Page 36 of Tall, Royal and Grumpy

Esmeralda

Kai just chased me in the rain!!

Mariyah

EXCUSE U?!?!?!?!?!?

Mariyah

Like 5 yr old kid chased or primal play chased???

* * *

KAI

“And coffee for the beautiful princess,” Pierre said as he placed a white mug of coffee on the island countertop in front of Esmeralda.

“Thank you, Pierre.” She grinned at him, tugging at one sleeve of her pale grey jumper.

He winked. “Anything for you, Princess.”

There was something wrong with my left eye. It wouldn’t stop twitching as I watched my childhood friend blatantly flirt with Esmeralda while Nur and I were right there with them.

I thought I liked Pierre, some of my oldest memories were of us running around the palace corridors every time he came to work with his uncle, Nur. But having watched him stand unnecessarily close to Esmeralda for the last ten minutes, I was beginning to question our friendship.

I had this absurd urge to shove his face away and yank Esmeralda’s stool closer to mine.

“Are Your Highnesses both warm and comfortable now?” Nur asked after giving Pierre more than a few fed up side-glances.

“Yes, thank you, Nur,” Esmeralda said, and I nodded in agreement.

“I must admit though, Prince Kai.” Nur arched his brows. “When Michael came running down to the kitchen to tell us you had gotten caught in the rain, I was surprised.”

“Honestly, same,” Pierre said. “You usually check the forecast before you go for a ride.”

News always travelled at the speed of light when my equerry, Michael, was the first to know about it. There was nothing he could keep to himself. And he was the one who first saw me and Esmeralda when we walked through the garden doors soaked from head to toe.

I cleared my throat, shifting in the stool seat. “I checked,” I lied. I couldn’t remember if I had, which probably meant I hadn’t. “The rain was forecasted for later, so I assumed we would be fine.”

“Ah.” Nur nodded.

“A part of it was my fault too,” Esmeralda added with a cheeky smile. “I like rain, unlike Prince Rain-Is-Evil over here, so I wanted to stay outside longer.”

“Ah, our princess likes the rain, huh? It’s so romantic, isn’t it?” Pierre said, leaning his elbows on the counter perpendicular to Esmeralda so he was eye-level with her.

The thought of Pierre seeing Esmeralda in the rain didn’t sit right with me. It didn’t sit at all. My chest burned like there was a swarm of vicious wasps inside, desperate to get out and sting him.

“I guess so,” she chuckled. “But rain is very much a luxury in the heat of Jahandar’s long summers, so rather than shying away from it, everyone enjoys it when it does rain. So, I’ve grown up loving it.”

“That makes sense,” Pierre replied.

“You will all probably think this is weird, but it’s a common—not custom, but just a habit I suppose many people have made—to go out for ice-cream when it rains. I have never seen an empty ice-cream parlour on a rainy day in Jahandar.” She eyed her mug. “So, I was honestly sort of craving ice-cream after being in the rain.”

Nur let out a light laugh, while Pierre grinned. “Really?” She nodded, and he stood upright. “Then how about I take you out for ice-cream today? We could go after dinner. Just us.”

I stiffened in my seat.

Pierre and Esmeralda. Alone? Eating ice-cream. Alone? By themselves? Her with him? Alone?

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