A Deceptive Beauty

Chapter Ten

Belle found herself anxious for her date.

At first she was still pretty hesitant about the idea of being along with the duke, who could turn into Kai at any second. But ever since Valencia's date, Kai hadn't shown up to bother her.

After getting over her fear of Kai, for the moment, she was still nervous for her date. First of all, she had never been courted before and didn't know how to act. Secondly, she didn't know how she would compare to the other girls. According to everyone except for Lenore and Elizabeth, their dates had gone very smoothly. But since Lenore hasn't actually been on her date yet and Elizabeth's attitude could aggravate anyone, that didn't say anything. The duke could have high standards.

To counter her worries, she had tried to convince herself that she shouldn't worry too much about what he thought of her. If he didn't like her, it would be okay, and if he did, that would be fine too.

But there was that little part of her that seemed to be uneasy about the thought of him with someone else. At the time she had thought that, she had been confused to why she felt that way. It wasn't as if he was hers.

Besides the fact that she was nervous, the date was a break from doing chores. The past week had been the repetition of organizing, cooking, cleaning, and gardening. She managed to finish cleaning the wing the day before, but she was only in the I's of the alphabetizing.

Belle looked at the mirror, taking in her appearance. She wore a cute, dark blue dress that was knee-length. It had black ribbons that threaded itself throughout the dress. Her dress even had a matching hat that was also dark blue.

Her hair was curled and let loose. The front strands got tucked behind her ear. She rested some of her curls onto her shoulder, then she carefully placed the hat on so it wouldn't mess up her hair too much.

She looked back into the mirror and realized how doll-like she looked. Cute dress, cute hair, cute size. Was cute even good? At least, that was her opinion of herself.

Her anxiety made her fidget a little more. She couldn't stop wiggling her toes. There were still five more minutes before she had to meet the duke by the front doors.

Belle decided to brave it out and headed towards the entrance.

As soon as she got there, she saw the duke standing there, looking the other direction.

"You are early," she blurted out. Then she mentally chastised herself. Of course he should be a little early. Just in case if his date got there early, then he would be there too. Which was the situation they were in now.

He turned around, allowing Belle to look at him. Her stomach flipped. His thick, wavy hair and his emerald green eyes were as stunning as usual. She also relaxed, knowing that the duke had green eyes, which mean Kai was away for now.

"But you are too," he grinned, making her stomach flip again. She really was nervous.

But she didn't think too much about that because she was more focused on that smile of his. She was curious to see if it was as devastating as Charlotte had described. In fact, she was observing so intensely, she didn't even hear what he had said to her.

"Annabelle?" The sound of her name in his voice made her regain her senses.

"Yes?" she replied, not sure what he had just said.

"I asked you if you would like to start," he answered, patiently.

"Of course," she quickly responded. What else were they to do if she said no?

He looked like he was going to offer up his arm but he hesitated and then stuck his hands in his pockets. Belle wondered why he changed his mind.

The duke glanced at her from the side before he started walking. Belle automatically followed him, walking by his side. He opened the door and held it for her, letting her go out first.