Free Web NovelChapter 220: A Request
Chapter 219: A Request
Lucian was quiet for a long moment.
The silence stretched between them, filled only by the distant murmur of the palace beyond the music room walls. Sunlight continued to stream through the tall windows, casting long golden patterns across the polished floor. Dust motes drifted lazily in the warm light, undisturbed by the stillness that had settled over the room.
Lyria waited, her amber eyes fixed upon his face, watching him with that quiet patience he had come to recognise as uniquely hers.
Lucian exhaled then.
"I apologise," he said at last. "That was not how I intended matters to proceed."
Her expression did not change.
"I was irritated," he continued. "There were no refreshments at all. Not in the garden, nor here. It seemed... deliberate."
He paused briefly, gathering his thoughts.
"And I wished to spend more time with you."
Her brows lifted slightly, though she said nothing.
"We have scarcely spoken for some time now," he said. "The dancing occupied most of the morning. I wished to simply... enjoy your company. Without counting steps. Without instruction."
He looked at her directly then.
"I also wished for you to have something to eat before you departed. I could not very well allow you to leave on an empty stomach. It would have been... unconscionable."
Lyria tilted her head slightly.
"Why do y-you believe I have n-not eaten anything?" she asked.
Lucian raised one brow.
"When we first met in the garden," he said, "you were so lost in thought that you did not hear me calling your name. You walked directly past me without noticing my presence at all. You neither saw nor heard me. Your mind was entirely elsewhere."
He paused.
"I very much doubt you had eaten prior to that. A person who has properly broken their fast does not wander through a garden looking as though they have forgotten where they are."
Her lips twitched faintly at that, as though a smile threatened to emerge.
"And besides," he added, his voice softening somewhat, "you are terribly thin. You deserve to have a little more weight upon you."
Her lips twitched again.
It was not quite a smile, though it came very close.
"Perhaps n-next time," she said, "you should c-consult me first."
Lucian inclined his head at once.
"I am n-not a piece of furniture," she continued. "I would not appreciate p-people making d-decisions for me when I am perfectly c-capable of making them myself."
He nodded quietly.
"I understand," he said. "You are correct. I should have asked."
Another silence followed.
This one was different, softer and less charged.
The tension that had gathered between them after his confrontation with the maids had faded, replaced instead by something quieter and more comfortable.
Lucian watched her for a moment, studying her face in the pale midday light. The scar beside her eye was barely visible beneath the cosmetics the maids had applied earlier.
She looked like a princess.
She looked nothing like one at all.
She simply looked like Lyria.
He cleared his throat lightly.
"Are you angry," he asked, "that I gave my poem to Jacinta to read?"
Lyria blinked.
The question appeared to surprise her. Her brows drew together slightly, and she tilted her head as though considering whether she had heard him correctly.
"No," she said at last. "I am n-not."
He studied her expression carefully.
"You are certain?"
"I am c-certain."
He nodded slowly.
"I understood what the Queen intended," he said, "when she announced that the poems should be distributed amongst the Moon candidates for reading."
"It was never truly about the reading itself," he continued. "It was about the message such an action conveyed. By giving my poem to Jacinta, I communicated that she was the true Moon candidate. That you were secondary. That was the Queen’s intention."
He paused briefly.
"Because of me, you received only four poems to read. The remainder were given to Jacinta. It demonstrated that most candidates regard her as the true Moon. That they favour her. That, in their minds, they have already made their choice."
Lyria chuckled softly.
"I d-do not care about that," she said.
Lucian’s brows drew together slightly.
"You do not?"
"No."
She shook her head faintly.
"I know what the royal family was attempting to do. It was n-not merely that they wished to see me fail. They wished to remind everyone of my place. They wished to ensure that no one forgot it."
She paused.
"But I a-also understand that you are related to the royal family. If you openly showed support for me, they would likely be displeased. They would be angry with you."
Lucian said nothing.
Because she was correct.
He wished he were stronger.
He wished he did not care what the royal family thought.
He wished he could stand beside her openly, without fear, without calculation, without weighing every word against the danger it might carry.
But he could not. freeweɓnøvel.com
One wrong move, and it would not be his head upon the chopping block.
It would be hers.
The Queen would be furious if she believed Lyria was receiving his attention. She would interpret it as manipulation—as Lyria seducing him, turning him against the family, using feminine charms to corrupt the loyalty of the Queen’s own nephew.
And she would punish Lyria for it.
He could not permit that to happen.
So he had to remain careful. He had to measure every word, every gesture, every glance. He had to give Jacinta his poem. He had to appear neutral. He had to protect Lyria by pretending not to favour her.
It was exhausting.
But he would do it.
He would do whatever was necessary to keep her safe.
He cleared his throat softly.
"What did you think of my poem?" he asked.
Lyria’s expression softened immediately.
"It was g-good," she said. "You d-deserve to be among the top three."
He chuckled quietly.
"That is kind of you to say."
"It is the t-truth."
A faint smile appeared upon his lips.
Then her eyes brightened suddenly.
It was only a small change. A subtle shift. Yet it transformed her expression entirely. The amber of her eyes seemed warmer somehow, more vivid, as though a light had kindled quietly behind them.
"Perhaps," she said slowly, "you c-can help me with s-something?"
Lucian’s heart quickened at once.
He sat up straighter in his chair, his full attention fixed entirely upon her.
