ARIA

Chapter Seventeen

Noah had not plan to do it. But he did. His head was full of words as he tried to pick which to let out of his pretty lips. However, he just stayed speechless as he was indulged in Aria's beauty. There they were in the royal library. His hand covered Aria's mouth as if telling her to stay quiet while they stand closer than one metre with Aria's back leaning to the door.

Aria could sense Noah's fear for what behind the door as well as his admiration toward her which she tried to ignore. What could make Noah be so scared of? Aria regretted changing her course. She supposedly should be in her bedroom but the royal library caught her eyes. She would like to have some cheesy romance novels to be brought back to her room but she never thought the crown prince would suddenly enter the room just as she was about to leave.

Before coming into the library, Noah wondered who could be that want to meet him. All sort of nobles came into his mind but he could not figure out who could it be since he already done with the meetings. What could be so urgent to meet him out of schedules?

But as soon as he opened the door to his study room, the man he saw was the man he feared more than the king. The Grand Duke Jeron Denver which was his knighthood mentor who also taught Liliana back when they were teens. He was called Demon Denver for being harsh on his disciples. He's also a man of chivalry.

"Oh, Noah." the grand duke quickly put down the tea cup down. Just as he was about to stand up, Noah quickly closed the door and ran away. Surprised and angered, the grand duke chased him which lead Noah to the royal library. The grand duke would not think Noah to enter the library.

Noah leaned closer to hear if his mentor was still outside. To his relief, he heard the footstep getting further from where they were. Noah sighed hard in relief. Aria could hear him breathing next to her ear. She then remembered the time they were together when they were lost in the woods. She was afraid that her heartbeat could be heard by the crown prince. Luckily, he didn't.

"Your highness." Aria tried to get his attention. Noah quickly back away. He then again just stared quietly admiring her. "Ehem." Aria cleared her throat as a sign that she was feeling awkward.

Noah who took the sign, then looked away. Aria could see his ears turned red. He was embarrassed.

"I'm sorry for putting you in such situation." Noah finally broke the silent as he turned his gaze back to Aria.

"I see that you're hiding from someone."

It took Noah a few seconds to finally realised that he had the courage to be so close to Aria just then. He once again looked down to avoid her as he put one hand to his neck.

"I was running away from my mentor."

Aria just nodded.

"Hah, this is so embarrassing." He crouched down. "I want to get into a hole."

Aria was surprised to see the crown prince he once knew be acting like that in front of her. He had never acted like that in the first life. He was a cool gentleman in the first life. Being embarrassed for getting close to a lady was never a scene Aria would expected. Well, the course of the timeline changed. A dragon had never appeared before. She would never expected to be an acquaintance of Lady Liliana. Noah in the first life did not kiss her at first sight.

Everything happened here went out of control. Things just went complicated. The man in front of him was not the man before. He finally paid some attention to her. Should she give him a chance?

Am I allowed to feel love again?

But then she remembered of her illness. She should not feel love. She will die soon anyway. What's the point for her to fall in love again.

Aria crouched down to be on the same level as the prince. "Your Highness, I was only surprised. It wasn't anything embarrassing. You don't have to feel such way."

Noah looked up to see Aria sweetly smiled to him. Once again, he fell in love. "Aria, I — " He wanted to confess but then his eyes went to the novels that were on floor. Those novels were the books Aria let go as she was surprised by the sudden entrance of the crown prince.

"Lovely Princess and the Duke? The Playboy Prince and the Beautiful Commoner Lady? The Lady of the Tower in Love with the Count?"

Aria quickly hide the novels away from the prince's sight. This time, Aria was the one having the red face as red as strawberry. She could not believe the crown prince was the one to see her with the cheesy romance novels.

"I didn't know the royal library has that kind of books." Noah chuckled.

"Your Highness!"

"It's Noah. I wish for you to call me that just like the time you were frantically searching for me in the woods."

Aria was speechless. She could not believe that Noah still remembered that. Her face clearly showed the discomfort.

"It's okay. You can take your time. Let me escort you to your room." Noah quickly stood up and offered his hand to help Aria to stand up. Aria could see the sadness in Noah's expression. Aria reached out her hand to his. When she finally stood up, she wanted to take her hand away but Noah was holding her hand tightly. He really did not want to let her go.

"I don't want to let you go."

"Your Highness, you can't do this."

No matter how much strength she put to pull her hand off his, she just could not do so. She could not fight the strength of a knight commander.

"Noah, please."

Noah saw her tears. She hated his touch to that point. Noah quickly let go of her hands. "You hate me to the point of crying, huh?"

"What, no!"

"Then, what's your feelings for me?"

End of Chapter Seventeen

A/N: I realize that I did sloppy on some previous chapters. It's so clear that my writing style in those chapters changed a lot like you can see how I lose the ideas when writing or was lazy to write it. So, I decided to edit back the chapters perhaps starting chapter Twelve. I will try to edit when I have time.

For those who think that it's weird for Noah to fall in love with Aria when in first life he was in love with Riana, well there was a reason to why he fell for Riana that will be explained in probably ten chapters ahead. Yes, I will try to make this book of forty chapters or more.

And no, Riana will not fall in love with Noah in the second life. She fully supports her sister with Noah.

There is no second male lead.

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