I do not own Midnight Cinderella Ikémen Royal Romances.

Chapter 8: 'Cavorting'

August 20th

Liliana had been surprised but overjoyed to see me, and delighted by the flower. I never claimed it was the flower from her storybook. After all, I didn't know the answer to that myself. But, seeing the simple, pure joy of a child warmed my heart.

I apologized to the young girl again and again about having to stop teaching her, and made Lily promise to tell my other students the same thing. I was disappointed to have to leave, but it was getting late, so I bid Liliana and her mother goodbye. I really am thankful Louis. I wonder why you're such an ass the rest of the time...

Leaving her house was a big moment for me. It signified my leaving behind of my old life. Now it was time to dedicate myself to my new life as the princess elect. With newfound resolve in my heart and my student's home at my back, I hurried back to the carriage.

"M'lady! We have to hurry if you want to be back before dawn!"

"Sorry about that, Nico!" I opened the door to the carriage. Louis' expressionless face stared down at me from within.

"..."

"Thank you, Louis. My student was delighted with the bookmark. She promised to cherish it forever." I smiled brightly at the Duke, but nothing could have prepared me for the next few moments between Louis and I.

"You realize, of course, it's just an ordinary flower?" Louis smirked at me, his eyes looking somewhere beyond. My heart sank at his words. Louis' voice was dry and detached. "The flower in that bookmark could be found growing anywhere around here." A frown formed on my face, and I looked away, still standing outside the carriage.

"Right." I whispered, staring down at my bare feet. I hadn't truly believed the legends. But it was still hard not to feel disappointed. It was like seeing a magician's trick exposed as a mere sleight of hand: I was utterly disappointed, and felt more bitter than I had in a long time. I gave her false hope, that's what I did. She wanted the flower to heal her sick mother, not even herself when she's been weak her entire life. I lied to a sick child.

"To a child still foolish enough to believe such nonsense, any old flower will do." The next few moments went by in a blur. My eyes snapped open, and before I knew I was doing it, I had raised my head, stepped up onto the carriage step, and brought my hand across Louis' face, hard. His sky blue eyes were wide with surprise, his mouth was open slightly, and his blonde hair blew in the wind. He didn't make a move to look back at me.

"How dare you! She is but a child, and a sick one, with a sick mother, and a father who is never there for her! How dare you insult anyone with such innocence!" I breathed deeply, my fists and lip trembling with anger. When Louis' face became one of deep sadness, I couldn't bare to look at him anymore, and turned away. "Serves you right," I mumbled. "For being such a heartless person."

"If that's all it takes to upset you, then you really have no business becoming princess." I looked back up at the Duke shocked. I couldn't believe that he was still on this at this point. My confusion deepened as I listened to his warm voice, almost as if he were trying to persuade a child. "I'll escort you back to your home." Louis stepped out of the carriage, now standing before me. I stepped backwards, away from him and his cold stare.

"My home?" Unable to understand what he was talking about, I became more disturbed by the moment.

"Yes, your real home. The only reason I came along was to take you back." Is he serious?!

"Why is it you're so against me becoming princess?!" I yelled. Louis had reduced me to nearly speechlessness, but I held my ground and met his cool stare with a furious one of my own. "And how could... How could anyone be so ignorant of another's feelings!?" I was truly horrified by how little humanity there seemed to be in this man.

"The palace is no place for a girl like you."

"Simply because I'm a commoner!?" I snapped back, my heart pumping.

"..." A look of sadness drifting back across his face, Louis took me by the arm. What the?! With one swift tug, Louis pulled me in towards him. "That's right." His lips were now so close to my own they practically touched. "Because if a commoner like yourself were to become princess, I assure you, it would not end happily." It was very rarely that anyone could push me so far over the edge. I was no longer able to rational thoughts, and my vision was clouded with red anger.

"YOU BASTARD! GET AWAY FROM ME!" I shoved the Duke by the chest, and he fell back into the carriage, while I stumbled backwards. "DON'T YOU GET IT BY NOW?! I WILL NOT GIVE UP ON MY COUNTRY LIKE THAT, AND I WILL BECOME PRINCESS, WHETHER THE HELL YOU LIKE IT OR NOT!" Both Nico and Louis were staring at me, and I could hear people in nearby houses stirring. My breathing was ragged, and I held my head in my hands. I tugged on my hair just hard enough that it would help me regain my concentration. "You're despicable, Louis. I hate you." Louis took a step towards me, and I copied his movements, taking a step backwards. We did this until I was backed up against the side of a shop, with Louis caging me in. We were now out of sight from the main road.

"Despicable I may be, but you and I-" Louis stopped himself mid-sentence. His face was awash with emotions for the briefest of moments, before he quickly turned away. 'You and I-'? What was he going to say? "Do you really intend to return to the palace?" Louis caressed my cheek, his voice calm as he spoke. I was quick though, and grabbed his wrist, twisting it away. I was silent, and returned Louis' stare. His sapphire eyes were deep, and I nearly lost myself in them. His eyes were... soothing, somehow. I didn't feel so enraged anymore, just bitter and detached. Louis blinked, and I remembered that he had asked me something.

"I have no choice."

"Are you sure about that?"

"I am. I came here tonight to- well, tie up loose ends, I guess you could say." I stared past Louis, at a house not too far away, into a life that was no longer mine. "That life is no longer mine." I ended, echoing my own thoughts. Louis broke his gaze at last and sighed deeply. The Duke then turned gracefully away, making his way back onto the street, before he boarded the carriage. I ran my fingers through my hair slowly, taking a deep breath before I too went back to the carriage. From within, Louis extended a hand. I gently placed my hand on top of Louis' palm. I was too tired to fight him anymore, too drained to care.

"When we return to the palace, you'll be the princess elect." Louis' eyes sparkled, examining me anew. Before I could think of anything to say, he pulled me into the carriage. "Good luck, Ava." That was the first time he's ever said my name. But despite his words, his voice still rang of cool formality. The carriage was as silent on the return trip as it had been on our outward journey.

Louis' eyes were closed as we neared the palace, his body rocking in time with the carriage. Has he fallen asleep? I could barely hold back a sigh as I gazed at his face. His face is... beautiful, I suppose. The carriage abruptly came to a halt, interrupting my thoughts.

"Yikes! I think we may have a problem here, m'lady." I peered out the window to see what had Nico so flustered. Is that-?! Giles stood at the doors to the palace's entrance hall, his arms folded across his chest. I recalled Louis' warning: "You'll be the one to suffer the consequences." I have a feeling this is going to be ugly. I took a deep breath, preparing for the worst. I really was in no mood to be dealing with this though.

"..." Louis' eyes had opened. He stepped out of the carriage without hesitation. I followed silently.

"Duke Howard." As Giles studied Louis, I saw a smile flicker across his face. It wasn't a very friendly gesture. "When I couldn't find you in your assigned quarters, I was a little more than concerned."

"Oh? I thought I was free to come and go as I pleased." Louis' expression remained unchanged, even as Giles flashed him a smile. I watched with dull interest; I was too tired to care much at this point.

"Of course, you are absolutely correct, My Grace. But, I'd not taken you for a man who would depart without informing anyone." Giles' smile deepened. "I found it somewhat out of character."

"..."

"And I'd certainly not taken you for a man who'd go cavorting with our new princess in the dead of night." And with that, Giles' gaze finally landed on me.

"Please, as if I would go 'cavorting' anywhere with someone like him." Our eyes locked and I stared blankly back at Giles. My incident with Louis was still fresh in my mind. The smile on Giles' face was in no way reflected in his eyes.

"With all due respect, Duke Howard, I cannot say I am pleased by this development." My eyes narrowed when I realized that Giles had decided not to acknowledge my comment. He treated me as if I were a fragile child, unable to take care of myself. No one said a word for a moment. Finally, I shook my head, and began to head towards the palace entrance.

"Forgive me." I stopped dead, not turning back, but perplexed at the sound of Louis' voice. Why is he-?

"Then I accept, Your Grace." My emerald eyes were wide with shock as I spun around. I wasn't the only one surprised, as even Giles' eyes were open wider than usual. "But spending the entire night together on the day you first met- I'm quite impressed at what a strong rapport you two have formed. So if you'd permit me to make a small suggestion," Giles' eyes were smiling now, as he carefully studied Louis' face. "Perhaps you'd like to volunteer to serve as Her Highness' dance instructor? You'll begin right after breakfast." Louis replied without hesitation, before I could even shoot Giles a stunned look.

"Certainly."

"Woah, woah, woah! What rapport?! There is no rapport, and I do not need him to be my dance instructor!" Neither men even looked at me and my dropped jaw.

"Well, daybreak is nearly upon us. You two should try to catch a little sleep." Louis entered the palace without so much as a glance in my direction. "Hurry off to your chamber, Ava." I watched Louis' back angrily, before sighing irately, lifting my skirts, and stomping off to my room before Nico could think to follow me.

Imagine the surprise I got when someone was leaning up against the wall beside my door. That's right, none. In fact I was quite upset about it.

"Welcome home, Princess." Leo had been leaning against the wall next to my door, but he stood up straight when he saw me. There was a smirk on his lips as he gazed at me. I stayed where I was as Leo walked towards me."What have you been up to, out so late?" I glared at him. I'm fucking exhausted, and about to break his damn arm if he doesn't move in the next twenty seconds. I stood there in silence, too annoyed to bother replying, and Leo grinned suddenly. He stopped in front of me and tilted his head, gazing at me curiously. "You look a little tired, Ava." I hated the way he drawled out the two syllables in my name.

"That's none of your concern." Leo took another sudden step towards me, finally getting close enough that I took a small step backwards. Leo smirked again, his expression amused.

"You don't need to look so worried- I'm not going to tell anyone." He reached out with both hands and placed them gently on my shoulders, his smile wide. The fingers of both his hands slid around towards the back of my neck. I continued to glare up at him.

"You wouldn't need to. It seems that every damn person here already knows." Leo laughed, using his height to his advantage and leaning over me.

"Ava. Just stand still for a moment." His voice was little more than a whisper, and his face moved closer to mine. His fingers gently caressed the nape of my neck.

"I swear, if you don't move your hands-" Leo interrupted me then, his tone amused.

"There we go." I blinked as the weight of his hands vanished from my shoulders, and looked down to my neck. "You dropped it earlier." Leo took a step back, and pointed towards my chest.

"Huh?"

"If you go and drop something like that, someone's gonna figure that you're irresponsible, or something like that." When I looked down, I saw that my necklace had been fastened around my neck again.

"My necklace, I thought I left it in my room!" It was the princess heirloom necklace, the one with the gold chain and large blue diamond that Nico had given me my first day here.

"I saw you running the halls last night, and this fell off of your neck along the way. I fixed the clasp too, so that won't happen again." I smiled warmly. I was glad Leo had found it, I didn't want to know what Giles would do to me if I had lost the necklace. "Anyway, good night, sleep tight!" Leo stuck his hands in his pockets, and spun on his heel, leaving me alone in the hallway. I hurriedly called after him.

"Sir Leo, thank you!"

"Ava, didn't I tell you to just call me Leo?" Leo glanced back at me and flashed me a broad smile, which I happily returned.

Inside my chamber, I ran my fingers gently through my thick, messy blonde hair, and sighed deeply. I was just about to collapse onto my bed, when there was a knock at the door.

What could it possibly be now?!

August 21st

Haha! Leo has made another re-appearance! And who could be at Ava's door?