Love Amidst Wars

fifteen

"My lady! Let me do the work for you! You shouldn't get your hands dirty!"

Juliette wiped her sweat with a clean cloth before looking at her maid. She stopped picking the flowers and put them into her basket.

"It's alright. I didn't have anything to do anyway."

The maid insisted on taking the basket with her before heading back into the manor. Juliette couldn't help but pouted as she sighed. Suddenly, the sound of footsteps approaching her became even more obvious.

She turned around and saw Jay stepping closer towards her with a bright smile. He had brought a bouquet of flowers with him before handing it to her.

"What is all this? How did you come here?"

"I've picked them from the palace garden. And your mother let me in just now," he answered as he fiddled with his fingers nervously behind his back.

He avoided her gaze before shyly asked, "Do you like it?"

"I love it. I'll have the maids keep these in a vase."

As they both went back into the manor, she glanced at him before asking, "What brings you here, Your Highness?"

"I was thinking of inviting you for a stroll at the promenade."

"Me?" I chuckled, "And why is that?"

"Well, because I'm thinking of trying my best to earn your affection. So I'm gonna start by going to the promenade with you."

She couldn't help but grin happily at how warm his words made her feel. She nodded slowly before saying, "Fine then. I'll go change first. Help yourself with some tea at the moment. I'll tell the maids to prepare you one."

He nodded in response as he watched her hurry upstairs. After a few minutes of getting ready, Juliette finally walked downstairs in a new dress. She had a fan in her hand and her other hand was struggling to fix her hat.

Jay let out a short giggle before standing up and helping her. He effortlessly fixed her hat before smiling, "There. Much better."

Her cheeks reddened at the sudden gesture and she immediately walked ahead of him, "Let us go. Time is gold."

Since her house was near the promenade, it took them not more than ten minutes to arrive there by walking. The tension between them was rather awkwardly silent as none of them had any idea what topic to start a conversation on.

As they arrived, Juliette couldn't help but gasped in awe at how graceful the swans were moving at the lake. The little ducklings following their mother also caught her attention. Jay stood next to her and glanced at her continuously to make sure she was having a good time.

"I –umm..." he began to stutter. She raised her eyebrows in response, waiting for him to continue.

"I brought fish food, in case you wanted to feed them?" He shyly said before handing her the food.

She burst into laughter upon seeing how adorable he looked all shy and awkward. She took the fish food and thanked him.

"I was wondering how I could get some fish food since there are so many in this lake. Thank you, Your Highness."

Seeing her smile like an angel sure caused the butterflies in his stomach to go rampant. He noticed she was wearing a pair of white gloves and handed out his hand, "Please, may I?"

She realised what he was asking for and took off her gloves before giving them to him. As she was feeding the fish with the prince, she could not hear the footsteps of the man she dreaded to bump into.

"Are you enjoying your stroll, Lady Juliette?"

She froze at the familiar voice before turning around and seeing Jake in a more relaxed attire than what he usually wore. Jay looked at him up and down before sighing, "I was just accompanying Lady Juliette feeding the fish. Is there a problem, Jake?"

"I was just enjoying my stroll here and unexpectedly saw you both. That's good actually. I have something to discuss with the lady," Jake said politely to the prince but it was obvious he was annoyed by his presence.

"I don't have anything to say to you," Juliette sighed before giving the food back to Jay and putting on her gloves.

"Allow me to court you, my lady."

She halted in her movements before glaring at him. Jay dropped the fish food in shock as he widened his eyes at his best friend.

"Are you out of your mind, Your Grace?"

"No. From the moment I laid my eyes on you, I knew you were the girl I have always wished to court."

She suddenly felt hot due to the embarrassment and began using her fan to cool herself down. Jay frowned, "That's enough, Jake."

"Why? She's still single. She didn't even accept for you to court her. Why should I back down when she isn't gonna even choose you to be her suitor?"

She stepped closer to the Duke before poking his chest with her fan, "I will never let you court me. Never in a million years. You can kiss that wish goodbye."

"That's too bad, my lady. I do not plan on backing down."

She groaned out of frustration at how stubborn he could be. "Can you just stop being a nuisance in my life? It would be a lot better if you could just jump into the lake and disappear out of my sight!" She snapped before walking ahead, leaving the two men behind.

Everyone around them gave confused looks as they whispered to each other about the scene that was happening in front of them. Juliette stopped walking when she could hear a splash coming from the lake.

She turned around immediately and saw Jake all wet from the water. "Is this enough, my lady?!" He called with a proud smile.

"What a maniac," she muttered under her breath before fastening her pace to leave. She couldn't handle all of the attention that went to her due to the scene that the Duke had caused.