Page 62 of Fake Dating a Human 101

Everything she wanted would foil his plan. He’d hoped for subtlety and a quiet existence. He’d hoped to hide in the High Lord’s shadow for at least the next several years. He’d expected an easy marriage, a lot of food, and the occasional fun-filled outing.

What a fool he was—for the second time today.

Shayne should have known that nothing was ever simple among fairies.

He should have known that a quiet, fun life in the Ever Corners didn’t exist.

23

Shayne Lyro and the Matches of Fairies

Even though Shayne hardly remembered his mother—a flighty female who’d taken off only weeks after giving birth to Massie—Shayne did recall his father speaking of her every now and then. Mostly bitter things, followed by curses and stories of her obnoxious, obsessive ways. But once, andjustonce that Shayne could remember, Hans-Der Lyro let slip a few words about the female, accompanied by a smile that did not appear cruel. Shayne had been just a childling at the time, five years old and sitting atop a thick book at his seat by the table so he could reach everything. His father had been standing by the window, gazing outside at the withering cherry blossoms shedding their petals to prepare for the short season of frost and ice winds that would cover the North Corner. The Lyro family and their loud friends had been making a ruckus as they passed around the heaping dinner platters, everyone talking even with full mouths. It was back during the time when Shayne had first learned to be quiet. Back when he didn’t know he wanted to be the loudest of all.

Hans-Der, beneath the chatter, had said, “Jada always loved watching the trees lose their petals.”

No one heard him, naturally, and perhaps that was why he dared to say it aloud. No one was even looking at him. No one, except for Shayne.

Though his hands were small, Shayne gripped a large spoon, holding it tight by his bowl of pudding. But instead of tasting the pasty chocolate, he watched his father’s face create one of the only real smiles he’d ever offered in Shayne’s five years of life. And it was at that young age Shayne realized that even though his father hated his mother’s guts with the strength of a thousand blazing fires, he also maybe loved her.

Five years old was much too young to think about things such aslove. But Shayne wondered about it anyway. He wondered for quite a while whether it would be worth it to ever love someone. Love was not a strong enough magic to keep his mother from leaving his father. It wasn’t even strong enough to keep Hans-Der from being cruel to his offspring.

If love left people behind, perhaps Shayne didn’t want it. Perhaps it just wasn’t for him.

But as his years grew in number, Shayne found that what he did like wasflirting. Not only because he was good at it, but because he could make others happy while also making himself happy, even if it was for just a short while. Offering a wink wasn’t making a commitment. Blowing a kiss never forced him to swear himself to anyone. Even random acts of romantic chivalry could be used as a fun way to pass the time. But not once did he let himself fall in love with even the prettiest, most persuasive of fairies.

Not when love left people behind.

It was why Shayne had decided long ago he would never marry a fairy. Why he was so sure he wasn’t ‘marriage material’ until he got to the human realm one year ago, and he wondered for the first time since he was a childling if perhaps love didn’t have to end with one person leaving the other forever. If maybe love wasn’t such a complicated, cruel thing. If maybe the reason he didn’t want love was because he simply didn’t want love with afairy.

But of course, that was before. He was back in the Ever Corners now. And thus, he was grateful he hadn’t fallen in love with anyone in his lifetime. What a disaster that would have been, since, as was the way of love, he would have been forced to leave her forever if he had.

Massie was wrong. Shayne couldn’t possibly have been so foolish.

Shayne did not have a lover, and therefore would feel nothing about entering into a marriage with Meave.

The following two mornings in the House of Riothin arrived with the screeching of a woodwind instrument somewhere in the House and the fresh fragrance of someone’s rotting, sweaty feet. And they absolutely weren’t Shayne’s. It got worse every hour now that he knew about Meave’s secret plans. Now that he had two secrets to keep instead of one, and he was left with a splitting headache over it.

Cosmo hadn’t hatched another trick yet, so Shayne figured it was his turn. He awoke to a dark dawn, wondering if the entire household was waiting to see what he’d do after his humiliating display several days ago. He meant to plan his retaliation, but as he sauntered out of his guestroom and made his way toward the conservatory to plan his heist, he heard a strange thing at the end of the hall.

“…Cosmo Flora’s spy in the Lyro House…”

It was just a whisper, uttered by one lesser fairy to another. The young pair carried baskets around the bend as Shayne rubbed his tired eyes, but his hands went still when their words settled in.

At first, he thought it might be another trick. Why would two servants be foolish enough to whisper about the House of Lyro in front of a Lyro? It was almost funny, and Shayne might have laughed if a teensy little voice inside his head hadn’t begged the question: What if it wasn’t a trick?

What if the servants really hadn’t realized Shayne was there? What if they thought no one was listening? No one in the Riothin House awoke before the sunrise, which was the ideal time for servants to share gossip and go about their duties in a relaxed state.

Shayne dropped his hand to his side and scurried down the hall with silent footsteps. He peeked around the bend and caught the fairies venturing down a narrow staircase in single file. He looked behind him to see if he was being followed. If this was orchestrated by Cosmo, the fairy would show up to watch.

The hall remained still and quiet apart from soft snores lifting from the nearest bedrooms. So, Shayne slipped down the hallway in the direction he’d seen the servants go. He tiptoed down the staircase and found himself in an unlit hall outside a rustic-looking kitchen. Three young fairy females were congregated in the tight space, speaking in hushed tones.

“Actually, Lord Cosmo sent word to his spy the moment the Lyro showed up. Apparently, the charming white-haired fairy is the rightful heir to the highest chair in the House of Lyro! It seems he didn’t inform High Lord Riothin of that,” one of the fairies whispered.

Shayne grunted. He would have admitted the responsibility he’d abandoned eventually. The bigger concern was that it was unclear how much Cosmo’s spy might know about the Lyro family’s discoveries regarding Shayne.

Shayne decided to walk into the kitchen. “Good morning!” he said, and three females jumped in surprise—one screamed.

Shayne grinned in his infectious way. “Don’t worry, I’m not here to hurt you,” he promised. “Unlike Cosmo Flora, I’m anicefairy.” He thought about that, then added, “With unmatchable killing technique and years of training that makes me nearly unstoppable.” He wanted to be clear that he could kill every single one of them in the next three seconds if he wanted to. Not that he would, of course. He just wanted them to know.

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