Chapter 1065 We Will Not Be Friends Anymore
Tears brimmed in Helma’s eyes as she stared at Bastien and Natalie dancing away gracefully in front of her. God knows how many times she had pictured this scene inside her head, and although it had finally come true, the female protagonist was now a different woman instead of her.
She had pined for this moment forever. That was why it hurt so much now. Helma could practically hear her own heart and dreams shattering. Geert walked over and held her hand in his. “Helma.”
“Father.” The woman gazed up at her father with misty eyes. “Don’t cry! There are so many people watching you right now, waiting for you to look beaten down. You can break down at home if you want to, but don’t you do that here!” Geert reminded her despite him tensing up too.
“But I can’t hold it in, Father.” Helma’s eyes turned increasingly red. “You have to,” the man warned sternly. “You already know how ugly things got because of the canceled engagement, and you’re still on the verge of tears now? Don’t you know how much more people would look down on you if they saw you like this?”
Helma wanted to cry, but Geert stopped her at once. Being unable to relieve the anguish in her heart only intensified the pain.
While burning with rage as she saw Helma’s dreams getting crushed, Heidi scowled over the fact that everyone’s attention was on the woman on the dancefloor.
I underestimated you, Natalie! You’re much slyer than I thought!
Heidi began to speak on Helma’s behalf, which was an extremely rare thing for her to do. “Father, why are you forcing her not to cry? There’s no way she can control her emotions. How about I take her away from here so she can calm down?”
Geert pondered for a moment. “All right. Watch over her.”
“I will, Father.”
The two women walked out of the banquet hall.
Unfortunately, Helma still looked visibly desperate to leave, even with Heidi holding onto her.
In fact, it looked more as if she was running away rather than just leaving.
Back on the dancefloor, Bastien’s lips curled as he gazed at Natalie tenderly.
He knew he shouldn’t have done this, but at the thought of losing this woman, he had eventually chosen to disobey his mother’s orders and invite Natalie to have the significant opening waltz with him.
The two remained at a close distance from each other.
Natalie blinked while asking coldly, “Why did you have to reveal your identity to me this way?”
The man clearly had better ways to tell her who he was, and yet he had opted to do it in a method she had least expected.
She knew she couldn’t turn down the prince’s request to dance in front of everyone, which meant he had practically forced her to say yes.
Natalie wanted to make decisions of her own free will.
She utterly despised being manipulated into doing something she didn’t want to do.
“You wouldn’t have come if I’d told you earlier,” Bastien answered. “You might have even ended up keeping a distance from me.”
“Well, since you know me so well, you should know what’s going to happen after this dance. We won’t even be friends anymore!”
The woman’s eyes gleamed at the music’s last note, and with some struggle, she wriggled her hand out of Bastien’s.
The latter grimaced slightly in response.
“Natalie, I know I made you uncomfortable by doing this without your consent, but some matters are just out of my control,” he said while keeping a fiery gaze on her. “I’m not a commoner. There are some things a regular person can easily do that I can’t.”
“Well, I’m a commoner, and you’re a nobleman. So similarly, there are some things you can easily do that I can’t,” Natalie retorted. “I’m not from Loang, Prince Jonathan. I know nothing about these aristocratic waltzes that your people take part in either, so please stop being this ridiculous now. You should’ve had this dance with Helma instead, not me!”
