Finding Camellia - Chapter 81

Lia couldn’t move, as though her feet were stuck in glue. She struggled to form a reply for a moment that stretched out like an eternity. She stepped closer to Claude, who was now lathering himself; however, she remained clothed as she knew well what would happen if she undressed.

“Did I… do something wrong?” she asked.

Claude let out a surprised laugh as if he couldn’t believe what he heard. “I should be asking you that. I was quite drunk last night.”

His gaze sharpened as he waited for her answer. When none came, he pulled the lever and let the warm water cascade down his body. Lia came to a halt at a safe distance, where the water wouldn’t reach her.

“But you still remember everything that happened?”

“Naturally.” He nodded, a slight grin hanging on his red lips. “Including what you said in your sleep.”

Lia paced around him slowly. She didn’t know what she had said, but she knew that Claude was about to tease her. His eyes followed her, twinkling with mischievousness.

“So this is how the animals in the zoo feel,” Claude said.

“You look at me like this often, my lord. Like an animal,” she retorted, blinking her large eyes rather obnoxiously.

Claude felt a thrill run through him at this rare display of audacity. “Well, what do you think?

“Pardon?”

“When you look at me like that. What are you thinking?”

Lia paused.

Do speech lessons improve in quality the higher one’s title?

She couldn’t remember a time when she didn’t lose her pace as she argued with Claude.
“What about you, my lord?”

“Me? It’s the same every time. I want to devour you whole. You’re so small, soft, and sweet, I would eat you up in one bite if I could.”

Lia swallowed, mouth dry, as she heard him speak of her like a delectable dish. Claude began to chuckle loudly with his hand against the wall when he saw her lips twitching in shock.

“I’m a human being, I’ll have you know. One bite… how preposterous,” she said over her shoulder as she turned on her heels, about to rush back to the bedroom as she realized he was teasing her yet again.

“And… Ian indeed proposed to me, but I won’t marry him. I know you’ve also asked for my hand, but honestly, I can’t imagine it, my lord. Me, becoming a duchess-”

He grabbed her arm, dripping wet.

“Claude. How come you call Sergio by his name but not me? Claude. My name is Claude.” He tightened his grip. “I’m sure you haven’t forgotten, so why?”

She realized her mistake as she saw the insecurity looming behind the sharp blue eyes. “Because… when I call your name, you always get a bit… no, really excited, so I-”

“Excited, you say,” Claude cut her off, voice husky from clear arousal. He slipped his large hand down to pull her small one to his mouth, sweeping his tongue across her palm. He embraced her, his hot, hard body meeting hers.

“Like this?”

A small smile blossomed on his face, wiping away the seriousness from moments ago. Lia’s heart prickled at the sight, her lungs suddenly deprived of air. Her breath became ragged as she lifted her head.

Whatever this was, it was a terrible, incurable illness.

***

Wade and Rosina dropped by just as Claude ordered the car to be prepared for his return to the Ihar townhouse. Camellia was making sure the dress Rosina had gifted her was being packed properly by the maids when the pair entered her room.

“Your Highness.” Lia bowed to Wade, smiling.

“If it isn’t the myth, the legend, Camellius Bale himself.”

“Please forgive your disloyal servant, Your Highness. I should have gone to greet you first.” She kissed the back of Wade’s hand.

“It’s quite all right. You’ll be family soon, so I can overlook a little disloyalty.”

Claude narrowed his eyes at them, peeking out over the newspaper he was reading by the window. Even this simple gesture seemed to annoy him. Rosina let out a sigh and took a seat on the sofa in front of the fireplace, taking a teacup from a maid.

“Enough pleasantries,” she said, her lips leaving marks on the porcelain. “Let me get straight to the point. I’m sure you’re already aware, Lord Claude, but the rebels have become more violent ever since Sharon was shot to death. Suspicious persons who were loitering around Camellia’s house have been caught; they were planning arson. The guards that the marquis stationed near Lia’s house testified.”

Camellia stared at her, shocked, but Claude was unfazed as though he already knew.

“Time to make a decision then. Will you reveal your true identity, Camellius?” Wade asked.

Lia wrung her hands as she pondered. She was originally going to stick to the plan—to disappear without a trace. However, she no longer wanted to be under Lady Bale’s thumb, even if her existence pained the marchioness.

“Yes, I will.”

Wade gave a short nod at Lia’s answer, resting his chin in his hand. “What about your birth mother?”

“I… do want to see her, but that’s selfishness on my part. She’s happy in Louver. I would like to provide a better living for her though, if possible.”

“Then I suppose there’s nothing else to it. Louver has to become a happier, brighter place,” Wade replied, astounding Lia; of all the possible replies, this was one she definitely did not expect. “Father refuses to acknowledge that Frank Ashe is the ringleader, which is going to make today quite.. interesting.”

“Your Highness.” Claude stood up. “Shall we talk?”

While the two men stepped out onto the terrace for a cigarette, Lia finished packing and headed out of the room. The weather was getting warmer, so she shed her coat to hang it over her arm.

It occurred to her at that moment just how much she’d gotten used to luxury, making her feel uneasy. What if these luxuries had blinded her to the small joys of life, as she’d seen in so many aristocrats? What if the brilliant frescos would start to dim as her eyes searched for something more and more brilliant, until she lost sight of what happiness is supposed to be?

“What’s got you so preoccupied?”

Lia lifted her eyes at the familiar voice. Ian stood at the bottom of the stairs, attendants moving busily around him with bags in hand.

“Lord Ian,” she said, smiling warmly.

She received a cold smirk in return-Ian evidently wasn’t pleased with the formality. He walked up the steps to stand at eye level with her, even though he was two steps below her.

“People won’t leave you alone, I gather.”

Lia smiled widely, biting her lip. “I’m glad to see that you’re well.”

“It’s been what, three years?”

“Yes.” She nodded. “Three years.”

“You’ve… changed.” His gray eyes held an inexplicable aspect as he looked her over. “You’ve become a woman, Camellia.” Ian climbed up a step, closing the distance between them. Lia moved backward reflexively, looking away, but Ian was a beat faster, his arm wrapping around her waist. His eyes, gray as the dawn, drew closer, and his desire impulsively descended on her lips. She barely had time to think, let alone act.

Lia was frozen in shock for a moment before she pushed strongly against his chest, ripping away from him. It felt like Ian’s lips had burned her where they touched. She shook her head desperately as she stared at the railing next to her.

“Don’t. Don’t do this. I don’t want—“

“Me? Or the kiss?” Ian murmured, still way too close.

“The kiss. I don’t want this with you!” Lia said fiercely, face red as a beet.

Ian’s hand around her waist stiffened at her rejection. He gazed at her trembling hand pushing against his chest before setting her straight and stepping, backward.

It’s a mistake. His impulse is just a mistake. That’s all this is. A mistake.

Lia wanted to believe what she kept repeating in her mind.

She glared at Ian, feeling as though she might cry. But for some reason, he met her eyes with the same expression. Ian slowly lowered his body, getting on one knee. His hand gripped hers firmly, and he pressed a kiss on the back of it before leaning his forehead against it.

“Please forgive me, Camellia.”

Lia tore her hand out of his grip and ran down the stairs, leaving him behind. She rubbed the back of her hand roughly against her lips as she ran, until the skin turned red. Tears began to fall, but she rubbed those away too.

She skidded to a stop in front of the waiting car and jumped into the backseat, rolling the window down. The cold wind was a relief against her flushed face. If Claude saw her, he wouldn’t stop asking questions until she confessed and she knew she couldn’t fool him.

This was the first time she was afraid of Ian. No, she wasn’t afraid. She was pained by the strange emptiness of the fact that she’d lost a precious friend.

“Go,” Claude ordered the moment she closed the door. Lia fixed her gaze out the window, pretending she was deep in thought. Thankfully, he seemed none the wiser.

“I sent people to move your belongings and maids to the townhouse.”

“Thank you for being mindful of my attendants as well.”

“Of course! Your life depends on it. If it were up to me, I would take you to Rose Denver immediately, banquet be damned.”

Her heart found peace at his thoughtfulness. She cast her eyes down, quietly smiling. A large hand came into view, cupping her chin and lifting her gaze to meet his. Lia’s emerald eyes were shimmering wet. Claude wiped a thumb under her eye.

“Grand Duke Sergio was upstairs.”

“Oh, yes. I ran into him.”

“That’s it?”

“Yes, I just said hello.”

He nodded at her answer, caressing her reddened lips before leaning down to kiss her. Lia’s heart sighed at the comforting sensation. Her hands clutched his collar, pulling him close.

***

This banquet was the first ever held at the Bale townhouse. High-ranking noblemen like the marquis did not need to hold banquets to foster relationships with the other aristocrats. Thus, it was the first time the marquis’s gates were open to all the other families since Kieran was admitted to the Academy at the top of his class.

Lady Bale stood in the middle of the hall, attempting to suppress her bubbling anxiety as she looked at the beautifully decorated tapestries, tables, and orchestra.

“Do you really have to go this far?” Gilliard asked, walking out of the study.

“We can’t just sit idly by after being disgraced,” she snapped, glaring at his loungewear.

“Well, you should have listened when we said Camellius wasn’t the culprit.”

“But he is! It’s ludicrous that you think he isn’t. He has to be. He’s from Louver.”

“Anastasia,” he muttered tiredly, walking away.

She watched in anger as he made his way upstairs. Gilliard tended to stay in his study after the war, unable to muster up the energy for much else. The trauma from his imprisonment seemed to have affected him considerably, but she had no capacity to tolerate or understand his pain.

Today—today was the day.

She’ll come prepared, won’t she?

Anastasia knew better than anyone that Lia was intelligent. On top of this, Lia now wielded considerable power, which meant that the marchioness could not face her directly.

She called to the attendant setting the table. “Take extra care of those seats. The two Grand Dukes will be sitting there.”

“Yes, my lady.”

“Be sure to mark them well.”

“Yes, my lady.”

Anastasia swept a hand across the chair with Camellius’s name card. Camellius Bale would soon contract an unknown illness, becoming bedridden before disappearing from the world.

That will happen. It must.

She walked down the servants’ passageway to the kitchen. Amidst the people moving busily about, there was a woman washing potatoes in the corner with her red hair in a high ponytail. She was sweating, but it didn’t diminish her air of elegance.

Anastasia made her way over to the maid, warmly laying a hand on her shoulder.

“Marilyn, I have a favor to ask of you.”