Chapter 78: Almost
At Quince restaurant,
In the private room, Aveline was having her dessert while Alaric stood by the window, talking on the phone.
Even after her many questions, he didn’t confess why he was helping her. His patience, without a frown, gave space for her embarrassment to settle softly.
Though she found herself a bit shameless, she asked yet again when he ended the call. "Weren’t you ever in a relationship in your grand twenty-nine years?"
Alaric turned around at her voice. Why was she making him sound old? And why was she interested in his past relationships?
He stalked toward her and asked, "What if I was in a relationship?"
Aveline had gotten so used to earning questions for her questions. She stood up and leaned on the table. She cut to the chase, "If you were ever in a relationship, it wouldn’t be so difficult to confess your feelings." She sounded too certain.
Alaric: "..."
Now he understood. Though she was hiding her embarrassment with the heap of questions, she was actually hunting for the answer to her only question: why was he helping her?
And she had also figured out why he wasn’t telling her the truth. Well, it wasn’t rocket science anyway.
If she was bold enough to ask it aloud instead of burying it to herself, he had no reason to hide it. He held the edges of the dining table on either side of her, watching her pull her head away.