Chapter 169: Kissing Practice
The days passed peacefully.
In the blink of an eye, Soleia had found herself settled in this little town for over a week. The town knew her as Leia from Vramid, and she and Ralph played the role of a deeply loving couple so well that she could almost believe this man was her first and only husband.
Majority of the townspeople were welcoming; they often dropped by without prior warning with food or gossip to share. Soleia had never found herself so popular in her life.
But it also meant that Soleia had to behave extra-lovingly with Sir Ralph, even in the privacy of their own home. She was getting used to their hand-holding, but whenever Sir Ralph leaned closer to press a kiss to her cheek, she would instinctively duck away, her heart racing so quickly. Her whole face would feel like it was on fire.
"Princess Soleia," Sir Ralph said gravely as they sent away their guests. "I fear that I might have bad news."
"What is it?" Soleia’s heart shuddered in her chest, and her mind immediately imagined the worst-case scenario. "Did you get news about Reitan from Nessa? What happened?"
"No, no― I misspoke, I didn’t mean to scare you," Sir Ralph said quickly, squeezing her hand to comfort her. "It’s not that serious. I just needed to inform you that Duke Kinsley might be paying us more visits, now that the Spring Fair is right around the corner. He needs to show his face, even though he’s not organizing any of it."
"Oh." Soleia released the breath she was holding. "That’s not bad news. What is the Spring Fair?"
"The Spring Fair is a festival that is celebrated in Raxuvia, but each town tends to celebrate it a little differently from one another depending on what the locals like," Sir Ralph explained. "In this town, there will be a lot of picking flowers, song and dance, and general light-hearted revelry. The decorations we saw earlier in town were in preparation for it."