Page 65 of Legacy of Glass
But when he looked at her, his face lightened, and he gave a more natural-sounding laugh. “I used to be quite secure in my own brilliance, you know. Until I met a girl on a hill who didn’t find me charming at all.”
Olivia laughed, thinking how much her perception of him had changed since that day. “It wasn’t your fault, you know,” she said. “At least not at first. I just didn’t want you looking for my slipper! Although I’ll admit that walking off a cliff was an excessive reaction to my rejection.”
Julius’s lips twitched as he looked down at her. “Everyone says you’re beautiful, but you’re not that beautiful, I’m afraid.”
She snorted. “I should hope not!”
“But I’m sure you’re far too kind to leave me curious a second time.” He grinned at her. “What was the great mystery of the missing slipper?”
Olivia flushed and mumbled the answer in a hurry, under her breath.
“Pardon? What was that?” Julius’s lips twitched, despite his solemn expression.
Olivia sighed and repeated it more slowly and at an audible volume, making Julius break into unrestrained laughter.
“No wonder you wanted to get rid of me as quickly as possible,” he said when his mirth subsided.
Two matrons approached them, and they broke off their conversation to accept the women’s greetings and congratulations. When they walked away again, Olivia watched Julius from the corner of her eye.
“It’s true I didn’t find you charming at first,” Olivia said after a moment of silence between them. “But I also misjudged you, and I’m sorry for that.”
Julius raised a quizzical eyebrow, and she sighed. “In the beginning, I thought your apologies were insincere—that they were all self-serving. But I’m sure now that you did mean them. You might not be perfect, Julius, but you try harder than anyone I’ve ever met.”
“A compliment, of sorts.” He gave her a twisted smile.
Olivia shook her head stubbornly. “It’s a very high compliment. You never got to choose your role, Julius, and yet you still dedicate yourself to it. I admire that.” She was silent for a beat. “And I think you underestimate yourself. Every person who has approached us today has left with a smile. Prince Charming seems to be perfectly well received by the regular citizens.”
“Yes, because you’re here. You make them more comfortable.”
Olivia shrugged. “And I’m able to be comfortable at court because I have you beside me. Why do you think you have to be good at everything alone? No one is good at everything—not even Prince Charming.” She grinned. “You have to leave something for me, or else why am I even here?”
He stared at her, as if struck by her words. When he remained silent, she looked away. It would have been nice to hear some words of reassurance—to hear that he saw value and purpose in her presence as she did in his. But perhaps that was too much to ask when he hadn’t asked for his betrothal any more than he’d asked to be born crown prince.
She stumbled, clutching at his arm as her toe landed on something small and sharp inside her boot. Sighing, she limped toward the large fountain in the center of the market. She could sit on its rim and fish out the stone that had wormed its way into her shoe.
“I’ll just need a minute,” she told Julius, sending him to line up for sticks of roasted meat.
Removing her boot, she shook out the stone and placed the shoe on the fountain edge beside her. Twisting up her foot, she examined the hole the stone had made in the toe of her stocking. It was located in an annoying position, but there was nothing she could do about it until she returned to the palace.
Turning to retrieve the shoe, she found the fountain beside her empty.
“Drat!” She looked around for it without much hope. It had been her fault for letting it out of her grip. She should have known better. It was too tempting an opportunity for the Legacy.
And thanks to the Legacy, she was unlikely to see it again. Most people never did find the single shoes the Legacy caused them to constantly lose. It was a wonder the whole kingdom wasn’t littered with piles of discarded, pairless shoes.
“Are you looking for this?” A now familiar voice asked from beside her.
She looked up to find Julius grinning down at her, her lost boot in one hand and two sticks of fragrant roast meat in the other.
“You found it!” she cried in surprise, happily accepting the shoe and slipping her foot into it.
“Of course I did.” He grinned smugly at her. “Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten that I’m the one person in the kingdom more prone to finding shoes than losing them.”
“You should set up a business reuniting people with their lost shoes,” she said. “It would be a great boon to the whole city.”
“I’m not sure my parents would consider that the best use of the advantages I’ve been gifted by the Legacy,” Julius said dryly.
“That’s just because they’ve always had you around to find their missing shoes,” Olivia muttered under her breath, getting back to her feet. “You could be the most popular prince in history.”
