266: No Limit To Possessiveness

No Limit To Possessiveness

Near the grazing table, Cian waved at Eliot, his guardian knight, gesturing to him that it was fine to have a sip or two of wine and to simply enjoy the occasion. Drinking a little liquor would not hurt. With the knights of three kingdoms stationed outside, not to mention the palace guards, there ought to be no issue about security.  0

When he returned to watch the performance, he happened to sit in the front row, his broad back partially blocking Arlan's view from looking at Oriana. 

Arlan frowned, "Why do you have to be an eyesore all the time?"

"Are you talking to me, Prince Arlan?"

"I don't see anyone else."

"That's my charm," Cian said, totally ignoring the meaning of Arlan's words. 

Arlan sighed and then Cian's chair was suddenly pushed forward. Arlan had kicked the back of his chair. 

Oriana, who was seating merely several chairs on the first row, caught the part of Cian almost falling off the chair. Arlan averted his gaze from her and looked the other way, while  Drayce snickered at how his friend was acting like an immature brat. 

Cian glanced at Arlan's impish smirk. With a sigh, he simply stood up.  "This chair seems to be broken." 

He walked towards a certain direction—Oriana's direction.

As Cian was about to sit on the empty chair next to Oriana, Arlan beat him to it.

The Crown Prince of Griven theatrically slumped down on the chair, his legs spread apart as if to mark his territory, a broad grin spreading across his face as he eyed the still standing Crown Prince of Abetha. 

"The view from the second row is not good," Arlan said simply. 

Oriana's entire body stiffened, her senses all on high alert, the moment Arlan sat in the chair next to her. She peeked at him but his face held no particular expression, seemingly immersed in watching the performance ahead. 

She inwardly frowned. 'Did he move here to get a better view of the lead dancer's soft waist?'

Unknown to her, Arlan and Cian had a silent battle. Cian, who lost, shook his head in disbelief at Arlan's childishness. 

Cian sat next to Drayce on the second row instead.

"What do you want to talk about?" Drayce asked Cian. 

Cian was not surprised. "Was I too obvious?"

"Isn't that why you created trouble? To send Arlan away from me?" 

"I could have sought you out after the banquet, but how can I miss the chance to mess with Prince Arlan?" Cian laughed. 

"You've been having a lot of fun these days."

"Indeed," the prince agreed, before he deliberately lowered his voice. "What you asked me for last time, I got it."

"Enough?"

"More than enough?"

"Good. Hand it over to Slayer later."

Cian simply nodded, before glancing at Arlan and Oriana. "Your friend is gonna be a trouble for her."

"She can handle it," Drayce assured. 

Cian's gaze softened as he saw his sister having a great time with Oriana. "I won't oppose this claim."

Arlan, who happened to notice the prince's gaze in their direction, moved the position of his chair slightly, even extending his arms to the side, to block his mate from his line of sight. 

Cian felt like rolling his eyes. "There is no limit to his possessiveness."

"You will understand him soon," Drayce commented, to which Cian raised a brow at him. 

Drayce suddenly changed the subject. "Which reminds me, your sudden interest in Othinian  jewelry, I don't see you giving anything to your sister."

Cian resumed his attention towards the performers dancing on the pavilion. "What can I say when you are always aware of everything, King Drayce?" 

Drayce didn't comment. He also paid attention to the performance. 

Given that the leaders of the delegations had a conference to attend in the morning, the banquet ended rather early. 

When Arlan and his retinue reached their mansion, the prince headed to his chamber, accompanied by Neil and Damien. As for Oriana, she had time for herself before she began her duty of putting Arlan to sleep. 

Before Arlan walked upstairs, he gave Oriana a long stare, leaving her confused as to what that gaze meant. If she was a young lady of some noble household, such a gaze could easily be mistaken to have ulterior motives, the kind of flirtatious look a man would give his paramour, as if he didn't want to separate from her. If they were in an illicit affair, such a gaze meant that he would wait for her to come to him. The silent way for flirting from a man while maintaining his cold self. 

Unfortunately, Oriana was neither a noble nor a young lady. She was his servant, and she was a 'man'. She tried not to find any meaning in his gaze but her womanly instincts couldn't ignore that look in his eyes. Her heart felt unstable.

Oriana lowered her head and walked towards the servant quarters. 

After half an hour, Oriana had cleaned herself up and would be exchanging shifts with her fellow attendants. This time, she felt strange, feverish even, and her heart raced a little even before she could go to the prince's chamber. 

By the time she came to Arlan, as expected, he was already in his night robe and was ready to sleep. 

She bowed to the prince who looked at her with a deep gaze, causing her to feel nervous. For reasons she could not explain, she felt things have changed between them.

Was it because he had been nice to her today? Was it because he apologized for that night?

Whatever the reason was, she didn't know how to proceed or what to say to him.

"Are you going to stand there all night?" 

Hearing his usual snark, Oriana felt relieved. 'Nothing changed between them, nothing happened between them.' She immediately regained her usual composure as a servant and went to his side. 

Oriana unfolded the neatly placed quilt and moved to cover Arlan with it. His gaze observed her each and every movement. It was nothing special, but Oriana felt flustered to be under his scrutiny.

Just as she adjusted the quilt till his chest, their gazes met. Oriana felt her heart skip a beat and she immediately stepped back, before pretending to fuss over the quilt and quickly finishing her work. For a moment, she panicked that he was going to pull her towards him.

She was not wrong. Arlan had that thought, and he was about to grab her and pull her to him, but her intuition was sharp and she was quick to react. Arlan felt both relieved and disappointed, and in the end, he merely closed his eyes. 

It was not the right time. Yet. 

'When the time comes, I won't let you off anymore.' 

After putting out the flames from the lamps, Oriana sat on the couch, watching the profile of the prince with the help of the moonlight streaming from the windows. Not long after, she let out a yawn. She had drunk alcohol at the banquet and not to forget how exhausted she was, so it didn't take time for her to fall into a peaceful sleep. 

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