Chapter 95: A Passage For The Crown
"Oh," he mused, lowering his voice to a velvety tone, "but princess, all I’ve been doing here is diligently explaining the formula to you. Don’t blame me if you’re the one who gets easily distracted." He looked at her like he had no idea what she was talking about.
’This sly wolf,’ she muttered in her mind as she narrowed her eyes at him.
’Ignore him, Eve. Just think of him as a comfortable chair.’ Nodding to herself in agreement, she shifted and leaned back against his warm, firm embrace as though he were nothing but a chair. "Alright then, can you explain it to me again? I would really like to learn this." She spoke with all seriousness, deliberately ignoring his amused stare.
He just stared at her, wondering what exactly was going through her mind to make her get so comfortable, unaware that in her thoughts, he had just been reduced to a chair. He replied, "Alright, now listen carefully. If you put the numeric here, you’ll get the value correctly, and you’ll be able to measure the correct amount of each ingredient."
She listened carefully without letting herself get distracted this time. After grasping the explanation, she said confidently, "Alright, I understand, you can now give me that equation to solve."
Ivan gave her a nod, and in quick, elegant handwriting, he wrote it down in her notebook for her to solve. He then handed her the quill and rested his chin back on her shoulder, watching her intently to see how she would solve it. But she didn’t move right away, instead, she bit her lower lip, turned to him slightly, and said, "Can you not look while I solve it? I might get too self-conscious under your scrutinizing gaze."
He moved his molten red eyes to look at her before he sighed. "Alright," he conceded and leaned back on the sofa to stare at the ceiling.
A small smile formed on her lips as she leaned back against him, thinking, ’What a comfortable chair he can be.’ With that, she dove into solving the problem he had given her. Soon, the quiet room was filled with the soft scribbling of quill against the parchment.
Ivan closed his eyes while savouring the feel of having her lean against his body. Her sweet fragrance enveloped his senses, and he attuned himself to the rhythm of her soft breathing and the gentle flutter of her heartbeat, which was now much calmer than before. He felt a rare feeling of contentment wash over him. She fit so perfectly in his arms, as if she had been made to belong there.
Soon she completed her task and then turned to find his alluring face resting against the sofa with his eyes shut. Her voice called him softly, "Ivan?"
His eyes snapped open at her sweet voice. "Are you done?" he asked.
She beamed at him and held her book up to indicate that she had finished her task. Seeing her child-like excitement, he straightened and looked at the formula, which had been solved correctly. "Hm, so you’ve understood it," he said with an approving nod.
She smiled brightly at him, making his heart skip a beat.
"Alright, we should get ready!" she said, fretting about the time. Not wanting to be late for her first meeting with the King of Versailles, she scrabbled to get up, but Ivan pulled her back, making her fall once again into his lap.
"Ivan!" she exclaimed, as her eyebrows pulled together in confusion.
But when her gaze landed on him, his expression was unreadable, with his eyes seeming dazed once again. She bit her tongue before saying anything further, her heart beat quickened as he leaned forward until his forehead rested against hers.
She wondered what had gotten into him all of a sudden. He had been fine just a moment ago, and now he seemed so serious. So she raised her hands and gently caressed his cheeks and spoke softly, "What’s wrong?"
He lightly leaned into her touch but didn’t say anything. After a second longer, he released her and asked, "Did Arthur bring your dress for tonight?"
Eve blinked at him in confusion, wondering what that was about, but she didn’t press on it any further. "Yes, I have it with me," she replied.
"Alright, you should go get ready, you have..." he checked his pocket watch and said, "half an hour."
"Oh goodness! I need to get ready!" she exclaimed, and quickly scrabbled off his lap to run towards the bathroom.
Ivan let out a sigh and continued to sit there for a while longer before he whispered, "Just what am I doing?"
Later that evening, Evelyn stood before the mirror attached to the wall next to the fireplace. She looked at the gown sculpting her figure in soft blush silk and lace before spilling into cascading layers of sheer fabric that rippled like moonlight on water. Every inch of the bodice had delicate embroidery of roses and vines stitched in shimmering thread, as though nature itself had bloomed against her skin.
The off-shoulder sleeves draped her arms with fragile lace, leaving her collarbones bare. From her waist, the gown unfurled into a dramatic train, with layers of gossamer fabric sweeping behind her like the wings of a celestial being.
Her gaze then shifted to the God-like man standing beside her, looking every bit of regal blood that flowed in his veins, watching her with intensity she couldn’t fathom. To break the silence, she asked, "What are we doing standing here? Should we be leaving already?"
"We are going to leave," he answered while still drinking in her breathtaking beauty. "Just not from the main door."
She tilted her head in confusion and asked, "Are you about to open some kind of a portal through this mirror?"
Ivan let out a low chuckle, "Something like that," he replied cryptically.
Eve wondered what exactly he meant, but she didn’t have to think long when Ivan moved near the fireplace and shifted a lion statue to a full one-eighty degrees. She then heard the mechanical sound of the gears moving, followed by a sharp click, and the mirror attached to the wall swung open, revealing a dark passage ahead.
She knew palaces often had secret passages for escape in times of danger, but she never imagined that they would be using one today.
Her blue eyes narrowed as she tried to peer into the dark path ahead, but it was pitch black to gauge anything.
Soon, Ivan was at her side again and wrapped his warm hand around hers. "Shall we?"
She pursed her lips before replying, "But...isn’t it too dark? And...I am afraid my dress would be in less than favorable condition by the time we are on the other side, with all the dust that might be there."
She laid out her concerns, and Ivan gave her a small nod in agreement. Then, without a warning, he lifted her up in his arms. "I think this way should work," he said and stepped inside the dark passage. As soon as he did, the door shut behind, shrouding them in darkness once again.
Eve, who could not see a thing, tightened her grip around Ivan’s neck and whispered nervously, "It’s too dark."
She then saw a brief flicker of his eyes shining molten orange, and all the scones lined up in the wall lit up, casting a warm glow in the path ahead.
He glanced down and asked, "Better?"
She gave him a nod, which he returned with a faint smile before he started walking. The sound of his footsteps echoed in the hollow path. She remained silent and rested on his shoulder and asked, "Where does this path lead to?"
"There are many routes interconnected to this one, leading to the different parts of the palace. If one doesn’t know the way, one could get lost easily or worse...end up getting killed by the traps set here so that the enemies would not be able to make use of it."
"Oh," she murmured, her curiosity piqued. After a moment, she asked, "Have you always been using this path?"
"I have, a couple of times when I was young. And sometimes now, when I need to be discreet on certain missions."
"Then, do your men also know about this path?" she asked curiously.
"No, only the royals know about such paths. It’s for safety. Although my men are fiercely loyal to me, one never knows, do they?"
"Do you doubt them?"
"I don’t doubt them," he replied evenly. "But if anyone ever dares to betray me, they know the consequences of it. Some information is better kept to oneself rather than shared...even if you trust them, Eve," he replied.
To this, she found herself agreeing. After all, one truly never knows when a trusted ally might turn their back on you under unforeseen circumstances.
"I see..." She became quiet again until she heard him ask, "What about you? Did you know about these kinds of secret passages in your palace back in your kingdom?"
