Chapter 98 - It's An Exchange

She was holding his hand out of her own will and this should be the first time something like this happened. 

Head in the cloud, eyes on their locked hands, Aleister did not snap out of his daze until Esme stopped walking.

He blinked. 

Esme turned around to look at him, ''I just saw…'' she trailed off when she noticed that he looked distracted. She followed his gaze and her gaze landed on their hands. 

''I didn't do it on purpose,'' she quickly retracted her hand before averting her gaze. 

Aleister tilted his head to look at her face, ''I know you are fond of not missing any opportunity to touch me…'' he leaned closer to her and continued speaking beside her ear, "…I will let you have the privilege. You can touch me wherever and whenever you want.'' 

Her jaws dropped. 

Esme tried to speak but no words came out of her mouth. 

''What? Are you so touched that you can't speak?" Aleister stepped back. 

Esme glared at him. 

''Did something happen?" 

Her shoulders slumped for a moment, ''Why do you ask?" 

''You look disheveled, Princess,'' he removed the leaf stuck in her hair. 

''These days… I keep coming across strange things and at times, I am told that I am hallucinating when all of it seems so real,'' Esme whispered to him after looking around, ''Al, we need to read what's in that book. I…'' 

She did not know how long she could keep her sanity with all these strange occurrences around her. 

That book… The one they got from the library constructed under the pillar of the church, it was the last hope that she had. Perhaps, it will lead them to find the truth. 

''We will try it tonight,'' Aleister spoke up after a moment of silence.

''Do you have a way?" That book had a verse written on it which was not as easy to comprehend and the pages inside were empty. It's not like they have not tried reading it before but the pages have always remained empty. 

Just as Aleister opened his mouth to speak, Esme pressed a finger on his lips. 

Right at this moment, a maid walked towards them. She stopped at a distance, realizing that she had interrupted their moment. 

The maid quickly bowed, not daring to raise her head even once, ''My Lord, My Lady… His Majesty, His Grace and Her Grace have invited you for dinner.'' 

''Alright, we will be there. You can leave,'' the words unconsciously slipped off Esme's mouth only for her to realize that she is not a Princess and these maids don't take her commands. 

As expected, the maid did not budge from her position. 

Esme sighed helplessly. These days, her mind is really not working properly… 

''Did you not hear what the Princess said?" a cold voice rang above her head, snapping her out of her reverie.

Esme spun on her heels and glanced at Aleister dumbfoundedly. He must be really desperate to not marry and not have a bride since he seems to be too much into this lover act. 

The maid shivered. It seems like the rumors were not false. The Prince really favored this woman and she might become their future queen, ''M-My Lord, My Lady, forgive my impudence…'' her hands shivered slightly as she clasped her palms together in front of her body. 

Esme turned to look at the woman, "You can go,'' she felt a headache as she looked at the maid who bowed and ran out of the place like she was being chased by a ghost. 

She turned to look at Aleister, ''Why are you scaring people like that?'' 

''She paid no heed to your commands,'' Aleister frowned, still dissatisfied thinking that he let her off easily. What if people kept being disrespectful to her in future? He should have taught her a lesson so that it could have served as an example to others. 

As they walked in the empty hallway near Aleister's room, Esme tried to gauge his expressions carefully, ''She has no reason to do so. Don't forget that this is an act and I am just your lover. Kings and Princes have mistresses, servants don't respect them and the same goes for lovers and in some kingdoms and households, even the daughters aren't respected. It's not like you don't know about all this….'' She stopped speaking when she noticed his expression turning darker with every word she uttered. 

She patted the back of his palm, ''Neither do I want any of that. What we have right now is an exchange. You are helping me with many things and I helped you with dodging your marriage…'' his expression did not looked any better. She cleared her throat, ''What I want to say is that you don't need to scare people like that. We need to clean your reputation and get rid of those rumors instead of fanning them more.'' 

''What rumors?" Aleister looked at her, he was still displeased over her initial words but she would glare at him if he said that.

''Rumors that you are ruthless, a beast, cold-blooded…'' Esme stopped speaking. She slowly turned to look at him and noticed his blank gaze on her, ''You… Don't feel bad about all that, they are nowhere as true,'' she patted his shoulder.

With that said, she continued walking. It went unnoticed by her  how he raised an eyebrow, 'I felt bad?' Huh? How come he did not know that? 

Aleister glanced at his shoulder before looking at Esme. Letting out a soft sigh, he opened his mouth, ''It's sad…'' 

Esme paused. She turned to the side and looking at his expressionless face, she felt her heart aching slightly for him. She patted his shoulder again, not noticing the way the corner of his lips tugged up ever so slightly. 

''I know how that feels. When I was young, I used to look forward to making friends but at the same time, I was not very good at approaching people. I had one or two friends before but it turned out they were friends with me for their benefits since their father and mother asked them to. So after I discovered that, I did not trust anyone. I kept thinking what would I do if everyone turns out to be the same in future?  What if they have motives and they don't really care for me?'' 

''What happened after that?"

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