xoxo, Winbrose
"Since you've asked a question, my turn," Nicholas decided.
Sophia saw it fit.
"Sure," she said nonchalantly.
"Shoot," she said, ready.
"Why don't you believe in love?" Nicholas asked offhandedly.
"And why would you want to know?" Sophia asked Nicholas with a smile.
On any other occasion, she would've been upset over being asked this question. But with him asking, it was a different case.
"Just curious, 'is all," Nicholas answered.
Sophia told him, "Come to think of it, I suppose it's because of the fact that every person I knew to be in a relationship and or loved someone paid a price."
She continued on, not realizing what she was on about, "You must've heard what happened to grandpere. My mother as well. It led to my foolish twit of a father marrying Emilia. It was love that caused it all."
She blinked in astonishment. She'd never told anyone that so willingly before. She just felt different around him.
"I should stop now," she mused.
Nicholas didn't seem bothered by her confessional at all.
She glanced at Nicholas.
"You know, you should probably show off those pianoforte skills to me some time," she told Nicholas.
Nicholas scoffed.
"Are you trying to trifle with me?" He asked.
Sophia moved closer to Nicholas, her face barely inches away from his.
"I'm certain I have no idea what you're talking about," she said, before her gaze softened. When was she in such close quarters with him?
She had the instinct to move backwards, but there was something gluing her to the spot.
"Are you warming up to me, your grace?" Nicholas said, a smile curving.
He neared her, and their faces were less than centimeters close.
Sophia resisted the urge to tremble. She was NOT going to be one of the girls to swoon and give into his charm.
She could hear his every breath. She could smell the bergamot cologne he was wearing.
She shut her eyes.
She couldn't see what Nicholas looked like at that moment, although the picture of his devilishly handsome face would be forever etched in her mind.
'Why the hell am I acting this way?' A voice in Sophia's head asked.
Another voice in her head responded, 'Get a grip of yourself.'
And yet, Sophia ignored that voice completely.
Nicholas stared at Sophia's face.
He had got lost in those blood-red lips and hazel brown eyes of hers.
The two quickly separated, returning to their original positions, not saying a single word.
Sophia bit her lip. A light rosy tint covering her cheeks. Nicholas had averted his gaze away from Sophia to notice.
Sophia nearly hit herself over the head.
'So much for your usual spontaneity,' a voice in her head commented.
Another voice responded, 'Shut up.'
A rustle was heard. Nicholas had gotten up by then.
Silent as ever, he extended his hand.
Still dazed, Sophia accepted his help.
She stood up and brushed any dirt off the front and back of her dress, ready to leave the secret spot.
_
With Julia's dinner dance over, Louis went over to Clarisse, "Know where Sophia went?"
Clarisse shook her head, to Louis' dismay.
"Haven't seen her since Nicholas intervened in that pesky king's proposal," she answered, turning to glance at a window that showed the views of the beautiful palace gardens.
Clarisse's gasped in excitement. Louis looked at her and she bit her lip.
"Speaking of Nicholas and Sophia," Clarisse said amusedly.
"What are you-"
He turned his gaze to what Clarisse was looking at.
He too was amused at what he was seeing.
"I bet they're courting," Clarisse told Louis.
Louis seemed to dislike the idea. He was protective of his sister.
He disagreed with Clarisse, although he was always up for a worthwhile bet.
Clarisse smirked, "If they're actually courting, I get to matchmake you with whoever I want."
Louis then said, "And if they're not, I get whatever I want from you."
Clarisse nodded, mouthing, 'Deal.'
The prince and countess shook hands.
_
"Why'd you leave Julia's dinner dance so early, Sophie?" Clarisse asked Sophia, walking along the palace hallways.
She hid a snicker, knowing damn well what Sophia had been up to.
"I decided to take a stroll in the gardens," Sophia said, partially lying.
"Ah," Clarisse said, wondering if Sophia had actually thought she had believed what Sophia had told her.
"What a coincidence, that Nicholas was absent from the dinner dance around the same time you decided to take that stroll," Clarisse said, a hint of apprehension in her tone.
Unbeknownst to Clarisse, she hadn't known about the secret spot she had just recently brought Nicholas to. And frankly, Sophia didn't know how she'd break it to Clarisse that a stranger she knew for a couple days got to go to the place before she herself did.
Sophia decided not to fabricate who she was with, only intending to keep where she and Nicholas had gone to private with all other details of what they did out in the open.
"I did visit the gardens with Nicholas," Sophia admitted, knowing Clarisse was having the best time getting the truth out of her.
"And I do want to make it clear that nothing happened," she clarified, shutting down any possibly unholy and scandalous thoughts Clarisse had in mind.
"And you're doubling down on this?" Clarisse asked, head tilted to the side.
Sophia nodded, "I can assure you, Clarisse. Nothing happened. Zilch, nada, naught, zero. Just a stroll in the gardens and admiring the view it has to offer with Nicholas."
Clarisse made a noise of discontent. She was not losing that bet. She wouldn't return with nothing.
She held back the questions for now, although she made a mental note to keep an eye on the two. There was something between the two royals. Something unexplainable at the moment, but it was there. And it, was real.
As Sophia put it, je ne sais quoi.
[NOTE: Je ne sais quoi is 'I don't know what'.]