Chereads / The Alpin Princess / Chapter 2 - Valencia

Chapter 2 - Valencia

Li Chen noticed the young man calling out to her but he didn't stop to see what he wanted instead he walked to his side of the car and took his seat. Once inside he looked at his cousin. 

"Should we wait for him?" Li Chen asked since the young man was heading towards the car. 

"If you don't start the car and leave now, I will never talk with you again." Valencia said to her cousin, Li Chen chuckled as he started the car and backed out from the driveway. The two of them sit in the car without saying a word to each other since Li Chen did not wish to make her upset, instead, he waited until they were on their way back from the hospital. 

"So?" Li Chen asked her and she sighed

"It's the same as before." Valencia said to him but he chuckled

"That is not what I meant, I meant to ask who he was. The one from this morning." Li Chen said to her and she nodded

"Right. He is Excalibur, my betrothed." Valencia said to him and he nodded, Valencia had talked to him about this person before. Valencia likes the young man but Valencia has said that he showed no interest in her yet from what Li Chen could see the young man was also interested in her as well. 

"Are you sure that he has no interest in you?" Li Chen asked her and she sighed

"As much as I do not want to admit it, he has no interest in me." Valencia said to her cousin and he nodded. 

The two of them changed the subject and made small talk on the way back to her house, once the two arrived Excalibur was waiting in front of the house. He stood up as soon as he saw the car approaching the driveway.

"It seems he was waiting for you." Li Chen said to her and she sighs

"If anyone asked, we went to the campus together." Valencia said to her cousin as she unbuckled herself and exited the car. Once he noticed her coming out, Excalibur rushed to her side.

"Where did you go? What took you so long? Who is he?" Excalibur asked her but Valencia said nothing to him as she walked on, the other man walked behind her, 

"I took her to campus and my name is Li Chen." Li Chen answered her but Excalibur showed no interest in him, he continued to walk after Valencia. 

"Ah, you're back." Shu Ling said to her as Valencia walked into the house and she nodded.

"A'Chen is here. He will stay for dinner." Valencia said to Shu Ling and she nodded

"WHY?!" Excalibur asked and this time he took hold of Valencia's hand, he clenched onto her hand hard. 

"Let go. You're hurting me." Valencia demanded from him but Excalibur didn't let go of her hand.

"Why does he have to eat here?" Excalibur asked her, Li Chen got in between them and freed her hand from Excalibur's hand.

"Did you not hear Val, she said that you were hurting her." Li Chen said to him and Excalibur glared at him.

"Val?" Excalibur knew that that name was for her family members to use only, even he hasn't called her Val, jealousy boiled inside him. 

"I can eat here any day, this is my house after all." Li Chen said to Excalibur and Serena came down.

"A'Chen?" Serena called out to him and Li Chen smile 

"Good day to you serena." Li Chen said and she nodded

"Here for dinner?" Serena asked him and Li Chen nodded

The three ladies seem so used to this man, he looks especially close to Valencia and it bothers Excalibur since she has always seemed so reserved whenever she's with him. 

"What do you mean this is his house?" Excalibur asked 

"It means just that, Val didn't have a place to stay so I gave her this place." Li Chen said to Excalibur 

"I want to rest in my room, Misty, Clare." Valencia called out to the two maids

"Yes?" the two answered and came over to her 

"Prepare it and bring it to my room. A'Chen let's go, I'm feeling quite tired." Valencia said to them and Li Chen nodded as he wrapped his arms around Valencia and took her back to her room. Once they were gone, Excalibur turned to her friends.

"Did you both know that this was his house?" Excalibur asked them and the two looked at each other and nodded 

"Angle was living here all alone when school started, once the three of us got close enough she invited us to come stay with her if we wanted to." Serena said to him 

"That's right, the first day that we came here A'Chen was here to help us move. I also heard that Misty and Clare were assigned to Angle, so that they can look after her but they work for A'Chen's family." Shu Ling said to him and Excalibur clenched his jaw.

This man has been by her side for the past three years, he was allowed into her room and spent so many days with Valencia that even Excalibur was not allowed to have. Jealous but he knew that there was nothing he could do, but he wasn't going to let Valencia go just like that. Even if her heart didn't belong to him, he wanted at least her body to belong to him. 

"Are you sure that your hand is fine?" Li Chen asked her as she lay in bed and she sighs, Valencia hated when they all worried about every little thing but she reassured her cousin that she was fine.

"Fine. Fine. How are you feeling about dinner? Are you hungry?" Li Chen asked her and she shook her head 

"But I will eat a little since I will have to take my medication." Valencia said to him and he smiled as he patted her head 

"Good girl. Rest your eyes for a while." Li Chen said to her and she closed her eyes as her cousin suggested.

Close to 5 pm, the two maids came out from her room and started making dinner but Excalibur's rage burned inside him; thinking of all the things that Li Chen was doing to Valencia in there. 

"Why is Valencia not out here?" Excalibur asked the two maids

"Her Highness is resting, master Chen said that she seemed tired." Clare said to him and he nodded

"Then I shall go get her for dinner." Excalibur said as he was about to head over to her room but was stopped

"There's no need to go, Master Chen is with her and has said that he will wake her up once dinner is ready." Misty said to him, angry, he stomped off to his room. 

It was 7pm when Misty knocked on Valencia's room while Clare was sent to get the others for dinner. 

"Master, the dinner is ready." Misty said to him once he opened the door and Li Chen nodded

"What about what I told you to do?" Li Chen asked her and she smiles 

"It is done, I've added it to her food." Misty said to him and he nodded as he headed over to wake Valencia up. 

"Val. Val, it's time for dinner." Li Chen said to her and she slowly open her eyes and looked up at him

"I must've been more tired than I thought." Valencia said to him and he smiled at her

"That is no worries, it's time to get up and go to dinner." Li Chen said to her and she slowly sat up in her bed. Valencia got out of bed with the help of her cousin and the two headed out of her room and headed down to dinner. 

"Oh, there were two more people I didn't get to meet." Li Chen said to them as they arrived at the dining room. 

"Greeting and who might you be? The princess's boyfriend?" one of them said and Li Chen laughed as he pulled a chair for Valencia to sit down. 

"Oh, no. I am not her boyfriend, I am much closer to her than a boyfriend could ever be. My name is Li Chen and who might you both be?" Li Chen asked them 

"This is my brother, King" Serena said and Li Chen shook his hand

"My name is Ming Xu, a friend of King and Excalibur." Ming Xu said to him and he nodded as he took a seat next to Valencia 

"And what are you all doing here?" Li Chen asked 

"Right. Brother, you haven't mentioned a word about what you and your friends are doing here." Serena said to her brother as dinner was being served

"...Oh...I didn't say anything about it?" King asked her and she nodded

"You did not." Serena said to her brother

"I..Um...I came on behalf of our mother." King said and she looked at him shocked 

"Mother? How has she been?" Serena asked him and he looked back at her nervously

"Mo-Mother has been well." King said to Serena

"Well out with it, what does mother want?" Serena asked her brother as she started to eat her food, they were having steak with vegetables and mashed potatoes. 

"I think that this topic is best that we talk about this tomorrow." King said to his sister and she sighed as she nodded

"Sure, I don't want anything to upset my appetite." Serena said to her brother and continued on with her dinner but then she noticed Valencia's dinner. 

"How come you're not having the same as we have?" Serena asked Valencia 

"Oh, I have the maids make her something light." Li Chen answered instead of Valencia 

"What if she wanted meat as well? Bring her a slice of steak as well." Excalibur said to the two maids but Li Chen refused 

"She will have just this." Li Chen said to Excalibur and Excalibur slammed his hand on the table 

"This is fine with me." Valencia said as she took another sip of her soup

"Your Highness, I have also made you a light dessert as well." Clare said to her as she handed her a little tarte and Valencia smiled brightly at her cousin. 

"Oh, thank you." Valencia said to Clare as she took the tarte and she finished her soup soon enough. 

"Is there also dessert for us?" Shu Ling asked and the two maids smile, as they passed out pie for them. Excalibur noticed right away that Valencia was not offered a slice even though her tarte was so little. 

"Here, have this." Excalibur said as he cut her a slice but Valencia handed the slice to Li Chen 

"Thank you for the thought, but Val is not allowed to have any more sweets." Li Chen said to Excalibur. 

"She is a princess! Let her have what she wants!" Excalibur said to Li Chen but Valencia got up from her chair 

"That is enough! You know nothing about me, A'Chen have only my best interest at heart unlike you." Valencia said to Excalibur and went back to her room