Kaiden's date with Orange was too easy. All he had to do was show her a view from the tower before she threw herself at him. It was a good thing that the windows weren't very big, otherwise she would've fallen out of it.
"My father would like you," she breathed between kisses, clutching at his shirt, with her back against the cold stone wall.
Kaiden managed to keep himself from rolling his eyes. Of course her father would be thrilled with the idea of her being with him.
On the way to the tower, she talked all about her life and her father, the brother of the marquis. From the way she talked about him, he seemed to be a person who liked gaining more power and wealth.
It appeared that philosophy seemed to pass down to his daughter.
Bragging about her wardrobe and the suitors lining up at her door, she kept on talking and talking. She even bragged about her family's estate, comparing it to the massive castle that Kaiden owned.
When she got to speaking about his castle, she suddenly grew excited at the thought of them joining together, owning both pieces of land.
Her talk of the future that she desired made him feel uncomfortable. Just because he had told the girls that he was looking for wife didn't mean he was actually going to marry someone. He had made sure of carefully stating that they were merely a possibility of being his wife. His plan was just to get his curse broken and then let everyone go.
Earlier, he had figured that she was easily impressed by material goods, like money and property, which was why he was going to show her his land. Flaunt his wealth to tone her down a little.
But that didn't happen because the girl was too impatient. Not that he minded too much. Her first kiss had thrown him off balance, but he had recovered quickly enough.
After that, he had been shoved against the wall, with her attacking his mouth. The situation quickly changed after they had exchanged places.
Suddenly, she unattached her lips from his, interrupting his thoughts of what had happened earlier.
"I think we should we should stop," she surprisingly managed to gasp out. Her breathing was heavy, contrary to his. It appeared as if it meant a lot more for her than him.
Kaiden was rather shocked about her request. Usually he was the one who insisted on stopping. But that was before the courting idea was introduced to everyone.
She released her grip on him and rested her hands at her sides. He took a small step back, giving her a little more space. He was certain that he had a puzzled look on his face.
She closed her eyes and brushed back a loose strand of hair. When she opened her eyes again, she stared straight at Kaiden, suddenly looking very serious.
"I've been wondering for a while about this," she started slowly. "It had been on my mind ever since we met," she dragged on. Kaiden grew slightly annoyed with her. She needed to spit out whatever her point or question was.
"Why did you take me away when we met?" She finally asked her question.
Kaiden refrained himself from sucking his breath. So Kai really did capture some of the girls. Of course, he thought, how else would he have gotten thirty girls?
"Like I told you, I was finding women to be my wife. You just caught my eye," he lied.
To that day, he still wasn't sure what Kai did in those two days. Despite the fact that he had remembered some of it, those memories were only a few minutes worth of Kai's time in town. They were just brief fragments from here and there. All interactions with the girls never made it into his memory.
"With five other girls, including my cousin?" she challenged. Six girls?Kaiden nearly choked, but stayed silent. How was he supposed to answer that?
"My hair wasn't even finished! Do you know how ridiculous I must have looked?" Orange's voice rose, complaining. She threw her arms into the air in exasperation.
What?
"Especially when Elise looked so much better than me! Why couldn't you have waited a few more minutes? Not to mention the other four girls were merely peasants, and they still all looked better!" she screeched.
Kaiden felt his eyes widen. This was turning ugly, really fast. And he still didn't know where this was heading.
"They must've been secretly laughing at me behind my back!"
Kaiden was going to stop her protest, but she interrupted him, before he even got a sound out.
"And it is all your fault!" His eyes widened at her accusation.
"Why couldn't you have brought me home to get my clothes?" she finally finished, her eyes filled with anger and irritation.
Wait. Was this what it was all about? Her clothes?
"Are you joking?" Kaiden finally managed to sputter out. "Have you seen your wardrobe? I have provided you with dresses," his irritation was clear in his voice. Plenty of dresses, in fact. He was sure that she could wear a different dress each day for a month. And those dresses were not cheap.
"But I wanted my own!" Orange whined. "They were much better!"
That infuriated him. How annoying could this girl get? Was nothing enough for her? And did she just yell at him because of the past condition of her hair and the loss of her own dresses?
"If you are unhappy with what you have, feel free to leave my land," he spat. What a disaster!
He couldn't handle it anymore, so he stalked towards the staircase leading down the tower. That girl was too much trouble. Besides, Kai could come out, with him being that angry, so he should be alone. Otherwise Kai might strangle Orange.
Not that he wasn't thinking of that himself.
"No! Wait!" she cried out from behind him. He kept walking down the stairs. "I love you! I am so sorry!" she wailed.
Kaiden almost froze at her confession.
Almost.
It didn't matter if she loved him. He could never love her back. Especially with her pathetic whining. It reminded him too much about most of the previous women. They were shallow and ambitious too. Just as he didn't stand them, he couldn't stand Orange either.
Plus he couldn't even remember her real name.
He continued to ignore her wails as he walked away. Somehow, he felt glad. Glad because there were now only five girls to choose from.
😤~~~😤~~~😤~~~😤~~~😤~~~
😤~~~😤~~~😤~~~😤~~~😤~~~
In the beginning of the date, he was wary of Yellow, Elise. After realizing that Elise was Orange's cousin, he worried if they were the same.
But only after a few minutes with Elise, he knew that she wasn't the same as her cousin. Her calm, poised elegance was very different. In fact she even apologized for her cousin's behavior.
"I'm afraid that Elizabeth doesn't get the attention she wants, therefore appearance means a great deal to her. She can be hot headed at times," Elise had briefly explained.
Obviously, he thought to himself.
Unfortunately, he still hadn't sent Orange away. But he did let her know that she wasn't participating anymore. When he told her, she started to cry. Now when he saw her around the halls, she had slightly red and puffy eyes, clearly from crying. He wanted to yell at her to get over it.
The only reason she was staying was because two of the other girls wanted her to stay, Elise and Valencia. It had been a surprise to hear that request from Valencia, but he granted it anyways. For what reason, he still didn't know.
But as long as Orange kept away and still did her chores, it'd be tolerable for her to stay.
"So this is the surprise," Elise stated, her eyes widened. They had both stopped walking in front of the stables. There were two horses waiting there for them.
One was almost a silvery grey while the other one was midnight black. The grey one neighed and shook its head before standing calmly. That was the horse that Elise was going to ride on.
"I haven't gone riding for so long," she marveled at the grey one, stroking its mane. It snickered at her touch, huffing at the same time.
"Then I hope you don't mind that we will go riding a little," he answered back.
"Of course not. In fact, it would be a pleasure to ride," she replied, smiling. "Help me up?"
Elise expectantly waited there, in her light dress, one that was suitable for riding. He made sure that he had given her a riding outfit.
Kaiden walked over, put his hands on her hips and lifted her so that she sat on top of the horse. As soon as she was secured, he mounted on his own horse, Shadow.
She allowed her horse to guide her around the barn, slowly increasing in speed and comfortableness. He let Elise get used to the feeling of riding again before he trotted up to her. There was a small, warm smile on her face when she came back around.
"What's her name?" she asked, gesturing to the horse. Her horse was facing his, so they too were facing each other.
Kaiden decided to tease her a little. "How do you know that horse is a female? You didn't check earlier and for all you know, it might be male," he smirked, with one eyebrow slightly raised.
Earlier, he had noticed that all Elise was marveling at was the horse's head.
"I have a feeling that its a female. Right, girl?" Elise said the last part to the horse. Her horse seemed to snort in agreement.
He inwardly laughed to himself. Both Elise and her horse were teaming up against him.
"Fine, you are right," he relented, making Elise's lips twitch at the corners. "Her name is Cora, which means heart," he answered, his eyes glinted mischievously, conveying a hidden message. He watched expression go from victorious to entranced.
To interrupt her thoughts, he made Shadow move forward. The sudden change of speed surprised Elise but she recovered and matched her pace with his.
They both kept a mild trot, quietly sitting on their horses.
"How long has it been since you've last ridden a horse?" Kaiden asked, remembering that she had said that it had been a long time.
She thought about it for a moment. "Maybe around six years ago, when I was sixteen."
Kaiden went slightly rigid. Six years ago. Three years before the Incident.
"Why haven't you ridden since then?" he recovered, not wanting her to notice the change of his mood.
"I needed to be more focused on my studies, so my horse was taken away. Even though I finished my studies a year ago, I have yet to find time to ride one," she explained. "Luckily, I can ride now," she finished, looking at Kaiden with an appreciative look on her face.
"You are welcome," he replied. Then he thought of a question to continue to the conversation. "What sorts of studies did you have to do?"
"Etiquette and other boring subjects," she replied nonchalantly. Hmm, Kaiden thought, sounded awfully similar to his.
"My mother and father expect perfection and have high standards. Especially when I am their only child," she sighed, explaining a little more.
Once again, he understood the idea of high standards. They seemed to be very similar. Except for the fact that Kaiden wasn't an only child.
"I assume you had the same childhood," she mused. It appeared that they even thought the same things.
"More or less," he shrugged, not revealing anything. He knew for sure that she didn't have the same experience as him, but it was close enough.
Now they were trotting along the side of the lake by the castle. He watched her look at the lake while riding and decided to copy her. The clear blue of the water and the crisp green if the trees made the sight look like a painting.
In general, the lake was a beautiful sight. In the winter, it was a frosty wonderland. In the autumn, the vibrant colors were beautiful as well. Spring was just as magnificent. So it was no surprise that the view was breathtaking for the first time.
Since he had been looking out at the lake, he didn't notice where they were.
"Is that a labyrinth?" Elise asked, puzzled. His head turned to her voice. When he realized what she had said, he looked in the direction that she was looking at. And indeed, there was a labyrinth ahead of them.
"Yes," he answered. The labyrinth was near the edge of his property, by the forest. It was a large one, and it was very easy to get lost in. But he knew the way.
It was the typical maze, with the tall, green hedges that led you into dead ends. It the middle, there was an open circle with a fountain in the middle, one big enough to peer over the tall hedges. The fountain was somewhat of a guideline if where the center was compared to one's position in the maze.
"Then I prefer to stay away from there," she shivered. Clearly she didn't like the idea of being lost in the labyrinth. But who would?
"We can do something else," Kaiden said, trying to think of something interesting nearby. Then he turned to face her and noticed that she had a little glint in her eye and a small smile on her face.
"Yes we can," she said, nudging her horse, whispering something in her ear. He briefly wondered what she was saying. Her head raised back up, looking ahead at the field.
"How about racing!" she shouted, suddenly taking off on her horse. A small cloud of dust was left in her wake.
Her sudden outburst surprised him for a second before he joined and raced forwards. The wind whipped through his hair as Shadow galloped. Once again, Kaiden found himself chasing after his date. Shadow quickly sped up, realizing that he was racing Cora.
After a few seconds, Elise was only ahead by a few meters, so Kaiden gently encouraged his horse to go a little faster. Both horses' hooves flew across the green grass that covered the field.
"To the barn!" she called back to him. She was still ahead, but only barely. They were almost neck and neck. A large grin appeared in his face. In a few seconds, they would reach the barn and the winner would be revealed.
He quickly glanced at her. Despite her teasing-like taunts from earlier, she had a concentrated look on her face, as if she really wanted to win the race. That determination on her face made him soften his resolve a little. That was when he decided that he would let her win.
With just the barest tugging, Shadow slowed down a little bit. Elise kept her lead when she and her horse ran past the barn, winning the race. Kaiden rushed past the barn a few seconds after her.
They both slowed down and turned around, heading back to the barn, with Elise in front. It wasn't until they both dismounted did Kaiden see her expression. Surprisingly, it was a solemn expression rather than a victorious one. Almost like she was disappointed.
Kaiden mentally cursed himself. What did he do now? He had definitely lost his charm if he managed to annoy three girls in a row. Bad luck must have came with the curse.
"You let me win," she said, arms crossed. He wondered if he should tell the truth or if he should lie. He decided to go with the truth.
"I did," he responded sheepishly, running his hand through his hair, tousling it even more. Waiting for her reply, he kept quiet.
Finally, she answered back, smiling. "Thank you then," she said smoothly.
His eyes widened slightly by her response. He was expecting that she would be mad at him for letting her win. Instead, she had said thank you.
"That was very smart and generous of you to do. Not only did you let me win, but we will have to have a rematch in the future. One that, of course, will be to the best of our abilities," she said, surprising him even more. Then she added, "I will be looking forward to the next race."
From her point of view, his decision turned out very nicely.
"I will too," he replied, moving closer to the horses. He grabbed both Shadow's and Cora's reins and led them to the barn. After they were secured, he went back to Elise.
He held out his arm for her to hold on to. She immediately took it and walked with him. By then, it was late afternoon. Time had gone by rather quickly. Unfortunately, the date would have to end, to allow her a small break between the date and dinner.
They stopped outside of the castle doors.
"I'm afraid this is where we part ways until dinner," he said, looking at her disappointed face, which was sincere that time. They were standing in front of each other.
"I enjoyed both the day and your company," she replied. It seemed like she was going to go, but she hesitated, like she was waiting for something.
"I feel the same," he said. Then he decided to take a chance before the date truly ended and he went back to feed the horses.
"That is why I hope you don't mind when I do this," he finished, lowering his head to her level.
He pressed his lips against hers. For a brief second, she hesitated, but then she responded back. But as quick as it had started, it ended.
Her eyes were a lot brighter now, and Kaiden was sure that little kiss made her heart beat faster.
"See you at dinner," he smiled, turning around and leaving.
After a coupled of steps, he surreptitiously glanced back to look at Elise. She looked like she was struck by the kiss. He smirked at his accomplishment. It appeared he didn't lose his charm after all.
🐴~~~🐴~~~🐴~~~🐴~~~🐴~~~
🐴~~~🐴~~~🐴~~~🐴~~~🐴~~~
Kaiden thought Charlotte looked cute in her outfit. Her ankle-length, dark green dress had been chosen by him, and it looked like it was a good choice. The sleeves of her dress went a little past her elbow. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail.
He was now over half way with the first round of dates. So far, the time had gone by very quickly. It was now over a week since he announced the contest. The day before, he realized that after his date with Purple, he'd only have four months left. The idea of his time half over made him a little nervous. But he convinced himself that it should be no problem.
His date with Green would be centered around art and paintings. He managed to find what her hobby was through Mary, who had gotten rather close to all of the girls.
"You look lovely today," he complimented her as she came up to him. A blush colored her face as she shyly took in his words.
"Thank you," she said after regaining her senses. Inwardly, he smiled at how he affected her with just words.
"Now that you are here, I suppose we should start. Follow me," he said, starting to walk. From the rustling of her dress, he could tell that she was following him.
If he was to be honest with himself, he didn't plan much for the date. Hopefully the activity would last for a few hours though. Kaiden mentally sighed. He wasn't used to trying to woo women to love him. Usually he just played with them. If they fell in love with him, it would be their own fault.
Finally, he stopped in front of a room. He opened the door for her and let her go in first. Charlotte realized what he was doing and hurried into the room. After she that, he went in also and closed the door behind them.
She jumped at the sudden noise and turned around. Her eyes widened slightly when her gaze landed on the closed doors. Then he realized what she must have been thinking.
"Don't worry, I was just closing the door so you can see the whole room," he said. Of course, unless she wanted privacy for... something, he mentally added.
Her posture relaxed and then she took the time to fully look at the room.
Unlike the other rooms of the castle, this one was completely empty of furniture and entirely white. White walls, white floors, even a white door. It had been left alone because he never knew what to do with it. Which was why this was the perfect opportunity.
"It's... all white," she stated, clearly wondering why the room contrasted all of the others in the castle.
"Exactly. Which is why we are going to paint it. However you'd like it. Even if you wanted to paint a picture," he said. In fact, the day before, he had set up the room so that the paint and the paintbrushes were there waiting for them.
Her eyes widened. "Really?" she asked, amazed at what he was allowing her to do.
The idea was to let Charlotte have a giant paint board. According to Mary, she was an artist, so this opportunity would be a gift.
"Of course," he answered. "But first, I'd like to try something first."
"Anything!" she answered, excited. It seemed that this was a good idea after all, based on her reactions.
He took some of the paint from the corner of the room and moved it towards the door. Quickly, he picked up a brush, dipped it into the black jar, and then drew a horizontal line on the door, splitting it in half.
After that, he reached for the clean cloth underneath the black jar and then turned around to face her. In his hand he held a blindfold. Once again, her eyes widened when she realized what it was.
"You are going to blindfold me and help me draw something on the top half of the door," he grinned. "After I am done, we will switch places and you will be the one blindfolded."
He let her absorb the information before he tied the black cloth around his eyes. Darkness covered his sight.
"I am yours to command," he said almost mockingly, bowing in her direction. Or, rather, where she had been standing before. Because all of a sudden, her voice was next to his left.
"May I hold you hand and help you paint?" Even blindfolded, Kaiden knew she was probably turning a little red at her request.
"That would most definitely help me," he answered.
Then he waited there until her cold hands grabbed his and put something in his hand. It felt wooden, so it must have been the brush. She grabbed him by the shoulders and turned him around, so he could face the door. Then she stood behind him, while grabbing his arm, and guided the hand that was holding the brush.
Their hands moved the brush in strokes and lines. Kaiden could feel the fast beating of her heart from his back. She was basically pressing herself into his back like she was giving him a hug. Her hands were also turning warmer.
After a few minutes of blind painting, Kaiden felt Charlotte release her hold on him.
"It's done," she said, with her breathing a little off. Then she took the brush away from him and the blindfold off of his face. She stepped to the side to let him look at the painting.
He briefly glanced at the surprisingly beautiful painting of the butterfly on the door before looking at Charlotte.
"It's wonderful," he said, looking at her. When she realized where he was looking, she turned red again.
Still flustered, she said, "I suppose its my turn now." She looked a little nervous when she put on the blindfold.
He grabbed her by her arms and moved her in front of the door. Then he quickly grabbed the pink paintbrush and placed it in her hands.
Then he copied what she had done earlier; he guided her hand as he helped her paint a flower for the butterfly to rest on. After a minute, he felt her tremble in his arms. Her trembling sparked a need for him to tease her.
He slowly moved his head downwards before placing his lips softly against the underside of her ear. A shiver went through her body as she let out a small gasp.
Without much thought, he twisted her around so she was facing him. Then he started kissing her. She dropped her paintbrush so that her arms were free to wrap around his neck.
Soon, art was the last thing on their mind.
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A/N
In case you didn't see, I posted Kaiden's picture on the prologue.
Anyways, sorry for the short, rushed chapter (Especially towards the end, since I kind of wanted to just finish it).
Anyways, please:
Enjoy/vote/comment/fan!
:)
P.S. can you guess whose date is featured in the next chapter? ;)
P. P. S. I just realized that there is a book where the two main characters' names are Anna and Kaidan. Purely coincidental. I didn't even realize...