Vicious Prince (Royal Elite 5)

“You don’t have to do that, Teal.” Her voice softens.

“Don’t have to do what?” I steal another look at the Napoleon article.

“You know.” She clutches me by the elbow of my uniform’s jacket, which is my cue to pay attention.

“It’s not rocket science, Elsa. Dad needs help, so I stepped up.”

She traps her lower lip under her teeth, and I’m not sure if it’s some sort of seduction tactic or her way of reining something in. I’ve seen her do that with her boyfriend, and I still can’t figure it out.

I’ll go with the need to suppress something because I doubt she’d want to seduce me. That would be, eh, awkward, especially since I’m almost certain she’s kind of figured out who my crush is.

“Dad would never make you do something you don’t want, Teal. Remember how he acted when I refused the arranged marriage?”

That’s because you’re his biological daughter and his pride.

Not that Dad doesn’t like me and my twin brother. He’s taken care of us since that day he found us curled up in balls, bleeding and starved to death.

But the fact remains: we’re only his foster children. Elsa is his real daughter.

“I volunteered,” I say.

Elsa stops in the middle of the hall, drawing some attention from onlookers. “What?”

I lift a shoulder. “I told Dad I’d do it.”

“But the other time you asked me if this was what I wanted to do. I thought you were against arranged marriages.”

“I was asking if you wanted to do it, and if you didn’t, I would step up. Someone has to help Dad after you chose not to.”

“Ouch.” She grimaces.

“Eh, sorry, I guess.” Since I started to somehow grasp human nature, I’ve learnt they get offended when the truth is shoved in their faces. My twin brother Knox says I’m too direct and that I sound like a bitch.

“It’s okay. I know your mind is only thinking about getting the point across.”

My lips part as her mouth pulls into a smile. She…knows. All this time, only Knox and Dad understood the way my brain works. I never thought Elsa would catch on this soon.

“Thank you.” My voice is barely above a murmur, and I take another bite of the chocolate to fill the silence.

“Teal.” She clutches my shoulders and meets my gaze. “It’s not that I didn’t want to help Dad. It’s that I couldn’t marry someone else since I’m in love with Aiden. That’s not how it works.”

In love.

Not how it works.

I allow my brain to pause on those words and their foreign meanings. Elsa keeps saying these things, and I crash into them every time as if they’re a metal wall.

Sure, I know the dictionary definition of love, but that’s only theoretical. The real world is the practical field, and there’s no such thing as love.

There are hormones, neurotransmitters, and endorphins — chemical reactions.

I wonder when Elsa will finally figure that out. She’s smart in everything except for this.

“Sure,” I say instead. There’s something else I’ve learnt about human interactions: if you agree with them, they drop it, which means less headaches and more peace of mind.

“Besides, Dad will join forces with Aiden’s father, so there’s no need for more allies.”

“Of course there is. Dad returned from a nine-year coma, during which he was cut off from the world. He needs all the allies he can get. Aiden’s father, that Jonathan King bloke, isn’t trustworthy. Do you really think he’ll play nice with Dad after the grudge he held for ten years? He holds Dad responsible for the death of his wife, and that doesn’t just disappear.”