The Protective Boyfriend
The Protective Boyfriend
And, Anne...
Well, she was the girl who would soon marry Rose's first love, the only man that she had ever loved in her life. It must be hard for Rose to suddenly meet Anne, especially when she was not prepared.
"Your Highness," Rose forced a smile and nodded her head slightly.
"Oh.. I am so happy to finally meet you!" Anne came to Rose and suddenly hugged her. Rune could feel Rose' body tensed and she became like a statue when Anne touched her.
Oh, poor, poor Rose, Rune thought. The situation looked awkward for a few seconds, but Rose quickly controlled her emotion and raised her hands to hug Anne back.
"It's nice to see you too, Your Highness," Rose said with a low voice.
Anne let go of her and stared at Rose with a broad smile. "No, no... don't call me that. I am younger than you and I'll be your sister soon. Just call me Anne."
Rose swallowed and smiled. "No, I cannot do that."
"Oh... please, I insist," Anne pursed her lips and gripped Rose's arm. Now she looked like a child, pouting when her demand was not fulfilled. "I don't want you to call me 'Your Highness' unless we are in public or official events."
"Well.. this is in public," Rose shrugged. She cast her glance around them as if showing Anne that she was wrong if she thought Rose would just call her by the first name with so many people around them.
Anne's eyes were gleaming. She looked sad and offended that Rose clearly put up a wall between them, even though Anne was trying to be nice. She asked Rose with a hoarse voice, trying to look calm. "Do you hate me, Rose? Why?"
Right at that moment, Rose realized that she would invite gossips if she let Anne act this way, thinking that Rose hated her.
She quickly patted Anne on the shoulder and smiled reassuringly, "How could I hate you? I just don't want to be presumptuous to our future queen. Please understand me, Your Highness."
Sarah walked toward them and whispered something to Anne's ear. Soon, the princess stepped back and stared at Rose with rounded eyes.
Rose could only wonder what Sarah Miller had told Princess Anne just now. Could she be slandering Rose to Anne?
"Oh..." Anne let out a short gasp and she looked shocked. Her tears slowly fell down her cheeks as she turned around and walked away. The other girl followed her, trying to calm her down.
The crowd was obviously interested in finding out what just happened. Some reporters quickly flocked around Rose, while the other girl tried to chase Anne that was quickly surrounded by her protection squad.
"Why did you make Princess Anne cry?" A reporter asked Rose blatantly. The girl was shocked by what happened and couldn't even process the question.
What the hell did Sarah tell Anne just now?
"Sarah! Did you slander me to Anne?" Rose came to Sarah who was smiling faintly as she witnessed the incident. Rose grabbed her collar and pulled her forcefully. "What did you tell her?? You sly fox!"
"I'm not slandering you.. Tch." Sarah pushed Rose's body away from her. and fixed her collar. "I was just telling her the truth, that you like your own brother. You should be ashamed of yourself!"
"What?"
"Lady Rose is in love with Prince Leon? Her own half brother?"
"This is a big scandal!"
Immediately the reporters were like sharks who smelled blood. They all tried to get to Rose and squeezed their way in. Rune, who saw the commotion, quickly shielded Rose's body with his. He raised his hand and motioned them all to step back.
"Leave now. Or I won't hesitate to use violence," he said firmly.
Rose was stunned to see his reaction. She was cornered all of a sudden by Sarah Miller and the reporters and didn't know how to respond. Rose didn't expect that they would meet Anne and those girls in the Old Town.
Weren't they supposed to be getting ready for the royal ball to introduce Princess Anne to the Medion's high society? What were they doing here?
"And who are you?" Sarah narrowed her eyes and stared at Rune with a mocking expression. She had seen the man's modest outfit and could guess that he was a man from a humble background.
"I'm her boyfriend, Do you have a problem with that?" Rune asked menacingly. He didn't try to act polite to people who had intentionally annoyed or hurt Rose.
"A boyfriend? For real?" Sarah laughed and coughed a little. "And your name is? I can see that Rose's taste hasn't changed for the better over the years."
"It's none of your business," Rune stared at Sarah without mercy. "Leave now, or else..."
It was funny, how just one man, looking confident and fierce could instill fear in those people's hearts. They didn't try to keep pushing and slowly stepped back.
Some of them took Rose and Rune's pictures before they left. Rune, raised his hands to cover his face, but it was too late. Some reporters already got his pictures.
Meanwhile, Rose was stunned throughout the incident. She only stared at Rune's back as the man shielded her from those hungry reporters. His left hand held hers and squeezed it gently as if trying to calm her down.
"Let's get out of here," Rune turned around and pulled Rose's hand to follow him. The man protected her from the 'sharks' like it was his second nature.
Rose felt so touched. She was not a weak girl, and she could even use a gun, but she was caught off-guard so suddenly in public and couldn't react properly. Especially since she saw Princess Anne for the first time in person.
She was not ready. The wound in her heart was still fresh. She still needed time to put a fake smile on her face when she met those people. Not now.
"Thank you," she whispered to Rune as they walked quickly away from the crowd.
"Don't mention it," Rune whispered back. "I'm your boyfriend, aren't I? It's my duty to protect you."
They walked back toward the church and get the car. Rune had no more desire to explore the Old Town. He thought Rose was too shaken to continue anyway.
"I'm so sorry for this," Rose kept apologizing to Rune as the man opened the car door for her.
"Don't mention it, Rose. It's too cold to keep walking in this weather anyway. We can always go back," Rune said.
Rose got in the car and buckled up. Rune closed her door and got into the driver's seat. Before he turned on the car, Rune decided to text Alaric and asked his help to get rid of his pictures from the internet.
He didn't know what those reporters would do with his pictures earlier. He just didn't want them to hurt Rose by writing stupid articles.
"What are you doing?" Rose asked when she saw Rune type something on his phone.
"Just checking something," Rune said with a smile. "Don't worry about it."
He closed his phone and put it inside his pocket. "Where do you want to go? Home? Or is there somewhere you like to be?"
Rose thought for a moment and finally sighed. "Let's go to Reverand Hill. It's outside the city, not far from here. It's very peaceful."
"Okay, just show me the way," Rune said. He turned on the car and drove out of the parking lot. Rose set the destination on the GPS screen and soon Rune was driving following the GPS instruction.
It was a quiet journey. Rune didn't ask Rose anything because he didn't want her to feel upset. He believed Rose would talk to him when she was ready.
Rose was right. The Reverand Hill was not far from Bacilia. Just outside of the city, they could see farm fields and greenery, leading to a beautiful hill that looked like a farmer's hat.
"This hill is owned by my family," Rose said. "We have owned it for centuries. My grandparents dedicated a lot of money to preserve it and made it into a conservation site. It's my favorite place in the world."
Now, Rune remembered that Rose told him how she was often taken by her father to go on hunting trips when she was younger. Was this the place?
The Fournier was truly wealthy. Rune could understand why Leon was feeling really intimidated by Rose' status and wealth. Truly, the only way he could be her equal was to take that offer to be Duke Fournier's son and later the crown prince.
Inwardly, Rune felt sorry for Rose. Her favorite place in the world was Reverand Hill, but she couldn't be there, where her heart belonged, because she wanted to get away from Leon.