[What was that!?]
Elira snapped her head to look at the origin of the sound as Miren and Alenya followed suit. A shabby-looking man was on the ground, pinned by a much taller man. The man on the ground bore a knife as he struggled against the grip. Elira raised her hands to her mouth, covering it softly as she backed away, but the tall man suddenly grabbed the knife, throwing it to the side as he delivered a jab to the other man's neck, knocking him unconscious.
"Ugh... a commoner beggar came in here?" Miren whispered. "He dared to attack Lady Serenya Calwyne, too. He should have known better, for a commoner at least."
"Lady Serenya is lucky to have Sir Aric," Alenya muttered.
"Sir Aric?" Elira softly gasped.
"Oh yeah, I remember reading in a paper that you two were engaged! Is that still true, Elira? You must be such a happy girl." Alenya smiled at Elira.
"Um..." Elira paused as she tried to answer the question.
"Alenya... Don't you know? It's not safe for her at all. The two houses have been rivals ever since the death of the previous Duke and Duchess Veylen. Apparently, it was caused by House Dreyos! The very same House Dreyos that Sir Aric Dreyos is from!" Miren whispered to Alenya before turning her gaze back to Elira.
Elira, however, had not been paying attention at all to their gossip. She was entranced. Entranced by the tall man with slightly bronzed skin, dark brown hair, and storm gray eyes. The man whose broad shoulders and extremely well-defined physique required a personal tailor to design suits just for him, that only he could wear, even if nobles got personal tailors anyway.
"That man... that's Sir Aric?" Elira asked as the other two stared at her blankly.
"Of course... You don't know what your fiancé looks like or something?" Alenya asked.
"Alenya..." The two quickly shut up, as Elira's gaze returned back to the man, who was now helping up a dazzling girl who had fallen from the shock of the commoner.
"Look at them, so protective over Serenya..." Alenya whispered.
[That stunning woman... is Serenya Calwyne? She has such pretty golden hair... Maybe my mother would have looked similar to her... I wonder if my fiancé knows how I look... I hope he likes me... I like him...]
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Upon returning home, Elira was stripped of her gown and put back into peasant clothes. She was rushed off to her room, where she flopped on her bed.
[So that's how my fiancé looks like... He was so brave, too! The way he took down that criminal! Those eyes too! They looked so hot... He's like the prince in those stories!]
She kicked her feet back on the stiff metal bed.
[I wonder if he'll protect me like that some day...]
She smiled to herself, unaware of how flushed her face was from thinking about Aric.
[Maybe he'll protect me the way he protected that girl... And look at me the way he looked at her... I wonder why he looked at her like that...]
She frowned momentarily, her legs ceasing to move.
[It's ok. I like him. He'll like me back too! I know there's some history between our families... but it's not like I did anything to hurt him, right?]
She stared up at the ceiling, clutching the hem of her peasant dress.
[I really want him to like me too... why do I feel this way? Because we're engaged?]
The door lock clicked as it opened, and Elira flung her body forward, looking up to see who was about to enter.