"You do not have to tell me if you do not want to, but I hope you know that I think of you as a friend, and I hope that one day, you could think of me as one as well." Lady Aefre's soft voice soothed him with her honesty, saying exactly what he needed to hear.
Adrien took a deep breath, chiding himself for being such a coward.
"What do you think about hi-Prince Mikyle? I-I mean about the way he publicly outed himself during the last biannual ball?" Adrien asked as a way to feel out Lady Aefre's opinion on what was a delicate topic among nobles.
The two of them were still standing near the entrance of the library, slowly moving away from it. He kept an eye out on Prince Mikyle while he awaited Lady Aefre's answer.
Lady Aefre stopped in her movements and turned to stare at him. Her eyes were as calm as the vast sea as she contemplated her answer. "I find him very brave for using himself as a motivation for change. The views he holds are very popular among the common people and by voicing his opinion on the matter so publicly, he is essentially ushering in a change on how the younger nobles view these matters." Lady Aefre turned her face away from Adrien and peered at Prince Mikyle, who was currently packing up his belongings in a bid to leave. "Personally, I find nothing wrong with him or the gender of his lover."
"What about-"
"Ah, Little Kitten!"
Adrien nearly jumped out of his hide, not to mention nearly biting his tongue. We shouldn't have stood in the same place! The prince had spotted them in the short time that Adrien had taken his attention off of him.
Prince Mikyle walked up to them, his joy palpable even if he wasn't smiling. "Hello, Lady Ceciles. May I steal your companion for a moment? I have something to discuss with him and I only have a few minutes available until my next class."
"Oh?" Lady Aefre frowned, staring between the two of them. She looked as if she wanted to reject Prince Mikyle which became noticeable when she tried to adjust her position until she was standing in front of Adrien.
"It's fine." I might as well hear what he has to say. But please don't be another confession! I don't think I'll be able to reject him if he keeps spouting those kinds of lines with that handsome face of his! I really am like Seo-ah! The horror hit him once again when he realized how similar he was to his second-eldest sister.
Prince Mikyle's lips curved up into a smile, making Adrien's heart flutter. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea.
Lady Aefre cast a concerned glance in Adrien's direction before heading off to give the two of them some privacy.
"What did you want to talk about?" Adrien asked, putting his guard up.
Prince Mikyle's smile fell away and his expression softened. "I wanted to apologize. I got ahead of myself and confessed to you without asking your opinion." Prince Mikyle rubbed the back of his head in a manner that seemed unbefitting of him. "I actually wasn't planning on confessing so soon. I was hoping on getting to know you first."
What? Adrien felt a sudden burst of different emotions at this sudden development. He wasn't expecting this from the uncaring and overconfident prince.
"If you do not mind, I would like to be given a chance to get close to you. We can start out as friends if you want. I just hope that my sudden confession yesterday didn't scare you off or ruin your opinion of me."
"May I ask you something?" Prince Mikyle nodded, gesturing for Adrien to ask his question. "Were you serious when you confessed to me, or is this something you do on a regular basis?"
Wait! That wasn't what I wanted to ask! But I am curious about the answer!
"I am completely serious about you," Prince Mikyle answered immediately. "I would never joke about something like this, nor am I the philanderer you are making me out to be."
"How can you doubt such a handsome face?" Seo-yeon's voice floated to the surface of his mind. It was something she had said quite often every time Seo-jun had caught Ha-joon cheating at cards.
"Why are you, a modern boy, making such a big deal out of it." Seo-ah's voice was the next to chide him. "He apologized, so jump him already."
Adrien fought off the blush that wanted to appear at Seo-ah's very life-like answer. Even with them being worlds apart, it still felt like his sisters were right next to him.
But they are right. He's extremely handsome, better than most of the idols and actors from my previous world. He also sincerely apologized for forcing his confession onto me. I've also freed up some of my time by doing well on the assessment tests, and I've slowly stepped into the world as an artist. I don't even know why I'm thinking so hard about this.
So what if the rest of the nobles find out my preference? That should just lighten up any marriage proposals that I might receive, and since Mikyle is a prince, wouldn't that guarantee that any gifts that he might give me will be worth some money? I can experience what it feels like dating someone handsome while stockpiling up money-I mean gifts.
Wow. Does this make me a hypocrite? I was willing to refuse him just yesterday.
"I just wanted to let you know that I didn't mean to pressure you into anything. Well, I need to get going."
"I'll do it," the words slipped out before Adrien fully realized he was voicing them out loud.
Prince Mikyle stopped from where he was getting ready to leave. He turned puzzled red eyes onto him. "You'll do what?"
"I'll go on that date with you this weekend."
Mikyle's eyes sparkled like jewels out in the sunlight and a beautiful smile graced his lips. "I feel like I should have apologized sooner if I knew it would have a positive effect." He leaned down, bringing his lips closer to Adrien's ear. "I'll inform my Little Kitten of the venue once I have it figured out." He straightened up and cold air instantly assaulted Adrien's warm ear. "I'll see you later, Kitten."
Did I just make a mistake?!
Adrien stood dumbly in the same spot for a few minutes, feeling as if he had made a mistake in accepting that playboy of a prince. There was no way that he wasn't a playboy, not with the way he said such embarrassing words with that much confidence and a straight face.
Adrien slowly made his way to where Lady Aefre was sitting, his face still red from the effect that Mikyle's proximity had on him. He sat down at the table and slammed his head down onto it, startling Lady Aefre.
"Is everything all right?" Her startled voice sounded close as she leaned over to check on him.
Adrien turned his face over, facing Lady Aefre. "I think I just made a mistake."
Lady Aefre's mouth and eyes widened into circles. She seemed to have guessed what he meant by his words and still red face. "Well. . . Prince Mikyle does not have any unsavory rumors floating around about him, nor has he ever openly dated anyone, according to my sister. He's also set to inherit the Williams Marquisate. And, umm. . . He's undeniably good-looking?"
Adrien found his face puckering in confusion at Lady Aefre's uncharacteristic rambling. "What's with the rambling?"
Lady Aefre sighed, looking defeated. "I was trying to say that he is perfect husband material. It isn't against the law for nobles to marry someone of the same sex. Commoners do it all the time."