30 I still like you best

There was nothing but silence in the room.

That is if one doesn't account the tick-tock rhythm of the grandpa clock hanging on the wall.

Silence followed.

'Tik-tok, Tik-tok, Tik-tok....'

Even more silence followed.

'Tik-tok, Tik-tok, Tik-tok.....'

"Miss Vancroft." Quince finally broke the silence.

"Yes Master Quince?" She asked, batting her eyelashes as she gazed at him with an expectant look in her eyes.

Quince swallowed the biting words at the tip of his tongue when he saw that look directed at him. She looked so innocent like a little girl waiting for her Christmas gift. He couldn't bear to burst her bubble.

He cleared his throat before simply saying, "Take it how you like."

Queen chuckled softly at his reply. She understood perfectly well what he meant but she simply couldn't resist teasing him.

'But...it's still remarkable that he remained faithful to a fiancée he doesn't know all these years...but then again, she had always been the type.' Queen mused.

Even though the appearance changed and everything is different now, Queen still knew whom he was deep down.

"So you mean to say, you had no lover all these years?" Queen said in her usual teasing tone.

"None." Quince confirmed.

"Not even a teeny tiny crush?" Queen asked, "Surely some girl took a liking to you and tried to pursue you."

"None." Quince had the same reply.

"Oh how unlike me." Queen said as she reminisced about her high school and college years, trying to fend those suitors away.

They were like flies! She felt so creeped out being pursued boys, considering the fact that she used to be one herself; She mainly surrounded herself with cute innocent girls.

As for Quince, truth was, she couldn't believe that no one pursued him. After all her cat was too adorable to be left alone. No matter, she'll definitely find out about it in the future.

"I beg your pardon?" Quince almost growled the sentence out. He felt a white hot rage and jealousy burning in his heart. It was bloody irrational! Especially when he just told her that jealousy is a petty emotion! Yet he couldn't seem to stop it.

Thinking about her with someone else, even if it was something that happened long ago, made him lose his sanity more than he thought he ever could. As if his heart would fall apart. Not to mention the anger and possessiveness that surged out of nowhere.

"Hmm what?" Queen asked as she blinked, startled by his tone.

"It is surprising that you would do that as you have a fiancé." Quince pushed the irrational anger down his chest before saying chillingly. He had a dark expression on his face as his imaginations went wild.

"Hmm well, I didn't really know that I had a fiancé." Queen shrugged, "I only found out about it some time ago."

And what's this nonsense about doing something?

"Oh you didn't know, did you?" Quince drawled the sentence out. His words exuded a hidden sort of danger that left Queen feeling extremely confused. 'What's wrong with this cat now?'

"Well, it is eye opening how the Vancrofts educated their heir." Quince said with the usual non expression on his face.

Queen thought back to his sentence and finally understood his words.

"Educated? Are you insulting the Vancrofts for not telling me that I had a fiancé? For wanting me to have the freedom to choose to do what I want and date whom I pleased?" Queen asked, disbelief coloring her tone.

After all, he was born in a privileged family too. He knew how tiring and pressuring it was to carry the burden of expectations from people around you. Especially from someone you love.

Queen still remembered how Luna ran to him, crying about how she hated being royalty and used all sort of tricks to persuade him into kidnapping her in order to escape the castle.

'I wish I did.' Queen smiled sadly when she thought of that. Then maybe...

Quince wanted to kick himself for saying absurd things due to his illogical jealousy. She didn't know that she was betrothed to him. He couldn't blame her for dating someone else,even though he hated it to the depth of his bones.

If it wasn't family tradition that his parents insisted on, he would have ignored it as well. He knew he needed to apologize to her. "Forgive me Miss Vancroft, I did not mean to belittle nor insult your family and you." He said in a sincere tone.

Queen glared furiously at him before calming down after she heard his apology. She looked at him then.She knew Quince was rational and wouldn't say such things for no reason.

Since he was being unreasonable then that means he was being controlled by his emotions. If he were being controlled by his emotions then.....could it be?

"Master Quince...if I remember correctly, someone said, and I quote, 'jealousy is a petty and useless emotion.' Could it be that the great Master Quince is feeling that emotion?" Queen grinned as she drawled those words.

She stalked slowly towards his direction while her eyes flashed a knowing glint. She looked at him with gentle eyes as if she were watching a small little creature.

"Miss Vancroft you..." Quince wasn't sure what he wanted to say. But before he could, he felt her warm finger on his lips.

"Shhhhh..." Queen whispered. "You don't have to say anything. I understand."

'Understand? What did she understand?' Quince thoughts were spinning like a whirlwind. He himself had no idea what he wanted to say nor did he understand his emotions. How could she say that she does?!

As for Queen, his jealousy wasn't strange to her. As a matter of fact, she was already used to it. Her cat had always been the jealous sort.

Back then, when he went to play with his friend Nicholas or was nice to her friend Kate, she would always have that angry expression on her face. She hated it when his attention was on anyone else but her.

He understood though, after all to her, he was a special existence. He was her best friend! Best friends are allowed to be jealous when they feel they are being neglected by their bestie.

'Still so possessive.' Queen clicked her tongue before saying the words she always said to comfort Luna.

"Don't worry alright, I still like you best." Queen said with a wide smile on her face.

Quince's sadness and anger died down instantly at her words. She was acting like an adult placating a child. Even though he was the child in this situation, he still felt comforted.

"Besides" She gazed deeply into his silver grey eyes before continuing, "Not a single one of them entered my eyes." She smiled sweetly at him.

"You mean to say" Quince whispered against her finger, "There was no one before?" Quince couldn't seem to voice the last word out so he moved his mouth to form the word 'me.'

Queen saw the word he mouthed before saying,"There was none and there never will be." She said the words solemnly, like a knight giving a promise to his lady.

At that moment, something burned in Quince's heart, as he gazed into her golden eyes. He couldn't identify it at first but he soon realized what it was. It was need. Hot burning need.

The need to hold her and have her as his set his heart ablaze. He wanted to possess her and brand her as his forever.

They were so near that he could see the fluttering of her long eyelashes and the fine texture of her creamy skin. And those golden eyes, he now saw that they had a slight brown to them as well, they glittered as if tempting him to come closer. If he moved just a tiny bit, he would be able to touch her.

However, before he could make any other movement, there was a knock from outside the door.