That majestic chamber seemed twice the size as mine. Its less decorated grey coloured walls emitted a gloomy aura. I underwent a sense of horror just by looking at the simple, tidy interior design of that room. This room suited Edward's cold personality.
Victor rigidly walked towards Flora who was cleaning the mess Edward had caused a moment ago. He looked at me once before he squatted next to her with one knee on the ground. He imitated Flora and picked up a few pieces of broken porcelain.
Because of the sudden interruption, Flora got startled and looked up at the person who was helping her. "Victor?" she dubiously called his name. "What are you doing here?"
"I was just passing by and saw you needed some help," he said.
Flora averted her gaze to the ground. She bit her lip in embarrassment as she continued to look at the ground. "Thank you," she said. Victor faintly smiled.
I was closely observing the two of them. I was initially happy to see a positive reaction from Flora. Soon, when I saw his smile, I couldn't be happy anymore. I thought it was because I felt bad for Flora. I frowned as I continued to look at them.
Victor carelessly lifted his head and looked at me with a frown too. I was standing behind the door and peeping at them. If Flora discovered me there, it could cause doubt. So I frowned even further and mouthed "help her!".
"I'm helping her!" he mouthed back with fiery eyes.
"Focus there!" I pointed to Flora with my index finger. He shook his head and averted his gaze away back to the ground with glass pieces.
"Shhh" I heard Flora's cry. When I looked I saw her finger bleeding. A broken glass piece must have cut her finger.
"What happened?" Victor asked as he grabbed her injured hand. He looked worried.
"I...I have accidentally cut..." she stammered.
Victor immediately took a piece of cloth from his pocket and tied her injured finger with it. This looked exactly like a scene from the book. As someone who gets injuries often, he naturally carries these clothes with him. In the book, wherever Flora gets injured, Victor always tied one of these clothes around her hand. This time was no different. He was so focused on her hand and tied a knot carefully and tenderly without hurting her.
Once he finished treating her wound, she looked up and smiled "Thank you, Victor" she said. When this scene which I have read a few times was played in front of me, I felt a sense of insecurity out of nowhere. Maybe I didn't want to intervene in their privacy, I started walking back alone to my palace without informing Victor.
When I almost reached the stairs, Victor had already caught up with me. "What's wrong?"
"Ah?" I was taken aback by this sudden question. I was not happy indeed. But how did he know?
In the meantime, Victor tilted his head as if he is dubious of me. So I immediately recalled what he asked and replied.
"Nothing!" I shook my head and denied it.
"..." he nodded raising his eyebrows.
"This is enough for today. Let's just go back" I said since I was already feeling exhausted and started walking back to my palace. But nothing went in the way we wanted. When we reached the royal garden area which is situated in between the princess's and crown prince's palace, I saw Edward there. To my concern, he was not alone there.
Evelyn was there, sitting next to him talking. I could say Edward is already pissed off by her blabber. Even though she continued. That moment, I realized that even if I break off Ed's and Flora's relationship, Evelyn will still not be able to make Ed fall in love with that nasty personality of hers. I once peeked at the guy who was standing right next to me.
'His nasty personality is a match for hers,' I thought. This thought brought a wide smile to my face. I couldn't help but chuckle.
"Her Highness seems so happy?" I was brought back to reality by a new voice. I turned to see who this new entry was. When I confronted the owner of the voice, I couldn't help but curse.
It was none other than that pervert James. He was standing a few feet away from me with a lewd expression and drowsy eyes. I could say he was drunk just with a glance.
"You look so pretty when you smile like that" he continued adding to my agitation.
I didn't like hearing these words coming out of his mouth. I frowned.
"Evelyn didn't lie when she said that you've grown up into a beautiful woman" That womanizer's ogle had already left my face when he said these lines. I was not feeling comfortable anymore standing in front of him. Just in time, Victor blocked his gaze and stood in front of me.
That pervert titled his head and asked "Who are you?" in a slightly raised dubious voice at Victor. After that, he slightly hesitated to speak for some reason.
Victor's fiery eyes can normally scare away people. If he is to look at someone with an angry look in his eyes, it can easily make the person in front shut his mouth too. I lifted my head and glanced at the side of Victor's face. He looked like he'll kill James if he let out another word from his mouth. James too looked like he had already received the warning those eyes conveyed.
But, this was not good for Victor. In this palace, if ever Victor was going to go against this pervert, no one will support him since Victor was an imperial guard but this lecher was a guest. I grabbed Victor's sleeve and pulled them twice. "Let's go!" I mumbled.
"You don't need to. It's your palace," Victor responded to me with a frown. Then his fiery eyes drifted back to the lecher. I could see the hostility in James eyes which was looking at Victor this time.
"Who in the hell are you?" James asked looking at Victor. Since Victor didn't bother to answer the question, his drowsy eyes drifted in my direction once again. "Who is he?" he asked as he tried to see me passing Victor with an ugly expression. "Why is he tagging along with you?"
I hid well behind Victor since I hated the way he looked at me and didn't want to go through that again.
"Don't you dare look at her again!" Victor stepped forward this time. Not only James but even I was also surprised by the way he sounded. Even though he was trying to protect me then, James was a guest and a prince from a neighbouring country, not to mention he was my finance too. I started to panic since Victor looked like he'll hit James anytime. I grabbed his sleeve again to calm him down.
"Victor!" I called his name in a small voice.
"Do you know who I am?" James stepped forward.
"Why? Did you forget?" Victor replied. This time I had to try hard to stop my lips from curling.
"I'm a future king!"
"Not mine!" came the immediate reply. James looked helpless and pathetic in front of witty my bodyguard.
"I'm the prince of Letresh!"
"I don't care which trash you are coming from!"
"Are you aware she is my fiance?" James stepped even closer. Victor didn't even flinch.
"I'm her guard"
"So, you can stop me from talking to my fiancee?"
"I must protect her from lecherous men," said Victor.
"Whom did you call lecherous?"
"Who else could it be?"
"Victor, that's enough!" I tried to stop him from going forward and dragged him with my might. Thankfully Edward and Evelyn didn't get to see this. So I dragged Victor away from that pervert and went inside my palace.
"How long will you be able to protect her? She is going to marry me anyway. I will look at her however I want then" said James.
That moment I heard Victor's knuckle cracking. When I looked down, I saw his knuckles turning white.
"Victor, please. Calm down."
When I looked up I could see his forehead veins popping.
"You can't hit him here. He is my fiance," I said. Now Victor's fiery eyes looked at me. It was not like any other time before. I could see the amount of anger he was harbouring behind those glistening red eyes. This was exactly as described in the novel. His look gave me chills. I just let him go in fear.
I just tried to explain the fact, but he must have assumed that I'm taking James side on this. He took two steps back and looked at James who was standing far away, then looked at me. Suddenly he turned and started to walk away in the opposite direction.