The Inured Villainess

Chapter 14

The day of the auction finally came to be. My neatly designed piece of art was displayed on the assigned tables for the crowd to see.

Though the auction is anonymous, the pieces' creator is revealed at the end. This eliminates as much basis as possible.

As I scanned through the other pieces, I realized that I was right. Most of them were embroidered shawls or handkerchiefs.

Though they weren't bad, they didn't seem to stand out. What did stand out is a stone craved statue of a lion. It was well done, the detail could be seen clearly.

"This one is so cool." Alastair gawks at the statue. "But Mother's piece is far better."

I lean towards him and whisper, "That's supposed to be a secret."

"Oops." He quickly covers him mouth.

I chuckle before gazing around the large street. Different stalls lined the street, with food, artworks, and other festival items.

Kyrell replied to my letter saying that he will come but a little later. He need to sort out some business.

So I decided to enjoy my time with Alastair while I can.

"How about we go try out some foods? I heard that there are some delicious crepes we could try." I suggest, holding Alastair's hand as I lead him down the street.

Though we have cloaks on it is still too dangerous to be out here by ourselves. So I brought two knights with us in order to blend in and have protection.

After picking out some crepes and chicken kabobs, we enjoyed them on a bench near a large fountain where the street opened up.

"You seem to be enjoying yourselves." A deep voice says approaching us.

"Father!" Alastair exclaims as he spots the tall man in a cloak of his own.

"You came." I state, smiling up at him. I pat the seat to my right, scooting to give him some space.

His body is larger than I expected because he took about half the bench. Our thighs touched side by side but I didn't pay it any mind.

"Did you get to look around before I came here?" He glances at our crepes as he speaks.

"We did, we even got you a crepe to enjoy yourself." I hand him the second crepe in my hand.

He stares at it for a second.

"It's really good, Father. The cream is my favorite part." Alastair adds, leaning forward in his seat to look at Kyrell.

At his words, Kyrell takes a bite, a bit of powdered sugar coating the edge of his lip.

I hoped I could resist but I couldn't.

"Your Majesty, excuse me for a moment." I reach the napkin up to his handsome face, wiping the evidence that the powder ever stained him.

He just stared at my action, per usual, not taking any mind to it.

Why did I just do that? The shock finally hits me. I could have just told him. I quickly look back down at my crepe as if it's the first time I've seen one.

"Call me Kyrell. Titles will only get us caught." He turns his head away so I can't see him.

"Okay, then you can call me Estella," I say, bringing myself back to the conversation.

I think I'm getting somewhere.

"It's good." He turns his head back, complimenting the crepe.

It seems that only thing he can say is 'it's good'. Does he have no other vocabulary? How is Alastair supposed to learn from him?