The Male Lead isn't Following the Script!
Chapter 68: Friends

Chapter 68: Friends

"Adeline," he greeted, his voice dripping with amusement. "What a pleasant surprise."

Adeline froze in place, her eyes widening. "Cassian? What are you doing here?"

Before she could process his presence, another familiar figure appeared from behind him, Benedict?

At least he looked happy, the colour seemed to return to his face ever since his mother came out of the coma. But, what were they all doing here?!

"Do you not want us here?" Benedict asked, he looked like a wilted flower.

Although Adeline instinctively wanted to say yes, after seeing his sad demeanour how could she?

"No, I was just surprised. I’m glad you all are here." She awkwardly assured him.

Victoria appeared behind them, her usual blank expression unchanged as she greeted Adeline. Clearly, Victoria hadn’t anticipated the tension, still, her expression remained unfazed.

"Adeline said that we should all meet. So I made it happen." Victoria explained nonchalantly. This worked out for her too. Her parents were surprised she made one new friend.

The shock they experienced when she brought over four friends.

Victoria took this as a... Victory. She truly showed her parents they named her accurately.

"Come, let’s head to the garden." Victoria interrupted the increasing tension.

She couldn’t sense that there was awkwardness, to her this was the norm.

Adeline took this opportunity to cling to Victoria. She did not want to be alone with any of them at the moment.

Dimitri wasn’t too thrilled to have Cassian here either. Alaric’s words kept ringing in his mind.

As the group settled into the garden, a gentle breeze rustled the leaves of the nearby trees. The sun cast a warm, golden light over the garden, and for a moment, the serene setting felt like an escape from the chaos that had filled their lives.

Victoria, sitting with perfect posture, turned to Adeline with an expression of mild curiosity. "So, what do friends do when they hang out?" she asked bluntly, her tone as neutral as ever. "This is my first time."

Adeline, Cassian, Benedict and Dimitri looked at each other awkwardly. It was their first time too. Adeline only recently started participating in society. Given how far the Northern Duchy is he was rarely invited to such gatherings.

Cassian was the Crown Prince, and although he was invited to many gatherings, this was the first one he actually attended. He only came here to see Adeline. His motives were clear.

Considering his position as the perfect prince, he decided to break this awkward silence.

He smirked as he leaned back in his chair. "Well, normally people chat, play games, or maybe gossip about court scandals," he said teasingly at Adeline. But even he looked unsure as to what would happen next.

Adeline thought about the modern world, they would just hang out at cafes and talk. Life was much simpler back then, she sighed to herself.

Benedict, usually so composed, shifted uncomfortably. "I’ve never... done this before either," he quietly admitted.

Victoria was still curious as ever, her eyes were wide, full of curiosity. "So do we just talk?"

Dimitri who was just sitting silently till now finally spoke up. His voice was low, but his words were directed at Adeline. "Maybe we could just... Enjoy the peace for now. It’s rare enough as it is."

For a moment, everyone seemed to agree. In this moment of tranquillity, the chaos of court politics, rivalries, and hidden agendas felt distant.

Victoria had enough of ’peace’ she wanted to experience the whole friendship thing. She wasn’t ready to let it go. "Okay, then what should we talk about?"

Cassian leaned forward, a glint of mischief in his eyes. "Well, we could talk about our hobbies and dreams. Or maybe... Who do we all fancy?" He said it playfully, but his gaze was directed towards Adeline, who looked away with a blush.

Dimitri did not like this one bit. He assumed Cassian was making Adeline feel uncomfortable. He simply a shot look at Cassian which earned him a taunting gaze.

Cassian enjoyed his ’victories’ over Dimitri. He didn’t consider Benedict his competition.

Victoria was blissfully unaware of the increasing tension. As the host, she wanted to let others go first but seeing how no one spoke, she decided to go ahead.

"I like animals and I love learning more about them. I want to help the Empire by strengthening the border. And, I like Isabelle." Answered Victoria with a blank expression.

Looking at her you wouldn’t think she had such high ambitions. As for the last answer... She didn’t think too hard about it, she didn’t understand the word either. The person she liked the most in the world was her sister.

"Aww Victoria!" Adeline scorched closer to Victoria and gave her a side hug.

"Okay now me," Adeline whispered. After thinking long and hard, "I dunno, I don’t have any hobbies. I want to live a happy and simple life. And the person I like the most in the world..."

All eyes were immediately on her.

Dimitri was rather interested, he wanted to be her favourite person, and he wanted to know who he was contending with for that position.

Cassian was paying more attention, but he knew he would get his way with time. It didn’t matter who she liked now. Because in the future there will be only one winner, and that will be him.

Although Benedict was older than Adeline, he didn’t think about things like love. If asked he would say he was too young for those things. Still, he was interested in what other people would say about the person they liked.

"I like my father!" Adeline finished. She felt triumphant. If she named either of her brothers, the other one would be disappointed. The safest answer was her father.

Dimitri didn’t feel too disheartened, he felt that it was understandable. The Marquess was a generous man and a loving father. He was sad it wasn’t him but he kept it to himself.

Cassian was pleased with this answer too. Her father... As long as he didn’t have any real contenders he was fine with it.

"You know what, I change my answer. I like Sasa the most!" Victoria stood up and put her hands on her hips.

This was the first time she displayed any strong emotion.