Chapter Text
They stayed sitting in the window nook until Riftan realized people would get suspicious if they both disappeared from the party like that, since both of them were seen entering the ball room. He expressed this thought to Maxi, who agreed with him. Maxi left the comfort of the window nook first, looking around to make sure no one was around. When Riftan was left alone, he had time to reflect about what had just happened, feeling how happiness settled in his chest, warming it up. He had planned to approach Maxi during this trip, but he had not expected such a good result from it. She had even let him call her by her first name.
He really wanted to think he was special. That only he had such a privilege of referring to her in such an intimate way, and he wasn’t talking only about their first name base. Riftan was very aware of their interactions, and how familiar they had become with each other in only one day. If it was any other woman, Riftan would not have even thought about sitting on that window nook for what felt like hours and just talk like he just did. It was too personal, too intimate, and had they gotten caught they would definitely gotten in a lot of trouble. Maxi’s decency would have been put into question, and that’s something Riftan could not risk. Of course he would never do something like that to any woman, but Maxi was special and he had this huge need of protecting her, even if it was from himself.
Maybe I should keep my distance from now on, he thought, but he discarded the idea right away. He would not lie to himself, he knew he did not have enough self control to do that. He had to find another way of being in contact with her without other people knowing… Except that, maybe, that wasn’t necessary.
Why couldn't people know? Yes, Maxi was the daughter of a Duke, but Riftan was a Lord, even if it was from such a small town like Anatol. He was proud of it, and even if they weren’t at the same level, it wouldn’t be too frowned upon if he showed interest in her. Maxi did not have any known suitor (as strange as that sounded), and she was in the perfect age to get married. Even her younger sister had gotten engaged before her. Where was the harm in publicly courting her?
Riftan imagined them dancing together in that same ballroom, going on walks in the gardens with her maids as their chaperones, getting her so many gifts that it would not fit in her quarters… Then he took his fantasy to a different level, imagining her in a white dress walking towards him, her trip to Anatol to fulfill her duties and Lady Calypse, the warmth of her embrace…
And that’s where Riftan had to stop himself. It was a nice fantasy, but it was just that: a fantasy. Even if she was okay with his advantages towards her, he highly doubted her father would have the same opinion. He knew Duke Croix saw him as nothing else than horse shit under his shiny shoes. He would have never accepted Riftan properly courting his elder daughter, so he had to bring himself down from that cloud and go back to earth. It would never happen, it would never have a happy ending.
However… The idea of courting her was too tempting to let it pass. Even if he could not have her for the rest of his life, maybe he could enjoy her company for the remaining of the 3 weeks that he would stay at the Croix Castle, or until she or her fathers tell him to stop. He remembered her expression when he gave her the hairpin and made a personal goal out of it. He wanted to see that expression as many times as possible before he was stopped. And maybe, just maybe , he would be lucky enough to see it for the rest of his life.
With this new resolution and feeling brave, Riftan left the comfortable window nook, with the goal of finding Maxi and asking her for a dance.
She was nowhere to be found. Riftan felt his chest slowly deflating, letting escape the resolution he had. How long had he spent in the window nook by himself? It surely couldn’t be too much, most of the people that entered the ballroom with him were still there, so it surely couldn’t be that late.
He was still walking around the ballroom looking for a specific set of red curls when he felt someone grabbing his arm and pulling him in a different direction. It only took a look to recognize Ruth, so he let him drag him towards the main door, stepping out of the ballroom to the hallway.
“May I know what’s the reason why you’re disturbing me like this?” Riftan asked, annoyed, only wanting to go back to the ballroom and keep looking for Maxi.
Ruth turned around to face Riften so he could see his alarmed expression, his gray eyes big as they could be.
“May I know what you were hiding behind a curtain with Lady Croix?” he asked back.
Riftan cursed out loud. He was sure that no one had seen them or noticed their absence. He didn’t care about Ruth knowing, but if he had seen them anyone else could have as well.
“Mind your own business before I cut your throat, little rat”, he threatened. Ruth did not even blink, too used to his aggression.
“You’ve never shown interest in any woman, did Lady Croix have to be the first one? Do you want to start a war?”
Ruth kept dragging him through the hallways, probably to their rooms. Riftan could just shake Ruth away like you would do with a bug if he wanted to, but this actually gave him an excuse to leave the ballroom. She wasn’t there anymore, it was not worth it to stay longer.
Riftan tuned out Ruth, who kept babbling about how dangerous his behavior was, if he had no shame, if he couldn’t just get a girl from the town…
He stopped right on his feet when he heard that last comment. Ruth kept tugging his sleeve, but it was like trying to drag a brick wall.
“We were just talking, nothing else happened. If I hear you trying to spread any nasty rumor about her I swear I’m gonna…”
“Whoah, calm down. You know you can trust me, and I was the only one who saw you… But what could you possibly talk about with her?” He seemed really puzzled with that question.
Trying to find an answer, Riftan was attacked by the memories of the scene that had happened just 30 minutes ago with both of them so close in such a small place, their shins touching by accident, her pink cheeks and the happy tears in her eyes…
“That’s none of your business. Keep what you saw to yourself” was his only response before tugging his sleeve back and walking past Ruth quickly, trying to hide the soft blush that had appeared in the bridge of his nose.
The next morning Riftan was walking to the banquet room in a rush, almost crashing against some maid carrying some bed sheets. He apologized without looking at her and kept walking, fearing he would be late.
But he wasn’t, of course. It was hard to be late when he was awake before sunrise, walking to breakfast before everybody else. He just had this eagerness to be the first one there, to be able to approach Maxi as soon as she walked into the room.
He wasn’t the first one to be there, but he was very close. The only people there were a couple of old people, Duke Croix, Rosetta, and, surprisingly, Hebaron. No signs of Maxi there.
With a sigh, he walked in the room and walked towards Hebaron. At least there was someone he knew there. However, the knight did not seem to be great company at the moment, looking like he was half dead and dozing off on the plate full of ham and break, his head dangerously hanging on top of it. Riftan noticed the look of disgust the Duke Croix had while looking at Hebaron, but he ignored it for his own sanity. If he wanted to have any chance of getting Maxi for himself, he needed to play nice with the Duke for a while.
He approached Hebaron, giving him a strong pat on his back that woke him up immediately (along with taking out the air from his lungs).
“We still have 3 weeks here, don't embarrass us already” he warned him with a voice just loud enough for him to hear.
Hebaron, used to his Commander’s attitude, just groaned and rubbed his eyes.
“Come on, Captain, have some mercy on this poor man…”
“What are you doing up this early, anyway?” He asked while starting to serve some food on his plate.
“Well… It might be more accurate to ask what I’m doing going to bed so late” he answered without a single drop of shame, with a smug grin on his face. Riftan wanted to punch him.
“I never thought Duke Croix’s parties were fun enough to have you up all night”
“Party? You mean that boring ball last night? No way. That’s just the prelude for the actual party” he said in a low voice, like he’s saying a secret, “Once it’s bedtime for all these noble people, the actual party starts in the town. Some of us sneak out to a tavern close here, and it gets really wild… You should come with us some night, I could introduce you to some girls that want to meet you, if you know what I mean…” he elbowed Riftan, who looked at him in a blank face and gave no response. He was not surprised at all, but also not interested.
This wasn’t the first time that Hebaron had tried to set him up with someone. Riftan could not understand why his lack of interest in women seemed to bother him so much to the point of making a personal goal to get him a girl to spend the night with. Riftan couldn't care less about that.
While eating his breakfast, Riftan could not help but look at the door every time it opened, hoping to see a red puffy cloud walk in the room every time. However, this did not happen, and by the time the room was filled with guests and riftan’s plate was empty long time ago, she still wasn’t there.
As a last resort, Riftan approached Duke Croix in the middle of the room, who seemed to be too busy looking at all his guests like it was a personal achievement. When he noticed Riftan in front of him, his face changed to disgust one more time. Riftan did his best to ignore it and expressed his “gratitude” towards the Croix family for hosting the event. Riftan had never been so full of bullshit.
“Is your elder daughter going to join us for breakfast? I was hoping I could express my gratitude towards her as well”
Riftan felt like he had made a mistake as soon as he mentioned Maxi, seeing how Croix's face changed to suspicion.
“You’ve been asking an awful lot about my daughter lately, Calypse” he said with a sour voice. “Like I said yesterday, you should not bother with her. She only joins us when it’s necessary. She needs to rest as much as possible due to her health condition, so she has her breakfast in her chambers. I must advise you to stop whatever your intentions are with her. It’s not worth it”
Right after he said those words, he turned his head and started talking to the person next to him, leaving Riftan feeling utterly humiliated and furious. Before he could say anything he would regret in the future, he turned around and walked towards the door.
It’s not worth it.
He had all the intentions of walking to his room, but somehow his legs automatically took him to the outside of the castle, towards the same path he walked yesterday.
Riftan was happy he had listened to his instinct, looking at Maxi sitting down under the same tree as the day before. This time, however, there was no cat around her, probably too busy feeding its kittens. Maxi was wearing the same dress as the day before, the hem of it dirty with dirt and her face glimmering with the sweat of the sunny day. She looked stunning.
Riftan wondered why she was just sitting there if the cat wasn’t with her, judging by how scared of that area she seemed to be the day before with the rabbit incident. That’s when he noticed she kept looking around, like looking for something. Looking for someone.
Could it be… that she was waiting for him?
He confirmed this thought when she laid her eyes on him and she immediately stood up from her spot, her eyes glowing and cheeks blushing. Riftan wished that he could paint so he could picture that scene for the rest of his life.
He could only feel sorry for Duke Croix for not being able to appreciate what he had. For Riftan, it was worth it. She was worth anything. And he would not give her up easily.