Provoking a Graceful Bloom Novel

---- Chapter 226 Nathaniel watched Selena as she sat reading. At that very moment, he appeared deeply troubled. Even the half-mask he wore couldn't conceal the worry etched across his features. Selena sighed inwardly. "Your Highness, you've been sitting here for more than an hour. What is it that you want?" Or rather, when would he finally take his leave? After a hearty meal and some wine, Liam and Cloud had escorted Nathaniel back. Selena had breathed a quiet sigh of relief, looking forward to a warm bath and a few hours of rest. Yet here the Demon Lord was again.

It seemed he had bathed and changed into clean attire. At least he wasn't filthy this time. He knew she disliked seeing him in a disheveled state. When he arrived, he simply seated himself in the corner, staring at her without a word or any other gesture. The sight of him lost in thought and utterly absorbed in himself was positively maddening. "If you have no urgent business, would you please take your leave? | wish to rest," Selena said. "Rest, then," Nathaniel replied, crossing his legs and propping his chin on his hand. ---- His eyes remained fixed on her with an inscrutable gaze.

There was something almost perplexing about it, as if even he were uncertain of his own thoughts. Selena could only blink in frustration. "What are you thinking?" "Lena," he said suddenly, the weight in his voice startling her. "I find myself... uneasy." Selena froze. Uneasy? Was that truly something a Demon Lord would admit? "And what is it that troubles you?" she asked, her curiosity tinged with caution. At first, she had thought him a man of strange temperaments and unpredictable moods.

But the more she came to know him, the more she discovered he wasn't as impossible to understand as he seemed. It was difficult to put into words. When he was absorbed in serious matters, it was impossible to see what he was thinking Yet in everyday moments, he seemed almost ordinary, like a simple, unguarded young man with little pretense or hidden schemes "You are even more remarkable than | imagined," he said. Of course, that was the reason Nathaniel had been troubled all ---- evening. He had spent the entire day in quiet agitation.

Earlier, he had watched her "torment" the siblings from the Marquis of Arden's household. When he saw that utterly reckless, carefree, and audacious smile on her lips, he found himself increasingly drawn to her. And when he glanced back, he saw that nearly every man present couldn't tear their gaze from his beloved. From that moment, the Demon Lord had felt a growing unrest within him. He had come to her that night, intending to share his thoughts and tell her he wasn't in a happy mood. Yet when faced with her, he didn't know where to begin.

Selena set aside the military treatise in her hands and looked at him. "What is it that you" Nathaniel interrupted her, "You're already so skilled, yet you continue to study and refine yourself. By the time all this is done, you will be even more formidable." After a moment's thought, he suddenly rose and stepped toward her. Selena stiffened immediately, her eyes narrowing. "Don't come any closer!" "lam merely coming to look at you. | mean no harm.

Why do you resist me so?" ---- "You tell me!" she snapped Who was it who had previously pressed himself upon her, taking liberties without a thought? He was a single man, and she an unmarried lady. To be alone together in a chamber at such an hour was already scandalously improper. But she knew all too well that this man could not be scolded into leaving, nor moved by force. With no other choice, she forced herself to remain calm and conserved her strength. However, that didn't mean she would permit him to act as he pleased.

"Your Highness, allowing you to remain here is already something no proper lady could ever do. Should you overstep again, | won't indulge you further!" However, Nathaniel caught the true meaning in her words and smiled slightly. "Lena, have you begun indulging me?"