Page 35 of Façade

“You’re rather presumptuous in assuming you were ever interesting to begin with.”

Rather than my quip upsetting him, the corner of his mouth lifted in another half smile that I found strangely adorable. “This word spar is admittedly much more fascinating than our usual exchanges. What’s changed?”

“What’s changed is that I no longer have any reason to pretend to be a princess now that you’ve discovered my true identity.” Finally being free to cast off the burden of pretend was the only good to have resulted from my exposure.

His eyes bulged. “You mean this entire time you’ve beenpretending?I thought it was only your title that was a charade.”

“Along with everything that accompanied it: the etiquette, my courtly interests, the polite conversation topics. The decorum has been exhausting. But now that you know me for the imposter I am, I have no reason to continue presenting the image expected of me.”

Rebellion flared, I reached up to tug my hair free from its confined updo, but before I could remove a single pin, he seized hold of my wrist. A jolt of heat followed by an unexpected flutter trickled from his touch straight to my heart.

Whatever that unexpected emotion was, I shouldn’t feel anything but annoyance for the man, especially in such an inconvenient moment. I glared and yanked away. He held up his hands in an appeasing gesture.

“Forgive me, I didn’t mean—I only wanted to prevent you from ruining your style, not unless you want to be forced to redo it before tonight’s state dinner.”

My heart jolted, but for a far different reason than it had before; thank goodness that despite its earlier confusion it could still experience normal responses concerning Ryland. “Astate dinner?I’ve heard nothing about such tedium.”

“Likely because we haven’t been speaking of late.” It was a mild way of saying that we’d been outright avoiding one another whenever possible. He lowered his eyes, as if embarrassed by the admission.

I sighed. “I wish you’d waited to end our silent treatment until after tonight’s dinner so that I never learned of it and thus wasn’t forced to attend, but of course you’re determined to torture me.” I should have known my posing as an imposter wouldn’t go entirely unpunished, and truth be told, this one almost seemed harsher than execution.

“All part of a husband’s duties.” Despite his deadpan expression, a teasing lilt filled his voice, an emotion that only made our interaction all the more confusing.

“Perhaps I can be excused from tonight’s events; my attending seems inappropriate considering such a formal event is only suitable for royalty or nobility, of which I’m neither.”

“As convenient an excuse as that’d be, unfortunately, despite it being a husband’s duty to make his wife happy, I cannot grant your request for a reprieve—not only because your absence would invite unnecessary questions, but leaving you to your own devices would only invite you to continuing snooping. We can’t have that, can we?”

“I don’t see why not.” But the quip was halfhearted when I remembered the question that had haunted me in the days since my exposure. Despite our being the only ones present, I lowered my voice to a whisper. “Why are you determined to keep it a secret?”

He gave me a baffled look. “Isn’t it obvious? This is not something to announce, especially to a gossiping court. The kingdom has problems enough without my adding to them unnecessarily.”

“It would be rather embarrassing for you to admit the extent to which you messed up. As a prince, you only had one duty: marry a magical princess, only to marry a commoner instead. Oops.” My grin was wicked; it was immensely satisfying to emerge as a victor over a man determined to ruin my kingdom, even in so small an instance. “I suppose royal pride is a rather formidable force. You cannot begrudge me for my own deceit when it’s clearly a trait we both share.”

He frowned, clearly bothered by my words even as he made no motion to contradict them. “Despite what you might otherwise believe, deceit is not a trait I make it a habit to practice.” He murmured this so quietly I wondered if he meant for me to hear. “In any case, because of thatmistake, for the time being you and I are unfortunately still married. Which means it’s up to you to accompany me…unlessyouwant to be the one to expose the charade and thus give me a reason to pursue the real princess all the sooner.” His knowing look was one of challenge.

Just for that I was half-tempted to do that very thing, anything to disregard his wishes. I debated the issue a moment before conceding that regardless of my personal feelings concerning the matter, it was in my best interest to stay married to him for as long as possible, if for no other reason than to have more time to gather evidence against him to later present to the king and queen.

“Evelyn?”

Unlike the previous times when I still felt compelled to save face, this time I didn’t even pretend to have been listening when my thoughts wandered, too miffed by his foiling my spying attempt as well as my plans for this evening to offer him even the slightest consideration. “I’m afraid you’ll have to repeat yourself.”

He sighed but made no complaint. “I was attempting to be a gentleman by offering to escort you to tonight’s dinner…if not out of good will, then to assure myself you’ll actually attend.”

I couldn’t quite stifle my groan. “Must I go?”

“As a royal—“

“We both know I’m nothing of the sort.”

“Seeing as how you’re still married to a prince, or the time being you unfortunately are.”

I heaved a dejected sigh. “Just my luck that my enemy happens to be a prince.”

“My apologies for inconveniencing you.” But the scoundrel didn’t look sorry at all—instead, amusement glistened his eyes, as if he found our exchange vastly entertaining. The light made him seem rather handsome, as if I needed anything else to complicate our already perplexing relationship.

I firmly forced my thoughts away from his rather fine features and back to the matter at hand. “How much time do I have remaining before I meet my untimely death dining with tedium?”

“It’s within the hour. I’ll be happy to escort you after we resolve our business here.”

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