The next morning, Alina walked into the great hall with one goal : act normal.

She had spent her night staring at the canopy, and replying Cecily’s advice in her mind.

Kiss him.

She sat down quietly and picked up a piece of bread. In his seat, Austin was speaking to Mr. Harrington about daily schedule. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

She looked at his face, then at his mouth. That mouth had no idea it was being watched from three seats away by a woman who was secretly planning how to kiss it.

Austin lifted his cup and took a sip of tea, his lips touching its rim. She watched him, and a thought popped into her mind before she could stop it.

What would it feel like...?

She missed her bite and the bread hit her chin. Crumbs fell onto her dress. She froze, then brushed them off frantically.

Beside her, Marguerite watched her but didn’t say anything. She just raised her eyebrows and smiled.

Austin’s eyes flickered to her for a second and caught the bread crumbs on her chin. Then he looked back at Mr. Harrington.

She stared down at her plate, her face burning because she couldn’t stop herself from staring at his mouth.

She ate the rest of breakfast without looking up. Every time she heard Austin’s voice, her thoughts betrayed her. She kept imagining how it would feel to hear her name from his lips after the kiss.

She finished as quickly as she could and left. But it didn’t change anything.

At the sewing circle, she was stitching a collar, when Austin walked to the stables. She saw him through the garden gate, and her needle stopped mid-stitch.

She watched his stride, his shoulders, the way his coat moved. She sat there holding the needle in the air like a woman stunned by the mere sight of a man walking casually.

Lady Brennan noticed and brought her back to the garden.

"Your needle is hovering."

Alina looked at the needle and cursed herself.

"I’m thinking about the... stitching," she said quickly.

"What?" she asked. "The stitching has been the same for all the colors."

Alina didn’t reply and resumed stitching.

In the afternoon, she went to the library to actually read. But froze, when she saw Austin already there, sitting on his usual chair.

She sat at her window seat across him, opened her book, and watched him over the top of the page.

Her gaze lingered as he turned a page. She watched his fingers and thought about them on her face, on her jaw, and in her hair.

He looked up and caught her staring.

"Is there something on my hands?" he asked.

"Wh...what?" she stammered.

"You’re staring at me," he replied.

"What? No," she chuckled. "I’m reading."

"You’re reading my hands? Beacuse your book is upside down."

She glanced down instinctively. The book was not upside down. He had tricked her. She closed her eyes, muttered something under her breath as her cheeks burned again.

He snickered.

"You haven’t turned a page in fifteen minutes," he said.

"It’s a...difficult section," she replied.

"The index?" he raised his brows.

She looked at the page and realized he was right. She had never felt this much embarrassed in her life before.

"Are you alright?" he asked, genuinely concerned. "Are you feeling sick again?"

"No...no. I’m fine," she said and stood up. "I have to go."

"But you just came."

"I have things to do."

"What things?"

"Sewing...which is more productive than staring at the book indexes in the library. Goodbye."

She left before he could say anything else. Austin remained sitting in his chair, quietly aware that something was going on with Alina. But he didn’t know what exactly!

Alina walked the corridors, trying to clear her mind from these embarrassing thoughts. She rounded a corner and collided straight into Emeric.

"What’s wrong?" he asked, straightening his coat.

"I’m fine."

"You collided into me. You usually walk through the corridors like a military scout. Something is definitely wrong with you."

She didn’t answer. Instead, looked around awkwardly, trying to avoid his gaze.

"Is this had to do with you staring at His Grace in the library?

She froze and turned to him.

"How do you know that?"

"I was in the archives alcove behind the poetry shelf. I could see you through the gap between the books."

"You saw..." she stopped.

"I saw you staring at his hands for almost fifteen minutes, and when he caught you...you further embarrassed yourself by pretending to read the book index," he said. "To be honest, it was the most amusing thing I’ve witnessed since you beat Lord Crawley at archery."

"Emeric, if you tell anyone..."

"Who would I tell? The sewing circle already knows. They have even started placing wagers."

"Wagers?"

Emeric nodded.

"Everyone in the sewing circle knows about your...closeness with His Grace," he explained. "So..they gave a betting pool deciding when you two will get together. Evelyn is really good in such things.

Alina closed her eyes in frustration.

"I am going to kill Evelyn."

She leaned against the wall and sighed.

"This is so embarrassing."

"Good luck!" he said, excitedly.

She made an irritated face and walked away.

But the time night arrive, the embarrassment had gone away, leaving only resolve behind. Alina stood outside Austin’s room. She had been standing there for a while. Austin was already inside. She had watched him enter the room about an hour ago while she walked in circles pretending to go to the kitchen.

She had been waiting for him to cross the line for a few weeks now. But he didn’t and Cecily had told her the real reason behind that.

She knew he wouldn’t cross the line himself anytime soon. Not unless, his fear completely goes away. But she was impatient. She couldn’t wait anymore, especially now when it was difficult to hide her feelings.

Her heart hammered like a drum desperate for release. It wanted to cross the room, close the distance and rest on his chest to where it belonged.

She thought about every line she had already crossed in this castle, no matter how difficult it was. This was the last line.

And she had decided to cross it as well.