I blinked and pretended to be very hurt. Chushinick looked at Lamia and then at me in shock.
“Lady Sorel? What is this… Is she speaking the truth?” The trembling voice was already suspicious of Lamia. I hadn’t really said anything wrong.
“N-No. Sir Petral… I only meant…”
“Lady Sorel, did you really say that?” Chushinick’s face hardened. Lamia couldn’t remember all the words she had said. She always blurted out things and couldn’t remember afterwards. She didn’t even remember most of the conversation she had a while ago.
“I… uh…”
“I asked you out for a meal because it was beautiful to see you saving poor children and distributing bread to the hungry.”
“Sir P-Petral!”
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt“If she speaks the truth, I am very disappointed,” said Sir Petral. Chushinick didn’t seem to think that I might have lied. He was an honest and simple man who rarely doubted others.
Lamia taking care of the poor and distributing bread to the hungry almost made me laugh. She must have put on a show to catch Sir Petral’s eyes.
“No! She’s lying! Sir Petral, you don’t trust me?!”
“But… why would this person lie….”
As expected, Lamia played to the fact that I didn’t have evidence as well. Seeing us claim two different things, Chushinick was suddenly confused.
What an indecisive punk! Being nice sometimes can mean being naïve and foolish, which was true in the case of Chushinick at the moment. He was swayed easily. I could see that he still looked a little confused but now he stared at me, and I knew he had decided to trust his companion.
Ugh, you idiot, I cursed inwardly. I lowered my head and tried to maintain my composure. I bit my lip to restrain myself from shouting at him.
“And… why would I lie when I was just sitting here and having a casual dinner?” I intended to go all out since my opponent was Lamia, born and bred in high society and well versed in the art of deceiving people.
“Sir Petral, I only wanted to spend time at dinner with you and wanted you to enjoy your dinner with a great view… so I took the initiative to ask them for their understanding. I didn’t mean….”
Tears dripped down Lamia’s cheek. Chushinick’s face hardened. Even though I knew she was just putting on a show, I almost believed her! I was shocked. I had only seen this happen in fiction. But now I saw it with my own eyes. How could you not believe such an act?
Seeing Lamia sniffle and wiping away at her tears, Chushinick was restless. He gritted his teeth. He was a loyal servant to Julius. He was just and honest and he felt it his responsibility to protect the vulnerable. At this moment, he thought Lamis was vulnerable.
What will he do next? I asked myself. I was curious and a little amused. As expected, Chushinick walked a few steps closer to me.
“I think there was a misunderstanding,” he said. “Could you please apologize for the rude remarks you made to Lady Sorel?”
I tried to show him the real face of Lamia and he turned right around and demanded an apology from me. I was obviously in no mood to apologize for something I did not do.
“I haven’t done anything wrong to apologize for. I have been sitting here and eating my food when your companion decided to intrude and demand I leave the table.”
“It is wrong to misunderstand a situation.”
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm“I think you didn’t hear me. I didn’t misunderstand her demands either.”
I did away with my polite and nice outlook and answered indifferently. I didn’t think being nice would help any longer. Chushinick narrowed his eyes at my change of tone as if he thought he was deceived by me. He was a handsome man when he smiled but when he frowned, he looked menacing
“Please, can’t you see she is crying? If someone requests for understanding, you must be polite about it even if you refuse. Didn’t anyone ever teach you basic aristocratic manners?
Unbelievable! I shrugged my shoulders. “Maybe or maybe not. But I have been taught not to intrude on other people going about their business especially in a public place.”
Chushinick went red in the face. Maybe he didn’t expect me to be so shameless. He approached me threateningly.
“Why don’t you stop now?” Kaichen, who was just watching from the sidelines, finally intervened. I was pretending to be fine, but I was actually intimidated by Chushinick, who seemed to be taller and bigger than me.
Chushinick and Lamia now recognized the existence of Kaichen across from me. He had not said a single word till now. Their heads turned at the sudden interruption.
“They aren’t kids… I don’t think two people trying to corner one is the right thing to do.”
Kaichen’s voice was calm but icy. I got a chill down my back although he didn’t really appear to be doing anything threatening.