Chapter 5
In the end, he bowed his head and forced out the word in a hoarse voice, "Princess."
……Princess.
We locked eyes, neither of us saying a word.
A strange, indescribable awkwardness filled the air.
Oliver finally broke the silence.
"What are you looking at? Hurry up and take Olivia back already," Oliver said.
"I really don't want to deal with your family mess anymore. It's such a headache."
Oliver waved his hand impatiently, like he was shooing away a fly.
Mike finally snapped out of it.
He walked up to me, still keeping his head down, not daring to meet my eyes.
"Princess, I... I'll take you back to the Princess Manor," he said.
His voice was still heavy with emotion, a bit nasal.
Looking at him like this, my heart melted a little, but I couldn't help feeling amused,' Olivia thought.
Who would've guessed that the all-powerful Mr. Smith, who makes the whole court tremble, would turn into such a sad puppy behind closed doors?
I didn't say a word, just nodded.
He followed quietly behind me, keeping a few steps back.
We left the palace and got into the same carriage as before.
Just the two of us again.
But the vibe inside the carriage was totally different from before.
The icy distance was gone.
Instead, there was a heated tension in the air that left me feeling nervous and completely out of sorts.
I sat on the soft seat, and I could totally feel how his breathing next to me was quick and all over the place.
He looked really nervous.
So nervous he had no clue where to put his hands.
I turned my head and stole a glance at him.
He was sitting ramrod straight, eyes forward, looking like a model gentleman who wouldn't dare look anywhere he shouldn't.
But the flush on his ears and the way he gripped the edge of his sleeve betrayed just how nervous he was inside.
Out of nowhere, I realized it might be pretty entertaining to tease him a bit.
With a mischievous glint in my eye, I cleared my throat and called out, "Mr. Smith."
"Mr. Smith," I said, my voice playful.
He stiffened, then jerked his head around to look at me.
"I'm here," he answered, his voice calm as ever.
"Just so you know, I heard every word you said in the library," I said, making sure he got the message.
I made sure to say it slow and clear, so he couldn't possibly miss it.
His face went bright red, the flush spreading from his ears all the way down to his neck.
His beautiful eyes were full of shame and hopelessness.
He looked like a clam with its shell ripped off, showing its softest insides, completely at my mercy.
His lips moved, but it took him a long moment before he finally managed to force out a full sentence.
"Princess, I... behaved improperly," Mike said, his voice trembling.
"Improper? That's hardly the half of it," Olivia replied, imitating his usual tone. "You were criticizing the Princess right in front of Oliver. That's an even bigger offense."
His face went ghostly pale in an instant.
With a loud thud, Mike nearly slid right off his seat, about to kneel in front of me.
"I deserve a thousand deaths for my crime!" he blurted out.
I grabbed his arm before he could actually kneel.
"Enough, you don't have to kneel every time," Olivia said.
My fingertips touched his arm beneath his robe.
It was burning hot and firm.
He shuddered as if he'd been scorched, instinctively jerking back.
But I held on tighter, not letting him go.
"Mike," I said, looking him straight in the eye, my tone serious. "Were all those things you said really true?"
"That I'm like the moon in the sky—something you could never touch?"
"That you're scared I'd push you away?"
"And that you've been jealous for eight whole years?"
With every word I spoke, his face got paler and paler.
By the end, he was almost hiding his face in his chest, unable to look at me.
The carriage was wrapped in a heavy silence, like all the sound had been sucked out of the air.
The only thing you could hear was the wheels turning and our breathing—mine calm, his ragged and uneven.
Time dragged on.
At last, I heard him reply, his voice so quiet it was barely a whisper.
"Mm."
In that moment, all the pain, all the resentment, all the bitterness I'd carried for seven years—
It all just melted away with that single, soft "mm."
All that remained was a heart aching with tenderness.
I couldn't help but ache for this idiot who loved me to the very depths, yet never dared to say a word.
The carriage rolled slowly back to the Prince Manor.
The butler and the servants were already waiting at the gate. When they saw us get off the carriage, one after the other, they looked genuinely shocked.
They probably hadn't expected me—after making such a fuss about going back to the Princess Manor—to show up again so soon.
And what really caught them off guard was that I came back with Mr. Smith.
Mike stayed silent the whole way, keeping his head down the whole time.
He looked just like a schoolboy who'd messed up, waiting for his tutor to hand out punishment.
I paid no mind to the prying stares from the servants and walked straight toward our quarters.
He followed closely behind me, matching my every step.
Once we were inside the bedroom, I asked Emma and the others to step out.
Then I closed the door and turned to face him.
He was still standing three steps away from me, looking nervous and out of place.
"Mike Smith," I called softly.
He looked up, his eyes a little dazed.
"Come here," I said, beckoning him over.
I waved him over.
He hesitated for a second, then slowly made his way to stand in front of me.
I pulled him over to the bed and pushed him gently down by the shoulders, making him sit.
He froze up, his whole body taut like a drawn bowstring.
I could practically feel the nerves radiating off him.
He was way more nervous than any time we'd ever been alone before.
I sat down across from him, quietly watching him.