Reign furrowed her eyebrows.
"Why?" She questioned with a frown.
"Because it's inviting unwanted insects" Reign looked around her in search of any insect but saw none. What the hell was he talking about?
"I don't normally like revealing clothes but I thought this would impress you" He chuckled.
"You do not need to impress me, Isabella. We are getting married either way and it's not like I don't like it, I do" Then he moved closer to whisper in her ear.
"But you can only wear revealing clothes when we are alone" Reign's eyes widened. Was he flirting with her?
Before she could say anything, he turned around and walked away.
"Come Isabella, our tea won't drink itself" She walked faster to catch up to him but his legs were way longer than hers and the gown wasn't helping matters.
Ares was already seated by the time she got to the courtyard. She immediately took her seat then turned to stare at him.
"You didn't wear your mask today?" He raised an eyebrow.
"Well I wanted to give you the chance to stare at a god. It's not everyday that happens" Reign rolled her eyes at his narcissism but she was happy that he wasn't as cold to her as he was yesterday.
"Well now that I see you up close, you are pretty average," She joked. Of course he was still extremely handsome but she didn't want to feed his ego.
He chuckled.
"Who knew you could tell jokes? I heard you are very stuck up and only talk to people in your class" Reign frowned. She had forgotten for a second that she was Isabella at the moment.
"Oh not anymore though, I was just like that because…. Because that was how I was raised" He suddenly narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
"For a girl of your caliber, why were you at the market?" Reign suddenly choked on her spit and began coughing furiously.
Ares jumped up from his seat and patted her back gently.
"Are you okay?" His tone was so soft that Reign had to look at him. With a snap of his fingers the maid handed him a golden Mazer filled with water.
"Here, have a drink" Reign eyed the water suspiciously.
"Isn't it polluted?" Ares rolled his eyes.
"You're choking and the first thing you ask is if it's polluted? This is the castle, of course the water is treated" Reign took the Mazer from his hand and immediately gulped it down while Ares walked back to his seat.
"When I was younger, I almost died from drinking water so I might have a phobia for it" Ares chuckled.
"Well you don't have to worry about that here, you might die from something else but I can assure you it won't be water" Reign gasped which made Ares chuckle.
"I'm just joking" Reign smiled then immediately stood up to pour tea from him and herself before sitting back down.
"Hmm, I didn't expect you to do that," Reign smiled.
"Well, I'm full of surprises" She took a sip of the tea and immediately spat it out.
"What is in this?" Ares suddenly burst out laughing till he couldn't breath.
"Oh my God, I don't remember laughing this hard. Fiance? Didn't you go to school?" Reign pursed her lips. She never went to school because Linda and Isabella won't allow it.
"Erm…."
"It's an aroma tea, you're not supposed to drink it, you just sniff it. It is highly bitter" He raised his mazer and took a sniff before dropping it back down. Reign furrowed her eyebrows.
"What is the need for that?" Ares raised an eyebrow.
"It calms the nerves and exfoliates you from the inside. It makes me relax so I thought I'd do the same for you. Take a sniff" Reign nodded then raised up the mazer and took a sniff. Her eyes immediately brightened.
"Hmmm I've never smelt something like that before. It smells like a bunch of flowers, it's so nice" She was about to take another sniff when Ares stopped her.
"You can only take a sniff at a time, Fiance, unless you'll get brain damage" Reign eyes suddenly turned wide. She immediately dropped the Mazer and Ares bursted out laughing.
"Gosh, you're so gullible" Reign frowned.
"Will you stop laughing at me?" He shook his head.
"Nope" She couldn't help but giggle when he wiped away a non-existent tear from his eyes.
"You know what, when I heard I was betrothed to you, I had my friend do a little background check on you and the things he told me are the exact opposite of the things I'm seeing right now. Are you acting, Isabella?" Reign shook her head truthfully. She knew how vile Isabella was to outsiders especially those that were of lower class and she knew she was supposed to act like Isabella but how long would she keep that up? If she wanted to achieve her goals then she needed to act like herself.
"Those were just baseless rumors. You won't believe the rumors I've heard about you" He tilted his head at her.
"And who said they were rumors?" They stared at each other for a while till she smiled.
"Maybe it's just my intuition but you act nothing like a Tyrant" He chuckled.
"I hope you don't eat those words later" Reign was about to say something when a voice spoke behind Ares.
"Oh? Your fiance arrived and you didn't bother to introduce her to me and your father?" Reign immediately noticed how Ares' attitude changed and his Aura turned cold. He folded his arms and kept a stoic Expression on his face.
"I didn't think it was any of your concern" The woman clicked her tongue.
"That's not the way to talk to your mother…"
"You are not my mother and you'll never be" His voice was so cold that Reign felt a chill up her spine and it seemed the woman did too. The woman took a deep breath then turned to Reign.
"It's nice to finally meet you, Isabella. I heard you arrived yesterday but we were all so busy that we couldn't give you a warm welcome. Do not worry, you'll get to meet everyone at dinner tonight, okay?" Reign was about to stand up and bow to the woman when Ares stopped her.
"You don't have to do that, Isabella. Diana was just leaving, right?" He turned to Diana and when she saw the look in his eyes, she gulped then immediately cleared her throat. She smiled at Reign before walking away.
"Word of advice, Isabella. No one here is your friend, this castle is a dark place. The sooner you know who your enemies are, the better".....