Chapter 220: Torturous Desire
“Is that so? You two seem...close...” she murmured.
“Is that how we appear to you?” I asked a little curiously.
“I guess...” she replied after a moment of hesitation before looking away.
I had no idea why she was acting so shy, but perhaps that was just the way that she was. I really adored her, and her reactions felt refreshing. Although I wanted to tell her everything because we were friends, I decided that it would probably be better to keep my relationship with the prince a secret. After all, I did give Prince Leonard my word not to answer questions about us even if I was asked.
“I see. I’m not so sure if we’re exactly close,” I replied as my thoughts darkened.
“What do you mean?” she turned to ask.
The frown that formed in between her brows told me that she had started to worry about me again. I smiled before I tried to gently laugh off my comment. However, I meant what I said. The truth was, I wouldn’t say that Prince Leonard and I are close. We did spend quite some time together and I’ve mated with him a couple of times. He did dedicate some of his time to teach me lessons and I am grateful for that and all that he’s done for me. With that being said, I wasn’t sure if we had connected on a more personal level.
There was still so much that I didn’t know about the prince. In fact, I knew so little about him that it made me uncomfortable at times when I sat down and thought about it. I could feel Salena staring at me and I had to force a smile as I pushed all my ominous thoughts away to the side.
“Nothing. I’m sure we’ll get to know each other better, you know, as time goes by...” I replied with a reassuring smile.
The way Salena smiled brightly at my words told me that I had succeeded more in convincing her than I did at convincing myself. Suddenly, I felt like I wanted to be alone so I faked a yawn although I wasn’t at all sleepy. Being the considerate friend that she was, Salena immediately began excusing herself.
“I guess it’s getting late, and you should go to bed now. I’m sorry for dropping by so randomly like this,” she apologized as she quickly stood up from her seat.