As they stood there in each other's arms, her sobs lessening, she sniffled, "Why are you so insistent, do you really want to die again?"

            He removed his hands from her hair and placed them on her waist, he moved his lips close to her ear and whispered, "No matter to past, present or future--no matter what timeline were in, You are the only woman I'll ever marry."

            Her skin shivered at his voice and breath being so close to hers, it also made her heart skip a few beats even though she'd rather not admit that. He smiled as he wiped the tears away from her eyes, he was treating her like a child, she wanted to beat him again. She pulled herself away only to notice that he was wearing a white shirt that she had stained with her tears, exposing his chest. She tried to turn away to not look at it, but he seemed to have noticed and wanted to tease her some more.

            "You can look all you want, my future wife." Duke Theodore chuckled, she tried her best to look away and he helped her out by grabbing her hand and placing it on his chest. She could feel how firm it was and how fast his heart was beating, it inadvertently made her heart beat faster as well, she slapped her hand away from his chest.

            "Would you stop that, you know I hate being possessed and yet you're igniting my pet peeve on purpose." She barked.

            He continued to smile at her, "How could I pass up teasing you, have I mentioned before how cute you are when you're mad?"

            She wanted to hit him, but instead she merely glowered, "Are we done here? Who knows how much gossip has spread throughout the city already."

            "But of course, I need to make sure that no other man dares to woo you." He must've planned this, but there's still some slight hope to get engaged to someone else, even if it were only temporary. While she was giving it some thought, a glimmer shining in her eyes, he dashed her hopes and dreams again, "Before you even try, I'll buy all them out to cancel the engagement."

            She glowered at him, biting her lip, "Bully,"

            "Anybody else who dares bully you, needs to know their place." He was so close to her again that her skin tingled and shivered. She hated how her body was still reacting to him, he wanted to pull her in closer, but instead he jumped back, his face a bit flushed, "Our appointed day really can't come soon enough. I really want to take you here and now."

            Her face flushed and she pushed him away from her, "Pervert! Why don't you just leave already?" After her outburst she decided to walk away first but he followed behind her to escort her. She decided to ignore him, because it's not like he could try anything in public anyway. Once she returned to the tea party she had noticed they were murmuring about her like expected. Once she reached her table, Bella was about to unleash some venomous words that she'd been waiting to say, when she noticed a strong glare towards her. She looked up and saw Duke Theodore's piercing gaze, she felt like a mouse being strangled by a snake, it felt difficult to breath for a moment.

            "I apologize for keeping her for so long, my ladies. I hope you all continue to enjoy yourselves." As soon as he smiled at the ladies, the suffocating feeling surrounding Bella stopped. She felt he'd still be watching from a distance and decided to hold her tongue, even though there were many things she wanted to say to Suzette. Such as, you both were gone for so long, what were you doing? I hope it was nothing...regretful. Her mental state was interrupted by Margaret, "Suzie, are you okay? Your eyes are red?"

            "Oh it's nothing, with the wind today, I had something fly into my eyes." Suzette lied, she didn't want to tell the truth, but the rest of the table was curious about what happened between them. Talking and gossip were a lady's main form of entertainment--sans plays and romantic boat rides, and bakeries. She knew it was coming, so she said a bit defeated, "Ask away."

            "Did you kiss?" They asked her, squealing.

            "Well, he kissed my hand a couple of times." She blinked, she didn't expect such an innocent question to start off with.

            "Tch, did you hold onto him? I did notice that his shirt was a bit wet, right where your eyes would be." The girls continued to smirk.

            "Oh, after I got something in my eye, he pulled me closer to him to get it out, that's all." She thought this was child's play, they continued to squeal.

            Bella was about to open her mouth, but she shut it again, she felt that fear of a constricted mouse within a snake again, as if he was still watching from somewhere. She trembled slightly and stayed quiet for the rest of the party. Suzette thought it was weird--but she was happy about it, having to deal with her was normally mentally stressful. Once the party came to a close and the ladies began to leave, Margaret's brother, Claude came out. Once Bella saw him she ran for him, and they were quickly in their own little world.

            "Now that we're the only ones left, can I have a word?" Margaret asked Suzette and she gulped for a minute, she knew it was probably from her leaving in the midst of the party and leaving her on her own. She accepted her fate, and they went inside to her room. Once they were inside, door shut and all, Margaret freaks out with, "What just happened??"

            "Um, I didn't know he'd be here to make a scene...I'm sorry. We haven't officially met yet, either, so I wasn't aware of his schedule." Suzette slightly shrugged.

            "I did hear he'd be coming to speak to my father, but what a coincidence that it happened to be today." Margaret smiled, while Suzette clicked her tongue, So that was his excuse, clever bastard.

            "He's handsome though...and that view. I wonder when I'll get a fiancé..." Suzette knew exactly what view Margaret was talking about and she blushed in embarrassment, a part of her almost agreed about him being handsome, too, instead she managed, "Well, he's certainly something."  

            After a brief pause Suzette continued, "Well, knowing your father, he's probably trying to have you tie the knot with the crown prince, if not for the fact you'd be sent to a different country, I could see him marrying you to a foreign prince." Suzette mentioned, she had known Margaret's family since childhood, and her father was especially doting, always wanting her to have the best of everything.  

            Margaret's cheeks burned, "The crown prince...huh?" She did think that he was handsome, even though she had only seen him a couple times briefly via glances but she thought that it was impossible, "I think...that would probably go to a duke's daughter and not me..."

            "Margaret, give yourself some credit. You may not see it, but you're beautiful." Suzette smiled, Margaret had freckles sprinkled throughout her cheeks and nose, which reminded Suzette of the stars. Her hair was curly and rested on her shoulders, and her body was slender but she had a big bust to make up for it, and that wasn't even taking into account her personality. The more traits Suzette called off, the more embarrassed Margaret became.

            "Okay that's enough." Margaret eventually called it quits, covering her ears, and closing her eyes while her face burned. Suzette laughed at her friend's reaction, she had always been a bit shy and unconfident. Once Margaret calmed herself she mentioned, "Also, I'm sorry about Bella...if she wasn't to be my sister-in-law, I could've placed her at a different table at least but..."

            "Margaret, it's fine. I don't blame you, in fact I knew she was going to be here, but her being here didn't stop me from coming." Suzette smiled, "In fact, I'd say she was rather tame today, totally expected her to say something untrue, such as my chastity when I returned, but she stayed silent."

            "I noticed that too, I think she might be a bit jealous that even though she'll eventually become a marchioness...you'll be a duchess."

            "And you might be the crown princess." Suzette added on and they both laughed, "By the way, is it just me or did their displays of affection get worse? I mean, he picked her up and spun her around when the ladies were leaving...it was like she wanted to be the gossiping center of attention."

            Just by remembering, the color drained from Margaret's face, "Trust me, I saw and I'm trying to forget. If you think that's bad, I once entered the study to find her sitting on his lap and they were being lovey-dovey. I just had tea before and I think it almost came back up..."

            Suzette shuddered at the imagery, she felt bad for her friend, "When is their wedding again?"

            "Not soon enough...in autumn, at least when they're on their honeymoon I won't have to see them for a little while."  Margaret relented, and Suzette agreed with her, it'd be nice to not have to deal with them.