ωith: Gabriel︱ ωhere: Library︱ мood: Unsure︱ σutfit: ✖
"Talking" "Thoughts"
The idea that Nayeni had known this secret before she made Anika visibly twitch in discontent. It wasn’t like her servant was keeping secrets because the princess had never asked her but she was sure that her feelings about the Duke were made clear and the fact that Duchess still managed to play peacemaker between her family and now the duke peeved her. Deep down she knew that even if Nayeni had told her that her brain had twisted it somehow for the duchess to have done something wrong, she couldn’t help it.
Hatred. That was what she was feeling, the fact that even after all these years Gabriel was able to wrangle her in and calm her down. The feeling that maybe the world was shattering down around them, they could rebuild and start anew. How he was able to deescalate every situation and make her feel truly seen Anika never understood given how little they seemed to have in common on the surface level, but their talks were something she still thought about to this day. His touch, his lips, his face… Something that made her question everything that had gotten her to this point.
Anika knew that her road to happiness was already closed, not just for the season but permanently. She had teased herself with the idea of spending her nights with Syena but even that was something she knew was never hers, he belonged to someone else no matter how much she wanted to believe otherwise. But Gabriel had a chance to be happy, this academy was providing opportunities for him to get away from the craziness of the kingdom and focus on something he was passionate about; writing. Anika could tell from his outfit and demeanor that Gabriel was still only taking up the Duke's mantle to appease others, once she returned and took over the throne she could help set him free. Provide him with enough for him to live on but give him a chance to continue his passion, something Anika lost long ago and wished she could find again.
"Since it seems you'd prefer a more upfront approach from your fans, would you be interested in doing some listening with me sometime?"
Anika knew he was just humoring her but couldn’t help but take the opportunity to tease him again, " Are you attempting to court me? I should warn you the rumors about me are true." Her playful smile remained as she let out a light laugh. The idea of the two of them hanging out again was something she wanted more than Gabriel ever knew but she couldn’t risk letting him know that. After everything her father had taught her, getting close to anyone led to risks of getting her heart broken and she didn’t have a heart to break anymore after she locked it away.
It took everything in her to not immediately push Gabriel away after he was being so kind to her. After all, her cold attitude had already led to many men trying and failing to appease her with only one being successful but she knew that relationship had an expiration date. Trying to pursue a man who was currently engaged was a selfish endeavor her father would beat her if he ever found out but if her brother was telling the truth that opened some doors for her. As well as shutting others.
Pushing down the negative feelings she attempted to maintain her playful demeanor with a lip bite before deciding to not hold back anymore. Leaning closer to him trying to sense any pain or pity he might feel for her she tiptoed to his ear, "It’s a date," she whispered sure he was just along for the ride now but curious to see how long he would entertain her for. Stepping back she started to walk away before turning back to look at him, " It’s time for class, you should probably get changed." And with that, her playful smile changed to the stoic frown the students had grown to fear.
OOC:[
