The Royal Series 02: The Royal Wooing

Chapter 40

LAURICE

"Are you okay?" Chris asked for the umpteenth time tonight.

Was it that obvious that I was upset?

It probably is with how worried Chris is. So for the umpteenth time, I nodded with a forced smile. This feeling of upset had me finding it difficult to smile naturally as I talked to other nobility, celebrities, and business owners at the gala.

What's more difficult is that people are looking at us since this is the first gala that Chris and I are attending as a couple.

"Ate Lauren!"

My head whipped to the direction where the voice seemed to have come from and I saw Eliza. She handed her glass of champagne to a passing by waiter and held her gown as she walked towards us.

"Hi," I greeted her and we hugged each other as soon as she got close. "Uh, Chris this is Eliza and Eliza this is Christopher," I introduced the two of them.

"Nice to meet you Prince Christopher," Eliza greeted rather formally, which I chuckled at. "What, Ate?"

"Please, don't be so formal," Chris said.

"So how should I address you? Kuya?" Eliza joked and I looked at Chris who seemed to think for a second before nodding. "Seriously?"

"Yeah, unless you don't feel comfortable," Chris said.

"Kuya it is," Eliza said and I couldn't help but smile and shake my head. "How was your flight here? I heard from my personal attendant that you flew together?"

"I don't remember much apart from sleeping," Chris said.

"Same answer." I added. "Anyway, is Vannie, Hadley, or Jessie here?" I asked because I know Tori is in Great Turquoise with her husband.

"No. Another representative of theirs came except for Jessie. Her invitation is separate from her family's."

"Oh I see," I nodded. So it's probably one of Vannie's siblings and Hadley's older brother who came to this party.

Our chat with her was cut short when she suddenly waved to someone behind us before excusing herself. And as the party started, I couldn't help but feel restless. Something that Chris noticed as he took my hand while we were seated and listening to the emcee.

"I'm here," he whispered as he began rubbing and squeezing my hands.

I focused my attention on his hands and with each rub or press I will inhale and then exhale. With how warm his hand feels, my hand was probably cold. And if it wasn't for Chris I would have made a bigger fool of myself in this party.

The party was manageable. Because the people I knew here just knew, especially those who were Dominique's friends.

"Princess Lauren, it's been a while," Duke Lorenzo Hawthorne, one of Dominique's friends.

"Hi, yes it's been a while," I greeted him back and introduced him to Chris and vice versa since it looked like they haven't met each other outside business matters.

And similar to earlier, we would just exchange pleasantries and smiles. But what I have been worried about earlier? I just figured it out.

It's the media of Great Sapphire. The media who adored Dominique when he was still alive. And as much as they have been supportive of our relationship back then, they were also one if not most of the people who questioned what happened before. They...they caused me such torment by just reading the articles they put out that made it seem like it was my fault that he was dead.

And the part that I dreaded came again as we exited the gala through the same place we entered from. In the lobby where the media personnel with media passes, they were waiting. Some of them made their way towards us and I stilled which made my grip on Chris' hand tighter.