Maid For You 2

Chapter 45

"Iwould not give Coleman the satisfaction of your gazes." Prince Nikolas rose his eyebrow. "If you can help it, of course."

               "You're right," I admitted. "I should be able to manage that."

               Two platters of food were distributed to us by a couple of servants, and as we worked on our plates, Prince Nikolas said, "I must thank you, Cassie, for choosing me to be your Autumn Prince. Coleman aside, I have had an enjoyable time thus far, which is something that I cannot often say about the Autumn Festival Friday."

"I've had a good time too," I said. "It must be hard to be the only Nikotan here. Well, other than Ivan. People are so prejudiced against you."

"It is not an ideal situation," he attmited. "My parents used to come. I still had to suffer through the luncheon on my own, but for the rest of the time I had my family to talk with. Of course, they are preoccupied with more important things now than this yearly half-hearted attempt to patch things up with Aregano. But, as you can imagine, it does leave me feeling quite outcast here."

"Of course. That would be really hard," I answered.

"The funny thing is I rarely have any free time for frivolous things such as this, what with running a country, but I can hardly enjoy the time I have while I'm here, usually."

"Running a country?" I asked. "Isn't that your dad's job?" I was pretty sure Prince Coleman only did a fraction of what his dad did when it came to running countries. At least, Coleman sure seemed to have a lot of free time to exercise his womanizing skills.

Prince Nikolas rose an eyebrow. "Oh. I suppose you would not know," he started.

I blinked. "What would I not know?"

Suddenly Prince Nikolas's piercing blue eyes seemed to denote a current of sadness. "My father is dying."

I felt a pit form in my stomach. Oh no. I thought. Here he was going on about how much a good time he was having and now he has to bring up his dying father?

"Oh," I said softly. "I'm sorry."

Prince Nikolas said nothing for a brief moment. "He has pancreatic cancer. It's no longer a question of if, but when."

The dining hall was filled with the din of merry chatter, but it drowned out as Prince Nikolas spoke. "I will be King before the end of next year. My father is too ill to reasonably travel. I did not want to come the Aregano this year, but he wanted me to go."

"So you've been taking on most of his responsibilities," I said quietly, though loud enough he could hear me over all the background noise.

"I have. Step by step I have drawn closer to the position of king." Prince Nikolas poked at the food on his plate with his fork, his eyes downcast.

"Do you want to be king?" I asked him.

He absent-mindedly coiled the pasta around his fork before uncoiling it. "I do," he said. "But not so soon."

I didn't know what to say.

Prince Nikolas looked up at me. "It is why I tolerate Calista, you know," he started, a hint of a wry smile tugging at his lips.

"Really?"

"My father wants me to marry her," he said. "She turns sixteen this December, which makes her an adult in Aregano. However, in Nikoto, she isn't considered an adult until eighteen."

"I see."

"So while my father is still on this earth, I am doing my best to please him when it comes to Princess Calista. I give her gifts and take her on walks and such. If she were old enough, I would invite her to the Winter Ball as my partner. But fortunately, she will not be of age for two more years, and at that point, I do not see the need to pretend like we are going to be wed one day."

"So you aren't planning on marrying her, then?" I asked with a funny smile.

"Would you want to marry her?" he asked.

I laughed. "That's a fair point, but you know, she'll probably grow up to be very pretty like her mom. I mean, she looks like pre-teen now but she could get hot."

Prince Nikolas stifled a chuckle. "How 'hot' she is is of little concern," he said, resisting one of his delicious smiles. "The fact remains that I cannot stand her as a person. In fairness, she cannot stand me either, and I am afraid that is the only point on which we agree about anything."

"So you really don't get along?"

"Every conversation with her is stilted and uncomfortable. We both know that our parents want us to wed when she is of age, and we both know that we are not very fond of each other. We don't ever outright say it, but the truth stands regardless."

"Maybe she'll become better as she gets older," I said.

"Did Queen Klara put you up to this?" He rose an eyebrow, though his tone was light and so I laughed.

"Believe it or not, she didn't. I actually sat with Calista today during the parade, since, you know, Coleman refused to sit with me, and a part of me felt a little bad for her," I admitted.

"Why is that?"

"She's overshadowed by Coleman, I think."

"Yes, I am sure that she is," Prince Nikolas answered. "But that doesn't mean I have to marry her."

I laughed. "Poor Queen Klara."

We ate quietly for a few more minutes. "Prince Nikolas?"

"Yes?"

"Why have you been nice to me today? You suggested I network and things like that. So, why?"

Oh wait, didn't he already say it was because I was Queen Maiden? I wondered. Boy, am I sure dumb.

Instead, he said, "You have shown kindness to Ivan while we have been here. Ivan may be my valet, but I do care for him."

I smiled. "Really? I didn't expect that."

"It is true," he said, before looking up thoughtfully. "But, I suppose, I also saw some you as a sort of ally. Neither of us are from Aregano, and we both were somewhat of outcasts. Alone."

Alone. His last word struck a sad chord in my heart, not for myself, but for him. Because I realized that at the end of the day, I wasn't alone. I had my family and friends at home, and here I had Sherry, Luke, and even Prince Coleman sometimes. Well, my situation with Luke was currently rather precarious, as I still wasn't sure of how to handle our current awkward situation that I had gotten ourselves into. But regardless, I really wasn't alone even if I felt it sometimes. But Prince Nikolas...

"Are you close to your father?" I asked him somberly.

He looked a little surprised at my question before casting his eyes downward. "Yes, I am very close with him."

I gazed at his solemn face, and my heart went out to the icy man. Even someone as seemingly impenetrable as he was not immune to humanity.

"Prince Nikolas."

He looked up at me, but I diverted my eyes to stare into my lap as I played with my fingers.

"I—I know it's not much," I began. "I know that I'm not much, but if you ever...oh, I don't know, want someone to talk to or anything, someone who isn't like a part of your staff or royal advisors or whatnot, well, I'm just a phone call away. Or a text, if that's what you like."

I chewed on my lip and stole a glance at him. Once again, he looked taken aback with his widened eyes and parted lips.

"Thank you," he finally said. "I will be sure to do that. I will acquire your telephone number before I return to Nikoto."