Nothing Has to Change

"However good you are in bed, I am still mad at you," Gisela whispered as she caressed Henry's chest.

"How good am I?" He smirked, earning him a slap.

"Shut up." Gisela giggled.

"I will apologize to you as many times as you want me to," Henry confessed against her hair. "I have been trying to find a solution to this damned situation, but my family is for this marriage…everyone is."

"Who would have thought a respectable lady could concoct and execute such a plan," Gisela said. "She even succeeded in trapping one of the most eligible bachelors in the kingdom. Maybe she is not that respectable after all."

For an odd reason, her words made him feel uncomfortable, but he did not say anything. He was just happy she agreed to see him.

She had sent him a letter after hearing the news about his wedding. Because of his trip to Geiranger, he only read it after they returned, weeks later. He had been trying to travel to the capital ever since he found her letter, but his mother made it impossible.

"What do we do now?" Gisela looked up to hold his gaze. "It does not look like your efforts are working at all, seeing that the wedding is in three days and every noble in Malorenia is attending."

Henry sighed.

"Nothing has to change, love."

Gisela's dark eyes widened. "You want me to be your mistress after you marry Lady Kalwen?" Her lips twisted, as if the name tasted sour in her mouth.

"We never had plans to marry anyway. Plus, I would not be the first nor the last married man to have a mistress."

Gisela pushed away from him and off their messy bed, she walked toward the small window in the corner.

"My love." Henry followed her and wrapped his arms around her. "It is only a marriage on paper. You are the only woman I love."

He moved her dark brown locks to the side to reveal the back of her beautiful neck. His lips left a trail of hot kisses on it. But Gisela moved away.

"Have you forgotten that marriage is for life? You will have a mark on your wrist to prove it until the day one of you dies."

"I promise you, Gisela, this marriage does not mean anything to me. She does not mean anything to me. Nothing will change between us."

Gisela sighed. She opened her mouth to throw more complaints at him, but a knock interrupted her.

"Who is it?" she snapped.

"Gisela, the lord's coachman says that his fiancée is in the carriage."

"You brought her here?" Gisela pushed him away from her, he stumbled over their clothes that were scattered on the floor.

"Of course not."

"I cannot believe you."

"I swear to the Gods, my love. I have no idea how she found me." Henry searched the room to locate his clothes. "I will be there in a minute," he told the messenger.

"This is unbelievable." Gisela paced back and forth in the small room, she was fuming.

Henry watched her while wearing his clothes and doing his best so that nothing looked odd. After he finished, he walked to his lover and gently tugged on her chin until their eyes met.

"I promise I will make it up to you, love. Please, don't punish me for something I have nothing to do with."

Gisela sighed.

"I will not go easy on you." She finally smiled.

"I love it when you don't go easy on me," he whispered in her ear with a hoarse voice. Memories of their earlier lovemaking flooded his mind and urged him to take her again right there against the dresser. "Gods damn it, the things you do to me." He captured her lips with his and kissed her until they were both out of breath. "I will see you soon, love."

"See you soon," Gisela said in a daze.

Henry stomped down the stairs as he made his way to the back entrance of the theater.

'How did she know where I was?'

The carriage came to view as soon as he stepped outside. Reid was pacing back and forth, all color had left his face.

"We ride home," he told him before he climbed into the carriage.

Rilla left immediately, to find her seat next to the coachman, leaving Henry and Florence alone.

"I told Reid that I did not mind waiting until you finished your business," Florence uttered, earning her a frown from Henry.

'Does she know?'

"What the bloody hell are you doing here?" he spat.

"Excuse me?" Florence's eyes were as wide as saucers.

"How did you even know where I was? Did you have someone follow me?"

"What? Of course not."

"Then how are you here?" Henry's voice was venomous.

Florence had never seen him this mad, even at that meeting they had between their families.

"I–I met an acquaintance who told me where you were, he was nice enough to bring me here."

"What?" Henry's rage doubled, if that was even possible.

"What did you expect?" Florence's anger was also growing. "You said an hour and a half, I waited for you in the street for two hours after I finished." Tears were pooling at the edges of her eyes. "If you did not want to bring me, then you should have said so, instead of leaving me there so those hyenas could find even more things to spew in order to humiliate me."

Henry watched her as she wiped her tears and looked out of the window with her quivering chin held up.

"I apologize. The… business I had took longer than I expected." A small string of guilt tugged at his heart. He was too busy making sure Gisela was not mad at him anymore that he forgot he had promised to pick up Florence in an hour and a half.

Silence fell upon the carriage, except for the occasional sniffling of Florence.

"Who brought you to the theater?" Henry asked after a long moment. He was curious about who knew where he was, and who dared bring Florence there.

"Lord Zahl, he sends his regards."

"Elias bloody Zahl?" Henry roared, making Florence flinch. "You were in a carriage, alone with Zahl?"

"Of course not, Rilla was there. I am not stupid." She crossed her arms together.

"I beg to differ."

"Excuse me?" Florence blinked at him a few times.

"If you weren't, you would have stayed as far away from that bastard as possible." Henry's hand cut through the air.

"I had no choice."

"You have no idea, the reputation Zahl has–"

"I do," she interrupted.

Henry stared at her for a moment, his lips parted in shock. "You do?"

"I do. But as I said, I did not have a choice thanks to a certain someone."

"Well, do not blame me when new rumors about you and Zahl spread around." He shrugged.

Florence clenched her jaw but said nothing.

'Jerk.'