Substitute Wife for the Mafia King R18-Chapter 261: Tempting Distraction
“We don’t talk about much honestly, just a bunch of random things and whatever comes to mind,” I replied honestly.
There was no reason for me to lie because there was nothing worth keeping secret between us or worth keeping from my parents. Our meetings were so planned and predictable that I would have considered them boring had it not been for the prince’s entertaining attitude and the interesting game of Gomoku that he taught me. Although slowly, I was learning the tricks of the game and I could feel myself getting better. If nothing else, the meetings with the prince came at the exact right time when I needed a very good excuse and a very tempting distraction in my life.
“Can you be sure to tell us some more insight or at least something interesting the next time you return from seeing the prince?” my father ordered before rolling his eyes at me and clicking his tongue to show his dissatisfaction and annoyance.
“I’ll try...” I replied vaguely although I knew that nothing new would ever turn up during my next meeting with the prince.
“What about you, Diana? Did you enjoy your date with Anthony yesterday?” my mother turned to ask Diana with a smile.
“It went well enough, thank you for asking,” she replied sweetly without providing any more details.
I could feel my chest tightened uncomfortably, and I made sure to keep on staring at the little green pea on my plate so that I wouldn’t have to listen to anything else.
Late at night when I was lying all alone in bed, I would tell myself that this was how it was supposed to be. Perhaps fate had already realized that I had overstepped my boundaries and that was why the prince was sent as a persuasive distraction to distance me from Anthony. Ever since sharing that kiss with Anthony, I wasn’t sure how to act around him. The incident with Daphne sent everyone into a buzz and that meant that I had to be isolated from everyone including Anthony until everything settled down. It also meant that I couldn’t take my sister’s place during that time and that also meant that I couldn’t meet Anthony as often as I did before. While Diana resumed her duties of going on dates with Anthony as required, I received a new duty of attending to the prince.
Diana always had an intense interest in my relationship with the prince and how our relationship would progress forward. Ironically, Diana would have a date with Anthony on exactly the same date and time that I was scheduled to see the prince in the palace. That meant that we spent time together to dress up and prepare for our dates.
“That’s enough, you can leave us. We’ll do the rest ourselves. Thank you very much,” Diana told the maids before showing them an angelic smile befitting of her image.
The moment when I was alone with my sister, Diana turned to me with wide and sparkling eyes as she reached her hands and grabbed mine.
“Tell me what is going on?” she asked excitedly.
“Nothing is going on. It’s not what you think...” I replied as I tried to pull my hands away from hers.
“You can’t be serious. Why would he ask to meet up with you so many times if nothing is going on? Surely, he’s very interested in you,” Diana continued pressing me for answers.
Our conversations were always pretty much one-sided, and that was because unlike my sister, I did not have much interest in finding out how far her love with Anthony had blossomed. To be more accurate, it probably wasn’t because I wasn’t interested but more like I was afraid of getting hurt if I knew how far their relationship had progressed. Even though I knew that at the end, the two of them would get married and have their happily ever after, I couldn’t stop the pain that passed through my chest whenever I heard about the two of them together. In a way, my dates with the prince gave me a good excuse to stay away from them.
“I don’t think he’s interested in me that way...” I replied.
“You’re my sister, so how can you be so clueless? There is no man on earth who would ask to see a girl so many times if he’s not interested in her. Don’t you agree?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.
Although I could tell where she was coming from, I could say with certainty that there was nothing romantic about my relationship with the prince. As to why exactly he was so determined in forming a relationship with me, I had no idea.
“I don’t know, but no matter how many times you ask me, I will give you the same answer. I don’t know what he’s thinking and there is nothing between us,” I replied firmly.
“Yet...” my sister said with a victorious smile.
I let out a loud sigh of resignation and shook my head from side to side as I refused to say anymore regarding this topic. My sister smiled at me confidently while I failed to understand why she seemed so certain that my relationship with the prince would progress into something more.
...
“Are you feeling bored?” the prince asked curiously.
“I’m sorry. It wasn’t my intention to look bored,” I replied.
“Which just means that you’re feeling bored,” the prince surmised quite correctly.
“I’m sorry...” I apologized again before looking away.
The prince was right that I was feeling bored, but how could I not feel bored in a situation like this?
Dressing up just to meet the prince at the palace to play games with him already felt like a hassle but dressing up to go out with the prince to attend public events was another story altogether. I was quite surprised at first when the prince suggested that we go on an outing together outside the palace. My parents were so excited about it that I found it extremely hard for me to deny his request. On top of that, I wasn’t sure if I would be causing trouble if I were to turn him down.
–To be continued...
