===== Chapter 29 [ Part 1 ] =====

Beep!

You jump in your place, slightly startled.

Beep— The noise rings out again. Just as you are about to tuck your phone inside the pocket of your blue jeans, your phone's alarm suddenly goes off, diligently notifying you of the messages that you have been receiving.

You blink your eyes.

Perceiving the name displayed on the screen of your phone, you can't help but chuckle in amusement, just curiously wondering what he must be trying to message you right now.

Alessio rarely sends you messages as he prefers to call you instead. You don't really like taking calls; but hey, isn't it still much better than doing video calls?

Of course you would really love to look at him while you guys talk to one another. However, you still haven't conquered your shyness yet as you see your face in the camera. Aside from that, you also feel terribly shy at him looking at you on the screen of his phone.

You swear... video calls makes you more ugly a hundred times than you actually are in real life.

Anyways, Alessio must have messaged you because maybe he finally found Chaos' cat? Maybe?! Let's hope so! So in a bit hasty manner, you swipe your phone upwards as you view the message box.

You were taken aback when you were greeted by a photo and a voice record instead of a series of words. You squint your eyes, looking at the photo first.

Obviously, Alessio isn't the one who captured it because he's the focus of the whole photo.

The lighting might have been a bit too dark, but the cctv monitors in front of Alessio's are lit enough to show your man's handsome face in a side angle. Glowering upon the monitors, he seems to be earnestly reviewing the surveillance cameras. It almost reminds you of the image of a hot detective.

Both of his hands on the table; his body slightly leans to the several monitors before him. While there's actually a security guard beside his cool figure— peacefully sitting on a revolving chair— with a mug of coffee in one hand and a donut in the other, the dude looks almost irrelevant in the photo as if he has just been used as a prop for your boyfriend.

Wow, Alessio definitely looks like a model here.

Totally gotta save this.

With that thought in mind, you do not hesitate to press it long enough for the save option to appear; and then, you save it. A grin, just covering your face.

Then after that— you begin to inspect the video record below it. Playing it, you quietly listen as you tune up the volume to its highest percentage

▁ ▂ ▃ ▄ 50%

▁ ▂ ▃ ▄ ▅ 75%

▁ ▂ ▃ ▄ ▅ ▆ █ 100 %

Hello, (Y/N)?

So um... this is Alessio's mother [ background noise interruption ] and I hope you like the photo I sent.

[ background noise interruption ]

—Since earlier, my son has been really working hard. and it's just *inaudible*

Ok, my son doesn't know that I have his phone right now, but oh dear I'm sending you this ju— *inaudible* want you to know that he really really takes you seriously.

By the end of the voice record, you feel your face warm. You feel flustered, realizing that the person responsible for the captured photo was his mother the whole time— to make it more more kinda embarrassing: the principal of your current school.

Oh god; she might have even seen the cheesy messages you sent her son if she has his phone right now.

The hell; this is embarrassing.

Saturday 2:35 PM

╭─━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━─╮
Mrs. Nikolaise, you don't have to do this
anymore as I already am assured that he
takes me seriously. But I do really really
appreciate the photo you sent me just now.
Your son really looks like a model there
╰─━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━─╯

Your face instantly crumple the exact moment you push the send button, realizing just now how freaking formal you are with your words.

You suddenly have the urge to use the remove message feature but unfortunately for you, that feature does not exist in this app. Besides, she might just perceived you as some kind of weirdo if you do that.

Watching yourself being embarrassing with your chosen decision in life, you can only stare hard at the screen of your phone as you anxiously wait for your kinda stupid, awkward reply to be viewed.

Your heart immediately feels like its jumping out of your chest when your message got seened a few minutes later. You blink your eyes, and the next you know... their reply finally pops out.

╭─━─╮
call.
╰─━─╯

What.. call?

You squint your eyes at such a strange reply.

While you are still processing the message in your mind, the screen changes; and you find yourself being contacted.

Startled, you let out a yelp.

Someone who had just entered the restroom was startled by your actions too; the woman glares at you.

"Sorry," you whisper.

You then hurry your way out the restroom before finally answering the ringing phone.

"Hello?" Your tiny voice is slightly shaky; you hope that she doesn't notice that. For awhile there is no response on the other line.

"Hello?" you repeat again.

As if the person on the other line snaps out of whatever lalaland he is in, their voice calls out your name, softly breathing it out as if they're still in their euphoria state, "(Y/N)?"

The voice is not exactly feminine as you have initially expected you'll hear. This is Alessio instead? Your cheeks redden, and your grip on the phone tightens more. "Hi... um... Alessio! So it was you who call!"

"Yes, it's me..."

He lightly says with his usual minimal replies.

Unknown to you, his hands are somehow also slightly shaking just as he speaks to you. He doesn't know why. This kind of body reaction never happens to him. Alessio was never scared; but the moment he realized his mother had taken his phone from him and messaged you,

Something swirls inside of him, and this feeling... it makes him very very umcomfortable.

He felt like this sensation is more worse than death, more terrible than the physical pain he went through the years on training as the heir.

"Mother... she..." he starts, but ends up disrupted.

"Oh, right! Your mother?! Is she with you right now? I suddenly received a message from her," you stammer as you nervously inform him.

"I went outside. She is not with me right now."

A pause then he speaks again, "Do you still like me?"

He cannot help it; this weird feeling seems to suffocate him inside; while scenes flash in his mind, cruelly taunting him that you— his queen— would never like him again because of whatever words his mother told you.

"Huh? Why are you asking that?!"

"(Y/N)," he says, not even using the respective title he always use for you. Now that you listen closely to his voice, you do hear the unfamiliar anxiety coating his voice.

Oh dear, this tone...

Is your usual indifferent boyfriend... scared?

"Of course, I like you!"

The feelings of nervousness ceases, and a grin breaks out from your face. "I like you. I like you. I like you soo soo much!" you tease him.

"..."

"Alessio, are you still there?" you question when nothing responds to your teasing.

"Woohoo~ Alessio?" Your grin widens as you call out again, "My king?"

"Queen, I—"

Alessio seems to struggle.

The thunderous beating of his heart is just too loud for his liking as he tries to focus on your voice. But it's difficult when you keep on saying those words to him.

The uncomfortable feeling already fades, yet this new feeling that consumes him make him feel that he's fine with dying now because his meaning in life is already found.

"Queen, I love you."

"King, I lo—" Toot!

You accidentally disconnect the call when your father suddenly appears in your line of sight, angrily calling you out for your long-time disappearance.

"(Y/N) (L/N), where in the world have you been! The ice in your drink is already melting, and you're still standing there as if no one is waiting!"

"Dad! ehe... sorry?"

Your father clicks his tongue, turning his attention to the phone you've been holding near to your ear earlier. "You are calling someone just now?"

"Yeah.." you nod.

He frowns, noting the blush on your daughter's face. It's so clear to him that you have been flirting with your boyfriend just now.

He heaves out a sigh, gently taking you by the arm, as he pulls you along with him.

"You don't really care about your father like before, don't you? You're willing to give away our bonding time to someone else," he bitterly says as you guys return to your seats.

"Of course not, Dad. Stop being so jelly! Of course you are still one of the most important figures to me." You laugh, assuring him.

"Yeah, right..."

Your dad still continues to sulk, even when you have reached your place in the cafe.

• • • • •

On the other side of the line, Alessio remains in his place. The call has already been disconnected, but he still waits, waiting for your disrupted phrase to be finished. Thanks, however, to your father; the poor man never gets to hear you complete those words.

Eliza peeks out from the room, perceiving her handsome son still standing out there.

"Alessio??" she sweetly calls out to him when she sees no movements. "Are you done talking to (Y/N)?"

His silver eyes linger to her.

It seems dull, as if disappointed by something.

"Are you alright? Did something happen?"

Eliza's body goes stiff, scared that she might have done something to sour the relationship between her son and his girlfriend.

Alessio lets out a grunt, finally putting down his phone and putting it in his pocket.

"Dear—"

"I'm fine, Mother," he says, assuring her, but his tone is greatly too cold for him to be fine.

Stepping slightly to the side, Eliza lets her son enter the dim-lighted room again. When his back is finally turned on his mother, Alessio's dull silver eyes darken.

His purpose for coming here has already been achieved. Alessio already has the idea who took the white cat, but he then also happens to discover something while he was watching the footages earlier.

He clenches his hands— knuckles, exposed.