𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘣𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘍𝘳𝘶𝘪𝘵 : 𝘈 𝘙𝘦𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘺 𝘙𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦

Chapter 4 : A marriage of Friendship

Although Emilia had never proposed the prince and the prince had never directly rejected her, she felt as though she had been refused by the prince.

She did not care about her infatuation with the prince anymore, she was merely interested in presenting herself so gracefully and stunningly that the prince would regret not noticing her earlier. That was all. She did not wish to marry the prince. She merely wanted to ignite a fire of regret in his heart.

For the Browns' ball that evening, Emilia dressed in a dark red gown, embellished with sparkling rhinestones. She wore a Ruby necklace and paired it up with a magnificent tiara. But as soon as she headed downstairs, she found Lord Bancroft waiting for her, in a distressed and pensive mood.

"My lord, are you..alright?" Emilia asked, frowning, and looking intently at the earl, clearly concerned.

"Miss Chbosky, I know it's not the ideal time but I must tell you something. I did not wish to conceal but it's important that you know this. I... I used to love another lady, and I still do. And i just found out she has fallen ill." Theodore Bancroft finished with a sigh.

"Oh..my lord, if you love her so, why not be with her?" Emilia was taken aback but she felt genuine sympathy for him.

"She's, well..... she's not someone who would be accepted in the Mayfair society. She's a florist, a commoner." He looked so miserable it touched Emilia.

-"Lord Bancroft, if you wish to sneak away and visit her tonight instead of going to the Browns' Ball, I shan't tell a soul." She smiled at him.

-"Wait... aren't you enraged, Miss Chbosky? You're my intended, after all!"

-"It's a marriage of duty to both us, my lord. And I'm not enraged at all. We might never be in love but if we must marry each other, it can be a marriage of friendship at least, can it not?"

A look of mutual understanding passed between them as Lord Bancroft bid her farewell and headed towards the florist's. Emilia felt happier and more light hearted than she had felt in the past few weeks.

She might not have love but she had a new found friendship, which was quite a great thing to have as well.

With a smile on her face, Emilia climbed up in the carriage, with Mrs. Chbosky and Lady Gibson to whom Emilia said "Lord Bancroft had to leave to take care of an urgent personal matter."
*************
The ball was even grander than the other balls Emilia was used to attending ; the Browns' loved to show off their wealth anytime they could.

"lady Gibson! Mrs. Chbosky! So nice to see you here, and Emilia dear, congratulations on your engagement to Earl Bancroft. I don't know if you've heard it yet, but if everything goes well we'll soon have a wedding of my daughter with the prince!" Viscountess Kimberly said excitedly, approaching the Gibsons and Chboskys.

Viscountess Kimberly was nice, but very talkative on occassions when she dwelled on and on about how tremendous success all of her children were.

"Ah, Emilia Chbosky. I've heard quite a lot about you." Vanessa Kimberly approached Emilia. A contrary to her mother, Vanessa was calm, calculative and cold.

"Have you, now? I've heard quite a lot about you too as well!" Emilia flashed her signature sweet smile which didn't look very sweet at the moment but rather scary.

"Interesting choice of colour. What a coincidence that it's my soon-to-be husband's favourite colour!" Vanessa emphasized on the "husband" word.

-"Oh my! How amazing things like these happen, right?" Emilia didn't stop smiling.

-"Amazing indeed, miss Chbosky. I hope you're quite content with being a countess? And not hoping for even a higher rank? I'd think being a countess would be enough for...you, but what do I know?" Vanessa whispered in Emilia's ear and left.

Emilia smirked to herself. As she said before, she had no intention of marrying him. She just wanted to show him what she could be if she wanted.  And if Vanessa Kimberly felt jealous, it must be working.

Emilia turned sideways, only to find the prince eyeing her intently. Then, he headed towards Emilia.

"Red suits you, Miss Chbosky." He approached Emilia as Emilia bowed.

"Thank you, your highness. Your wife to be said it's your favourite colour?"

-"It is, but Miss Kimberly isn't my wife to be. I haven't proposed to her, we're merely courting." Prince Oliver Charmichael said, frowning.

-"well she seems to be hoping that you're going to propose to her in no time!" Emilia said, a bit mockingly.

-"Hmmm........" The prince looked at her intently as they waltzed together.

His fingers slowly grazed the fabric of her gown on her back. She slightly shivered and held her breath. His knuckles brushed against her waist as they kept dancing. Emilia felt everything around her fading away as her eyes focused on only the prince, and only him. He smirked a little at her, spinning her away and held her hand on his chest.

"You hear that, Miss Chbosky?" He said, in a little whisper.

"Hear what?" Emilia's lips trembled.

"Nothing." All of a sudden the prince bowed and left. He looked solemn and serious. And Emilia was left wondering how long this was going to continue before all her resistance and control broke.