Chapter 20
Chapter – 20
Arno’s face warped visibly, flooding me with instant remorse.
My casual wish to share a meal with allies had summoned disaster.
Neither man qualified. One plotted my direct demise. The other schemed my denunciation and doom.
The gallows loomed in my mind.
I settled into my chair, feigning oblivion to Leo’s prior idiocy. Arno shattered quiet, words compressed, one cheek jerking spasmodically.
“Evidently dear beyond measure. Dragged along to tomorrow’s affair too. Right inside Mesena’s central fortress.”
“On the subject—”
“Not a whisper to me.”
“……”
Naturally. I’d concealed the gathering from Arno.
Disclosure promised zero gain.
My present betrothed would chafe at my escort of male performers.
Disclosure waited until return.
Their duet display would reveal depths surpassing bedroom exploits.
“Why conceal it?”
“Simply put…”
“My company unwanted at Mesena’s core.”
Company of whom?
Arno mangled his bread in visible rage under my stare.
Had he inferred deliberate snub?
Revelation hit.
Rank gulf explained it.
Nobility cloaked both Arno and Luisa. Dientzhes hailed from foreign soil, merchant origins, guild fortunes funneled into imperial bribes for titles.
Empire’s elite scorned their bloodline’s void of glory.
Original chronicle scarred Arno similarly.
Luisa’s contempt provoked his lethal response.
Urgency mounted.
Dispel illusion swiftly.
Superficially, a miffed suitor sidelined as date. Truly, my stance needled his buried flaws.
“Preemptive silence stemmed from…”
“Your stage debut demands it. He’d contribute nothing to drama.”
Leo supplied the retort, jaws stuffed with beef, chomping garishly.
“……”
“……”
Frost gripped the space.
Hush him immediately.
Protest rose, but Leo raised his slicer, beaming toward Arno.
“My role fills vital needs.”
Disaster.
Arno’s glare ignited lethal fire. Reflex drove my cry.
“No one aids me like the Count!”
“……”
“……”
Focuses converged sharply.
Chill precision in one. Bewilderment mingled surprise in the other.
Clinging to Arno’s disorientation, I hastened amends.
“Your funding births the spectacle. Absence halts all.”
“Profits drain from you via his purse for precisely that.”
Leo hammered onward.
Utensil stabbed his platter innocently.
“Steak’s toll, Count? Her obligations swell with every morsel.”
Romeo regret gnawed deep.
Rebel fire burned convincingly.
“Pest smuggled past my gates.”
Arno’s frost rang across the chamber.
“Overhearing betters’ exchange?”
“Vision, not ears. Maids dash tallying garb and feasts.”
Leo’s gleam betrayed ploy.
Stir chaos.
Fracture my engagement.
Smooth seduction path.
Momentum built alarmingly.
“Debt conscious? Quit bleeding his holdings, begone.”
“Pressured her identically, repeatedly.”
“Absurd—”
“Gaze screams it. Demeanor. Inflection.”
Murder brewed in Leo’s lock on Arno.
Authenticity deceived.
Sheer craft.
“Artistry unveils speech’s layers: nuance, visage, stare. Yours screams loudest. Exclusion from Mesena bastion? Assemblage crawls with her ruin’s architects. Catherine commands, kin shackled by loans, aristocrats baying for shame.”
Eerily spot-on peril grasp.
Role consumed him: grace refined, poise sovereign.
Blade danced nobly.
Visage menaced keenly.
Gestures bespoke throne upbringing.
Prince ascended.
Rebel husk shed.
Odd thrill rippled.
Depth unmatched prior.
Clarity burst.
Veil intentional.
Regal core stifled perpetually.
Prudence dictated.
Distrust armored Leo.
Visage shifted canonically over years, yet select nobles pierced.
Marquis Burbidge intimate enough.
Display courted peril.
“Romeo and Juliet” masked in plebeian venues, cosmetics thick, elites remote.
Banquet intimacy? Raw exposure.
Princely lead amplified risk.
Conviction bound me to Leo.
Canon ally unveiled there.
“Count, your barbs exceeded necessity.”
Leo gnashed, fury lancing Arno, knuckles whitening on steel.
Throne’s wrath embodied.
Stunned haze fled. Command snapped.
“Desist.”
Reins tightened fast.
Subordinate’s revolt impermissible.
“Enough. Toward the Count…”
Arno’s aura twisted oddly—
“His hospitality alone overflows kindness. Further pleas shame.”
Arno stared voidlike. Pain ghosted.
Brace for Leo’s scourge expected.
Muted vigil held me instead, sorrow veiled.
“Behind those defenses?”
Dining concluded, I waylaid Leo apart.
Arno endured mutely, devouring alone, Leo’s jabs dust.
Bruise lingered.
Pacification eluded, Leo’s audit pressed.
He angled his face offering.
“Deliver the slap.”
“?”
“Brace for impact?”
“Fiancé defense demands it. Tears for his favor flow.”
“Mansion expulsion looms for us both.”
“Tears evade mere exile.”
Frustration boiled, halted by his raw pique.
“Expulsion steels you. Stage’s theft breaks.”
Core pierced.
“Rogue’s farce locks your curtain call.”
Stunned flutter.
“Chaos shielded my spotlight?”
“Affirmative.”
“Motivation?”
Drama repelled him.
Drills paled against tonight’s blaze.
“Your devotion ignites it.”
Lure curved his lips sensually.
“Affection echoes.”
Torment.
Navigation baffled.
Mask eternal. Core barred.
“Course for you?”
Pondering yielded.
“Mutual regard binds.”
Rigid shock seized him.
Inner flail confirmed strike.
Adoration sham hid loathing’s abyss.
Wound landed.
Feign enchantment viable. Devotion charade disarmed.
Passion lacked. Faults gaped.
“Love” curdled lifelong.
Verity dispatched.
Genuine seed sprouted illusion prime.
“Your performance captivates utterly.”
Fleeting letdown shadowed.
Truth rang.
Canon enthralled his guile, identity cloaked amid deceptions.
Strings pulled flawlessly.
Dominion enthralled.
“Boards yield flawless reign. Wills yield. Breaths seize on whim. Scorn’s glare in Count thawed via our tale. Bastion’s scorners bend likewise. Mastery ours.”
Locked on Leo.
Allure bent my smile, nearness tempted—flesh unmet.
“Thrill mirrors yours.”
Footlights’ venom.
Romeo’s stage sobs echoed shared high.
Reason rebelled. Pulse conquered.
Reveal’s terror bowed to blaze.
Once alone. Sight veiled perhaps. Unleash once.
Crave seeded deep.
Art’s zenith chained his core.
Faith beckons, Leo Pierre.
Harvest yours. Vowed.
