Villainess Loves

Part 55

"Oh, but how did you know about the secret garden, Henry?" I ask. Neither I nor Mary noticed anything out of the ordinary, and it was just good luck that we were in that particular part of the gardens. How did he even spot that there was something else there? Actually, why is there a secret garden of only gardenias? I tilt my head in confusion.

"Oh, a simple observation. I noticed the vegetation was less thick in that particular corner. It was a stroke of luck that that was the place we stopped to rest at." Henry recollects.

"Observations? It looked the same to me!" Does he have like super sight or something?

"Soldiers and knights are trained to notice even the smallest detail. Enemies could be hiding anywhere, especially in plain sight." Henry explains. Woah, how impressive.

"So why do you think that place even exists? All there was, was flowers." I ask. Henry releases his hands from my shoulders and brushes one over his hair. The act oozes with pheromones, his handsomeness leaking out tremendously. I gulp at the sight.

"Hmm. I can't say. Royalty tends to have lots of secrets to protect against anything. I haven't hanged out in the royal castle enough to understand why a secret garden exists." Henry slowly says.

"Anyways, there's no use speculating. Anymore investigation beyond this is dangerous for you, my lady. I can not and will not allow you to investigate anymore. Even accidental." Henry speaks, staring straight at me intently. His raven eyes glisten seriously.

"..Alright." I find myself automatically nodding to his words. He sighs.

"To make some progress, I'll ask my father to keep alert on signs of aggression displayed by the Vendia guests. But not any more than this. We don't want to alert suspicions nor cause accidental fear among guests." Henry says.

"I understand. Thanks for talking with me." I nod again. He smiles slightly.

"Your heart's in the right place, but there are some things out of our control and not in our expertise." Henry chuckles, ruffling my hair slightly. I feel like a kid! I'm an adult according to Elden laws!

"....I'm not a kid." I grumble. Henry chuckles louder.

"I understand." He continues to ruffle my hair. I reach up to try and stop him, but of course, he's too strong and his arm barely budges.

"...Stop. You're messing up my hair!" I whine, shuffling away from him. His arm quickly wraps around my waist and I feel myself being pulled towards him.

"Woah!" I exclaim, stumbling into Henry's arms.

"...Be careful." His voice appears above my head, I feel his chest rumble slightly. I try to move his arms away.

"..Why do you try to escape?" Henry's voice slowly speaks. I squirm in his embrace.

"Because I feel weird!" I exclaim, trying to pry his arms off my waist. He tightens in response. I can almost feel his breath against my neck.

"...Weird.. How so?" Henry whispers.

"Weird! Okay! Stop teasing me and let me go!" I panic at his close proximity. His teasing whispers shake my heart. I can feel myself heating up even more than before.

"...Hmm. But if I release you, you'll move away." He drawls.

"Well duh!" I say exasperatedly. No joke! Of course, I would move away!

"..Hmmm. But I don't want you to move away. Stay here." Henry whispers the last words close to my ear. His warm breath makes me shiver. I feel hot and my breath quickens.

"..W-well. Stop doing that then!" I stammer, trying not to move.

"..Doing what?" His voice becomes even more breathless and I can feel him lean in more. His well-defined chest muscles are easily identifiable against my frill dress.

"T-This!" I start to cry. Why is he doing this again?! I try to take deep breaths.

"...Why are you crying?" He stops and speaks normally, noticing my tears. One of his arms releases me and reaches up to clean my tears. I sniffle in response, my heart beating a mile a second.

"...I don't want to do anything that makes you uncomfortable, my lady." His voice becomes emotionless and he lessens his grip on my body. He hands me a handkerchief from who knows where. I take it and blow my nose. He chuckles at my loud noise.

"...Why do you always try to hug me?" I stuff the dirtied handkerchief into my dress pocket and look up, trying to see his face. His body freezes and I notice that his face seems to be in shock.

"....I..I'm not too sure." For the first time, I notice that Henry doesn't seem to be cool and collected. Rather he looks flustered.

"Henry?" I ask. He flinches and pulls away slightly, creating a small gap between our bodies. He covers his face with his hand, mumbling. I tilt my head at his reaction. What the heck is he doing? Is he embarrassed by his actions? He's done this like three times already! Why is he embarrassed now? I feel slight anger but also humor at Henry's actions. I turn my body around to pinch his sides.

"Hmpf! Revenge!" I yell, taking no hesitation in sinking my pinchers into his sides, which I jealously realize lacks little fat and only muscle. Dang this gosh darn perfect body!

Henry tries to twist his body away from my attacks, but our close proximity makes it hard for him to move if any. And the fact that I'm sitting on his lap prevents him from moving away from our current position.

"Ah! Stop, Annelise!" Henry yelps. I pause briefly at his sudden announcement of my name. But I continue my assault, releasing my pent-up feelings in a flurry of pinches. I try to pinch everywhere, though I avoid going lower than his stomach for reasons of course.

"It's my turn to attack!" I declare, feeling slightly dissatisfied that he doesn't seem to be feeling any pain from my pinches. Dang, I had my nails trimmed the other day, or I could have scratched him!

"Ah, stop! That tickles!" Henry's response turns into giggles as he squirms against my attacks. Have I found this perfect specimen's weakness? He's ticklish!