Curse the Mainframe! 235 How Dare You Come Back!

Down at the bookstore where Alec was working, the bell rang, signifying that a customer had entered.

According to the rules that this bookstore was run by, Alec didn't look up when he felt the familiar magical signature that came in. It was Thea.

She started browsing around the bookstore, and Alec continued reading.

He'd asked her to come here both for the report as well as to help him act out a little play for their resident princess.

Since she'd finally confessed to him, subsequently leading to his rejection, he had to give her a way to hold something above his head, which would also cause her to be unable to think rationally.

He couldn't help but wonder whether or not he'd reeled her in a little too well. She was displaying signs of complete obsession with him, rather than having heavy infatuation with him instead.

Ye Sha snorted when he worried about it, rolling his eyes. His friend had no idea. No idea at all.

"Obviously. She's never been treated like that in her life, and as you said, the guys have always been the ones who take the initiative to chase her. Not only did you not reject her advances after she started, the way you look at her would make any girl have fantasies. Is it so surprising that she would fall this hard? To the point of obsession even?"

Alec thought about it before reluctantly agreeing. It was still moving in the direction he needed it to, but he'd have to adjust his plans a little since she didn't seem like she was going to let him go any time soon.

In that case, he would have less freedom the moment he 'inadvertently' landed in her hands.

Thea made a few rounds around the bookstore before she finally picked a few books up that she liked. As she walked to the counter, she froze when she caught sight of Alec peacefully reading his book at the bookstore.

The guard that had entered the moment she entered watched in the corner, his eyes unreadable.

Thea opened and closed her mouth a few times, as if the words that she wanted to say couldn't leave her.

Finally, in the end, a shaky voice came out. "Alexander?"

Her eyes didn't move from Alec's form at all, and the guard couldn't help but feel as if he was intruding on a private moment between two lovers.

Even the princess' love, Alexander, who was always calm and graceful whenever the guard saw him, lost his calm at the moment.

His head snapped up, a look of hope and yet pain, crossing his features. "Lilianna?" he breathed.

Thea gave a shaky laugh. "I go by Anna now." She took an unsteady step forward, before running to the counter.

The books had long-since dropped to the floor the moment she'd locked eyes with him, and the guard silently saw himself out.

He had to report to the princess. This was probably the exact situation that she'd been concerned about, right?

The guard sent a messenger bird out, watching as its wings blurred before the avian creature disappeared with the message attached to its leg.

Thea and Alec held hands, as if they were afraid that the other would slip away before their very eyes if they didn't hold on any tighter.

Thea leaned over the counter, as if she was exchanging sweet nothings with Alec.

She gave a silent laugh. "How are you enjoying your seduction with the princess, huh?"

Alec smiled shakily, but the smile didn't reach his eyes. "I'd rather not repeat it ever again, but it's going well so far. I should be able to get easy access into the palace after this."

Thea laughed. "I hear about you day in and day out from the various ladies that sneakily go to the bar to destress, you know?"

"That's the idea."

"Well, I'll give it to you. You sure know how to make a splash."

"Thank you," Alec said dryly.

In the short span where the guard left to send the message, the two clan members completed their rather detailed exchange, and were now resuming their acting.

"What happened to you?" Alec said with pain in his eyes.

From a noble, Lilianna was now wearing commoner clothing that she would never have been caught in previously. From her previous wealth and splendour, she looked like she lost everything except her stunning good looks.

Alec looked pained by what she'd suffered after she left him to marry another. Yet, the way he looked at her didn't change a single iota, causing the guard to admire the man.

From a noble to a commoner, yet Alexander's love for the woman remained true.

Thea's eyes teared up, as if she was able to vent now that she met her former lover for the first time in a long while.

She threw herself into his arms, her heart giving a strange thump, burying her face in his chest. "I'm sorry!" she apologized loudly. Her voice hitched, and she trembled lightly.

By now, the guard had silently hidden himself in the corner again, watching the drama unfolding before his eyes.

Honestly, it was a little uncomfortable, but what could he do? Orders were orders. Intruding in a couple's moments like this made him feel like punching himself in the face, however.

Why was he being subjected to their display of love even in the middle of an assignment!?

"I'm sorry," Thea repeated incessantly.

Alec tried to shush her without much success. "Why don't you tell me what happened? There's no one here to hear. It's just you and me."

The guard felt strangely guilty.

"I t-tried to leave him, but my family wouldn't let me. But I kept doing things that escalated, and in the end, they dis-disowned me," she got out with difficulty, and Alec's face expressed that he would love to have taken her place to suffer in her stead.

Alec brushed the tears from Thea's face using his thumb, caressing her face, and she just wept harder, clutching his hands.

The door to the bookstore was thrown open violently, but neither Thea nor Alec acted like they heard it, lost as they were comforting each other.

"Don't cry," Alec said sadly. "Seeing your tears pain me so much." Alec patiently coaxed her, and his voice was so soft and pleading that Ophelia felt as if she'd taken a shot to the heart.

The difference in the treatment between her and the unknown woman that was clinging to him so shamelessly was like night and day.

Immediately, a fire started burning brightly within her.

So, this was the woman that Alexander couldn't let go in his heart?

Well then… she had to do something about her, didn't she? Otherwise, how was her Alexander going to make room in his heart for her to fit herself into?

How dare she throw herself at her Alexander after she'd already let him go?! Not only that, she was married already – or was she a divorcee now!?

Either way, she didn't deserve her Alexander when she'd made him hurt that much!

Ophelia threw herself forward, disregarding the presence of the guard in the corner who felt as if he should stop the princess from disturbing the couple, only to be reminded that he was a measly guard.

Ophelia dragged the hussy back by the hair, a fierce look in her eyes, drawing a shriek of surprise and pain from the woman.

"How dare you come back and try to coerce my Alexander again? You already left him once! He belongs to me now!"

Chapter end

Report