Please be Patient, Grand Duke - Chapter 13.1

Claude spoke from the shadows, “You showered me with candy, and this was the best hiding space you could find?” His footsteps were silent on the thick carpet, and Lia could only see his face when he came close to her.

She stood up quickly holding the trousers in her hand. “It was a mistake. I apologize.” She was lucky it was dark, and she stepped back to put the trousers on and button her shirt up. However, she didn’t have time to put on the underwear she had placed on the back of the sofa.

“I heard you were unwell.” Claude stared at her with narrowed eyes, then sat on the teal sofa, and loosened his tie before unbuttoning the top button on his cotton shirt. He leaned back wearily and closed his eyes. Lia carefully walked to face him.

“I was resting because of indigestion.”

“But you can eat candy?” He said as he raised an eyebrow.

Lia’s lips pouted at Claude’s sarcastic tone, and the moonlight fell on his unfortunately handsome face. “The medicine was bitter, so I just grabbed a few.”

“You needed medicine?” Claude sat up and saw Lia grab something from the sofa and now she looked like she was searching for a place to escape to. “Canillian.”

Lia gulped at Claude calling her name. “Yes?”

He tapped the space next to him as he continued staring at her face. “Come here.”

Lia managed to refuse his offer when she saw where he was pointing, “I’ll listen from here.”

“I need to confirm something. So come here,” Claude almost demanded.

“What?”

He motioned to her to sit by him, but Lia didn’t want to hear what Claude had to say. He then placed his legs on the table when she didn’t budge and asked, “You see me as a villain?”

“That’s not…”

“Be careful of the crown prince,” he interrupted.

“Why?” Lia saw Claude’s frown as she looked up at him.

“He likes pretty things regardless of gender and class. So, just stay a good distance away from him.” Lia’s eyes fluttered in confusion, and Claude folded his arms and leaned back on the sofa. He took off his jacket and laid down as if he was going to take a nap. “Your voice still hasn’t gone through puberty.”

She cleared her throat as she rubbed it. Claude smirked, and when he laid down, Lia noticed for the first time how tall he was. He was at least two heads bigger than her. She remembered him saying that students had to get at least three uniforms a year because they got too small for them too quickly. Did boys grow up so fast? Unlike Claude, Wade had been pleasant without needing to do so, while Claude had been the one to annoy her.

“If the crown prince likes beautiful things, won’t you have to be careful too?” Lia asked.

“Why do you say that?”

“I have never seen a more beautiful person than you,” she said as she walked to the bathroom.

Claude’s eyes opened at those quiet words and stared at her as she walked away, but she turned around when she realized that she had forgotten the candles and had to come back. Claude could see by her movements that she felt embarrassed about forgetting what she’d wanted to take with her to the bathroom and he couldn’t contain his laughter.

Lia frowned as Claude covered his mouth as he laughed, and she saw that his face had mellowed out. “You know how to play me. Do you want me to follow you? You seem scared.” Claude looked her in the eyes and teased her.

Lia grabbed the candlestick and glared at him before going into the bathroom and locking the door. He had come just to tease her. She removed her shirt in front of a gold-edged mirror, and she saw how her skin had turned red from being tense and feeling embarrassed. Her eyes trembled as she thought her body was embarrassing, for reasons she couldn’t understand.

It was pitch dark now and Claude looked out of the window after turning his head from the bathroom door. The room smelled of candy and herbs. Once his eyes properly adjusted to the dark, he stood up and walked over to where Canillian’s jacket lay. Marilyn Shelby would barely fit in it, and it smelled of lavender, which he’d discovered was Canillian’s usual scent. The boy’s voice, face, and the scent made him feel uncomfortable, like seeing a puzzle put together with the wrong pieces. He let go of the jacket and left the room when he heard the water flowing in the bathroom.

“Fix the lamp in Sir Vale’s room and be careful,” Claude instructed the servant.

“Yes, Your Highness.” The servant bowed and went in to light all the lamps in the room, and Claude stood in the corridor to watch over the progress. Canillian walked out of the bathroom with a surprised look on her face when she saw the brightly lit room, and Claude could see water drops fall from his honey-blond hair.