104 Chapter 103: The little wolf and the dragon

She stopped, reaching the heavily carved set of wooden doors. She raised her hand to knock but paused for a second. Did she really want to go in? She asked herself. What if she regretted it later? Elize hesitated, biting her lips nervously. Maybe she should find someone else, she thought hesitantly. Just before she turned around, the door swung open, startling her. 

"Elize?" Lloyd asked, coming out.

There was a look of surprise on his face and rightly so. It was the first time that she had taken the initiative to come to him on her own. 

"Uhh...hey Lloyd," Elize replied with an awkward smile.

His brows shot up in shock hearing her. The information that she had received on him yesterday had made things quite awkward between them. She had never imagined him to be a prince. And now here he was, a royal standing in front of a nobody like herself. Reading into their differences in status, Elize immediately corrected herself.

"I mean greetings, prince Irving." She said, fumbling with an awkward curtsey.

The action was so inelegant, and she knew it herself. It was the first time that she had curtsied at all. The Kelpie burst out laughing at her gesture. Elize looked at him in confusion. What? Was it that bad? Wasn't that how people greeted royals? Wait, was it different in the supernatural world? 

"Why are you suddenly acting all awkward?" Lloyd asked, taking a step towards her. With a smirk, he continued, "Did you fall in love with me?"

Elize stepped back in shock. 

"What?! No way! Nooooo way." She denied freaking out. 

"I'm just joking." The Kelpie said laughing, "So what brings you to my humble office?"

Elize didn't know how to reply to that. Obviously, she couldn't tell him that she needed him to function as a distraction. He would read too much into that and would try taking advantage of her. She also couldn't tell him about Zack since it was a well-kept secret for now. So much so that it has caused her to act out. Seeing that she had no other way out, she decided to abort the whole plan.

"I uh...I was just passing by." She said, scratching her head awkwardly. "Nevermind. I'll see you later."

"Hey," Lloyd said, suddenly grabbing her arm. 

"Don't," Elize warned, glaring at his grip on her hand.

Lloyd immediately let go of her and took a step back. Elize sighed in relief, her heart immediately calming down. The Kelpie looked at her curiously.

"Why did you really come Elize?" He asked, his eyes wide.

It made him look quite vulnerable- like a child who was too scared to trust anyone. His gray hair fell over his face, making him look more pitiable. He looked like a beautiful weak creature that could only survive in someone's warmth. Elize felt bad for him. Maybe he was not that bad, after all, the man had even saved them yesterday. She hadn't even thanked him for that, maybe she could correct that by being honest with him, she thought to herself.

"I was feeling sad." She said looking at her toes guiltily, "And I thought.." 

"That I'd help cheer you up?" Lloyd asked, completing the sentence that she was hesitant to say.

"Well..." Elize trailed off, keeping her eyes on the ground.

"I thought you'd never ask!" Lloyd exclaimed, grabbing both sides of her shoulders.

"What?" Elize looked up, surprised.

Did she hear that right? Or did the Kelpie say that he wanted to be used?

"You always seem so elusive." Lloyd said with a wide smile, "I thought you hated me."

"I don't hate you as such.." Elze replied awkwardly.

Honestly, she didn't know what she felt about him at all. She just hated the way that he tended to flirt with her. She really didn't know him much as a person to hate him. Besides, he had already saved her twice- making him look quite good in front of her.

"What do you wanna do?" He asked excitedly.

"I don't know." She replied with a shrug.

"Would you come to the party with me?" Lloyd asked nervously. 

"Well...I don't really have anything to wear." Elize said awkwardly.

"That's not really a problem." He said grinning from ear to ear. 

"Come, let me take you somewhere."

------

"I don't think I'm comfortable in this.." Elize remarked, looking at herself in the mirror.

Lloyd had taken her out to the town- at first to a spa and then for shopping. The boutique that they currently were in looked quite luxurious and only admitted one guest at a time. For the last one hour, she was trying on clothes in front of him and ten other staff who all seemed to have different opinions of their own. But they had unanimously agreed on this one particular dress- one that Elize was not quite sure about.

Not that the dress was ugly. It was one of the most delicate pieces that Elize had ever worn in her entire life. It was a dark blue dress that barely reached below the curve of her behind. Although it did make her long legs look quite attractive, it was way short for her liking. She had never worn anything that small ever. The dress was made of thin soft silk which when tightly hugging her body, enhanced all her good features. It had a mandarin collar and no sleeves, exposing her long beautiful arms. With her sparkling gray eyes and the waist long straight jet black hair, it made her look way older than she was. She knew that she'd have way too much attention on her if she walked into the party looking like this and she wanted to avoid that at all costs. 

"Nonsense. This looks perfect on you!" Lloyd said, looking at her with eyes filled with devotion.

"It's a bit too revealing for my tastes.." Elize said, trying to pull down the dress a bit more. 

"There's nothing called too revealing Elize. It's all about how you carry yourself and what you want to project. With the right attitude, you can host a business meeting in shorts." Lloyd said, walking up to her. 

"I don't know...." Elize said hesitantly. 

"There. You can have this." The Kelpie said, taking off his long jacket. You can take it off when you're comfortable. No pressure." 

He quickly put it on her shoulders, his hands lingering on the sides of her arms. His eyes were fixed on their reflection in the mirror. He had a wide smile on his face as he looked at it. 

"Thank you," Elize said, looking at him gratefully.

"No.," Lloyd said, shaking his head. "Thank you for agreeing to come out with me."

Elize shrugged, "I just want to have fun. Something to distract me.." She said with a tight smile.

"You have come to the right person," Lloyd said with a wink. Patting her on her back he urged, "Come now, let's not keep them waiting for too long."

Elize nodded with a smile. She let him lead her to his car. As they came out of the store, all the staff bowed down low before the two of them, until they were outside the place. Seeing that they had come out, Lloyd's driver quickly opened the passenger door for the both of them to get in. Elize had at first felt weird, with everyone acting so humble around her. But she knew it was because of Lloyd's status as a prince. And since she chose to go out with him, she had to bear with it. In a way, it was quite nice- very different from how she was treated by the people around her, her whole life. She got inside the car and moved towards the side to make space for Lloyd. Once they got in, the driver closed the door and quickly started the engine. 

"Just keep me out of trouble. If my guess is right, I have already partly transitioned twice." Elize warned.

"Don't worry, I'm a prince, not a commoner." Lloyd said with a wink.

"What is that even supposed to convey?" She asked, looking at him confusedly.

"A dragon is enough to tie down a little wolf." He replied with a mischievous smile.

"About that.." Elize asked, cocking her head to the side.

"You'll have to regard this as a date if you want me to answer that." He said with a grin.

"Fine. I'll just ask someone else." Elize said rolling her eyes.

"You're so cute when you roll your eyes like that." The Kelpie teased.

"I know." Elize replied with a grin.