Chapter 25: dirty little secret  

"Serena, I will talk to Geoffrey regarding your engagement. I have no intention of making this a one-time thing. I will take responsibility." Charlton said as he stroked her naked back.

After their lovemaking earlier, she asked him to get wet wipes and a bottle of water from her bag. As she was still sore, Charlton wiped themselves clean then helped her drink. Currently, because the couch was small, she was laying on top of him.

"You don't have to do that. That would only ever spell trouble." Serena said in reply.

"How about making sure he breaks it first?" Serena suggested.

"Please pray tell, how you plan to make that happen."

"I believe that he is having an affair."

Charlton creased his brows. "Were you just using me to get back at him?" he half-jokingly asked but at the same time couldn't help but feel sour.

Serena looked at him, chuckled and straightened his wrinkled glabella with her fingers. "I don't need to go this far just to make him jealous." She reasoned then kissed the spot on his forehead where her fingers had been.

Charlton nodded then he pulled her down for another chaste kiss.

"I do have reasons to believe he is. However, I have no idea with whom, nor how deep their relationship goes." Charlton told her truthfully.

"Well, it's with Emily!" Serena answered directly. 'Now you should never grow to have feelings for her, just in case.'

"Which Emily? The one in our music class? Are you sure?" Charlton said with some doubt.

"You don't believe me?"

"I do believe you, it's just that she seemed so upright. I will never guess she had it in her."

"Lord Daniel, did you just compliment another girl in front of your girlfriend?" Serena pouted and playfully hit his chest.

Charlton's ears perked with the title. He flipped them over so that Serena is now underneath him.

"I like the sound of that." he commented.

"Which one?"

"the girlfriend..." then he kissed each of her eye, the tip of her nose, then her lips.

"Are you asking for round 2 now?"

"May I?"

"I still feel sore."

"Right. Then just continue telling me more about your plan."

"Okay, so as I was saying, he is having an affair with Emily. Same as you, I don't know how deep their relationship goes as of now. But I do know that it will go deep enough for him to break our engagement in the future."

"Was that the reason you pitted them together?"

"Well, among others" Serena replied as she kissed his bobbing Adam's apple.

"I did find it strange when he agreed to perform with her."

"So, you believe me now?"

"I never said that I didn't." Charlton replied as he touched the tip of her nose with his index finger.

Serena slapped his hand away. She was reminded of her late husband's bad habit of touching her nose like that.

"don't do that, it's annoying."

"But your nose is too cute, it's just begging to be touched."

Serena rolled her eyes as she pushed him making him get off her as she raised herself to sit. "As I was saying, once he falls deep enough, he will break his engagement with me."

"Why should it be him to break it? Can't we just catch them red handed, and then you go break it?" Charlton asked, the thought of another man rejecting her not sitting well with him.

"Don't be stupid. That's not a good enough reason. You do know that it is next to impossible for me to be the one to break it. First, this is an engagement ordained by the king himself. Second, even if I wanted to, I can not break it, unless I'm willing to let my family get the repercussions. Third, you obviously can not just announce that you're having an affair with me unless you want the both of us to face the guillotine. Lastly, you know that there is more leniency for men in society and that it has always been unfair to women. So an affair on his end will just earn an earful at most but nothing beyond that." Serena reasoned carefully. 'Besides, we just got together. That does not automatically mean that we should get married, or even worse, ruin the rest of our lives. What's up with these young people who just wants to jump directly into marriage without getting to know their partner better?'

"Well, you did think this through. Although, facing the guillotine is quite too much of an exaggeration. Perhaps exile tops."

"All the same, you know I'm right."

"I understand, Serena. I would never want to put you, your reputation, and anything or anyone you hold dear in jeopardy. But at the end of the day, if your plan doesn't work, just know that I'm willing to risk everything for you. I swear it." Charlton stated seriously as he raised her hand to kiss it.

Serena just smiled at him. 'Serena, I think you judged the second male lead wrong. What willing to let you go in the future after this? You should be thankful enough that he's even willing to be your dirty little secret for now. Take note, that is just for NOW.' Serena told herself 'Well, whatever, just go with the flow. It's too early to presume, things might still change in the future. As they say, the only thing that is constant is change.'

"I don't know about you, but I'm famished." Serena said changing the topic.

"I am, but it's also nice, just staying together like this." Charlton said as he stood up to dress himself. After, he went to get her bag on the floor and then handed it to her.

"Thank you." Serena courteously replied as she got her dress and undies from her bag.

"You know, seeing you wearing those just makes me want to tear them." Charlton commented as she wore her red undergarments.

"Don't you dare. These were not easy to make."

"You made those?" he asked, omitting from saying 'So that's why I've never seen them before.' Which has been at the tip of his tongue.

"What do you think?" Serena asked as she stood straight, showing him her low-cut balcony bra with matching cheeky panties. "Like what you see?"

Charlton can only swallow. He uneasily replied, saying "Please put me out of my misery and wear your dress."

Serena laughed.

--

Luckily, it was the weekend, and the halls were empty. Charlton noticing Serena's slight limp carried her across his arms like a bride despite her protest.

"Put me down! Someone might see!"

"Stop moving, we might accidentally tumble."

"Am I not heavy?"

"Light as a feather. Besides, it will take us forever to get to my carriage if I let you walk." Charlton smirked.

'Men and their massive ego!' Serena thought as she draped her arms around his neck for support. 'Well, it's not like I don't like it...'

Charlton only let her feet touch the ground when they reached the building's main entrance. Then he assisted her as he led her in front of a carriage waiting at the exit.

Serena looked at him confused.

"What's with that look? Don't tell me you didn't expect me to prepare anything for the day?" He said as he opened the door.

"No, I didn't really" Serena shook her head teasingly.

"I'm so hurt to know that my girlfriend thought so little of me." He replied as he placed his palm on his chest feigning pain.

Serena giggled.

"This part of our date, I was much obliged to prepare." Then he offered his hand to Serena helping her enter the carriage.

--

The rest of the day passed quickly. Charlton took her to a discreet looking high-end restaurant in which he booked a private room for lunch. They passed through a backdoor to avoid anyone who might recognize them.

Lunch was a sordid affair. They flirted, experimented with the food, explored the different flavors of ice cream while exploring each other's mouth, and even played footsie under the table.

The sun was about to set when they exited the restaurant. Given that they were careful of being seen alone, they did not have a lot of options when it came to the places they can go to. Aside from that, Serena was already tired. Thus, they agreed to call it a day.

Going back to the school, Charlton handed a small pouch to the guard on duty and gave him a wink. The man gave him a salute and let them pass through without the need for inspection.

"You've done this before?" Serena asked stunned. 'I didn't know he had this side to him.'

"No, it was Kylo who gave me the idea. Why? Jealous?" Charlton teased.

"You wish!"

He laughed as he hugged her. "Yes, yes, I wish."

Charlton asked the coachman to stop a few meters away from the ladies' dorm.

"This day ended too quickly. I loath to part from you."

"We'll see each other again tomorrow." Serena said as she kissed his lips.

"Tell me again why we have to spend it with the others? Can't I just have you for myself?"

"Much as I want that too, I'm afraid that with just the two of us, we won't be able to get any work done. Don't forget, we still need to express our appreciation to Sir Felix through our performance." Serena laughingly said.

When the carriage stopped Charlton went down and Looked from left to right. Not seeing a soul in sight, he helped Serena down.

"Tomorrow can't come soon enough. Are you sure you don't want to set a private meeting with me on an earlier time?" he persisted.

"Sorry, I already promised brunch with Milly. Besides, tomorrow is bound to be a long day." Serena answered truthfully.

"Just testing my luck." Charlton said with a lopsided smile.

"I'll see you tomorrow." Serena said as she walked towards the dormitory.

Charlton watched her until she went inside.

--

TBC