A Promise Of Romance (MewGulf AU)

🌞Chapter 34🌻

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A smooth voice came from above Gulf's head. "Are you alone, miss?"

Raising his face, he saw the man who had been sitting on the opposite side of the room.

"My escort is around somewhere," he replied hesitantly.

"Your escort is very cruel then, to just leave a woman like you sitting here." The man's English had a peculiar accent. He was apparently not a native English speaker.

"No, my dress got dirty, so I can't go out wuth the others," Gulf pointed at the wine stain.

"That's too bad. Would you like to come out to the balcony with me?" the young man suggested. "We could dance there without worrying about your clothes."

He didn't seem to have any ulterior motives. Rather, he exuded sophistication. He probably just felt sorry for Gulf who was sitting alone.

Gulf wanted to try out the waltz he had practiced so hard to learn.

"Of course," he accepted.

The man wrapped his white jacket around Gulf to cover up the stain on his dress, and the two went out onto the bacony.

"Are you cold?" the man asked attentively.

"I'n fine," Gulf replied. "But how are you without your jacket?"

"The room was too hot, so now I feel just right," the man replied.

The moon was out, but was covered by a fine mist of clouds and couldn't be seen clearly.

The music from the hall floated out onto the balcony.

"Would you like to dance?" the man asked.

Gulf nodded.

They took each other's hands and began stepping in time to the music. Gulf had hated dancing in his classes but now, dancing here like this, it was actually fun. All thanks to Mew.

"Do you live in this country?" the man inquired.

"No, I'm an exchange student from Thailand," Gulf replied demurely.

"I've been to Thailand a few times" The man smiled. That made him a rare specimen among all the other foreigners who rarely knew where Thailand was on a map. "And what are you studying?"

"Theater," Gulf informed him. "And you?"

"Me?" The man laughed uncomfortably. "I came to England to take in the sights. By the way miss, what's your name?"

"Kana," Gulf said.

"Nong Kana," the man said haltingly.

"You know Thai?" Gulf asked in surprise.

"Just simple greeting," the man confessed. "Sawatdii, Sabaaidii mai?, Khop kun."

Gulf was struck by a powerful nostalgia at hearing Thai language for the first time in ages.

Really, he had stubbornly chosen to exclude all Thai language from his life in order to learn English better. He remembered all the struggles he had gone through since coming to England, and all the blunderd made tears well up in his eyes.

"What's wrong, Kana?" The man stopped dancing and looked into Gulf's face.

"I'm sorry," Gulf said, embarrassed. "I was just thinking about Thailand."

"Kana!" Mew yelled, appearing suddenly. He sounded angry. "I've been looking for ypu. Where were you?"

"Mew..." Gulf hastily wiped away his tears.

Mew noticed the man beside Gulf and stopped with a surprised look on his face. "Prince Kao!"

"Prince?" Gulf stared at the young man, stunned.

He knew that the crown prince of some country or other had been invited to the party. And of course, he had found the young man to be refined and strangely intriguing, but he never have imagined his dancing partner was a prince.

He remembered now the rules of etiquette that forbid lower-class people from addressing their superior. The reason the man had been alone in the hall wasn't because people were ignoring him, but because his status was so high that they couldn't speak to him.

Mew turned to the crown prince. "Has my fiancee done anything to offend you?"

"You're Lord Jongcheveevat's fiancee, Kana?" the crown prince asked Gulf, ignoring Mew.

"Y-yes." Gulf answered. He felt bad for misleading such a nice person as the crown prince.

"That's too bad. If you ever change your mind, give me a call." The prince winked, suggesting that it was a joke.

"Really, your Highness, you must restrain yourself." Mew laughed, but something in his expression remained hard.

The prince smiled graciously. "I'm sorry. Let me give you a piece of advice though. You shouldn't let such a bewitching fiancee out of your sight."

"I'll remember that," Mew answered darkly.

"E-excuse me!" Gulf called out to the prince as the man returned to the hall. His face flushed bright red. "I apologize for not knowing who you were."

The prinve bowed. "And I apologize for not realizing you were Lord Jongcheveevat's fiancee."

Gulf dismissed the apology, shaking his head fiercely.

TBC