“Lady Sinclair?”

Alexandra looked up when she felt a shadow fall over her.

Dark hair.

Tan skin.

Green eyes.

“Sir Gladia?”

Antonio Gladia stared silently down at her from his position towering over the bench. He nodded.

She quickly got to her feet and curtsied politely.

“What brings you here, Sir Gladia?”

“Blacksmith...where is your escort?”

That irked her. “What, a lady can’t come out to do some shopping of her own?”

“...”

“Ugh...my maid is going to get sweets for us,” she sighed disappointedly.

“No escort?”

“What do you mean, no escort? I came with a maid!” she said exasperatedly.

He shook his head. “No guard.”

“You think I need a guard?” she rolled her eyes a bit. “Marie and I are doing just fine without one, thank you very much.”

She made her annoyance plain to see.

Antonio had the grace to look sheepish. “Didn’t mean to offend,” he rumbled. “There are a lot of bad people in this kingdom.”

Alex took his words for what they were: an unspoken apology.

“While I am grateful for your concern,” she smiled calmly. “It is unwarranted. Marie and I will be just fine by ourselves.”

He shook his head again. “I will accompany you.”

Her smile got a little tighter. “Excuse me? And why do you need to do that? I’ve never heard of a gentleman inviting himself to a ladies’ outing before.”

“Duty,” he frowned. “You are Prince Nicholas’s fiancee´. It is my job to protect you.”

Now she was truly angry. First of all, he was just inviting himself without considering her opinion. Second of all, he was only doing so because of her supposed position. Third of all, who said she needed protecting?

“First of all,” Alexandra began, dropping all pretense of politeness, “You are being extremely rude right now by demanding that you join us without considering the opinions of neither myself nor my maid Marie. There is not a duty in the world that would make it okay for you to do such things without our consent.”

He opened his mouth to respond, but she quickly cut him off.

“Also, if you are doing this because of my position as Prince Nicholas’s fianceé, I will thank you for your devotion towards the prince and send you on your way. I neither need nor want a companion who only accompanies me because of my connection to someone else.”

“Besides,” she shrugged nonchalantly. “I won’t have this position for much longer anyways.”

Antonio’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “What do you mean by that?” he asked, eyes glinting suspiciously, dropping all formality.

Alex rolled her eyes. “Really, Sir Gladia? You’re suspecting me of having done something? I guess he really hasn’t told you anything. I’m a woman or did you forget?” she scoffed. “Apparently we aren’t capable of much.”

“Most women,” he corrected, still wary of her. “Not you. You could.”

“Oh goodie!” she clapped her hands sarcastically. “I’m glad that you at least believe in my abilities, even if you do think I’m a suspicious person.”

She sighed carelessly. “I guess you do have your reasons; I haven’t exactly been the most...stable of people when it comes to the prince,” she shrugged. “But rest assured, dear knight, that this is not another ploy to get to Prince Nicholas.”

Alex smirked dangerously. “Although,” she mused. “You’re not entirely wrong, I have done something.”

“What?” his voice was hard as he put a hand to his sword.

“Okay, relax!” she reassured. “It’s all perfectly legal and harmless. I just broke off the engagement, that’s all.”

Antonio’s jaw dropped and his hand silently fell away from his sword.

She raised an unimpressed brow. “What? Did you think I wouldn’t be able to do that?” she challenged. “You of all people should know what the prince is like. A girl can only love an unfaithful partner like that for so long.”

He continued to give her a look of utter disbelief.

“Look,” she sighed. “If you really don’t believe me, just wait until my debutante ball. It will be announced then. I’ll make sure you receive an invitation and everything, so be sure to come and see for yourself.”

“So you see?” she waved a careless hand when he continued to remain silent. “You don’t have a duty to guard me anymore.”

She turned to leave. “Now if you’ll excuse me—”

Suddenly, Antonio Gladia, the most reserved man in the Royal Army, reached out and grasped her hand.

She felt the tug on her arm and looked back. “Yes?”

Courage forgotten, he hastily dropped her hand and looked stubbornly off to the side, an embarrassed flush high on his cheeks.

“I...am sorry,” he muttered awkwardly. “Are...you okay?”

Alex softened. He could really be quite adorable sometimes. And he was actually trying to apologize.

She quickly tamped down all the bitter feelings that arose from thinking about Nicholas and the broken engagement and gave him a small smile.

“I won’t pretend it doesn’t hurt,” she began. “I imagine it will hurt for a good long while. But I think it would have hurt me more to stay in that relationship, so I don’t regret breaking it off. I am happy to not have to deal with that anymore, at least.”

He nodded, quiet again and she turned to leave once more.

“Wait,” he found his voice. “M-may I still accompany you?”

Alexandra whirled around in surprise. “What?”

He seemed to steel himself before speaking again. “I would like to accompany you still...may I?”

“But why?” she was genuinely confused. “You know I’m not his fiancee´ anymore. You don’t have a duty to do this.”

When he spoke again, his voice was warmer and more confident.

“A knight has a duty to escort and protect beautiful ladies,”

Alex snorted with laughter and his face flushed again. “So you think I’m beautiful?”

“I-I…” he stuttered, red-faced. She smiled warmly up at him, and his eyes widened in shock.

“I’m just joking,” she laughed joyously. “I understand what you mean, and I would be honored to have you join us as a companion, Sir Gladia...so as long as Marie is fine with it as well.”

He finally cracked a smile. “It would be my pleasure.”