, but I hope you understand that you can never have him. You don't deserve to be standing beside him. Your place will always be by my side, and I'm the only one who can keep you safe from every danger and difficulty. I will go now, but I will keep coming back. I will keep coming back until you realize that my offer is a one in a lifetime offer for a pretty but lower-class girl like you. Goodbye princess."

I was rendered speechless as he managed to spoil my night even more with his callous and utterly haughty words. This man thought that he deserved me? After he basically insulted me by calling me a lower-class girl? Tears stabbed my eyes as he gave me one last sinister smile and turned back around to go to the ballroom.

As soon as his back turned on me and he was out of sight, I broke down into tears, not caring if the guards saw me or not. I couldn't bear the company of this man any longer but this situation wouldn't free me of him anytime soon. After a few minutes, I heard some footsteps coming towards me. I looked up to see Lisa and Matt heading towards me with worry in their eyes. Looking at them, a fresh stream of tears ran down my tear-stained cheek as I begged them for comfort.

Somehow, the night which was going to be the best of my life, turned out to be a nightmare I never wanted to relive. And it was all because of being born in a family where your class holds way more importance than your wellbeing.