"Well..." She wanted to say Dominic's first name but realized that it wouldn't be appropriate. "Knight Harrison had been the first person to ask me to dance, so I invited him for tea. Then it just happened that our friendship grew, but it didn't develop as drastically as high society rumored it to be." This was such a lie but she didn't dare expose herself.
Adriel glanced at her, deep in thought, then hummed an agreement. "I see...Miss Warrington, since you're now my fiancée, I can't have you referring to me as Your Highness all the time."
'Fake fiancée,' Xiao Yunhua wanted to correct him. "Then, what would you like me to use?"
For the first time since she saw him, a smile bloomed on his face and it made his attractive face ten times more handsome. She was dazed and wanted to reach out to touch to see if it was real, but maintained her dignity and didn't do something so stupid. "Violetta," The way her name rolled off of her tongue so smoothly, it was like he had been saying it for years. "Call me by my name."
"Y-Your Highness," she stuttered nervously, "how could I dare to?" He raised a finger to her lips and silenced her, ignoring the cold temperature of her lips. His warm finger contradicted her cold lips but once they clashed, it created an odd balance of moderation. His actions were innocent, but to Xiao Yunhua, they were full of seduction. Wasn't he supposed to be cold and studious? How was he so handsome and natural at seducing her? Was it that regally handsome face with his royal blue eyes, or his smile that had melted away an impression he left as a cold prince?
"It's alright, I give you permission to do so."
She shook her head zealously, "I-I wouldn't dare to do so. Please, Your Highness, allow me to continue with your title."
He sighed, finding her stubborn. He was learning more and more new things about her, both negative and positive new things.
"Violetta, at least call me my name in private and no one else is there." He saw the conflict on her face until she slowly nodded, unwilling to but agreeing for his sake at last. "Say it." Before he left for the night, he wanted to hear his name uttered from her mouth at least once.
"A-Adriel..." she softly murmured, so quiet that he couldn't even hear her.
"Louder."
She inhaled and at a decent volume, said, "Adriel!" Her eyes were closed and her fists were clenched like she had done something horrific. When she didn't hear him respond, she opened one of her eyes and peeked.
Since he called her by a nickname, it would be highly inappropriate if she didn't respond. It would either be considered rude or be taken as a rejection. She could afford to do neither against the crown prince, so she only sighed and resigned to her fate.
"Riel..." she thought that her eyes were playing a trick on her, but she saw him figuratively beaming.
He patted her head again, this time with more fervor. "You're doing well. I hope nothing goes wrong with this contract." Simultaneously, his eyes cooled once he said that. "We spoke about the benefits of the contract, but we never discussed what would happen if one of us decided to go against it and do something before the time period ended?" The time period he referred to was the time between now and the time when he would be crowned king.
She frowned. She hadn't thought about breaking the contract. Since this was only a verbal contract, it wasn't as secure and strong as a physical contract either. "I hadn't thought that far, Riel." Just like she was stunned when he said her nickname so smoothly, he was also astonished for a few seconds when she said his.
"What do you think we should do?" Since she had everything figured out, he was going to leave this part to her as well.
This was a tough question. She couldn't say a punishment too severe since he was the future king, nor could she offer a punishment that was too light. "How about we severe all ties to each other?" Not just ties between them, but the ties of the alliances that followed, such as the backings that she had promised earlier.
"Hmm, that's fair. Violet, as you are my fiancée, I hope that you would be loyal." She wanted to roll her eyes. Did he see her as a fickle woman? If anything, she was the one that was supposed to tell him that.
"I hope Your Highness would follow the same guidelines." Adriel's eyes flashed with amusement. Her words were basically, 'you too!' They were in this boat together.
"And if there was a violation within the alliances?" He was making sure to check through everything before he left for the night.
"Then, I will leave that punishment for Your Highness to decide at that time." This was the only acceptable answer that she could muster.
"Hmm, alright." They looked at the pitch black sky and realized that their talk had been much longer than they expected. They had ended up in the garden for so long, it had been a couple of hours. When they headed back, they noticed that the former buzzing main room was now silent as all of the guests had left. The only people left were the Warrington Duke and Duchess, along with Augustine and the servants who were cleaning up.
"Where have you been—" The Duke froze when he noticed that the crown prince was still with her. Didn't he say that he was leaving earlier? Why was he here, and more importantly, why was he with Violetta?
The Duchess watched the couple entered and couldn't help but feel pleased. Her plan was going much better than she had thought. All those years of mentoring the child hadn't gone for naught since she was doing exactly what she wanted her to do.
Augustine watched his sister with confusion. Ever since she had cake out of her 'study period'—or that's the term that his mother used to describe her house arrest—a few months ago, she had completely changed. Even more so, he watched the crown prince suddenly grab the hand of Violetta. Everyone, including the servants and Augustine himself, froze in shock. Even the Duchess didn't expect for such a quick turn of events, but couldn't find it in herself to feel bad.
This was much better than her expectations! The girl wasn't useless after all.
"It's late, so I should be going." The crown prince said, still holding onto her hand. Xiao Yunhua didn't understand why he suddenly grabbed her hand and showed a display of affection, but it had definitely done the trick as they all looked at them with gaping mouths, especially her, thinking what sorcery she had done in the couple of hours of disappearing.
"Wait a moment, Your Highness," the Duchess spoke up, expressionlessly. "Please do tell us what your action meant when you grabbed Violet's hand."
"Must I explain myself," he snapped, causing the woman to flinch. The Duchess never wavered, but she was, after all, in the presence of the future king. She couldn't help but be submissive. Adriel didn't mean to snap at her, but he couldn't help but remember the grievance that Violetta had in regards to her debutant party. The Duke wanted to speak out, but he didn't dare seeing the crown prince snap at the Duchess. His hesitation was seen by Adriel who only gripped Violetta's hand even harder. "I have decided, your daughter Violetta will be my fiancée."
One of the servants dropped the plate she was holding and the loud crash startled everyone. The Duchess was in no mood to reprimand her because she was ready to burst. So all the effort to train the little pet were put to good use! The crown prince was smitten with her from their first meeting, even wanting to marry her and make her the future queen!
Although his words were completely against customs and were too brazen, no one rebuke the crown prince. Everyone was still reeling in from his words.
"I hope you do not think that this is the official proposal. I will not forsake formalities. Tomorrow morning, the royal family will send out a proper invitation to the castle. There, it could be discussed without being dropped like this. I apologize for being too impulsive just now."
"No, No, Your Highness!" The Duchess smiled gently, but it made Adriel think that the one smiling was a snake. "Please do not apologize. If anything, thank you! We will be waiting for that invitation." The Duchess bowed and this set a string of bows to follow, one from the Duke as well. Adriel waved off their formalities and turned to Violetta, who was looking at everything with bewilderment.
He whispered to her that he would see her tomorrow and she nodded. Even though he was only telling her that they were going to meet tomorrow, in the eyes of the audience, it seemed like the couple were being coquettish and flirtatious with each other. The people couldn't believe their eyes. The crown prince had sauntered in as her escort hours ago, cold and expressionless towards her. Now, he was even willing to hold her hand. What had happened in the garden for such a drastic and dramatic shift in attitude!?
The crown prince bid them adieu, this time, for real, and headed off to the castle despite the time being very late. Violetta saw him off, as did the rest of the Warrington family. The moment that he was far away and indiscernible to the eye, they all pulled her inside and began to question her.