Chapter 33 - Princess Li Jia (1)

After greeting Azura, Iris turned her back and wanted to leave. Unexpectedly, the shopkeeper that was originally ignoring her, suddenly went up to her.

"What does Young Lady want?" He asked, his tone even laced with a never before seen respect towards Iris.

Not detecting the change in his aura, she answered, "Heart-shaped moon grass." She even deepened her voice so as not to get recognized.

"I understand, I understand." said the shopkeeper as he hurriedly went to get the herb.

Un?

Iris was puzzled. How come, suddenly he changed to treat her nicely?

And even left the Seventh prince for her petty little order?

Before she had the chance to ponder over this matter, the freak in front of her laughed.

It was a mesmerizing laugh, like a nicely tuned cello, void of any temperature yet still able to create ripples in one's heart.

When she met his gaze, a dangerous threatening one, she realized her mistake.

Damn!

Hearing that enchanting laugh, she accidentally raised her head a little!

With his perceptive skills, it would be hard not to be recognized!

Sure enough, a threatening voice resonated in her ears.

"Oh? If it isn't the Young Miss from the Silcia family. What a coincidence...to meet you here." He enunciated every word clearly, sending shivers down the girl's spine.

"Heh, this subject failed to recognize Your Highness. Asking Your Highness to forgive." She performed a low greeting, while actually backing away.

"Seeing you backing away like this, are you afraid of this Lord?" With a single step she took backwards, he took one forwards.

"How can that be, Your Highness." Iris's hand reached for the door handle, ready to open it anytime. Her eyes drifted to the shadow guard next to Azura. One look at his gaze, she could tell he was a highly trained professional.

Thinking of it logically, he wouldn't attack her in a public place, right?

That being the case, was it possible for them to part ways peacefully?

...nope.

Iris looked behind Azura, to the shopkeeper. God knows what he went to look for, but he wasn't in the shop any longer. It was just them three.

As she was pondering, Azura took another step forward, closing the distance between them.

"!?"

Iris was startled as the scent of roses assaulted her nose. She subconsciously took another step backwards.

Thump!

Her back hit the shop door, as her eyes looked towards him even more vigilantly.

The distance between them was barely a step. Any closer and they would entirely meet!

Is he crazy?

Azura's eyes deepened as the arc of his moth subconsciously increased. He gazed straight into the eyes of the wary girl in front of him.

She looked like a fox whose tail had been stepped on.

He lifted his hand, wanting to touch her face.

Yet at that moment, someone suddenly exerted force from outside the shop door wanting to enter, compelling Iris towards Azura!

"Ah!" Iris immediately changed her stance to avoid bumping into him. She exerted force towards the door as well, preventing it from opening.

She glared at Azura to back away.

Yet the man simply blinked, and resumed his playful look as he gazed at her.

"Hey!" A sweet female voice came from outside the door, soothingly calm yet with a ting of exasperation at the disturbance.

Gritting her teeth, Iris shuffled to the side to let the door open, grazing her shoulder past Azura's arm. As soon as the door started to open, she moved far away from the still standing man. This was to avoid being hatefully misunderstood.

"What is wrong with you!" The pleasant voice came again as a female entered the shop. When she came in, even Iris couldn't help but raise her eyebrows.

The girl had fair and soft skin, her blue eyes slightly watery, charming everyone who looked. Her black hair were bundled up into a bun and her ruby red lips were slightly pursed together. Her appearance was so innocent and cute, even her frown and her annoyance were dazzling.

She was wearing very exquisite robes, proving she was from a well off family.

Iris was surprised by her incredible beauty that could easily rival her own.

As she entered, she spoke out in annoyance at the door problem. Then, her eyes first drifted towards the man right in front of her.

When the girl saw Azura, her eyes widened. Without further delay, she hurriedly made a bow to him. "This subject greets Your Highness the Seventh Prince! Asking Your Highness to forgive this subject's insolence!"

As she realized that she had misspoken, she hurriedly apologized. Raising her head, she looked up at Azura with apologetic eyes.

Yet Azura simply gazed at her for some time, before finally responding with a "En" without any expression on his face.

However, this acknowledgment enough brightened the girl's eyes considerably.

Iris was slightly surprised by their interactions. Looks like not only were they familiar to each other, but she held some significance to him too?

For as far as she remembered, Azura wouldn't even look at any girl, much less respond to her greeting. His gaze seemed to linger on her as well.

Hmm, she thought he died without anyone he loved.

Seems she was mistaken, everyone has somebody like that after all, he should be no exception.

Suddenly, Iris's eyes glinted. Looking that he was still looking at the girl who just came, shouldn't this be a great chance to escape?

Now that his loved one was here, he wouldn't pay attention to her anymore, would he?

Great!

Just as she was about to open it...

Azura grabbed her arm, pulling her back instantaneously!