Lianne was at a loss for words by the sight on her front.
Noticing that nearby guests were observing them, she realized she couldn’t refuse his offer at all. With this, her expression calmed from being disappointed a moment ago, and stared at the awaiting prince with mistrust in her eyes.
“What about that woman?” she inquired.
Ruen raised his brow in confusion, but instead of answering her, he straightened and proceeded to guide her at the center of the dance floor. He was pleased Lianne didn’t retreat but protest she did by inconspicuously tugging back her hand and throwing angry glares at him.
“Act like you are enjoying it, princess. People would know that you’re hostile towards me by the look on your face,” he whispered when they reached the dance floor. “And also, move closer to me.” He pulled her towards him, resting his hand on the small of her back.
This awarded a good scowl from Lianne, but she didn’t jerk away.
“Don’t push your luck too much, Your High-ness,” she expressed with irritation.
Though she was vehemently against the idea of dancing with him, the only thing left for her to do was to act and go with the flow of the music, hoping it would end quickly.
The music started slow with the chimes tuning in, then proceeded with a cool soft tone of a solo violin.
Ruen’s gaze never left the princess which made her more conscious and despite herself, she felt her cheeks heat up.
‘Act like you’re enjoying, Lianne. Act like you’re enjoying,’ she ranted the statement on her mind over and over again.
With most of the guests observing them, she had to look the part. She had to make it look like she had a fake adoration for the crown prince. She had to look like they were in good terms with each other.
But despite faking her actions, her bodily responses still brought out the truth. Her heart pounded heavily with the rhythm of the violin and skipping a beat as the cymbals clashed together. Her breathing picked up. Her stomach churned in delicious waves. She couldn’t deny it that in truth, she was actually enjoying their dance.
Ruen’s left hand was still on her waist; their other hands clasped together, and as the music started to gain momentum, their bodies perfectly danced in rhythm, elegantly stepping in cycles on the marbled floor.
They looked perfect with each other and the audience was in awe watching them.
Ruen was gentle on the way he held her, and when there was a time that he lifted her up in the air, he didn’t hurt her waist for he lifted her effortlessly to her certain surprise.
Lianne gave a brief, fleeting smile following it to which Ruen didn’t miss. He hoped somehow this wasn’t just her charade.
Lianne held her breath when Ruen drew her again closer to his chest as the music mellowed. Their faces stayed only inches apart.
There was a magnetic pull between them. It looked like they were in their own perfect world until Lianne broke it.
She felt Ruen’s warm breath on her cheeks and in a quick move, she turned her head and buried her face on his shoulder, thinking it was the safest place she could find for now.
“I trust this dance is already enough, Your Highness?” she whispered in a low voice, battling not to sound as sarcastic as she wanted to be.
“Mmmm,” Ruen clenched his teeth, “Not yet, not until this party is over.”
With his unexpected response, Lianne cocked her head to look at him and then tried to push him away but Ruen’s hold tightened on her waist.
They continued to dance slowly as if nothing happened and luckily, no guests noticed their apparent argument.
“You said a dance would be enough!” Lianne reminded him through gritted teeth; her cheeks flushed with anxiety.
“True, but I am not willing to let you be alone this night. The circumstances would be quite so easy if that is the case.”
“I don’t know what you are trying to say,” she answered, perplexed by what he meant.
Ruen suddenly became serious, and his teasing voice was all gone.
He stared directly at the royal table, wherein the King and the Duke of Olga were still discussing something.
“Hmmm, apparently my princess, you seem to have caught somebody’s attention tonight.”
She scoffed in disbelief.
“Oh! But Your Highness! You fail to notice, I had already become a dessert in all the guests’ eyes tonight!” she said sarcastically trying to conceal the curiosity opening up in her mind.
“Yes, of course, to my displeasure,” the prince commented in return. “I am aware of that fact Lianne, but this one boasts more danger than anyone else here in the hall.”
He turned their bodies in tune with the music to let Lianne see who was sitting right next to the King.
“See the man sitting beside my father?”
Lianne glanced up to the man Ruen was referring to and then replied, her expression obviously troubled, “What of him?”
“He is the second Duke of Olga, Duke Conrad,” Ruen replied and began to sway out of view of the King. He continued guiding her with the music, making her feel as relaxed as possible but he knew that beyond this point, the princess’s reaction would be hard to handle.
“From the looks of things, he is asking for your hand in marriage.”
Lianne fell in shock. Her eyes flickered to him, thought that he may be just messing around with her again, and then gave him a good frown. “That is not a joking matter!”
As expected, she did try to step back away from him, but his hold on her waist proved to be a hindrance.
“Let me go! This dance is quite enough!” she cried.
Ruen tightened his grip and then bent down to whisper on her ear, “I have already told you that I don’t intend on letting you go this night.”
“Are you crazy or you don’t even value your word?” she tried to reason. “You said a dance-”
“Would be enough,” the prince continued, “True, but to throw you into a visible trap is something I can’t just ignore.”
Lianne, this time, clenched her fists in an attempt to restrain her anger. “What are you talking about?!”
“Stay here with me Lianne just for this night. I want to protect you from that man,” he said, looking sincerely concerned.
“The Duke?” she questioned. “Him of all people? Tell me how certain you are with your claim, or is this just one of your games again?”
Ruen then released a deep breath, feeling defeated by her stubbornness.
“Don’t say that I didn’t warn you.”
By those simple words, Lianne felt oddly alarmed. Her pride wanted out of their conversation, to leave the party and leave the prince, but her gut told her otherwise.
“Fine!” she finally said, “just for this night!”
If her intuition was right, then his proposition might be her salvation.
She knew already that joining the ball would yield undesirable consequences, and probably, this was one of them. Garlow might really have wicked plans in store for her, and that marriage with that old Duke was one possibility.
Ruen, satisfied by her decision, lightly kissed her forehead in a brief moment.
She was astonished by this gentle gesture, but she quickly dismissed it as an act.
“Good,” Ruen said, then went on to continue their slow dance.
He saw General Cain on the periphery of his vision, staring at them with not a single smile. Whatever displeased the princess on the balcony that time with the general definitely was an intriguing fact for him, but for now, what he needed to focus on was protecting her from the Duke.
“I can’t believe I am trusting you with this,” she concluded, feeling amazed by herself.
“You don’t know how much I am greatly honored, Lianne,” Ruen said in a calm manner, but his sardonic smile resurfaced when he expressed his observations earlier, “You seem to be affected by Lady Kathrine’s haughty actions that time, may I assume that you care for me?”
She was taken aback by the sudden change of topic, but she quickly shook her head in disagreement.
It was as if he was reading her thoughts! But, oh no! He wouldn’t, couldn’t, absolutely will not know of what she felt that time when that woman was present.
She replied, painstakingly hiding the tremble in her voice, “You seem to think highly of yourself, Your Highness.” Then, impulsively, she began to touch the fine lines of his jaw, and smoothly traced the back of his neck.
Ruen, in a heartbeat, straightened his shoulders in reaction to it.
She then wrapped her arms around his neck, tiptoeing in the process as she whispered on his ear, “Such a trivial thing to remember. Do you think I’d care when Lord Cain was there to accompany me?”
She didn’t understand what had gotten her to say that, but by just thinking about the woman, her nerves began to tense. She even surprised herself finding that she had such courage to put up an act like that on the prince.
However, Lianne was unaware of the magnitude of the effect she had on the prince upon saying such.
When she moved back, he seized her hand in a vice-like grip and then dragged her back to the royal table. He didn’t say another word after that and so did she.
‘It is better this way,’ she thought.
King Garlow was already observing the two upon returning to the table and when the Duke saw the princess, he wore such wide wicked smile that even Lianne didn’t fail to notice.
It gave her goosebumps in reaction but managed to sit still on her chair hoping at the back of her mind, that Ruen was wrong on his assumptions.
She saw General Cain again at the generals’ table, and her heart leaped for a moment realizing that he was looking at her way too.