Chapter 151
I rushed to get ready and dragged Helios out with me.
“You’re awfully eager,” he said.
“I am. I’m dying to know.”
“Hm. But now I don’t want to go. Rienna’s enjoying this too much.”
“…What?”
“Kama’s dear friend — he’s a guy.”
“And what does that have to do with anything?”
I couldn’t for the life of me follow the way his mind worked. I stopped walking and stared at him. He caught up in a few long strides and tousled my hair without warning.
“You really have no clue, huh?”
“Me?”
Coming from someone who had survived purely on reading the room, I found that a little insulting.
“Well, then. Guess I’ll just have to spell it out for you.”
“Please do. Honestly. Stop being cryptic and just say it. What is your problem?”
“Who said I had a problem? I’m jealous.”
Wait. What did I just hear?
Helios gave me a slow grin and messed up my hair again, clearly enjoying himself.
“Your Highness!”
I started fixing my hair with both hands, but by then, he was already walking ahead. Those long legs moved much faster than mine. When he finally turned back to look at me, he waved, like I was the one who had fallen behind.
“Hurry up. Or should I leave you behind?”
That bright, carefree smile didn’t suit a man who had just admitted to being jealous.
Was that him teasing me just now?
Which meant I still had no idea what he really meant.
***
The carriage we were taking wasn’t waiting at the front gates of the crown prince’s palace, but the back.
“This isn’t your usual carriage, is it?”
It was small. Shabby. Old. Now that I looked closer, Helios wasn’t dressed like himself either. Not a single emblem marked him as the crown prince. Just a plain shirt, vest, and trousers. Simple to the point of suspicion.
He was still unfairly good-looking, though.
“I wanted to keep this low-key. Why? You prefer a parade? Should I get you a golden carriage instead?”
From pitch-black to blinding gold — was there really no in-between?
I stared at the thing that looked like it would rattle apart the second it moved and sighed. I didn’t want to ride it, not really. But something told me he had a reason for picking this one.
“No, I like it. It’s rustic.”
“What a shame. I was about to flaunt my wealth a little.”
Helios said it in that way of his — half-joking, half-serious — and offered his arm to escort me.
The moment I stepped into the carriage, I froze in surprise.
Despite the battered exterior, the inside was every bit as luxurious and comfortable as the ones he usually used. Well, half of it was.
“Have a seat, Rienna.”
“It’s completely different on the inside.”
“Of course it is. You think I’d let you ride in just anything?”
He made it sound like he’d had the carriage remodeled just for me. Which couldn’t possibly be true. Right?
“But I ran out of time, so I couldn’t get all the cushions installed.”
Only one side of the carriage had been transformed into a sofa. The other half was just a plain wooden bench.
“You’re still recovering, so naturally, you get the soft seat. But I grew up spoiled too, you know. I can’t sit on something hard.”
He gave me a sidelong glance, then flashed a smile so charming it should’ve been illegal.
“It’s a bit cramped, though, so I guess we’ll have to sit nice and close, right?”
As if he’d planned it from the start, Helios settled by the window and casually pulled me in beside him.
Just like he said, the space was so tight our thighs were completely pressed together. And that wasn’t all.
His broad shoulders took up half the seat, leaving me wedged between him and the carriage wall with no room to move.
“Uncomfortable, Rienna?”
Why even ask when he already knew the answer?
I shot him a glare.
“There is a way for us to ride more comfortably, you know.”
“Don’t tell me you expect me to sit on that hard little bench?”
I pointed to the wooden seat across from us. Helios shook his head without a moment’s hesitation.
“How could I possibly make you sit over there?”
“Then are you going to move?”
“I already told you. I was raised delicately. I can’t sit on something like that.”
Raised delicately? Sure. Born delicate, maybe. Raised, period? Not so much.
I didn’t say what was on my mind right away. It would be like picking at Helios’s wounds.
“Well then, guess we’re stuck like this. Let’s just go.”
“No can do. I can’t bear to see you uncomfortable.”
Was he seriously messing with me right now? What exactly was I supposed to do with that?
I didn’t want to snap at Helios, but his way of speaking — playful, vague, impossibly smug — was starting to get under my skin.
“What do you want me to do, Your Highness?”
“You could always sit on my lap. Recharge a little on the way.”
Helios winked.
I should have been put off by the flirtation, but instead, my heart picked that exact moment to betray me. And that wink—how did it come off so suggestive when it was technically innocent?
So this is the power of good looks, huh.
The world was unfair. I could shout “down with lookism!” all I wanted, but in the end, wasn’t I just another hopeless sucker for a pretty face?
