The Alpha Prince's Purchased Maid
Chapter 279: Exchanging Information

Chapter 279: Exchanging Information

“Thank you...” I thanked her again while realizing that I didn’t seem to have anything else to say to her.

The duchess nodded at me with a look of clear satisfaction on her face. While changing, I couldn’t help but wonder why she wanted to teach me. Apart from that, was it even normal for a duchess to act as a dance instructor?

“Let us start with some basic stretches. Don’t worry too much and relax. It’s not difficult and all you have to do is follow me,” she instructed as she sat down on the smooth wooden floor.

I blinked rapidly in surprise before quickly sitting down next to her on the floor. The wooden floor felt slightly cold, but my attention was on my reflection in the large mirror.

“Good. Keep your eyes on the mirror. Look at what I’m doing and look at your body. Concentrate on your movements and your pose,” she instructed while sounding very professional.

I didn’t want to believe it at first, but it seemed like Duchess Flavia was indeed a dance instructor. Her movements as she led me through a few arms and then leg stretches were always graceful. It was clear that she had been through this routine countless times before. How her body moved from one stretch to the next flowed flawlessly and everything seemed to come so naturally to her. As for me, I found everything confusing and difficult. It was hard to coordinate the movement of my arms, legs, and my body.

“You’re doing well...” she commented.

“Really?” I whispered before smiling uncomfortably.

“For your first time, this isn’t at all bad,” she replied before winking at me.

Staring at the mirror only made me even more confused than before. Seeing my poor body trying to keep up with the Duchess’s movements only made me lose confidence. After going through various stretches for a while, she offered for us to take a break.

“That should be enough for the introductory part for today. Let’s take a short break and relax for a little bit before we move on to the main part of today’s lesson,” she suggested.

I watched as she turned towards me and then pulled her legs and crossed them under her. My body moved on its own to follow her movements until I was sitting with my legs crossed facing her.

“Try to relax. I would very much like it if you would enjoy this class,” she said before letting out a beautiful laugh.

“Ok...” I replied in short.

“How are things going for you? Have you adjusted to living in the palace?” she asked all of a sudden.

The way her eyes looked at me with interest told me that she was really curious about my situation rather than just trying to make small talk to break the ice between us.

“Everything is fine, I believe. It was difficult at first, but I think I’m slowly adjusting to living here...” I replied truthfully.

“What about the prince?” she asked.

Her sudden question about Prince Leonard caught me off-guard. Although I should have known that she would know about my relationship with the prince, I didn’t expect her to ask me about it so straightforwardly and in the middle of our dance lesson.

“I’m asking about Prince Leonard. Sorry, I should have been clearer about that. After all, there are three princes and not just one,” she said before her lips curved into a captivating smile once again.

“Right. Umm...Prince Leonard is fine. I haven’t seen him for a few days, but he was fine the last time that I saw him...” I replied as I felt my heart beating faster in my chest at just the mention of his name.

The duchess looked at me with widened eyes for a moment before she started laughing quite loudly. Her hand immediately flew to cover her mouth as the sweet sound of her laughter filled the room. Her face turned a beautiful hint of pink as she continued to laugh even harder than before. I couldn’t quite understand what it was that I said that she happened to find so funny.

“You are such an entertaining girl...” she said when she managed to bring her laughter under control.

“I beg your pardon?” I inquired while trying to sound polite.

The confusion that I felt must have been plain on my face because the Duchess gave me a smile before proceeding to explain.

“Well, I don’t mind honest and naïve girls. I find girls like you like a breath of fresh air in this palace where girls are not so...green,” she replied, and she seemed genuinely glad.

“I see...” I murmured while still not quite understanding what kind of response she had initially expected to get from me.

“I guess my question wasn’t really necessary. I can pretty much tell from how you look and sound that things are going well between you and Prince Leonard,” she said before she giggled sweetly like a young teenage girl.

I felt heat rush to my face, but I wasn’t sure if I was blushing from her comment or because of the beautiful look that she had on her face that made her look so timelessly captivating. It wasn’t the first time that someone showed interest in how my relationship with the prince was fairing but I still felt shy to openly discuss it. Instead, I showed her a small smile before nodding my head slightly. Everything between us seemed fine the last time that I spent the night with him although he hadn’t visited me or called for me since.

“I was quite young when I was first invited to perform at the palace. Back then, I never thought that I would be staying here for good after a couple of visits,” she said with a faraway look in her eyes.

The sudden change in the direction of our conversation caught my interest. I hadn’t expected her to talk about herself so openly and neither did I expect myself to be so interested and intrigued. Her emerald green eyes glanced over at me before her smile widened when she saw that she had my attention.

--To be continued...