A Deceptive Beauty

Chapter Twenty

Kaiden decided he was going to spend his birthday alone. Or, at least, away from anyone that was somehow related to the dating experiment.

That excluded Mary, someone he hadn't spend much time with lately. Maybe if he stayed outside, away from most of the people, it would feel like old times. Where stress wasn't constantly lurking around the corner.

He could only hope Kai wouldn't take this day away from him. Especially since yesterday had been filled with problems. Problems that he did not particularly want to think about. At least, not for the rest of the day.

It was nice and cool outside, it a little on the cloudy side. There was a slight breeze but nothing too strong. And the noises outside were easing and natural.

In general, it seemed like the day was going to go well. From what he had planned, he was going to take a short hike by himself before coming back for Mary to join him.

After Kaiden had found a trail, he went and started walking on it, listening to the birds call and animals skittering around. He sighed, wondering when the last time he had done something like this. Furthermore, he should enjoy the weather while it lasted, since autumn was around the corner.

Eventually he found a big rock to sit on and close his eyes. For the first time in a while, he had time to process his thoughts and evaluate recent events. Usually, he didn't do these sorts of things, but he had too many things to absorb.

Annabelle's rant, for one. Her insistence about him and Sebastian reconnecting was rather reasonable. Maybe he could be on friendly, or at least friendlier, terms with his brother.

After all, Sebastian had convinced him to tell the story to her. And Annabelle had patiently listened, as Sebastian had predicted. Furthermore, Annabelle had said that he had been the one to inform her about his birthday.

Kaiden supposed he could give him another chance, although he would be very cautious of him.

The second thing he thought about was about the remaining ladies. Although Elise was only temporarily gone, there were four girls left, since he had also sent Elizabeth away along her cousin.

He was down to four, with a little over three months left. Surely that was enough time. There was still plenty of courting opportunities that could happen within the remaining time. Besides, he had been on enough dates with each of them to get an overview.

Kaiden proceeded to think about each of them, who were all beautiful in their own way.

Valencia was confident and irresistibly mysterious. She knew exactly how much to give and take, particularly kisses. But beneath all of her aloofness, he could see her barriers weakening to him.

Charlotte was creative but slightly volatile, which he wasn't quite sure if it was a bad quality. However, based on how she looked at him, he could tell that she felt strongly about him.

Annabelle was understanding and brave, but she knew so much about him. He didn't know how the extra knowledge would affect her. It seemed like she was always present during his worst times.

Lenore was sweet, but there wasn't a pull to her as like the others. But the others seemed to be close friends with her so he did not think it would be a wise decision to send her away just yet. At least, not until after the masquerade ball.

Which lead him to the third point. There were some flaws to the masquerade.

One, that Annabelle pointed out, was that hair could give away the identity. Which would interfere with his mission of weeding out Agatha. But he wondered if she was still there. After all, there had been no signs of her since the letter and he had just sent two women away.