บท 57: Chapter 53 - Unexpected Visitor I

Caroline was sitting elegantly on the white sofa of the Belmont's Family's small living room while gently sipping from a cup of tea, her light red lipstick staining the edge of porcelain white tea cup slightly.

She was dressed pretty casually, wearing a crimson-colored, loose long-sleeved off shoulder frill top, which was tucked into her tight-fitting black jeans along with black sneakers, all of them perfectly suited to her size and complementing her already beautiful figure.

The scarlet-red, ruby-eyed young lady, also had an amused smile that hung on her lips as she watched Aiden who was sitting across from her on the other side of the sofa, his palms interlocked and placed just above his lips and below his nose, all while staring at her.

He was staring at her, wondering what the hell this scenario was and how this even came to be in the first place.

'How did I even land myself in this scenario?' Aiden asked himself inwardly, even though he very much had an inkling as to what had caused this.

This morning, after he and Flynn had finished sparring with Frank, the butler who had already entered the mansion had come back out just a few minutes later to inform both he & Flynn that the Duchess was requesting for their presence in the living room, something that both of them had found quite odd.

However, without even wasting a second, they had quickly gone to meet her, despite usually taking a bath immediately after training.

Upon entering the large living room, they were surprised to have seen Queen Hela herself, Selina Roseblade who was the Duchess of the Roseblade Family and their mum, all chatting away happily.

Flynn and Aiden had immediately given their formal greetings, despite the fact that they were not even in presentable clothing, their shirts and sweat pants still having still having bits of snow here and there.

Both Hela and Selena had responded to their greetings with warm smiles and had also asked for their welfare, something both of them who were mothers were pretty much accustomed too, causing both Flynn and Aiden to relax.

This unexpected visit had left both brothers quite surprised because they had not known that their mum was such close friends with two immensely influential women in Arcadia but as if to add to Aiden's already surprised demeanor, his mum had told him that he had a guest waiting for him in the smaller living room.

Anna had also informed him to freshen up before he went to meet said person, something that had elicited a slight head tilt from him as he glanced over to Flynn who shrugged his shoulders with a look that said "I guess you'll have to find out yourself!".

Aiden however had decided to do as his mum had instructed and he ensured to look his best while still dressing up casually.

As a result, he had opted to wear a long sleeved black t-shirt with another white shirt underneath, slim fitted dark-blue jeans and a pair of white sneakers.

Before getting out of the room though, Aiden had passed by his long standing mirror and checked himself out, after which he then gave himself a charming smile to commend himself for looking so handsome and dressing up so well.

Aiden finally left his room and began to head straight for the small living room where his supposed visitor was waiting for him.

Even as he kept moving towards the room, he had been wondering who it was, especially because his mum had been saying it in such a coy manner.

He had also surmised that his 'guest' was definitely a female, judging by his mum's demeanor but still, he was a bit skeptical about the whole thing, especially considering that a month had gone by after the banquet incident and not even a single noble their age had come to visit.

Upon opening the doors to the small living room however, Aiden's emerald green eyes had immediately locked on to Caroline's figure as she picked up one of the many novels he had piled onto the glass tables.

Caroline upon also raising her own head after picking a novel, had her eyes meet Aiden's and without wasting a breath, she immediately spoke up with a soft smile.

"You must really love reading novels huh Aiden Belmont…"

Aiden however just stared at her for a few seconds without responding, but after a short while, he then answered her with a question of his own instead.

"Coffee or tea? Which would you like Miss. Roseblade?"

After she had responded with the latter, he had gone to prepare the tea himself instead of requesting for Butler Frank's help, something which had caused Caroline to arch one of her eyebrows up in surprise.

After placing both porcelain white tea cups on the table, Aiden sat opposite from her on the other couch while pondering over how this situation had come to be. That was how he had found himself in this scenario.

-Clink!

Caroline who had now gently placed the tea cup on its saucer, looked at Aiden amusingly as he kept staring at her intently and initiated their conversation.

"It's interesting that you didn't request for your butler's help to make this" she said while pointing her finger to the warm cups of tea.

"It's a pretty mundane thing so there was no reason to bother him. He already has enough work on his plate" Aiden responded while releasing his interlocked fingers and picking up his own cup of tea and taking a sip out of it.

"Most nobles wouldn't think the way you do though" Caroline replied to his comment.

"Well I guess I'm not 'most' nobles then" Aiden replied as a matter-of-factly, his hands placing the tea cup onto his own saucer.

"I see…" Caroline responded with an even more amused smile.

A brief silence passed between both of them for a few seconds but this time, Aiden was the one to break the silence with a question of his own.

"So, what are you up to you foxy vixen?" Aiden asked bluntly, much to Caroline's surprise.

"Oh~" she voiced out, genuinely surprised by how straightforward Aiden was being with her but as if now totally invested in where this conversation of theirs was heading, Caroline quickly responded.

"Foxy? Vixen? I'm not sure why but I absolutely love what you've just referred to me as…" Caroline started with an amused smile, after which she then asked.

"Do you also believe in the rumors that much Aiden?"

"No. Not really" Aiden started with a slight wave of his hands to indicate a gesture of dismissal.

"It's just what I've noticed while studying you over the years" he continued.

"You've studied me?" Caroline asked, surprise evident in her tone at this new information.

'I literally did read about you for years on end so it's nothing too surprising honestly, but I can't tell her that…' Aiden mused to himself before he then spoke out almost immediately to respond to her surprised look.

"Most people tend to believe that you're the one who usually does the seduction and eventually, after using them to achieve your goals, you'd discard them as if they never even existed. That's the general consensus" Aiden began.

"But the truth is, you'd only ever use those who originally came towards you or approached you with either carnal intentions or if they were also planning to use you to achieve their own goals. However, people without ulterior motives are completely safe from your antics" Aiden continued.

"That's how you play Caroline Roseblade" Aiden continued.

Caroline was stunned by Aiden's excellent deduction of her psyche and she was unable to respond even after a few seconds had passed.

Aiden however just waited for her to recover while taking another sip out of his own tea which was now slowly turning cold.

"How…" Caroline audibly muttered after recovering from her shock, her mind still trying to process how someone asides her mother understood how she ticked.

Aiden who had expected this reaction from her casually placed down his cup of tea while thinking of how he was going to respond to her.

'Well… I guess I'll respond with a half-truth…' he mused to himself.

"Social events" Aiden replied casually.

"Social events?" Caroline questioningly asked.

"Yeah. I may have stopped socializing with anyone over the years at so many social events following my brother's ostracization seven years ago but it doesn't mean I wasn't aware of quite a lot of things that were going on" Aiden stated.

"In fact, it's more like I was given the freedom to openly study people without them ever knowing even if I only attended a few compulsory events here and there" he added after which he then continued.

"I guess among the people I was studying back then, I found you particularly interesting so I paid extra attention…" Aiden concluded.

Caroline was once again amused by just how interesting the teen in front of her was.

Just as she had deduced when she had met him again at the royal banquet a month and a half ago, Aiden Belmont now had a very sharp edge to him, one that had now been honed due to the incident with his brother all those years ago.

This now sharpened edge, made it possible for him to be able to spot when people were approaching him with ulterior motives even if they thought they were doing a good job of concealing it, just like the way she also could. A honed skill of discernment.

Those were the thoughts running through Caroline's mind but as if to remind her that she still hadn't answered his very first question and he very much knew that she had subtly deflected it, the black-haired youth with emerald-green eyes inquired again.

"So, with all that being said, I'd like to ask again… What are you up to Caroline Roseblade?"