Come to an Agreement

Aside from Siegfried’s presence, Lucien felt like he was also getting used to the way these two communicated.

“I’ll have you know that Lady Benois was the one who personally requested me to do this,” Giselle said while tapping on the table with her finger impatiently. Lucien took a sip of his tea.

“I know, and I have already told her of your constitution. She apologizes and says you don’t have to do it anymore,” Siegfried said, his fist resting on the table looking tense. Lucien took a bite of his cake.

His eyes glanced around the cafe. Even though everyone around—the customers and servers alike—pretended to be disinterested, Lucien could tell that they were very much invested in what was going on over at their table. He couldn’t blame them, even he would find them entertaining if he weren’t standing on this side himself. Even when he had a polite smile on his face, Lucien breathed a sigh inwardly as a sign of his piling stress.

Giselle suddenly pulled Lucien’s arm into an embrace again, freezing his entire body stiff back.

“Lord Renand is going to help!” she said.

“Huh?” Lucien said without realizing. When Giselle looked up at him with a fiery blaze in her eyes, he quickly revised himself. “I mean, yes, definitely!”

He wasn’t sure of what he would do, but it would probably be similar to when he helped Giselle organize the ball anyway. He should be able to do it just fine.

For the first time ever, Lucien could actually see that Siegfried was genuinely troubled. It only took a moment for him to realize why when Siegfried, with his arms crossed, spoke up.

“The engagement ceremony is going to be held in the north, at the Karron residence.”

Lucien’s eyes widened. He immediately turned to Giselle, but she already let go of his arm and had her head turned to the other side to avoid facing him. The only part of her face that he could see was her round cheeks.

“Giselle used to get sick all the time whenever she visited my residence,” Siegfried continued. “I don’t think it’s good for her to be in charge of the function, since she would have to stay there for days.”

Siegfried said it so seriously that Lucien was starting to waver. He was getting convinced that maybe Siegfried was the right one here. The imperial princess getting sick certainly would not be a good thing for everyone involved.

“Your Highness,” Lucien said in a soft voice as he brought his face closer to hers to try to see her in the eyes. “His Grace has a point. What if you fall ill?”

Without turning her face to him, Giselle answered, “I’m not taking no for an answer.”

Lucien glanced at Siegfried, who was pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration.

“You’re supposed to take my si—”

When Giselle turned her head and met Lucien’s eyes, she suddenly stopped speaking. The distance between their faces was only a breath away.

Oh, Lucien thought. Her eyes look like black beads.

As soon as he thought that, his sight went dark as her hands covered his eyes.

“Your Highness???” Lucien said as his hands reached up to his face, but then he could feel his head being pushed back through the force over his face.

“Anyway! I’ll handle it and that’s final. Lord Renand here can monitor me if you’re so concerned, Sieg.” Lucien heard Giselle say with his eyesight still obstructed.

He also heard Siegfried groaning from the other side of the table. What in the world was going on?

“All right, fine. In exchange, I forbid you from going outside your room without warm clothing,” Siegfried said.

Lucien was just about to try to remove Giselle’s hands from his eyes again when she let him go, causing the sudden burst of light to blind his eyes.

He had to press on his temples first before he could see ahead clearly. When he finally adjusted to the light, he immediately turned to Giselle and frowned.

“Your Highness,” Lucien said in a low tone. Giselle didn’t seem to care as she didn’t even spare him a glance and just took another bite of the cake in front of her.

Lucien sighed. He did agree to help her, albeit reluctantly. It wasn’t like he had anything better to do these days. The “work” he had been doing for his family to keep himself busy was all something that his father could easily do by himself. If he just considered this an activity to gain some experience in high society…

Lucien turned to Siegfried and bowed his head. “I promise to take care of Her Highness, Your Grace.”

“Heh,” Siegfried muttered. Was it only Lucien or did that sound a little like a laughter? He raised an eyebrow and lifted his head.

Siegfried drank the last drop of his coffee before placing the cup down on its coaster. He then smiled—a smile that didn’t reach his eyes, Lucien might add—and said, “I’ll leave her in your hands, then, Lord Renand. I wouldn’t know what to do if she still gets sick later.”

Lucien felt goosebumps all over his body. Was that a threat he just said? That he wouldn’t know what he would do to Lucien if Giselle gets sick despite his care? With that creepy smile Siegfried just made, it might just have been one. Lucien gulped, but kept a strong front.

“Don’t worry about that. I’ll personally make sure she stays warm,” he said with a polite smile. Unbeknownst to him, Giselle twitched by his side hearing that.

Siegfried nodded and stood up from his seat, to which Lucien mirrored by standing up as well. Siegfried extended a hand to Lucien without a word, and it took Lucien a while to realize that he was offering him a handshake.

Lucien quickly took Siegfried’s hand and gave it a firm shake. His eyes were burning with the determination to do his job, although there was a little hint of fear in them. Siegfried also returned his handshake with an equally firm one before letting go, his face showing a look of contentment.

“I’ll take my leave first. Giselle, Lord Renand, it was nice meeting you here and I’ll see you again soon,” Siegfried said while fixing his suit.

“Likewise, Your Grace,” Lucien said. One side of Siegfried’s lips raised at what he said before he turned around and left their table. Was that a sneer? Was that a sneer??? Once again, Lucien made sure that his expression wouldn’t betray what he was feeling at the moment. Such was the life of an aristocrat.

Once Lucien made sure that Siegfried was out of sight, he plopped back down on his seat and crossed his arms.

“Your Highness, I think I deserve an explanation,” he said, drilling her with his stare.

“Hmm,” was the only thing Giselle said in response to that. She stacked the plate of cake she just emptied and tapped the napkin over her lips a few times before continuing to say, “I guess you do.”

She left the napkin on the table.

“As a part of my plan to prove that me and Siegfried are not in that kind of relationship, I thought I should volunteer to help prepare for his engagement ceremony,” Giselle explained, still not looking Lucien in the eyes. “I figured that it would convince other people that I have no ‘lingering feelings’ whatsoever if I do it properly. Not that there was ever any in the first place.”

Lucien squinted his eyes at Giselle. Certainly, logically speaking, someone wouldn’t be helping prepare the engagement ceremony of the person they fancy. It would be a different story if they aimed to ruin it, but no one should be able to say a word if the function came to a proper success. That made sense, of course.

“But what about me?” Lucien asked with a frown between his eyebrows. “What do you even need me for? To be your gofer?”

Giselle looked up at him and their eyes met. Her gaze was so icy cold, like it didn’t have any thought or emotion in it, that Lucien ended up being the first one to look away. It gave him the creeps—like she was reminding him of his place.

“...Remember what happened in the Benois residence?” Giselle said after a while. Lucien looked at her, but he didn’t have a clue of what she meant. “In the garden.”

Lucien’s mouth formed a small round shape before he nodded.

“That incident convinced me that if I want everything to go according to the original story without your interference, then I need to personally keep you by my side,” Giselle continued. For some reason, her chin was raised in a haughty manner as she said that.

As much as Lucien wanted to control his expression, he could no longer hide the face he made at her. He scrunched his nose and pursed his lips in a distasteful manner. Fortunately, he quickly noticed it himself and managed to fix his expression before Giselle turned to face him.

Her pupils glanced to the side, and she suddenly pulled his arm into another hug. Lucien knew what it meant—the people around them had their eyes on them.

“You’re going to help, right?” Giselle whispered to Lucien, as if he ever had any choice from the start.