?

　　“Princess.”

　　His voice caused me to quickly twirl around to look at him. “Rodrick!” I called out enthusiastically, hoping that would distract him from my surprise of seeing him here.

　　After Anne had informed me everything about the Night Show, I found myself curious to experience it myself and by doing so, I would also be spending time with Cassian which ultimately was killing two birds with one stone.

　　Hence, after dinner, I had planned to sneak out and meet with Cassian by the stables as he mentioned earlier but unfortunately for me, Rodrick caught me lurking around at the dead of night. He glanced down at my clothes, where I wore what I would usually wear during training, a plain blouse and a pair of trousers. Naturally, I was also wearing my cloak to hide my identity when we were in public.

　　“What are you doing? Why are you dressed like that?” he asked, brows knitted tightly.

　　“Um…I was about to go to a late night training session.” I pathetically lied, blurting out the first thing that came to mind.?

　　Rodrick examined my expression. “You are lying.”

　　“I was about to leave the palace with the Duke.” I immediately came clean, not wanting to continue lying to him now since he was clearly not believing in my poor attempts to lie to him.

　　“Princess, how many times do I have to tell you that you should avoid being alone with these alphas?” he said, sounding more disappointed than mad.

　　“Gideon told me to build a good relationship with them since I am to marry them soon.” I tried to explain my reasoning but Rodrick shook his head.

　　“I understand that but you could have at least told me. I want to be there to protect you at all costs.”

　　I then remembered that he was there with us when Augustus and I were at the bookstore but due to his incredible skill to stay hidden under the shadows, I had not even realised he was with us until I saw him on his horse riding next to the carriage on the way back. I could not even make any more excuses since Rodrick was right. I need all the protection I can get whenever I’m going to be alone with these unpredictable men.

　　“But you are off duty now, aren’t you?” I asked.

　　“I am your personal guard before I am a member of the royal guard, princess. I go wherever you want me to go.”

　　“Then…would you like to come with me and Cassian to the Midnight Pavilion?” I beamed. “Ah, hidden from Cassian’s sight of course.” I added quickly.

　　Rodrick bowed. “Yes, princess.” He said.

　　I turned around to continue my journey to the stables and out of curiosity I glanced over my shoulder where Rodrick was nowhere to be seen. I took a mental note to make him teach me how he moves so fast and so quietly.

　　When I reached the stables, Cassian was already there tightening his saddle onto his horse. I had given my future husbands their very own mounts in guise of it being a token of my appreciation but honestly I only did it so Cassian would stop stealing the horses that belonged to Lady Marie’s children. If they ever find out that he had been ‘borrowing’ them for his late night adventures then I would not hear the end of it.

　　I purposefully nudged a rock with my feet, the soft thuds it made was enough to announce my arrival to Cassian who turned to look at me. He donned a similar attire as me, a simple shirt and dark trousers paired with a dark cloak. He smiled when our gazes met.

　　“I am surprised that you are actually here.” He said. “Maybe you have fallen for my charms after all?”

　　“If you are going to say strange things like that then I think I should return to my room.” I sighed, turning my body to leave.

　　“Fine, fine, I will stop joking around.” He quickly admitted, he then tugged onto the straps of the saddle and secured it onto his horse, a beautiful brown stallion with its dark mane braided in lovely knots.

　　“How are you liking your horse, Duke?”

　　“Oh yes, I never got the chance to thank you for your generous gift.” He said. I stayed silent instead of displaying my displeasure over the fact that he was not the only one who did not thank me. Cassian affectionately stroked the horse’s smooth fur. “I named it Cordell, after you.”

　　“You named a horse after me?” I asked, dumbfounded. I was not sure if he did this as a compliment or as a mockery.

　　“Yup. Naturally, if this was a mare I would’ve named it Cordelia. But alas, isn’t he just the cutest?” He beamed happily and yet I could not share his joy nor felt touched by his gesture in the slightest. He was openly mocking me at this point but before I could make a big deal out of this, Cassian was quick to change the topic. “I was thinking that it would be easier if we travelled on Cordell together.”

　　“I would prefer to ride my own horse,”

　　“Are you afraid that I will drop you?” he asked teasingly.

　　“No.” I huffed as I walked past him to get to the stable where my horse was but I stopped when Cassian took hold of my cloak and prevented me from moving. I glared at him, hoping that it would be enough for him to let go but he completely ignored me.

　　“Oh, let me guess, you are afraid that people are going to talk? We are engaged are we not? Is it not common for us to share skinship once in a while?”

　　“What are you talking about? Why would I ride with you when I have a perfectly healthy horse for myself?”

　　“Aren’t dates supposed to be romantic?”

　　“You and I clearly have different outlooks on what dates are.” I argued.

　　Cassian rolled his eyes at me before tugging harshly onto my cloak until I stumbled backwards. He effortlessly picked me up by my waist and hoisted me onto the horse. Before I could react or even get off the horse, Cassian was quick to get on the horse behind me. His hands reached over my body for the reins at the front which caused his fingers to brush against my thighs.

　　I snapped my head back to him and glared. “Cassian.” I warned, ignoring the fact that our faces were close to each other the moment I turned around to look at him.

　　“Hey, don’t look at me like that. It was an accident.” He sulked, which only made me want to hit him even more.

　　“If you are going to force me to ride on the same horse as you-” I started but he was quick to interrupt me.

　　“The horse’s name is Cordell.” He corrected me with an innocent smile. Cordell neighed under us. “See? He likes the name.”

　　“…I changed my mind.” I said as I regained my rationality. “Let’s postpone this date. I don’t think I can survive the night without striking you.”

　　Cassian laughed. “You are truly adorable when you are honest, princess.” He said as he commanded Cordell to move.

　　*

　　We arrived at town fairly quickly due to Cassian’s reckless riding. I found myself unconsciously grabbing onto his hands and the reins to stop him from going too fast and by the way he was laughing, he was clearly doing it just to get a reaction from me. We quickly wore our hoods up when we noticed the first signs of people around.

　　Cassian was busy talking about something irrelevant whereas I was more intrigued over the crowd that was forming nearby. Upon further inspection, I noticed a large tent at a distance where the crowd of people were clearly heading towards.

　　“Is that it? The Midnight Pavilion?” I asked Cassian only to realise that I might have sounded a little too enthusiastic.

　　Cassian leaned forward to get a better look of what I was pointing at. I tried my best to ignore the feeling of his chest pressed up against my back. “Ah, yes. That large tent is where we are heading to.”

　　“I’ve never been to a magic show before...” I uttered absentmindedly.

　　“Are you nervous?” he asked in a whisper into my ear. I felt a shiver run down my spine.

　　“Why would I be?”

　　“I suppose the better question would be, do you believe in magic, princess?”

　　“Isn’t it just illusions and sleight of hand?”

　　“Leave it to you to have such a boring outlook on something as brilliant as magic.” He sighed.

　　“Leave it to you to believe in something so childish.” I muttered under my breath but obviously Cassian heard me since we were particularly pressed up against each other.

　　“Your words wound me, princess.” He whispered. I could feel his lips against my ear and at that point I was truly thankful that I had my hood on because he would have been able to see how flushed my cheeks were from his thoughtless action. This man was going to be the death of me.