Chapter Ten - Open
2146 Words
Venus was clutching her chest the whole time she was riding the carriage. She could feel something heavy inside of her mind.
It was like two boulders were squishing her brain to the point that it might explode, “Your Highness, we’re here,” Hanna informed her.
She felt like her spirits were lifted upon hearing that statement. Venus looked at the small windows and was glad that she was back home.
While she was getting down on the carriage, she didn’t realize that Arthur was already there watching her patiently get down from the carriage.
After her feet landed on the ground, he approached her before reaching out to her hand, kissing the back of it.
“Welcome back, Your Highness,” Arthur sounded relieved before meeting her gaze. He immediately noticed that she looked tired because she was pale after she curtsied to him.
“Are you alright, milady?” He worriedly asked. Venus flinched at his curious question before nodding.
“I’m alright, Your Highness,” Venus tried to reassure him, but it looked like he wasn’t convinced when he nodded.
“Shall we go to the study room to further discuss things?” She curiously asked, so he promptly nodded.
Hanna gave them some privacy after serving their tea and exquisite pastries at the table as they were both reading some papers.
Venus could feel her head aching from what she was reading and Arthur noticed that as he sighed before harshly closing the book he was skimming a while ago.
“Your Highness, I think it’s best that you rest, did you even sleep last night?” He muttered in a deep, calm tone, so she shook her head.
“I-I was wide awake the whole night, I-I couldn’t sleep,” She whispered, which pricked his heart for a moment.
He wanted to ask if something happened between them, but at the same time, he didn't want to overstep his boundaries.
If they did, he would’ve smelled it, but he can’t whiff a thing or two about her and what Louis did to her last night.
Arthur just sighed before sitting right next to her, “Your Highness, can you lean on this?” He requested while patting her lap.
“Pardon?” Venus was startled by his request, so he almost chuckled before reaching out to her hand, pulling her close to him.
“That was a bit inappropriate, but here,” What he did next made her heart pound so rapidly when he used his hand to force her head to lean on his broad shoulders.
“I want you to have a quick nap, Your Highness, when I was a kid, my mother used to do this to me,” Arthur shared.
Venus wanted to lash out because this is inappropriate, but somehow, his warmth comforted her well-being.
Her eyes slowly opened and closed, there was something about his warmth that made her feel safe and sleepy.
She didn’t realize that she fell asleep until she woke up. Venus slowly adjusted her eyes around her surroundings and just realized that a pair of pitch-black eyes were watching her from above.
Venus just then realized that she was lying on something hard and gasped after realizing that she was leaning on Prince Arthur’s lap.
“Oh my, that was really inappropriate of me,” Venus started panicking, “I apologize for this, Your Highness,”
Arthur immediately shook his head, “My shoulders started to get stiff, so I thought it would be more comfortable to put you on my lap,”
Venus almost cupped her face and moved away from him, “I truly apologize for wasting so much time,”
“It matters to me that my clients are also well, Your Highness, I’m the one who insisted that you should rest,” He reassured her.
“If there's someone who should be sorry here, it’s me, milady,” Arthur claimed, so she squinted her eyes at him.
She was confused as to why he said those words, “Shall we proceed on to discussing things after drinking some tea?” He invited her.
Venus slowly nodded before taking a sip from her tea to calm all of her nerves down. It wasn't long until they started discussing things.
“The ingredients would be delivered here sooner, Your Highness,” Arthur informed her, so she just nodded.
“That’s great news, how about the people you’re going to send here to work, are they on their way too?” Venus asked while checking on some notes.
“They’ll arrive together with the ingredients, milady,” Arthur proudly informed her. Venus thought this project of theirs was going pretty well.
“Alright, I think everything is settled, for now, we just have to wait and hope things will sell,” Venus smiled before massaging her forehead.
“That nap of mine really did help a lot, so thank you, Your Highness,” She sincerely whispered.
He looked at her intently before smiling, “I hope I’m not overstepping my boundaries, but may I know why you didn't sleep well last night?” Arthur curiously asked.
She hugged herself upon hearing his questions, “I-I’m not sure if I’m confident enough to tell you,”
“It’s alright, milady, you don’t have to force yourself,” Arthur reassured her, and that somehow comforted her.
Venus bit her lower lip before sighing, “U-Um, would it be weird if you don’t want to sleep with someone you married?”
“I-I’m not saying that it’s me, but I just want to hear your thoughts about it because, um…my friend was having troubles with it lately,” She defended, so he thought it was adorable.
He was sure that she was talking about herself. Arthur doesn’t know why he was rejoicing upon hearing that statement inside of his mind.
No one touched his mate, he couldn’t sleep a wink last night thinking about what Louis would do to her last night.
“I apologize, I know that question was just way too inappropriate for us to talk about,” Venus sounded embarrassed, fidgeting with her fingers on her lap.
“Not at all, Your Highness,” Arthur smiled before composing himself, “And I think there’s no problem at all,”
“Relationships are a two-way road where both parties must hear each other's perspectives; if one couldn't understand, they're like carriages that would crash because they persisted in trying to cross the road where they couldn't,” He stated.
Venus was surprised at how deep Arthur can be with words. She has never met anyone like him before.
“The other party must do whatever they can to open it up to their partner, or else it’ll cause a huge misunderstanding,” He added.
“I see,” Venus bit her lower lip because she was sure that she wouldn't open it up to Louis for the sake of her life.
“To be honest, what I’m asking about is me,” She admitted, so he was surprised because he thought she intended to keep it a secret.
“I’m sorry to hear that, Your Highness,” Arthur bowed his head. She shook her head before smiling.
“I’m just not sure why I can open these kinds of matters to you, I feel at ease like a burden was lifted from my chest,” Venus admitted.
“It’s like I’m comfortable opening a lot of things to you, isn’t that strange?” She looked at him intently.
Arthur just stared at her with the same intensity before he lowered his gaze because he might just lose control and admit that they were meant to be with each other.
“It’s not strange at all, Your Highness, I’m glad that I could be that someone for you,” Arthur gave her a small smile.
She beamed as they both started discussing the remaining plans they needed to conduct, it wasn’t long until Hanna entered the room, revealing two envelopes.
“Milady, you’re invited to the party that is happening at the residence of Duke Williams,” Hanna informed her before handing the first envelope.
“Oh, right, I heard from the maids that it’s Duke Williams' birthday today,” She smiled and thought that she didn’t remember attending or hearing about this party in the past.
Venus thought about it deeply, she tried her best but couldn’t remember why she didn’t hear anything about this party.
She stopped upon realizing that there was a day in the past when Louis didn’t come home and came back the other day, acting so strangely around her. He started going home late and always smelled like he was drunk.
“Could it be…this is where it started happening?” Venus whispered while clenching her fists and thought that Marie Alicia was probably there. She wanted to confirm this as much as possible.
If her hunches were right, then she could start finding some pieces of evidence here to prove that Louis is cheating on her.
“And he heard Prince Arthur is also staying here, so he also gave you some letter, Your Highness,” Hanna spoke, interrupting her train of thoughts.
“It would be an honor to attend if you’ll allow me to accompany you, milady,” Arthur giddily accepted the letter before glancing at her.
Venus wanted to go with him, but didn't want to make things suspicious between her and Louis, “How about Prince Louis? Is he already there?”
“Prince Louis is a good friend of Duke Williams, I’m sure he’s already there, milady,” Hanna reassured her.
She nodded before looking at Arthur, “Let me just prepare myself for this day, can you wait for me at the main entrance of the palace?”
Arthur smiled, “It would be my pleasure to wait for you,” After he said those words, he kissed the back of her hands.
Venus couldn’t explain why it calmed her nerves. She was overthinking about the things that could happen at that grand party.
It didn't take long for her to surrender to her chambers with Hanna and change into a dress appropriate for the party.
She slipped on a pastel navy blue sleeveless gown that was fitted to her body, exposing her cleavage and the rest of her breathtaking curves.
Venus was pleased after Hanna did wonders on her face, “I look magnificent, Hanna,” She complimented her work.
“I’m just enhancing your great features, milady,” Hanna winked at her. She gracefully chuckled before they both went down to meet up with Prince Arthur.
“There he is,” Hanna pointed at the main entrance, so when she turned her head, Venus felt like she ran out of breath.
She couldn’t deny how good-looking Arthur is, he has a great physique, is taller than the rest of the people she met from different royal families, a gentleman, and there was just something about him that keeps on making her wonder why she was this attached to him.
When she first learned of his situation, all she wanted to do was assist him in reaching a resolution so that he could succeed in supporting his family.
Venus clutched her chest while looking at him from afar and felt her heart skip a beat when he met her intense gaze, “He’s really good-looking, milady, if you’re not married, I’d give my vote to him,” Hanna interrupted her train of thoughts again.
“Don’t be foolish, Hanna,” She almost pouted, making Hanna chuckle from her response because she sounded embarrassed.
“Milady,” She almost flinched before glancing at Arthur, who was already in front of her, making her gulp.
Arthur mentally calmed himself down upon seeing that she was exposing some parts of her skin that he wanted to keep for himself.
His wolf was asking him to touch her on some parts that she exposed, but he wouldn’t do such a thing to her.
“You look lovely, shall we go?” He invited her without looking down below. Arthur wasn’t sure why he was that distracted by it.
He thought he has already gotten used to that, but it’s really different when it comes to his precious mate. Everything about her is tempting.
“You’re not so bad yourself, my prince,” Venus replied before she curtsied. What she said almost exploded in his mind and heart.
It was a formal compliment, but he couldn’t help but think of it otherwise.
“You’re coming with us, Hanna,” Venus glanced at her lady-in-waiting before mounting the carriage.
Arthur secretly closed his eyes, “She’s going to make me lose my mind,” He whispered while gasping for air.
To be continued…
- Writer
