Chapter 44
I turned to see Askhan wearing a smile on his face. It was hard to take my eyes off him as I took in his whole appearance.]
He was fully dressed in an attire fit for a prince. []
Somehow, he looked even more handsome than he normally did. He carried himself with a charming grace that made everyone around him swoon.[]
None of them mattered to him. All he seemed to focus on was me. A woman ran a hand through her hair, trying to get him to turn his attention to her but he barely even acted like he saw her.
“There you are.” He stopped in front of me, the smile never leaving his face.
“You sound like you’ve been looking for me.” I had a grin on my face.
“If only you know.” There was a knowing look in his eyes as he spoke.]
If Askhan was bothered by the reporters and cameramen around him, he didn’t act like he cared at all..
His voice seemed louder than before as he spoke. “When the party starts, I’d like to have the honour of getting an opening dance with you.”
were.
I couldn’t help the grin that made its way to my face. The reporters were eating it up and gushing over how cute we were
I nodded my head, the smile still on my face. “Yes. I would love to.“[]
The cameras all panned to me, the lights almost blinding with how many shots they seemed to be taking. I could already imagine the headlines that would come out of this tonight.
A royal scandal between the two nobles of high families?
I inwardly snickered, still keeping a cool and calm expression on my face. Askhan extended an arm to me and I gladly took it.
As we walked to the front door, I couldn’t help but turn by gaze to Froste who was standing there. He looked at Askhan’s arm which was interlaced with mine. His brows seemed to furrow but otherwise, his expression didn’t change much.]
Then his gaze drifted down to my feet and a small smile broke out on his face. I looked down and realized why he was smiling. The shoes.
Before I could turn away, he was already making his way towards me. He hadn’t changed one bit. He was still as handsome as he’d always been. Maybe even more.
ore.[
“May I have a dance with you?” He asked, his eyes glinting with something I couldn’t quite make out.[]
I straightened my back and looked at him. “His royal highness has already invited me for the opening dance. Please get out of the way.”
He looked stunned, his whole face turning pale in an instant. Whatever he’d been expecting to hear, it sure as hell wasn’t
that.
Chapter 44
Askhan looked surprised by that but he quickly got over it. His eyes narrowed on Froste as he sized him up.
“I never thought that you, a foolish man who is so easily deceived, would be the best student according to the Elders. It’s truly a shame for someone like you to be in such an esteemed position.”
The sound of someone lightly hitting a glass took my attention to the front. There was an elder standing there, wearing a calm expression as he stared at us.
“I welcome you all to the second stage of the student selection. Tonight’s banquet marks this stage. Bear in mind that there are no specific topics and no written tests of any sort.” He explained, his eyes raking over all of us.]
I frowned. No topics? It must mean there had to be some other merit that would determine who passed and who didn’t.]
“I want to see the best and truest performances of the noble ladies and young masters.” His gaze seemed to linger on me as he said that.
He turned to the crowd once more. “Good luck. And may the odds be in your favour.“]
I sucked in a breath, trying hard not to panic or overthink anything. Askhan must have noticed my silence as he leaned closer to me.]
“The old man likes to make things up. Don’t overthink anything. Let’s dance.”
He grabbed my hand and lead me to the center of the room. He leaned closer to me once more, his eyes never leaving mine.
“Just follow my lead.” he whispered.
I let him put hand on my waist and wrapped my hands around his as we started to dance to the slow ballroom music.
All my steps were a bit rusty and I was making little mistakes. Still, Askhan didn’t relent even once. He guided me gently, allowing me to get used to the movements until I was doing it perfectly.
He matched my movements pretty well and we ended the opening dance in a perfect stance. The whole room seemed to applaud us.
I felt a warm buzz in my chest around us. Despite the loud applause, I could make out some disapproving glances from other noble ladies.
“She looks utterly ridiculous.” One of them snickered.]
“Her dance steps were piss poor at best.” Another one scoffed.]
“If it wasn’t for His Royal Highness pitying her for having to live her life as a commoner, he wouldn’t have asked her for a dance. He only did it out of pity.”
