With no one around, he returned my smile with an affectionate and handsome one. 

It was impossible to ever hold myself against that smile, that the secret slipped past my lips one day and the response he gave me was far from his former deadpanned tone. Rather, he laughed and determined to use his newfound weapon to make my heart flutter anew each time we were together. 

Each time he did, I was thankful that the privacy of his quarters encased my embarrassment, where his valet Jasper seemed to have developed an intuition of not intruding until something important came up or the reluctance to leave him for classes would arise within me.

Missing class was not an option after it became known among the other S Rank princes that I had chosen Guy, nor would I dare to show up with any sort of marks, lest I desire the wrath of the Avari Aficionados despite our relationship. But that hardly deterred Guy from showing I was his, as we became closer in front of everyone, and spent lots of time together that the message was loud and clear. The flares of his aura was complete proof of what we were doing, as it took time for it to wear away, and my cheeks would be as red as the glow of magic that surrounded him.

“Come. Jasper also made lunch for you.”

“Coming!”

Gathering him to speak his mind more often with me was a feat of its own, though I knew Guy had his own way of communicating and we became more attuned to each other. 

As we wandered to the elevator lift, I felt the graze of his hand briefly against mine and my gaze drifted down in thought. Though awkward and public as it may be, there was the thought that had been lingering in my mind for quite some time but I had forgotten to ask about by the time I saw him: I wanted to hold his hand.

“–What is it?” His voice pulled me out of my thoughts, prompting me to look up at him just as the elevator was being called down to meet us. 

“Hm?” I barely heard him call my name.

“You were not listening again, were you.” He sighed, staving off a scowl as he stopped to turn towards me and enclosed the gap between us by leaning down to be of the same eye level. "You have been of odds lately. Does your body ail you?" 

A simple silly thought like that flew out of the window and my first instinct was to shake my head. "N-No, I'm fine! I… I've just been thinking about some things." And in no way is that a lie.

He takes my silence as a reason to back off, though I can see the way it bothers him in his expression before we enter the lift.

Oh great. I made it awkward. I wanted to smack myself on the forehead for it as I stood quietly next to him. Would he say anything or be bothered if I took his hand…? I looked down at his hand then as discreetly as I could at his side profile. I felt flustered, fighting with my indecision. I could do everything else he said but take his hand on my own discretion was something that questioned comfort in doing publicly. … Maybe I should ask him about it later.

The lift opens without another move made and we both leave it, though his long legs make him advance ahead of me until he pauses to face me yet again.

"Guy?" Warmth encloses around my hand, fingers lacing between the spaces of mine. I look up to him again and he's smiling that handsome smile, enticing a warmth to creep its way across my cheeks that turns his smile into a smirk of satisfaction.

"My paramour walks alongside of me, not behind me. Shall I keep you close like this then?"

The way he says it has me ready to melt into a puddle, and the realization that my thoughts have been bare on my expression enough for him to act on it so has rendered me speechless and stutter before I can gather my bearings.

“Y-You– Are you sure you don’t have mind reading powers?”

He chuckles, lifting my hand to brush his lips against my knuckles. “You wear your thoughts as you do so with that bleeding heart of yours.” His voice is low and deep for my ears, coercing me close. “Show your thoughts to me alone. Let not another see your vulnerability.”

“You make it sound easier said than done.”

He arches a brow. “Shall I teach you then?”

“You parade around so proudly with your aura. I think you may need to keep teaching me more so no one can see what I show and do with you.” Warmth leaves the back of my hand as he lowers our intertwined fingers, leaving me to look up at him curiously.

But he steps in until I am against him, his lips dropped to my ear. “Shall I begin teaching you tonight?”

My cheeks flared so deeply as I stepped back, though he would not relinquish his hold. “G-Guy!”