Chapter 17

"You what?!" I exclaimed, aghast. "You talked to her about me AND 'Edmund'?! Wouldn't that give away the fact that you know who 'Edmund' really is?! I haven't even told my parents about it! What would she think if she assumes that I told you about it?"

And then, the spawn of Devil smiled brightly as he said, "She'll think that we are VERY close. She's probably thinking that right now..."

At those words, all the blood in my face rushed down and my head felt slightly dizzy. Imagining what would happen next was making me sick...

Luis looked at me, annoyed. "Is just the thought of being my friend so unbearable for you?" His eyebrows were furrowed together. "If so, I'll tell Aunty that I found out your secret by accident."

(A/N: I honestly feel so bad for Luis here. Poor guy is trying every underhanded scheme he can think of to make her his friend...)

"It isn't being your friend that I find unbearable, it's the amount of attention that comes with it. Forget it. I'm already the center of attention now that they heard me call The Second Prince by name. There was also the story The Duchess told them about me being your only friend. They won't leave me alone anymore." I said, looking up at him. I had realized by then that he truly was looking forward to getting along with me and that my blatant rejection was too harsh.

At first, he seemed relieved but after my explanation, his eyebrows furrowed up once again.

I stared at his eyebrows for a while before getting ticked by them. I reached over and touched the spot between both his eyebrows, scowling. "Don't furrow your eyebrows. You don't look good anymore when you do that. It's annoying."

His eyebrows finally relaxed and he looked at me in surprise.

"What? It really annoys me, okay?" I said. " I told you to forget it. Don't overthink." I pulled back my hand and took another sip of my tea, emptying the cup. I look up to ask Paula for more, only to notice that both Paula and Flavius had slipped away while Luis and I were talking. 'Oh, well.'

He looked at his feet. "How can I forget it? It's my fault. Even though I knew that Aster hates attention, I made you stand in the center of attention. I wasn't thinking of how you felt... I'm sorry."

"What's wrong with you today? This is already the second time you apologized to me. Even though you're the type of person to do whatever he wants..." I sighed. "And it's your fault? Are you stupid?"

He looked up in surprise when I said that.

"And here I thought that you are a very smart person..." I continued. "Staying away from attention is MY decision. Why would YOU have to feel responsible if I were to be paid attention to? You have the right to do whatever you want in order to make me your friend unless I were to tell you that I hated you or to tell you to never approach me again."

Luis' eyes widened as he heard those words. "Truthfully, I did find you annoying, but I never told you to stop trying to make me your friend. If you were to impress me, I MIGHT have agreed to become your friend..." I sighed. "But forget it. I never thought that you were this stupid. If I knew earlier, I probably wouldn't have thought for a moment, just a moment, that becoming your friend wouldn't be too bad..."

His face lit up and he smiled. "Then there is a chance of us being friends?"

"Just a tiny bit." I looked at him from the corner of my eye.

He beamed at me. "That's enough for me."

Little had I known that I was already one foot into the gambit. To think that there was a day when I wracked my brain to cheer up the devil. What was I thinking?