Care to Explain?

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Prince Ariel took Rara’s hand before he bowed and kissed the back of her hand. Rara blushed when he chuckled at her frightened face.

“May I dance with you, my Queen?”

Rara nodded and tried to smile as best as she could.

Her belly turns upside down at the change of situation.

She shut her mouth and bit her lips as hard as she could to stop the anxiety crawling down her spine. However, her palm was turning cold, and she could feel the cold sweat sliding down her back.

The music played, and the hall was full of people dancing here and there. They swayed following the music rhymes.

Rara lowered her head. She doesn’t have the urge to look up. So, she just stared at Prince Ariel’s chest the whole time.

“Look up.” Prince Ariel ordered.

He had noticed that this woman was trying to avoid his gaze all the time. It was his first time to be treated like this by some unknown woman. Usually, women like her would flock around him if they were given a chance.

But, now…

Interesting.

Rara hesitated for a moment before she decided to obey him. She raised her head and saw Prince Ariel smiling down at her.

It had been a long time since Rara saw a handsome fella after she died. Looking at the pretty boy in front of her, she nearly melted at his adorable smile.

<You perv...>

“So, may I have the honour to know who this young lady is?” he asked.

“Chihara,” she answered.

<Wait! Why did you give my name to him?>

‘You dumbo! That’s my name too!’

“That’s a beautiful name. Just like you.” Rara blushed more at his words.

Staring at his dark ocean eyes, something flashed through her mind. She was stunned, and her heart suddenly felt like it was burning inside.

Sweat formed on her forehead and slid down her face. A feeling of anger suddenly engulfed her heart. She immediately turned her head to the side when her face grew hot.

Her eyes turned dark for a second, as if petrified. However, she could still feel her body swaying to the music.

‘Why do I feel angry at him? What is this?! What’s happening?!’

A few minutes later, she recovered.

At the same time, she saw the person who was now on top of her blacklist. Arabella looked at Rara in shock all over her face as she watched her dance with Prince Ariel.

Alive and kicking.

A few seconds later, Arabella looked at Rara with hatred burning in her eyes.

The music began to slow down to a stop.

Not before Rara tripped.

Someone put their high heels beside her foot.

Rara was glad that Prince Ariel caught her on the waist before the music fully stopped. Prince Ariel pulled her back to her feet before putting his hand on her waist, and then, he took her upstairs to the second level.

They stood on the rails beside the stairs and looked down at the crowd.

“Thank you,”

“You’re welcome,” he grinned, “Hey! You don’t have to hold it in!”

Rara frowned, “Hold? Hold what?”

“Er...the scream?” he stroked his chin and turned his head to look at her.

“For what?” Rara asked in confusion.

His smile dropped, “You met and danced with a prince for whatever’s sake, you know?”

“So what?”

He pouted, “Every girl would scream if she had this chance, you know.”

“Well, I’m sorry about that. But, I’m different from them.”

He lifted up one eyebrow, “Okay, then.”

“Umm...Can I ask you about something?”

“Yes, of course,” he said before he grabbed her arm and dragged her to walk in another direction, heading outside the hall.

“Where are we going?”

He chuckled, “To my palace,” he said and winked at her.

Rara blushed.

“You should stop that habit of yours,” he stated.

“Excuse me?” Rara frowned.

“Your habit of blushing,” he chuckles once more.

“Oh,” Rara scratched her ears shyly, not knowing what to say anymore.

“You’re lucky that I have great self-control,” he said.

“Why?” she asked, confused.

“You don’t know how much I wanted to kiss your cheek right now.”

Rara’s face grew redder.

He laughs at her expression. “I have a feeling that we’re going to be great partners.”

She hit his arm playfully and chuckled lightly, “Umm...actually, I don’t know what’s going on right now. Care to explain?”

He smiled at this, “I will, but not now.”

Rara nodded.

He stopped once they arrived in front of a large door. He opened the doors and waited for Rara to go inside first.

“This is Mrs Melda. She is the head servant here.” Prince Ariel introduced the middle-aged lady who greeted them at the door, “I will be back. You can take a shower if you want,”

Rara nodded.

He closed the door before he left, and Rara began to admire his huge palace.

She followed Mrs Melda upstairs into the guest room and walked inside.

There are two closets inside the room. One is a black closet, and the other is white. Rara walked to the white closet and opened it. Inside, there are a few dresses.

‘Wow, I wonder how many girls it was that he had brought over.’

She opened the other closets and saw many kinds of accessories inside.

Looking around, there was a king-sized bed with a golden nightstand.

A small living room with a round pink fur carpet on the floor. A transparent coffee table with a flower pot and a few small glasses on it in the middle. Around it was a light blue couch.

There was also a bathroom with a huge bathtub and a shower. There was also a cabinet for first aid and a sink with a mirror below it.

And then, there was a makeup table with many kinds of skin products on it.

After that, there was also a small study area. A table and a swivel chair were provided along with a computer and writing tools.

Then, there were high shelves with dozens of books on them.

There were flower pots on the balcony and in the empty corner of the room.

The tinted glass window was facing the back forest, and a balcony was facing the pool downstairs.

Rara shrugged her shoulders before searching for a nice dress.

Grabbing a blue dress, Rara put it on the bed before grabbing a towel and heading to the bathroom.

The water flows from her head to her toes. She closed her eyes to feel the cold water washing over her body. It felt so good.

‘It’s been a long time since I’ve felt how it felt like to shower...’

‘By the way, your body is quite nice, but it still needs to gain some weight...’

<Kyaahh! Keep your hands to yourself!> Hara’s face grew hot as she stomped in the empty space on the head.

Rara ignored her and kept washing the body that she had just hosted.

A memory suddenly flashed through her mind, making her gasp in utter shock.

She grabbed the towel, dried her body and stormed out of the bathroom. Her hand trembled in fear as her heart raced abnormally inside her chest.

She wore the dress in a hurry before she leaned back on the wardrobe. Her body shook in terror as the memory whizzed through her brain.

Flashback

Little Rara was playing alone at the back of a castle.

It was a garden. The flowers there were very beautiful.

She picked the red roses and started walking a bit far from the garden and into the woods.

She danced with the roses in her hand. Smiling widely.

Suddenly, she heard someone screaming in pain not far from where she was standing.

Clutching the red roses in her hand, Rara approached the person silently.

Her forehead was sweating, and her heart was beating fast.

It was a man.

The man was clutching his chest, and blood was all over his body. He was lying on his back on the ground.

Rara gasped and covered her mouth.

The man’s head turned, and his gaze landed on her.

End of flashback

“Chihara! Hey! Are you okay?!”

Someone shakes her shoulders in panic. Rara fluttered her eyes open and saw Prince Ariel kneeling in front of her. She didn’t know how she was suddenly on her knees.

“I...I...t-think s-so...” she mumbled, stuttering.

He helped her rise to her feet and sat on the edge of the bed.

“What happened? I knocked on your door but you didn’t reply. I thought that something had happened to you.” he asked with concern lacing his voice.

“It's...nothing. I’m fine...”

He studied her face for a moment, unsatisfied, before he finally sighed and nodded.

“If there’s anything wrong, you can tell me about it, okay?”

Rara hesitated before nodding her head.

Then, the silence took over for a while before Prince Ariel stood up.

“I’ll go to my room to clean up first. You can wait for me at the library,” he stated.

“You have a library?” Rara regained her composure and asked with interest.

“Yes, it’s in the room next to yours.”

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