She hadn’t expected to see him there, looking so dazzling in his leather travel attire. His hair was tousled and fell over his eyes in a way that made her stomach churn. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

And his eyes... they were as intense as she remembered them.

They weren’t smiling - not that she had expected them to be... but there was no hint of malice there.

Claire shook her head.

Why was she acting like she hadn’t seen him for years and years?

They had spoken about two... or three days ago? How long ago was it? She wondered.

She started towards him, wondering if he had been waiting for her all the while.

Then out of nowhere, Garelle and her mother flocked around him and dragged him into the house.

She gritted her teeth.

They hadn’t seen her, but she felt slighted.

But it was probably for the best. It would only fuel more rumours if they fought in such a public place, after all. He was bound to bring up her murderous tendencies and how she couldn’t wait to throw herself into the arms of another man.

And yet she was planning to lie, to even beg for his forgiveness.

The two sides of her were torn between pleading with him and ignoring him.

Now that she let the woman go, there was no other way to prove that she hadn’t killed her child.

She had already picked her poison.

So she had to go through with what she planned.

After all, she didn’t know how long she had to live... it was better not to spend it holding grudges against him.

But had Aurora been right? Had she been spending time with her because Yeren wasn’t around anymore?

Because when she thought about it closely, she realized that most of her time in the castle had been spent either with him, thinking about him, dreaming about him... he was always hovering around everything she did.

And did her sister resent her for it? She had to wonder.

She had never questioned Aurora’s love for her before, why even start? She told herself.

Claire hadn’t realized that she had been standing outside, completely lost in thought until someone laid a hand on the small of her back.

"Claire!" She turned around to stare into Aldrich’s handsome face.

He looked so happy to see her that she felt guilty for not being excited in the least.

"Aldrich." She said and let him kiss her gloved hand.

"What a pleasure. I never thought you would be invited. Malrick was a very respected figure and the invitations were chosen carefully." He chuckled and added, "I didn’t expect to be invited either. I even saw Lord and Lady Rodick’s carriage as I passed by."

Claire managed a small smile. "I didn’t expect to be invited earlier. But my escort insisted that I be present. He said that I am a guest of honour."

Aldrich tilted his head. "Is that so? Maybe your beauty made an impression on the old man."

His comment made her laugh.

She swatted him playfully. "Stop saying such things, Aldrich."

He patted her nose playfully. "I wish I could stop asking you to be beautiful."

He held out his arm to her.

They received a few looks from the passing guests as they stood at the side of the aisle and conversed.

"I still feel like a Cupbearer." She whispered to him as they began to ascend the stairway that led to the open doorway.

A few people were conversing in the lobby. Among them was Lord Falstaff with his protruding belly and a woman who clung to his arm. She looked around his age so Claire assumed she must be his wife.

And further into the grand receiving room, she spotted the King talking with the two Lady Plumettes and some other Lords she didn’t know.

His gaze flicked up and met hers but she looked away quickly, babbling nonsense to Aldrich to keep up the pretense.

Aldrich followed her gaze and saw who she had been looking at.

"I should greet the King." Then he started walking towards the receiving room. "You should greet him as well."

She began to protest, but he was pulling her along faster than she could blurt any words.

People looked up from their conversations as she passed.

Some smiled at her, though their smiles never reached their eyes.

She could almost hear their thoughts - the peasant girl finally clawed her way back to fine society by getting rid of her uncle.

The last time she remembered being in such a circle, she had been engaged to marry a twelve year old boy.

Most people didn’t know the hidden story. They just assumed she had manoeuvred the King into giving her the dead man’s lands.

"Lady Stenly!" Someone from the cluster called out to her.

She stopped, prompting Aldrich to stop as well.

"Lord Bronan." The man came forward.

She had seen his face before... he was the same man who had stepped on her gown during the ball and had ripped it up to her knee.

"How pleasant to meet you again... as equals." There was a subtle undertone to his meaning, she realized.

Aldrich smiled at the man. It seemed they knew each other.

"I must applaud your talents... not many woman in your position can rise to where you have reached." And as he said the word ’talents’, he let his eyes roam up and down her body.

She felt herself stiffen to a log.

"I only wanted to wish you a good evening." Then he flashed her a devilishly charming smile and turned to speak to another guest on his right.

She clenched her fist in the folds of her dress and drew in a deep breath.

Claire had been so close to slapping the idiotic man across the face.

The only thing that stopped her was the fact that she was supposed to be in mourning.

But when she saw him again... if she saw him again... nothing would stop her.

"You look troubled." Aldrich said, as he continued to pull her along.

Didn’t he notice what just happened?

She shook her head. "I’m just overwhelmed." She lied.

Finally, he brought her before the formidable King.

Garelle was seated to his right. She stopped talking the moment she saw Claire.

Her mother’s eyes narrowed and her face drew up into a pinchy look that made her seem more hideous than she already was.

"Lady Stenly."

"Your Grace."

Garelle rose from her seat and came towards her. Then she shocked everybody by embracing her.

Even Claire was stunned.

"Your Grace." Aldrich greeted with a slight bow. Yeren nodded in acknowledgement without taking his eyes off her.

She turned to Aldrich and tugged his arm. "We’ve greeted him, so shall we?"

Before she could turn away, Yeren reached out and held the necklace she wore on her neck.

She suddenly felt very foolish for having worn it.

But her foolishness vanished into thin air when she saw the way his eyes darkened.