"I know something is wrong. Spill it now!" She demanded with a shred of emotion in her cold stern stare. Huzey's response was simply a nonchalant shrug and so she felt the need to explain her sudden questioning further.
"For starters, this was the first time you asked someone else to bring me strawberry jam. You always bring them yourself. Second, just now, you avoided looking at me. Guilty are we? Lastly, you are painting this early. Both of us know you don't paint in the mornings, it only means you are so stressed out of something"
Huzey nonchalance turned into a mild shock. He knew somehow that he cannot hide something from her but did not expect she would find it sooner than what he originally wanted. He planned on delaying what he knew for days but it seemed that she caught him red handed.
"And I have a feeling that what's bothering you has something to do with me. Your eyes say it all, " She continued intently looking at him.
He stood in front of the canvas for a couple of minutes more thinking whether it was wise to tell her what he knew or not. He hoped that Ziggy was here, however that other best friend of his was still in the Capital attending some family affairs and so he was left alone with this dilemma.
"You know about the elite's business hierarchy, right?" Huzey started to disclose the details that were under wraps.
"Of course. The L'Empire and CGC rivalry for the top, The Montarini Mining Corporation, The Montreal International Winery Inc," She started to reel off their country's business aristocracy one by one. Being a student from Rivendell Academy, she was bound to know these all. Also, being close with the sons of two significant families, her knowledge of the elites was as plenty as the sands.
"The L'Empire, what do you know about their heir?" He continued and proceeded to abandon his paints and brushes to give her his full attention.
"The L'Empire's heir? The family that holds that company religiously practices patriarchy, so their male heir is very important to their lineage. I heard he is quite good. I doubt though that he is as good as Ziggy and you" She said with a little concern for the subject.
"How about the Lagdameo coach? What do you think of him?"
Xhemin certainly did not expect such a question. She tried to respond but when her lips parted, her voice got caught up in her throat. Huzey on the other hand locked his eyes on her, carefully observing her.
"Why asked anyway?"
"Why not answer the question?"
Xhemin signed. "Fine. I think he is good. Compared to you and Ziggy however, I think I would still say both you and Ziggy better than him when it comes to some things" She answered, shrugging.
"You like him?" He asked, his face slightly faltered.
"Well… uhmmm…." For some reason, Xhemin felt like her chest heaved and she wasn't breathing.
"Don't even try to lie…" He warned.
"I know…I know…It's just that conversations like this, feels awkward" She stated, a matter of fact. She pouted at him helplessly until all Huzey could do was sit beside her and ran a hand through her hair to push it back off her pretty face. "I don't like these questions,"
"The Lagdameo coach seems to be serious with you," He said in a deadpan tone, but his eyes flashed a worried look.
"Is that a bad thing?" Sensing Huzey's uneasiness, she knew something was off. Right then she didn't know if it was wise to continue asking questions or just stop entirely the conversation as she was getting a negative vibe from the way Huzey was acting.
"I'm afraid so…"
"But why?..."
For a few minutes, she waited for Huzey to answer. She was already dreading the next words he sure was going to say but she was dead curious altogether. For Huzey to somehow to suddenly bring up the topic and express sudden disapproval of it was so alarming but Xhemin patiently waited for his explanation.
"It's because L'Empire means Lagdameo Empire and the Lagdameo coach is their future emperor" He sighed just right after he spilled the whole truth to her. His voice was holding a tinge of fear—fear for Xhemin's own sake.
"Can't be true…." Xhemin mumbled as her fingers ran to her mouth pressing it. She could not believe the fact but Huzey was not the kind to lie. "He sure is not," She blurted, shaking her head in disbelief.
Huzey reached out for her hands and clasped them to his immediately as he saw her panic. He knew how she was feeling and he knew she would take these revelations to heart. He himself was troubled with this predicament since yesterday and was thinking not to tell her. However, how could he even hide this threatening truth to her?
"Xhem, yesterday at the memorial, he stood there and was introduced as the Lagdameo heir. Also, grandfather was certain that L'Empire and CGC are trying to marry off their heirs, " He told further. Since she already knew, better to lay everything off without missing a detail. "It is a good business strategy to gain more control to the country's business industry"
"So the beast intends to marry the CGC heir?" She repeated his words in a question form and when the intensity of the truth dawned on her, immediately her eyes welled up.
"Not him, his family probably. However, Ziggy challenged him and he ended up telling everyone he was dating someone else," He narrated, his hands still holding hers and was pressing harder to give her more support or more comfort.
"Why would Ziggy even do that?"
"Can't blame Ziggy. It's annoying to see him with another woman clutching on his arms. You know how Ziggy is protective of you" He tried to explain everything, without missing a bit. "However because of that everyone became curious about your identity"
Xhemin's eyebrows drew together at his recent revelation and her face contorted into something unreadable. It wasn't disappointment, it wasn't anger either. Her worry immediately shifted from the news of the Lagdameo's coach betrothal to her grandfather's security precaution's rules.
"Grandad's rules? Is there a possibility that this will reach grandad's knowledge?" She clung to Huzey this time as her worry intensified. "If he will know about this, about me and the Lagdameo heir, I'm afraid we will be in serious trouble. We might even move to some other place. He might even ask me to leave the Academy!"
Panic immediately filled Xhemin. The thought of what his grandad was going to do when he found out about the heap regarding her and the Lagdameo heir frightened her. Growing up, she had an understanding that if people knew about her existence as a granddaughter of the great doctor, it was going to be a huge mess. For the first time, that mess was coming to reality.
"Huzey what shall I do?" She begged him to tell her.
"Hush..hush..hush" Huzey grabbed her in his embrace when he saw how afraid she was. He pressed her hard to his chest and felt her trembling. It was rare for Xhemin to be afraid, she was always the brave one and so, seeing how she succumbed to panic at the possibility of her identity being known was really frustrating to see.
Xhemin grabbed the end to Huzey's shirt and felt his warmth. She felt suddenly vulnerable, but Huzey's heat somehow gave her some sense of protection.
"We'll think of something we can do when Ziggy is here" Huzey started comforting her as he held her in his arms. "We'll figure it out,"
Ziggy. Where was Ziggy by the way? She thought. But then something caught up in her mind as she was reminded of Ziggy.
"Huzey, didn't you mention Ziggy challenged the beast yesterday?" She withdrew her face that was buried in his chest and looked at him.
"Yes…." He answered, noticing her sudden change of concern. " Why?"
"They said L'Empire is ruthless. This was the reason why no one dares to mess up with them" She stated, trying to recall the things he heard about it. "God forbid! Do you think they will retaliate at Ziggy for meeting head on with the beast?"
Huzey looked Xhemin in a surprised look. He hadn't thought of the danger that enticed Ziggy's actions yesterday. But Xhemin was right, wasn't L Empire feared within the whole country because of that?
He was about to react to her question when suddenly someone came rushing through the door.
"Señiorito! Little Miss!" A maidservant came running inside as soon as Huzey permitted her entrance.
"What is it?" Huzey asked hurriedly.
"The Montreal's called. Youngest sire Ziggy was caught up in an accident!"
The news made Huzey and Xhemin freeze in their seats.