Seeing him cover his mouth got me worried. I couldn't understand why he covered his mouth.
Was he shy? Or... Was there a bad smell coming from my mouth?
I was worried, so I kept quiet.
While we were walking towards the imperial mansion, I was lost in my thoughts. I was embarrassed because I thought my mouth smelled.
I wanted to dig a hole and hide inside.
As I was immersed in my own little world, I completely forgot about the imperial family.
I had a chance to meet the princess once when she came to play with Layla. The princess... Bullied me.
Soon we were standing in front of the hall door of the Imperial family. The guard shouted our names, and at that moment, I came to a realisation.
The doors opened. My heart sank in fear.
There were hundreds of nobles in the hall. But I thought it would be a private meeting.
My eyes suddenly fell on Shahr, who was standing there with no expression on his face.
Did Shahr know about this?
Before I could think of anything else, Shahr held my hand tightly, "Let's go."
He said pulling my hands. As we entered the hall, my heart started pounding loudly.
My face dropped and my hands trembled with fear. I had never been in front of so many people.
I didn't know any etiquette, greetings, or anything. And more importantly, I can't even talk.
I could hear everyone whisper. What were they saying? Were they saying I'm not a good fit for Shahr?
Or were they saying, I'm too ugly? Or too short?
We stood before the emperor. Shahr greeted him, and I just copied what I saw Layla doing in her etiquette classes, which I used to secretly watch. Guess they came in handy today.
The emperor's gaze stayed fixated on Shahr and he started a conversation with Shahr. My heart dropped.
I didn't think I would be ignored here too, that too in front of so many people.
Tears were already ready to come out but I somehow controlled them. I didn't want to seem pathetic by crying in front of so many people.
"Shahr, how are you? It's so good to see you." Said the emperor. Shahr didn't say anything and just coldly nodded his head.
The Emperor said again, "It seems like you are getting younger day by day."
Shahr replied, "But your majesty, don't you think you have grown too old?"
The Emperor asked in confusion, "Pardon?"
Shahr gritted his teeth in anger, his veins popped out and his eyes became red, "My wife is standing right here and you forgot to greet her."
With widened eyes, I stared at this man. He seriously said that to the emperor? Everyone present in the hall was taken aback by this, including the Emperor.
"I was goin-"
Before the Emperor could say something, Shahr raised his hand and signalled the Emperor to shut up.
"And I wasn't informed about this party. I was told it would be a private meeting. What is the meaning of this?" Asked Shahr.
The Emperor's temples became sweaty, and he gulped with fear. He didn't know what to say, he emperor was afraid that if he offended Shahr his head would be lying on the floor.
"I'm leaving." Said Shahr, holding my wrist in a firm grip.
"Why?" Asked the Emperor.
"I was lied to. My wife was disrespected, and I'm not staying in a place for two more seconds where my wife was disrespected."
Uttered Shahr before pulling my wrist and taking me with him.
Before we left the hall, my gaze swept over the nobles who were present there, and fear flickered in everyone's eyes.
I was totally dumbfounded by the man who was dragging me with him, not intentionally, though.
I was getting dragged by his big body.
For a moment, my heart fluttered, and my eyes fixated on that man who just now fought with the emperor for... Me.
"Ouch." I stumbled on my dress. Before I could fall, the man in front of me turned and caught me in his arms.
"Are you hurt?"
He asked.
Thump... Thump...
My heart thumped loudly.
"I'm fine," I replied with hand gestures.
"Sorry, was I walking too fast?" He asked with a worried expression.
I shook my head left and right.
Shahr carefully put me on my feet and checked if I got hurt anywhere.
I was curious. I wanted to ask him something: "Why did you get angry?"
It took him a moment to understand my hand gestures.
"How could I not get angry? They insulted my wife. First, they lied that it was a private meeting, then they dared to ignore you..."
As he was saying all this he clenched his fist tightly and his veins popped up.
"I actually wanted to-" while Shahr was talking, I was staring at his veins, and unknowingly my fingers reached out to his veins.
Feeling my hand, Shahr stopped mid-sentence. He looked at my hand and looked at me.
I was still caressing his veins. They were so beautiful. His veins made his hands look even more sexy.
"Alyshia."
I raised my eyelids and looked at Shahr who was staring at me with a dumbfounded expression.
It was then that I realised what I had done. I quickly retracted my hand. My cheeks were red with embarrassment.
This time I really wanted to become a mole and hide inside a hole.
Shahr, who was looking at my expressions, smiled and said, "You can caress them as much as you want. After all, you are my wife."
He said patting my head. After saying this, he turned and left from there, leaving me dumbstruck.
Coming back to my senses I also started walking. Shahr wasn't walking too fast; actually, he was walking slower than before.
And because of this he wasn't too far either. With just a few long strides I reached close to him.
Inside the carriage, there was dead silence. Neither Shahr said anything nor did I.
After we reached the duchy, Shahr and I parted ways. He went to his office and I headed for my room.
When I was going to my room, a maid came running to me.
She huffed and, with a worried expression, said, "Duchess, your mother and sister are here."