Free Web NovelChapter 151: Chapter 151
As the luncheon came to an end, one by one, the women began to rise, offering polite farewells and promises of future visits.
Circe did the same, but as she glanced around, she spotted Ansel wandering idly near the garden’s edge. His talk with Gracil was over and he seemed to be waiting for his mother to finish her goodbyes.
Circe remembered her last conversation with Ansel before Ragnar had come in and interrupted them, right before she had gotten the chance to make her true intentions known.
Ansel had all Circe needed, a ship and a way out of Lamora. But the first time she broached this topic with him, he hadn’t understood what she was truly asking.
She needed to use a firmer approach now, one that wouldn’t eventually land her into trouble.
Just as she was done saying her goodbyes, she gently and quietly slipped away, looking like she was just heading back to the carriage.
Ragnar’s guards had stayed a good distance away throughout the entire meal that Circe had even forgotten their presence entirely, but the moment she made to move away from the group of women, they shifted off their spots to trail after her.
Worried that they might overhear something they shouldn’t, Circe turned to them sharply and shot each of them an icy glare that was capable of freezing a man to the bone.
As cutting as her glares were, they had never quite worked on Ragnar, and she doubted that they would work on his guards. She nearly groaned in frustration at the thought.
The guards wouldn’t stop her from going to him, but if she was going to speak to Ansel about the matters that truly mattered, she would have to be quick and keep her wording vague so the guards wouldn’t report her back to Ragnar for conspiring to escape.
She wished she had something to write with; then she could just leave Ansel a note of all she wanted to say.
She could write him a letter when she got back to the estate, but she didn’t trust Casilo or anyone else not to go through the contents of the letter and use it as an excuse to revoke even more freedoms from her.
Ansel bowed to her when she reached him, and when he straightened back up, Circe noticed that the tips of his ears were now tinged pink.
"Your Highness," he greeted, and the surprise was clear in his voice. He hadn’t expected her to approach him. "How may I help you?"
He looked a bit flustered as she continued appraising him, just as he had been the last time they spoke.
"I have always wondered, when someone wanted to permanently hide away, what kingdoms do they consider?" she asked flatly. Her face was completely serious. She still watched him closely for every shift in his expression. If he felt uncomfortable under her scrutiny, he didn’t comment on it.
Ansel seemed to consider her question for a moment.
"There are a few inhabited islands I know of that are located further west, about two weeks away by ship. Why do you ask?" he said.
"Have you been there yourself?" she asked, skillfully ignoring his question.
But she had to wonder if an unknown island she had never heard of before was much better than Lamora, where attempt after attempt was being made on her life? A place where she and her brother had no real freedom of their own.
All the liberties they had now were at the behest of someone else, and there was always the possibility of it all being taken away at the drop of a hat.
Circe handled those circumstances just fine now, but she wasn’t sure if that would still be the case a year or two from now. In everything she was doing, she had to put Rowen first. What kind of future would he have here in Lamora?
"A few times, yes. It’s a very beautiful place, Your Highness," Ansel replied. "Forgive me, but why the sudden interest?"
Circe’s patience frayed. Was he truly this oblivious, or simply pretending? Circe thought bitterly. Surely this couldn’t be the first time a woman was propositioning him to help her travel out of the kingdom. This was a fairly common practice back in Westeria. freewebnσvel.cѳm
Would she really have to spell it out for him first?
"I would like to go there one day, perhaps even on your next voyage." There, she had laid it all out for him, and she didn’t miss the look of shock that unfurled on his face when he began slowly piecing it all together.
His mouth fell open. "Your Highness, I... I can’t—"
Can’t or won’t? Circe wondered darkly.
"Your Highness, is something the matter?"
Circe turned and found Nieah standing only a few feet away. She flashed her a smile then raised her hand to give her a polite wave.
"I will just be a moment longer, then we can leave," Circe called back to Nieah before refocusing on Ansel, who was now watching her with an unfamiliar expression.
"Think on it from now till when next you plan on setting sail again. But before you make any decisions, know that what you choose will determine the course of my life henceforth," she said, keeping her voice low enough to keep anyone else from hearing.
Ansel’s brows furrowed with confusion.
"I would be directly going against Prince Ragnar if I do," Ansel said, making sure to pitch his voice as low as she had. His throat bobbed before he continued, tone softening with concern. "Is your life still in danger?"
But before Circe could answer, Mina interrupted them by walking over.
"Why do you two look so serious?" Mina asked, her smile still in place as she looked from her cousin Ansel to Circe and back.
"Ansel was just regaling me with tales from his recent voyage," Circe answered smoothly, and just like that, she knew that her chance to convince Ansel was well and truly gone.
