"E-Excuse me??"
"I saved you from a very dangerous situation. How are you going to repay my kindness, princess?" asked the duke in a very innocent manner, his face void of any ill intentions or malice.
Elisabeth, still confused, scrutinized the duke's overall appearance. He doesn't seem like someone who would hurt her, and he seems extremely gentle and calm right now, contrarily to his scary aura some time ago in the garden. But she was still wary of him nevertheless.
"What would his grace, the Duke of Krams, want from a humble princess like myself as repayment?" she opened her mouth carefully and asked with suspicious eyes. The man standing before her is a playboy. He is famous for his multiple relationships with different women. So famous that even she, when she was still living as a commoner, had heard about it. What would such a man want from her?
"Your last dance should suffice." Hearing his answer, Elisabeth's brows crooked up.
"L-Last dance?! That's it, a dance?" asked Elisabeth with a twisted brow, taken aback. She had expected him to ask for something...more...
"If you have something else in mind, then I will gladly accept." he teased, stifling a laugh. His eyes shone with amusement looking at her flushed cheeks and averted gaze, a reaction she always had when caught red-handed.
'My god, your head went too far, Bethy.' she scolded herself inwardly for her inappropriate thoughts.
David's amused gaze soon became a serious one and he gulped lightly. His eyes focused on how she kept chewing on her bottom lip in embarrassment, and he licked his own lips unconsciously.
'What a trouble.' he instantly regretted asking her for the last dance. If he got seduced with just that simple, unconscious act of hers, how much self-control will he need to survive the dance?
He was still trying to extinguish the burning desire to just grab her head and smash his lips on hers, when she suddenly lifted her gaze up and their eyes met.
"Fine, I'll grant you the last dance." said Elisabeth with a coquettish look.
"My honour." replied David, took her hand in his and kissed the back of it. They then walked to the dance floor. When the music started, Elisabeth's face became distorted.
"What is it?"
"I-I don't know this dance." she answered, embarrassment and worry evident on her face. It would be very embarrassing if she made a mistake while dancing, since it is one of the very basics in nobility' etiquette.
"Your body will know the steps." reassured David with a small smile. He took a few steps back and stood at an arm length. He extended his right arm toward her with an opened palm. She put her hand in his and they started to dance.
It was a folkloric dance from the south, graceful and amusing. And to Elisabeth's surprise, she didn't seem like she doesn't know the dance. She even found it enjoyable. When the duke said her body would know the steps, she thought the dance' steps would be easy, but it isn't. It was so complicated and full of swaying and swirling that one would fall or make a mistake if not practiced enough. But she didn't.
Elisabeth's eyes widened when the distance between her and the duke disappeared. They were now swaying with glued bodies that she could even feel his breath above her ear.
"W-What are you doing"
"Dallasian Dance." he replied, matter-of-factly.
Only at the duke's answer did she notice how the music has changed to a slow and calm one. Their bodies were so close that she couldn't stop her face from flashing red. She cursed the dallasians for giving her such a hard time by creating an intimate dance like this.
"I was surprised when I heard you are attending." said the duke, breaking her out of her thoughts.
"What, can't I attend?" she bit her tongue for slipping and uttering such rude words. But she couldn't help it. She tends to be stubborn, rude, or inexplicably coquettish when feeling embarrassed.
"I don't have the authority to forbid you, though I would very much like to." He said in a low and alluring voice that made Elisabeth's red face even redder.
"W-What d-do you__"
"Are you alright now? Your head doesn't hurt anymore, does it?" he cut off.
"O, y-yes. It-It doesn't. " she replied, a little surprised of the sudden mention of her well being.
"No dizziness, nausea, or any discomfort of any kind?" he asked again, like a doctor making sure his patient has fully recovered.
"N-No, nothing of the like."
"That's good then." he said with a relieved smile. Seeing his current expression, Elisabeth thought it would be very easy for the duke to charm and seduce any woman he had an eye on. Even she, who thought she wasn't an easy-to-swing woman, had a thumbing heart.
With that and without any other exchange of words between the two, the last dance of the ball, which was a mix of many traditional dances from multiple regions, came to an end.
It was one in the morning and both Elisabeth and the duke were tired. They walked out of the main palace and towards the princess's courtyard through the garden.
"A-Actually, I have some questions that I would like to ask if you don't mind, your grace." said Elisabeth, breaking the silence with a little low but warm voice.
"Questions?"
"Yes. It is about the incident from earlier in the evening. What was that?" she asked with a worried look
"I am not sure how to describe it."
"Is it an illness? A curse?" her eyes full of worry.
David mused about how to answer for a moment. Saying that it isn't an illness nor a curse won't be wrong, but it will only make Elise more worried than she already is. She was forced to face something unknown to her, and he knows very well how scary it is to have something happening with you without knowing what it is or how to deal with it.
"We have arrived to your courtyard, your highness."
"You are changing the subject. Is it that bad?" asked Elisabeth, seeing right through him.
"It will take a long time to explain, and it is already past one in the morning."
"Then, can we talk about it sometime later?" she asked with pleading eyes. David pondered for a moment. His days weren't relaxing lately and he couldn't sleep for a couple of nights now. And by the looks of it, it will become even busier in the coming days. But looking at her spellbinding eyes, he thought it would be alright to have another sleepless night.
"Then I will visit you sometime before noon tomorrow. Is that okay?"
"Of course! Thank you so much." She replied happily. When he didn't reply quickly, she thought he would definitely refuse. But when he said he would visit her, she felt quite relieved and grateful that he didn't reject her. That she will have a chance to know and deal with those fits of headache.
David's heart began to race again looking at her bright face, like a full moon in a starless night. Only then did he know how foolish he was for thinking that he could rein his rapturous, turbulent desire.
The next second, he imprisoned her full small lips with his own thin ones, taking the wide eyed Elisabeth into a feverish kiss.