Conquering His Cold Heart

And right now, Tilla was still sitting on the same chair while Anastasia was sitting down on the bed, facing Tilla.

As soon as Vincent left the chambers, Anastasia had left her diary open on the table of her antechamber and had run inside the bedchamber to tease Tilla.

At the moment, she was in the middle of teasing Tilla by bringing up a few fragments of sentences that she happened to hear. Since the door to the bedchamber was left open, she could hear their banter every now and then.

“So, tell me when Lord Vincent seriously began falling for you? I know that he used to tease you a lot from the beginning. But now, I can’t help but think as if he is very serious about you.” Anastasia excitedly swung her legs to and fro as she tried to probe in.

Tilla scratched her head and hummed reluctantly when Anastasia took interest in her and Vincent’s conversation. She wondered how much her friend had heard because she would die out of embarrassment if Anastasia knew that the two of them had even shared a passionate kiss with each other.

“Come on… Tell me.” Anastasia couldn’t stop smiling while looking at that awkward face that Tilla was making.

When Tilla still didn’t answer, Anastasia pouted a little and mumbled, “I share most of the things about me and Caspian. It is only fair that you also share things about yourself and Lord Vincent. Don’t you think so?”

Tilla couldn’t argue with the Queen. And she also felt that it was only fair that she shared a few of her personal matters with Anastasia. After all, that was what the essence of friendship was. Sharing.

.....

“I think he began taking me seriously after an incident that occurred in Xanmar.” Tilla finally cleared her throat and began recounting the time when she felt some connection between her and the Lord.

She hadn’t really found the courage to tell everything to Anastasia before. However, now that Anastasia genuinely wanted to know, Tilla opened up her heart. She told Anastasia how she had found Vincent in a hungry state. And she told her how she had to help him quench his thirst.

At first, Tilla wanted to skip the part where she had shared a moment of passion with Vincent. But she subconsciously told everything… up until the point where Vincent had appeared in front of her like an angel when they were attacked later.

“And after that, Lord Vincent has been giving me more and more attention.” Tilla subconsciously scratched her neck and said in a longing whisper, “To be honest, I enjoyed getting that undivided attention from him. But…”

Anastasia heaved a deep sigh and whispered, “But you are trying to push him away thinking he is a man who is too far away from your reach?”

Tilla vigorously nodded her head. She even scoffed at her own fantasy that she had woven in the past week and retorted, “Yes, he is someone far from my reach. And I can’t possibly be that selfish and forget my duty towards you. King Desmond and Queen Helena had entrusted your safety and care to me. So, I cannot–”

Before Tilla completed her sentence, Anastasia jumped out of the bed and held Tilla’s hands. “And I cannot possibly be that selfish to deprive my best friend of her happiness. If your obligation towards me is what’s stopping you from taking a step, then you have my blessings Tilla.”

Anastasia softly smiled down at Tilla and said from the bottom of her heart, “I want nothing but happiness for you. If you feel that Lord Vincent can keep you happy then I will never stand in your way. You know I can depend on someone else for my daily needs. You have already sacrificed enough for me, you don’t have to sacrifice your whole life.”

Tilla became very emotional upon hearing those kind words from Anastasia. She knew that Anastasia always wanted the best for her too. She knew that Anastasia wouldn’t stop her if she was to decide on leaving her side as her handmaid.

Nonetheless, hearing it from Anastasia made her tear up. Tilla pulled through her tears and said in a thankful tone, “I am grateful for the kindness that you have shown me. But it’s not because of you that I am hesitating. It’s because of me. I don’t think I can adjust to a life other than the one that I was raised to live.”

Anastasia wanted to persuade Tilla that it was okay to love and be loved. However, before she could open her mouth, the two ladies were interrupted by a swiftly passing breeze that collided against their faces and their bodies.

When they opened their eyes, Caspian was standing beside the two ladies.

“Anastasia, I have to leave for the border soon. So I–” He suddenly stopped when he felt something peculiar about the view in front of him.

He frowned when he realized that Tilla was sitting down on the chair while Anastasia was standing while holding her hands. And the air around them also didn’t seem quite right. It looked like they were having some heart-to-heart conversation with each other.

He was about to ask what was going on when his gaze landed on the bruises on Tilla’s palms. “What happened?” he asked while stepping closer to his wife.

Upon seeing the King, Tilla hurriedly jumped up on her feet, forgetting that she had hurt her knees.

“Good afternoon, Your– Argh!” She instantly grunted and crouched before she could greet the King. If it wasn’t for Anastasia who was holding her hands then she would have collapsed to the ground.

Caspian also lent Anastasia a hand when he saw his wife helping Tilla up on her feet. They made Tilla sit back down on the chair.

And Anastasia looked at Caspian and answered on Tilla’s behalf, “Tilla tripped and hurt herself.”

“Oh?” Caspian looked at Tilla with slightly raised brows and asked Anastasia, “Then shouldn’t she be looked at by a doctor? You could have asked Zen– Right, he was with me. You could have asked Percy.”

Tilla quickly bowed her head and denied, “It’s not something that the doctor needs to look at, Your Majesty. Her Majesty was generous enough to help me put some medicine. I should be fine soon.”

“Ah! Is that so?” Caspian nodded and looked at his wife with an appreciative gaze. Though she was the Queen, she never made her Tilla feel that way. He appreciated her helpful and caring nature in his heart and then said, “Why don’t you give Tilla a leave then? She can recuperate back to her full health and resume her duty. Till then, ask Martha to take her place.”

“I was already thinking of doing that,” Anastasia said while giving a nod.