The convenient marriage

Chapter 7. The new routine

If she was not sure he had seen the dance movements she may have or  may have not shown the previous night, tonight it was certain... he did see.

'Hello!' She said slowly, still faking ignorance.

'Hello!' He replied, not showing any hint of any particular emotion.

At this point, her heart was already racing because of the awkwardness. Should she fake a belly ache, and quickly go upstairs to her room? No, no, if it was one thing that Aria had believed for most of her previous life, that was karma. 

She believed that if one would do something to hurt another intentionally or deceive him or her, then in the future it would come back to hurt them as well. The same principle she applied to lying, if she would say that her belly ached, then in the future it really would. Best avoid it from the start.

Alright, if she thought about it... it was not like she was doing something bad. He was not even around most of the times, she should act and do what she wanted, right? And she should do so with confidence.

'Hmm...' She coughed a little, to clear her voice.

'Do you need anything from me?' She asked with renewed determination the man, who was still standing in the doorway.

Seeing her face, go from fright, to confusion and then to determination, he really did wonder what she could have possibly thought about in such a short time.

'No!' He replied simply and, not looking at her any longer, turned around and climbed the stairs.

Only then did she sigh relieved, and plopped down on the couch along with the girls.

'Well, it looks like we should call it a night.' She affirmed, her mood turning sour. He had already seen her, but she did not want to continue singing with him in the house.

The girls agreed, and immediately cleaned the living room, putting everything back in their places.

'Were you not aware that the master was coming back?' She asked the butler who was currently accompanying her to her room. It was likely that man came unannounced, but she still wanted to know if the butler knew beforehand.

'I was aware. The guards called from the gate.' Replied frankly the old man, not thinking even for a second to evade the question.

'Then why did you not tell us?' She said, stopping in her tracks and looking towards the old man aggrieved, like he had betrayed her.

'My lady you were only having some fun with the girls. There is nothing that needs to be hidden. Besides, Master Zane is your husband, shouldn't he know how his wife is now? And if I can overstep myself and say, your singing voice is wonderful. I should reckon the master would have also thought so.' 

The butler did indeed think like he had told her. He really wanted Zane to know the new Aria. He truly hoped that the sham of a marriage that had gone on for three years would turn into a real one.

Looking with squinted eyes to the butler who was not on her side, she pouted and hmphed, as she closed her bedroom door without saying anything more.

Seeing the closed door, the butler gently smiled, turning around to walk downstairs again.

By this time, Zane had changed in comfortable home clothes and exited his own bedroom.

'Aria?' He frowned, seeing the butler near her room, that was opposite to his own.

'Ahh... the lady had already eaten before you arrived. She has asked me to let you know that she will retire for tonight.' Immediately informed the butler. Although Aria had not said anything about informing Zane, and only ran away from him, he still wanted to do something so as to not increase the already long distance between them.