Chapter 38

Chapter 0038

Lena pressed a hand to her face.

“Lena, we will speak about your part in this later.” Nicholas said, dismissing her.

“Yes, Sir.” Lena, keeping her eyes on the ground, quickly turned and walked back toward the palace.

Elva, who had been hiding behind my skirts, peeked her head out. “Is it over? No more loud yelling?”

“I

“It’s over,” I told her, but then looked up at Nicholas, whose tight expression had not relaxed. “I think.”

“Mark“” Nicholas called out⠀⠀

Mark emerged from the tree line. He had been close and ready. Likely he had planned to jump out if he

had been needed.

Nicholas lowered himself down to one knee to speak to Elva. “Elva, do you mind playing with Mark for a

minute while I speak with your mother?”

Elva seemed unsure. She looked up at me.

I smiled and nodded, giving her support.

“Okay…” Slowly, she walked over to Mark, who held out a hand for her. She kept looking back at us

though, as if she didn’t trust us alone.

When they were out of earshot, Nicholas’s piercing gaze shifted back to me.

He held up his right wrist, showing me the wrist guard I’d made. The one he now knew I had made.

“Why didn’t you give this to me directly, Piper?”

I worried my bottom l*p with my teeth. I thought of lying, or simply avoiding the question. But he already

knew the truth.

“I wanted to thank you for helping Elva,” I said. I motioned toward the wrist guard. “This was just a small

gesture.”

“Forgive me if I struggle to see the sincerity in that.” He lowered his arm. “It’s much more likely that you are using your previous knowledge of me in an effort to bring yourself into my good graces.”

“That’s not true. If I wanted it that way, I wouldn’t have kept it a secret.”

You knew I would discover the truth eventually.

“No, I didn’t. I just wanted to help you.”

Nicholas’s accusations tried at my patience. He thought so little of me now. Whatever moment we had

shared earlier seemed tarnished now.

He didn’t take my denial seriously. He merely shook his head.

“I knew you’ve been chasing after me, but I didn’t expect you to now have Julian up your s

Julian? What did Julian have to do with anything?

“He’s not up my sleeve,” I said.

up your sleeve.”

“He’s interested in you, though I’m not sure why. I suppose your beauty would be enough to catch his

eye, but he usually avoids anyone with too many strings attached.”

My… beauty?

Focus, Piper.

I opened my mouth to deny Julian’s attraction, but Nicholas cut me off before I could begin.

“Keep your distance from him.”

I stared at him in confusion. Was that an order?

Quickly, my frustration returned. How dare he try to dictate who I spent time with?

“Prince Julian can look after his own affairs,” I said. “You don’t have to protect him from me.”

*Julian does not love honestly.” Nicholas’s l*ps twitched into a frown. “He pulls women in, makes them fall for him, and then goes on to the next. It’s all just a game for him”

Now, I was even more confused. It almost sounded like Nicholas was trying to protect me from Julian.

Not the other way around, as I had originally thought.

I was stunned But Nicholas hated me, didn’t he? Wouldn’t he want Julian to break my heart? Not that I was giving my heart to Julian to start with, but Nicholas didn’t know that.

I had no idea what to say to that, so I just stared.

He lowered his own gaze away, down to his wrist, where he began to undo the ties of the wrist guard.

Thank you for this gift” once loosened, he sl*pped the wrist guard from his arm. “But I can no longer

secept iLTM

What? Why not?” I thought it helped him.

He held out the wrist guard to me. His eyes found mine again. The flecks of green within his were so

dark, they looked almost entirely black.

“I have plenty of these.” he said. “And I refuse to owe you any more favors,”