Chapter ten

He was right on top of her! His hands were placed by her shoulders, his legs by her sides, entrapping her.

'Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god,' was the only thought going through Kahoko's mind as she stared at his handsome features.

He was so uncomfortably close… She could feel his warm breath on her neck and the smell of his cologne. It smelled…like him. It was cold, yet strangely charismatic, like its wearer. And there was this subtle scent of…danger in it. Her heart began beating faster, she felt so vulnerable, so exposed, so…helpless. And she hated that feeling.

"It's such a déjà vu!" he laughed "Remember, Kahoko?"

Kahoko simply stared back at him in silence, dumbfounded.

"Well, I suppose it was vice versa back then," he continued "you were the one on top of me." Len gave another laugh and got up. He dusted off his pants and offered a hand to Kahoko, who gingerly took it. He pulled her up—a might to forcefully, Kahoko felt, which revealed a bit of his true fury—and then picked up the chair and put it back.

"You know," he said, looking out of the window, "no one, no one, has ever, ever set foot in this room besides me and of course…you." He spat out the last word, as if it disgusted him. He continued staring out the window for a while in silence, only his back facing Kahoko. Kahoko shifted her weight from foot to foot, unsure of what to do.

Suddenly, he spun around to face Kahoko. She inhaled sharply, his expression set her trembling with fear. The previous gentlemanly, dazzling façade had disappeared. And in the gentleman's place was a beast of fury. His nails dug into her flesh as he grabbed her by the shoulders and forced her into the chair. Kahoko couldn't help but let out a yelp in pain, which only made Len squeeze her shoulders harder. She winced and bit her lip, hot tears rolling down her cheeks.

"You will pay dearly for that," he hissed in her ear, his voice a threatening whisper.

All of a sudden, there was a sharp rapping on the door.

"Your Majesty, are you inside? It is time for lunch," came a female voice. Immediately, Kahoko let out a sigh of relief; she recognized the voice as Ashley's. Len glared at the door as if it had just insulted his playing then grudgingly went up to it, but not before shooting Kahoko one more glare of disgust. He opened the door and greeted Ashley with a polite "Good afternoon! Is it lunchtime already? Goodness, how fast time passes." Judging by the slight blush that rose to Ashley's cheeks, Kahoko could tell that Len was showing his movie star smile again, his dazzling mask had been put back on. Just then, Ashley peered into the room and saw Kahoko. Relief and surprise immediately spread on her face.

"Your highness! I've been looking all over for you! I was so anxious, wondering where you'd gone off to!" she cried.

"Oh, you needn't have worried, she was simply having a nice little chat with me," smiled Len.

"A chat?" Ashley echoed the words, staring at the prince in bewilderment. Prince Len…chatting? That was just way too weird to be true. But of course, one of the first rules of being a servant is 'never question your master or mistress's actions' and so with a mental shake of her head, Ashley regained her composure and said, with a smile "Really? How nice. Anyway, let us all go down to lunch together, shall we?"

Len beckoned Kahoko with his hand, using the split second of not being seen by Ashley to give her a signal with his golden eyes which said "Don't say anything!" Kahoko didn't want to, but she felt like a little creature in front of a big monster in front of Len, and felt it was best if she just did what he said. She tried to look as calm as possible, as if she really had been having a pleasant conversation with Len. "With that ice cube? As if!" she wanted to snort, but knew it was better to keep her mouth shut for once. She even took Len's offered elbow, and marched stiffly to the dining room. Ashley followed the two closely behind, watching them carefully. She felt uneasy about this sudden intimacy between the two and weirder, the sudden politeness of the infamous ice prince.

When they entered the dining hall, Queen Misa was already seated, sipping a cup of tea. Before even looking up properly, she snapped "You are late!" at her son, although she was already used to that habit of his.

"Yes, I do apologize, mother," came Len's reply. That made the queen look up! Her son, Len, apologizing? And even more shocking, Kahoko was accompanying him with her hand on his arm! And of course, the most shocking of all, Len was smiling. Like, properly, not devilishly. 'This must be a dream!' The queen thought to herself and slumped back into her chair.

"Are you feeling well today, Len?" Queen Misa asked, eyes still glued on her son.

"What a silly question! Of course I am, Mother!" he laughed ('I never thought I'd live to see the day!' thought the queen)

"In fact," he continued "Kahoko and I have been having a most enjoyable chat!" Queen Misa sat up in her chair, expressing sudden interest. "Really?" she asked, eyeing the youths with a trace of a mischievous smile playing at her lips.

"Yes, really," the prince beamed. At this point, Kahoko seemed as if she was on the brink of saying something, but Len (with his sharp observation skills) noticed and dug his fingers into her back, where it had been resting upon entering the room. She looked up sharply, and he gave her a swift, dangerous glare that said "You'd better shut up! NOW!" So she swallowed back the words into her throat and sulked.

"And we've taken to each other so much that, from now on, I want Kahoko to be my personal maid!"