The Devil's Betrothed novel Chapter 266

Chapter 266: No Limit To Possessiveness

Near the grazing table, Cian waved at Eliot, his guardian knight, gesturing to him that it was fine to have a sip or two of wine and to simply enjoy the occasion. Drinking a little liquor would not hurt. With the knights of three kingdoms stationed outside, not to mention the palace guards, there ought to be no issue about security.

When he returned to watch the performance, he happened to sit in the front row, his broad back partially blocking Arlan’s view from looking at Oriana.

Arlan frowned, "Why do you have to be an eyesore all the time?"

"Are you talking to me, Prince Arlan?"

"I don’t see anyone else."

"That’s my charm," Cian said, totally ignoring the meaning of Arlan’s words.

Arlan sighed and then Cian’s chair was suddenly pushed forward. Arlan had kicked the back of his chair.

Oriana, who was seating merely several chairs on the first row, caught the part of Cian almost falling off the chair. Arlan averted his gaze from her and looked the other way, while Drayce snickered at how his friend was acting like an immature brat.

Cian glanced at Arlan’s impish smirk. With a sigh, he simply stood up. "This chair seems to be broken."

He walked towards a certain direction—Oriana’s direction.

As Cian was about to sit on the empty chair next to Oriana, Arlan beat him to it.

The Crown Prince of Griven theatrically slumped down on the chair, his legs spread apart as if to mark his territory, a broad grin spreading across his face as he eyed the still standing Crown Prince of Abetha.

"The view from the second row is not good," Arlan said simply.

Oriana’s entire body stiffened, her senses all on high alert, the moment Arlan sat in the chair next to her. She peeked at him but his face held no particular expression, seemingly immersed in watching the performance ahead.

She inwardly frowned. ’Did he move here to get a better view of the lead dancer’s soft waist?’

Unknown to her, Arlan and Cian had a silent battle. Cian, who lost, shook his head in disbelief at Arlan’s childishness.

Cian sat next to Drayce on the second row instead.

"What do you want to talk about?" Drayce asked Cian.

Cian was not surprised. "Was I too obvious?"

"Isn’t that why you created trouble? To send Arlan away from me?"

"I could have sought you out after the banquet, but how can I miss the chance to mess with Prince Arlan?" Cian laughed.

"You’ve been having a lot of fun these days."

"Indeed," the prince agreed, before he deliberately lowered his voice. "What you asked me for last time, I got it."

"Enough?"

"More than enough?"

"Good. Hand it over to Slayer later."

After half an hour, Oriana had cleaned herself up and would be exchanging shifts with her fellow attendants. This time, she felt strange, feverish even, and her heart raced a little even before she could go to the prince’s chamber.

By the time she came to Arlan, as expected, he was already in his night robe and was ready to sleep.

She bowed to the prince who looked at her with a deep gaze, causing her to feel nervous. For reasons she could not explain, she felt things have changed between them.

Was it because he had been nice to her today? Was it because he apologized for that night?

Whatever the reason was, she didn’t know how to proceed or what to say to him.

"Are you going to stand there all night?"

Hearing his usual snark, Oriana felt relieved. ’Nothing changed between them, nothing happened between them.’ She immediately regained her usual composure as a servant and went to his side.

Oriana unfolded the neatly placed quilt and moved to cover Arlan with it. His gaze observed her each and every movement. It was nothing special, but Oriana felt flustered to be under his scrutiny.

Just as she adjusted the quilt till his chest, their gazes met. Oriana felt her heart skip a beat and she immediately stepped back, before pretending to fuss over the quilt and quickly finishing her work. For a moment, she panicked that he was going to pull her towards him.

She was not wrong. Arlan had that thought, and he was about to grab her and pull her to him, but her intuition was sharp and she was quick to react. Arlan felt both relieved and disappointed, and in the end, he merely closed his eyes.

It was not the right time. Yet.

’When the time comes, I won’t let you off anymore.’

After putting out the flames from the lamps, Oriana sat on the couch, watching the profile of the prince with the help of the moonlight streaming from the windows. Not long after, she let out a yawn. She had drunk alcohol at the banquet and not to forget how exhausted she was, so it didn’t take time for her to fall into a peaceful sleep.