Chapter 209 - Swollen Face

William pov

"We are not done yet, little bird." I jerked her hand and pulled her back towards me. She frowned and was about to fight, but turned silent looking at my face.

"So, what does this kiss mean?" I asked , looking at her face intensely.

"You are the one who started that!" she retorted and I fumed. 'Just because a man will start advancing towards her, would she reciprocate with that intensity!' 

That thought was boiling my blood! I could not believe that she just said so. My grip on her hand involuntarily tightened.

"So it means that whenever I start it, you will reciprocate it?" my voice was colder and she shivered in my arms. I knew that I was losing and I needed to hold on to my emotions but.. I was just losing it.

"I did not mean that. Your highness, you are hurting me." she replied as she looked at her arms that were in my hold tightly.

As if her words were like cold water dousing my emotions, I let her go.

"And here.. Everyone thinks that I play with the hearts of others!" I murmured and left from there. I was nothing.. Just nothing in her eyes! This fact was clawing my heart and I was unable to breath at that moment.

I threw my outer robe and even opened the top two buttons. Yet the suffocating feeling did not go away.

"Your highness, you are back" my three knights bowed as they saw me entering the room.

"I want to be alone, and no one should enter in until i ask for someone's presence.'' My words made them frown but I did not stop or stand there to explain them.

After entering the room, I closed the door and laid on the bed, closing my eyes. Yet the image of her kissing me was not leaving me and so was her indifferent eyes!

As if both were two completely different personalities. I could not understand what changed her so much so swiftly. But her behavior was surely making me crazy.

I shook my head and threw all the water in the jar that was resting on the table near my bed.

The cold water finally cleared the mist that was covering my mind. I took some deep breaths and finally let the matter go. Closing my eyes, I drifted off to sleep. 

But soon my eyes opened due to the noise from the hall. I frowned as I looked out of the window. The sky was already dark and stars were shining like they had been there for a long time.

"What is the chaos in the middle of the night?" I mumbled as I got out of the covers and walked out of the room. Only to see Noah with a red face and bleeding lips. He was looking beaten and my eyes widened.

"Did something happen while you were escorting Princess Scarlet? Is she okay? Do you even know that this could be a matter of war!" I could not believe that something like that could happen in the academy.

"Are you waiting for any special moment to open your mouth? What happened to you? And is Scarlet okay?" I asked with a stern voice this time when he did not open his mouth and continued to look at the floor. He was looking embarrassed and guilty but it was not a matter to hide, was it?

"Your highness, princess is completely fine. I just got confirmation from her head maid. She reached her room safely and even went to sleep already." said Lucas entering the room. But something was not right!

"Then who has beaten you?" I asked , looking at his swollen face and dried eyes.

"This is my personal matter and it had nothing to do with his highness or her fiance. So, I will prefer if no one probes into this matter further." he replied after a deep breath and left for his room. My eyes narrowed at his back. Why was he looking so guilty as if he had done a big crime?!

I looked at other knights who were interrogating him before I joined. But they all shook their heads.

Since when did he turn so secretive!

"Keep an eye on him in the future. Alert our rats." I added as I turned to leave when I heard the main door opening. I turned again to see who was entering so late in the hut.

It stunned me to see Abigail only entering now. I was sure it had been hours since I left her there. She was stunned to see me standing there with all the knights. She must have thought that I was already sleeping and so were the knights.

"Where were you, sir Abigail?" asked Lucas as he looked at her messy hair and swollen lips. But she did not reply as she continued to look at me.

"Your highness, I apologize but I have something very urgent to deal with." she wished me and then after giving a paltry excuse, she left the room too.

They looked at each other and then me when James did the courage and asked me,

"Both were looking disheveled and they are lovers too. Do you think something happened between them?" asked kirian to Lucas, 

'Could she be with him after kissing me?' The thought was enough to burn my entire soul. It was not that i did not know that they were lovers but then why did she kiss me?! How could she play with my heart like that!?

"Well, both came at the same time and both were almost in the same condition but Noah was looking beaten. His cheeks were swollen badly." added James, the man who never participated in the gossip before.

"Do you think he forced sir Abigail and that was why she slapped him?" asked Kirian in a fuming voice. But before I could hear what others replied I left the area and walked into my room and closed the door.