Wide Smile of Triumph
It happened all of a sudden.
And Marlowe found herself staggering to gain footing.
Her eyes widened, her lips flew agape as she watched the hard floor approaching closer.
No, she was helplessly falling face first.
Too scared to accept, her eyes shot close tightly as she braced herself to take the hit.
Fortunately, it seemed as if everything stopped.
No, she stopped.
Her escalated heart beat paused as she began to think about what could be happening, her eyes still locked tight.
Not until she could feel a strong arm on her back region, firmly holding her in place.
She unconsciously breathed a sigh of relief. Thankful for whoever had saved her from her unfortunate fall.
Slowly, Marlowe flickered her eyes open, only for them to be met with a pair of dark grey ones, looking down at her with a tinge of coldness in it.
Or perhaps, could she be imagining it?
Why does it seem like those eyes were staring at with contempt and hate?
It was at that moment she realized her hard grip on the man's shoulders.
Her gaze darted to his fleetingly before she hastily pulled herself up with assistance from his strong stance.
Marlowe blinked with a heavy breath as she began straightening the crease on her elegant and gigantic gown. Just then, Merkin rushed to assist her.
"Thank you," Marlowe muttered, looking up at him.
She just noticed how tall he is.
But the man didn't seem to acknowledge her gratitude. His attention was immediately turned on his path ahead.
Merkin made haste to pull Marlowe to the side while she herself lowered her head in a bow as the cold man walked away with his associates following behind him.
With confusion in her eyes, Marlowe watched the back of the man as he strode away, unperturbed.
"Who is he?" with her gaze still on his moving figure, Marlowe asked.
"Ah, that's Lord Deveraux,"
"Lord Deveraux?" she repeated softly.
"Yes. He's Lady Eleazar's son, and the King's cousin,"
Marlowe spun towards Merkin after the sight of the man's back had disappeared.
No wonder the shade of those eyes looked familiar. Marlowe thought.
Lady Eleazar had the same as well.
But hers was more…cheerful and bright.
His was just the opposite. Gloomy and dark.
"Didn't you say all members of the Royal family ought to be with the Queen Dowager today?" Marlowe said, reminding Merkin.
"Yes…actually I didn't know the Lord would be here today. He's not normally in the Castle like everyone else." Merkin tried to explain with a nervous look on her face.
It seemed she miscalculated.
"Why, though?" she asked as they resumed their walk to her class.
"I'm not sure…perhaps because the King may be around anytime soon?" she was merely guessing.
Marlowe halted immediately and spun to look at her. "The King? I thought you said no one has seen the King?" her brows squinted as she questioned.
This whole Castle mystery thing was puzzling her again and again and she couldn't quite grasp the concept.
She might never get used to this.
"Yes, Your Majesty. No one has ever seen the King except from the Royal family, whenever he's around it's always known to them. But we believe the King is in the castle itself, but we just don't know where." she told Marlowe.
"We don't even have the guts to want to know," Merkin concluded with a shiver that didn't escape Marlowe's eyes.
"Is he that terrifying?" Marlowe asked, observing Merkin's physical reaction.
In response, Merkin eyed her with a gaze that said, "Are you serious, Your Majesty?"
Marlowe exposed an awkward smile before she turned around and continued her strides to her Royal class.
Throwing the incident that happened today at the back of her mind.
"Greetings, Your Royal Majesty, but you're two minutes late," the aggravating voice of the nagging tutor greeted her upon her entry.
Marlowe looked ahead to see her in her regular stance; with one hand on her waist and this time, her eyes were stuck on her hand watch.
"I'm sorry, I was—"
"Two minutes thirty seconds…" her counting voice drowned Marlowe's explanation.
Getting the cue, Marlowe lowered her head as she scurried to her seat.
"See you later, Your Majesty," Merkin whispered behind her as she ran.
Marlowe acknowledged with a nod before being seated, she waved goodbye at the maid, and after she had gone,
"Ermmmm," miss O'livre's annoying interruption called her attention.
"I'm not going to ask why you childishly waved your hand like that to that maid, no, it's my business, but not this class's. So we shall approach that when the time is right." miss O'livre spat condescendingly.
"Now!" her loud clap made Marlowe shudder. "we will start from where we left off in the last," there was a break in her sentence, "not so favorable class. I suppose this one should be favorable?"
Marlowe plainly stuck her gaze on the woman without a word—she didn't even attempt a response.
"I suppose you've been practicing your eating etiquette and have gotten better," it wasn't a question, it was a statement.
Marlowe gulped hard. She knew where this was going…
"Show me how perfect you've become, Your Majesty," and there it went.
Marlowe let her gaze fall to the prepared dishes that will be used for her practice.
Maybe she shouldn't have been excited about the tutor's two hours lateness.
By now she would have been done with this woman.
"Why are you hesitating, Your Majesty?" that same fake smile on her face.
Inhaling and deeply exhaling, Marlowe braced herself. She picked up the fork and knife.
Holding the fork in her left hand while handling the knife in her right.
She prayed she was correct.
Pausing there, she slowly carried her head up to look at the tutor who was literally glaring at her with a raised overly carved brow.
"Go on," Miss O'livre urged.
Marlowe nodded before swallowing hard. She breathed heavily as she began utilizing the cutlery on the meal before her, while chanting the words,
'slowly and steadily, slowly and steadily,'
All the while the tutor's squinted eyes on her, making her want to flip with nervousness.
'slowly and steadily…slowly and steadily, slowly and—'
The fork finally made its way to her mouth without an issue.
A wide smile of triumph snatched away the petrified look in her eyes.
But it appeared...the nagging tutor didn't look too pleased.