Masquerade ✔

Chapter 6

"Wait, you kissed him?"

Alright, maybe one question.

"Technically, he kissed me," Clara said, but then she groaned. "But wait, it gets messier." Clara walked Amyeliana through the events of the current day, and her awkward run in with Harrison.

"Oh, he definitely knows something's up," Amyeliana said.

"What do you mean?" Clara said, on the verge of panic. "He can't know, he can't know anything."

"I mean, I'm sure he doesn't know anything," Amyeliana said. "But right now, the wheels are definitely turning in his head about why your boss doesn't want him to even talk about the ball. And he already knows that he knows you from somewhere, even if you deny it and he can't place it. So, he knows something is up."

"Well, for all of our sakes, he better not figure it out before his wedding," Clara said grimly.

"So you're not going to do anything about it?"

"Do anything about what?"

"About the fact that you clearly like him!"

"Amyeliana!" Clara exclaimed. "There is nothing to be done. My feelings are irrelevant."

"But if you told him it was you..."

"Then I would be fired and we would lose our primary source of income."

"Or he would fall in love with you back and you would get married and we would all go to live in his fancy airship."

Clara snorted. "He's betrothed, Amyeliana. That's basically engaged. Maybe they are engaged. I don't really know, it's all much more complicated than it needs to be. I appreciate your optimism, but I think I should focus on keeping my job than getting someone to fall in love with me."

Amyeliana gave a dramatic sigh. "You're boring."

As ridiculous as Amyeliana was being, Clara could help but feel laughter bubble up inside of her. It was nice to see the younger girl actually act her age, instead of the mature woman she was being forced to grow up into.

"But seriously," Amyeliana said. "What are you going to do if he figures it out? He doesn't seem unintelligent."

"How would you know? You haven't met him." Clara dodged the question.

"Because unintelligent people annoy you and you would never even want to be friends with one, let alone kiss one."

Damn this girl and her logic.

"I don't know," Clara said, honestly. "I hope I never have to figure it out, but if it does happen, I'll just deal with it then. I mean, all I really have to do is hold out until the wedding. Then, even if he finds out, it's not like he can do anything about it."

"Yeah, he'll just be miserable for the rest of his life."

"Well, that's not my problem," Clara said, exasperated. "It's not my fault he was born into a family that thinks arranged marriages are the way to go."

"It's not his fault either."

"Well, it's less my fault than his," Clara argued. "He can at least say something about it if he doesn't like it. If I said something, his parents would probably chuck me off the airship."