[Bonus chapter]

"What are you doing here?" she detangled her body from his grasp and looked at him coldly.

His eyes narrowed, his thin lips parted and he whispered, "your welcome." she should be saying thank you instead of commenting.

If not for him, she would have fallen badly on the ground and broke her nose and a few bones.

She cleared his throat and looked away. Even if she was glad that he had helped her, the word, thank you, did not seem to come out no matter what.

"Thank you for saving me.'' She was forced, she did not want to be cold like him who should not see the goodness around her. "I did not realize that the rope was weak since I was enjoying it. I shall leave now." she bowed her head slightly.

Though she did thank him but her face was cold and her language was formal as if she was talking to a stranger.

When she turned, she was surprised to see two other men and one woman standing there.

She knew them. They were…

"You must have heard about them. She is Meredith, Lucas and Nathan. They are siblings of my first wife and uncle and aunt of Rowan." The introduction was short but who did not know the family of the princess.

They all were prince and princess who had attended every social event together. Even if they had never communicated before, both parties knew each other.

"When we were informed that you had come to live in the house of the duke to take your bridal lessons, we could not stop you from coming here. We wanted to see who is going to be the mother of your nephew." said Meredith with a smile as she came forward and held the hands of Ana like they were long lost sisters. "I have thought that you would be sleeping since we came late. But we are lucky to find you awake.

Are you having trouble sleeping at a new place?" she asked sweetly while the rest of the two men looked at her with judgemental eyes.

"I was only having a little walk before sleeping. It is my honor to meet you, Prince Lucas and Nathan, Princess Meredith." she bowed her head with respect.

Even though she hated all three of them with the core of her heart, she did not dare to show that on her face.

"Oh! But since you are awake, come and have a drink with all of us. We were just going to his cellar." Meredith invited again, though it feels like she was being friendly and trying to help her mingle. But Ana knew the princess was showing their affection towards each other. How close they were since they were going to share drinks in the middle of the night and were going to chat.

"I do not drink much. I feel tipsy easily." Ane declined, who Garrison met in his free time had nothing to do with her. She was here for Rowan! If she had time, she was going to spend it with the child.

When she took a step back, Meredith pouted her lips as if she was hurt. Even though she was being nice, Ana was extremely cold and did not pay any respect to them. Lucas's eyes turned cold…

"Even if you can not drink.." he stated, "at least you should respect the invitation and give her company." his voice was scolding as if she was a mistake when Ana stopped in her tracks.

"Lucas meant that Meredith was alone among all of us men, so it would be better if she had some company. Why don't you come and join us?" Lucas corrected with a warm smile but she knew that he was the coldest among three of them.

She wanted to refuse again but when she felt all eyes on him, she could only nod.

"Great! I am glad that you are finally spending time with us. I will tell you a lot of things about Garrison and Rowan so that you do not feel lost in the palace." Meredith smiled as they all started walking towards his cellar.

Garrison who was staring at the scene with his eyes narrowed on the face of Ana all this time followed without a word.

When Meredith turned to look at him, she frowned. She knew that he was thinking about something and did not pay attention to their conversation but even when she thought hard about it, she was not able to guess it.

She had thought that Garry would realize that his fiance was extremely cold but it did not look like he minded it.

Why? She gritted her teeth as she bowed her head to hide her expression and when she raised her head, it was all smiles again.

"So, lady Anastasia. Did you meet Rowan? I know that the child is a bit reserved and cold but once you come to know him, you will realize that he is a kind and affectionate child. It is just that he did not trust others easily and did not let others come close to him.

But I will tell him to be nice to you. Rowan is closer to me even than his father. I am sure if I tell him, he will not ignore you." Meredith smiled as she boosted when Ana frowned. Rowan was cold and reserved?

Either it was her past life or her present, she neve felt that the young child was cold or reserved. The description more matched Rowan's father.

Her furrowed brows looked at Meredith with confusion,

"But I think Rowan is a kind and friendly child. He made me feel like I am at home and we have been living together since the start. Not only does he smile often, but he cracks good jokes, plays whatever game I ask him to and even has dinner with me with a smiling face that could melt anyone's heart.

"......."