Heart of the Sea

CHAPTER NINE

The music had been changed to a soft melody as people took their seats in the table that had been laid down for dinner. The prince and Mr. Sinclair had been asked to seat with the Haskells in their table since they were a guest of Honor.

Nicholas had been quick to ask if he could seat besides the muse which just earned a shy smile from the lady. But- the no answer could not remove the smile on his face as Mr. Haskell granted him permission.

Pierce had furrowed his brow at Ms. Aeras. He could not help but noticed the lady just do not feel the same way for his cousin. And he vowed, after the very ball, he shall talk to his cousin before he could further hurt himself.

The set of doors on the side of the ballroom opened and came in were the servers; carrying different arrays of deliciously looking food. They’ve first serve the table of the Haskells before they served the guests’ tables.

The mixed aroma of the food quickly filled the air and the people chatted excitedly about tasting it. But- Mr. Haskell has asked them to wait for the cake. Which, he proudly announced to everyone, but to Aeras’ mainly, that it was solely baked by her sister for her.

The eye-catching two layer cake stole everyone’s attention the moment it had entered the room. Its icing was obviously, delicately, beautifully spread through the cake. Its decorations were put together by a pair of very fine hands. No one could deny that never have they seen a cake that much beautiful.

But- all eyes seemed to have shifted to the very lady gently pushing the trolley towards the Haskell table. She was wearing a soft shade of blue. Its top was fitting and perfectly showing off her figure while the skirt flew loosely. Unlike the traditional ball gowns that had big and round skirt, hers was like a long dress.

Its skirt was decorated with something that sparkles every time it caught the light. Her hair was braided into a bun. Yet- it brought out her eyes. The winning smile clearly announced to everyone present that the cake was her masterpiece.

“Happy birthday, my dear Aeras,” she greeted with a soft voice as she lit the candles atop the cake. “Make a wish, dear sister,”

Aeras laughed as she stood up and walked besides the cake. As people cheerfully sang her a birthday song, she closed her eyes and made a wish before blowing the candles out.

Claps and cheers filled the air as Aeras laughed and gave her sister a hug. And when Aeras leaned back to look at her in the face, she could not help but notice a taint of white in her sister’s left cheek.

“You still have flour on your cheek, my dearest Thalassa,” she pointed out with a soft laugh. Thalassa’s eyes grew huge with shock as her hand quickly flew up to remove it.

“Oopps,” she exclaimed childishly; laughing at herself.

Aeras led her sister to their table and they all started to eat. But- the people’s eyes kept on going back to look at the front where the said bane of the family was sitting; laughing and smiling so innocently that if you did not know her history you would not even suspect her of it.

But- people knew better.

Or so they thought.

Thalassa had danced with no one. Despite the rumors surrounding the young lady, no one could deny that she was elegant. And men had fallen for her charms. But- none had succeeded into making the young lady dance with them.

Men had lined up to dance with Aeras but the prince was the one who danced with her most. Thalassa could not help but smile at the love she could see as clear as day developing between her sister and the prince.

Aeras’ expression had remained calm and composed. But- Thalassa knew very well that once they are alone, her sister’s feeling would come out and expose itself to her. Despite Aeras’ nature, she was not one to openly express her feelings for she was actually a shy, young lady.

She was so caught up in watching her sister that she had not noticed someone else was watching her. But- given the fact that she already saw their guest giving her looks, another one more was nothing new to her.

Though, if she did just look- she would have saw the pair of leaf-green orbs that was solely looking at her as if she was the only thing to see in the room- those pair of eyes that looked at her with recognition.

“Ms. Haskell?” a man called Thalassa’s attention. “Would you give me the honor of dancing with me?”

Thalassa looked up at the man with a polite smile. “Forgive me, sir. But- I do not dance,”

Disappointment replaced the charming smile of the gentleman. With a nod, he turned to leave Thalassa alone once more. Even her parents were currently dancing besides Aeras and the prince. But- despite the joyfulness in the air, Thalassa was just not in the mood to dance.

Apparently, even Mr. Sinclair. With a stolen glance his way, Thalassa saw him sitting in the chair besides Prince Nicholas’- which was two seats away from her. His arms are crossed and his brows were furrowed into a scowl that had women running away from him despite his handsomeness.

The man was scary when he wanted to.

And Thalassa could not stop the smile that graced her lips at the thought.

“And why, may I ask, Ms. Thalassa- are you laughing at me?”

Mr. Sinclair’s voice pierced through Thalassa’s thought and her eyes quickly widened in surprise. She had not thought he would notice for she was being inconspicuous. But- evidently, not.

She quickly composed herself and lifted her chin proudly in the air like she had not done anything wrong to be ashamed off. “I was merely thinking about why you are not dancing my dear sir. But- I have seen for myself why,”

That remarked had earned her a look from Mr. Sinclair. His stare was so intent that Thalassa felt her heart skipped a beat but she maintained a calm face as she waited for his answer.

“May I know the conclusion you have come up with?”

Thalassa let out a childish laugh as she remembered her earlier train of thoughts. Mr. Sinclair raised a brow at her and she quickly covered her mouth. The man probably thought she was laughing at his expense. Which was true- but he needed not to know that. So, with a cough, Thalassa composed herself once more.

“That is because you are scaring the young ladies in the room, Mr. Sinclair. Have you noticed that they tend to avoid your way?”

Mr. Sinclair pretended to look around to confirm her theory. Though, he perfectly knew that she was right. He did have such a scary expression. But- he was doing it on purpose. He wanted to fool himself into thinking that he had done it so that it would be easier to watch over his cousin even though at the back of his mind, something was nagging at him that it was not it.

He just refused to listen to that one small voice.

“I did noticed,” he simply answered.

There was a tone in his voice that meant the conversation was no longer open. Despite being such a risk taker, Thalassa just chose not to answer.