Chapter 89 Just A Touch
After ten minutes, which seemed like ten hours, the music finally ended. Caspian opened his mouth to offer Espin a glass of champagne.
“Princess Espin…”
“It has been a pleasant dance, Prince Caspian, and I hope you have a good time. I shall now return to my friends.”
But Princess Espin was a step ahead of him. Unable to bear to look him in the face any longer, she bowed quickly and turned to leave.
Prince Caspian ran a hand through his hair and smirked as he watched her hurry away.
‘What, are you shy? That’s cute.’
A smug grin spread across Prince Caspian’s red lips, and he followed right behind Princess Espin.
Princess Espin was with her maids. Prince Caspian slipped into their conversation quite naturally. He thought it was lovely to see Princess Espin’s face stiffen as if nervous at his entrance.
“My Lady Espin, it is an honour to see you again, after the shortness of our meeting in Crawford.”
“It is because I will be returning to my hometown soon, and although Crawford is beautiful, I can’t stay in one place for long as I want to see more of the other good places.”
It was a businesslike answer with an awkward smile. It was a very cold, hard tone, but Prince Caspian’s ears were not developed enough to filter out such signals.
“I see, so where is your next stop then, why don’t we set off together this time, I’ll show you around.”
Everyone in the room, not to mention Princess Espin, looked almost horrified.
Princess Espin’s expression, her voice, was clearly telling. That Prince Caspian was uncomfortable. And the prince didn’t understand a word of it.
Where and how had his thinking circuitry been twisted to allow him to speak so freely in this atmosphere? Everyone was puzzled.
Princess Espin spoke up quickly before Prince Caspian could get carried away and start spouting off concrete plans, wanting to cut him off.
“I appreciate the offer, but what can we do? We’re heading back to Heathrick soon.”
“What? I thought you said earlier that you wanted to travel somewhere else…”
Prince Caspian gave Princess Espin a dumbfounded look at her reaction. He might not be the most observant person, but he wasn’t so stupid that he couldn’t remember what he’d just heard.
‘What is it, are you bouncing? Are you embarrassed? I don’t like it when people are embarrassed too much…’
No, it was really stupid in the sense that it was overly delusional.
“Oh, you’re right, that’s too bad.”
She decided to back off for now and bring it up later. She decided to back off for now and mention it a second time later, because who knows, maybe the second or third time would make it less embarrassing.
That’s when she heard a shrill cry from a nearby terrace.
“Get off me! I said no! Why do you keep doing this?”
It was Frida, one of Princess Espin’s maids. Princess Espin immediately ran to the terrace, followed by her maids.
“Frida, what’s wrong?”
Princess Espin shouted as she ran up, her eyes squinting as she quickly assessed the situation on the terrace.
A man had a rough grip on Frida’s wrist. Frightened, Frida tried to shake him off, but it wasn’t easy. She looked at Princess Espin, almost crying.
The man was a familiar face. It was the Earl of Royce Farren, one of the men who often accompanied Prince Caspian.
Princess Espin stepped in front of Frida, her violet eyes blazing with anger.
“What rudeness is this, Earl Farren?”
“Your Highness, Princess Espin, disrespect is a leap too far.”
“The Earl held onto Frida’s wrist roughly, even as she tried to pull away. How is this not rudeness, but a leap?”
“I was merely suggesting that young Frida take a walk in the garden, that’s all.”
Said the Count, waving his arms in frustration. But his excuses and facial expressions didn’t work on Princess Espin in the slightest.
“If she says no, you should know how to back down!”
Princess Espin said sternly, before Prince Caspian, who had caught up to her, interjected.
“Ahaha, well, well… Count Farren has been missing you a great deal for a few days now, and I think I may have put my mind ahead of my heart and made you uncomfortable, so I apologize on your behalf, Frida.”
“…”
As Prince Caspian bowed his head respectfully and apologized, Frida could only nod. She couldn’t stay angry with an Imperial prince who was saying the wrong thing.
Then Princess Espin tugged on Frieda’s hand and said.
“Then we shall go.”
“Wait…”
Prince Caspian grabbed Princess Espin’s arm again, this time, and said urgently.
“Come on, why don’t we all have a drink on the terrace to cool our tempers? It’s a lovely view, and the breeze is cool.”
“I’m sorry, Your Highness, but it’s a bit chilly in here, and we’ve already had a lot of champagne, so I’d better go inside.”
“…”
Bouncing is cute once, but it’s bad luck if it keeps happening. You have to push and pull, not just keep pushing! Prince Caspian’s face, which had been smiling the whole time, began to contort into a grimace.
His grip on Espin’s arm tightened. Espin grimaced in pain and looked up at Caspian. And then she saw it, the young madness in his eyes.
‘This look, it’s dangerous!’
For a moment, a chill of fear ran through Espin’s body. She rolled her shoulders and shivered.
Caspian was thinking that Espin’s herbivore-like behavior was adorable. Veronia suddenly stepped between them.
“I will order the table to be set on the terrace for His Royal Highness and his party, and you, Princess Espin, will come with me.”
With the intention of letting go of Espin’s arm, Veronia grabbed both Espin’s and Caspian’s arms at the same time, causing Caspian to jump.
“How dare you touch me, you lowly…”
He was so angry that his words just came out. But he couldn’t finish what he had started. His eyes locked with Killion, who had just entered the terrace.
Caspian’s irritation flared up, feeling pathetic that he’d been deterred by Killion’s gaze.
Unconcerned by his reaction, Killion glared at Caspian and asked, “What is it?
“Your Highness, what is the matter, has my fiancée made a mistake?”
His voice was dry, matching his icy expression. For a moment, the air within a five-meter radius seemed to freeze.
With a confused smile, Caspian waved his hands in the air.
“No, no. I just had a little too much to drink and slurred my words, my mistake.”
Ha, ha, ha… Caspian tried to laugh to break the tension, but it only made the atmosphere more murderous. Killion spoke next, his brow furrowed.
“I see. I think you owe her an apology, even if it was a poorly worded one. You didn’t mean to, but it came out, and she heard it.”
Killion looked Caspian straight in the eye. Caspian’s throat burned at the intensity in his gaze, the determination to not back down.
If there was one man in the world he would not want as an enemy, it was this Duke of Killion Drea. Even the most clueless and politically illiterate Caspian knew that much.
All eyes on the terrace turned to Caspian. Their eyes sparkled as if they were eager to see what he would do.
Caspian opened his mouth, his facial muscles struggling to move properly.
“My inebriation has caused me to slur my words. I apologize, Lady Nia.”
It was humiliating to have to apologize to a commoner for something so insignificant, and an uncontained rage bubbled in his stomach. Caspian gritted his teeth to control his anger.
Outside, in a one-on-one encounter, he could have simply ignored them. A commoner, someone you could have cut down with a sword and not felt any harm.
But the fact that this insignificant woman had taken on a new identity as Killion’s fiancée, and had backed his into a corner, made his irritation flare up even more.
He managed to mumble an apology, but did little to control my expression. Caspian stormed off the terrace. His entourage, including the Earl of Farren, followed.
Once the dust settled, Killion’s concerned gaze turned to Veronia.
“Are you all right?”
“I’m fine, but I’m sure Her Highness and Lady Frida are shaken up.”
Veronia was rather worried for Espin and Frida. Killion looked at them and said.
“I am so sorry, Your Highness, Princess Espin, and Frida. I should have been more attentive, but I wasn’t. I will keep a close eye on you from now on.”
“It’s not Lord Killion’s fault.”
Espin tried to smile, saying she was fine, but she couldn’t hide the tremble in her fingertips, and Veronia’s eyes burned at the sight.
