Betrayed By The Hero, Loved By The Lord-Chapter 180: A day out (2)

By the time the carriage stopped, Selene had calmed down from the moment between her and Xavier. Now, Selene looked forward to walking around and getting what else she needed.

Xavier was the first to exit, offering his hand to offer for her to get out of the carriage.

"Thank you," Selene said, still holding onto his hand when she was safely out. Her eyes met with Lucas and as she expected, Lucas could not meet her eyes for long.

Xavier didn’t understand the look he received from Selene like she wanted to scold him. She reminded him of a very angry little kitten and now he wondered if Selene’s time on the estate would be better if she had a pet.

Xavier never cared for them since they required too much attention and it would be pointless with him going to sleep but Selene might care for it. When he would be out of the estate, a pet should keep Selene company.

The issue was there would be too many to choose from. If it was a pet for him, Xavier would capture a shapeshifter and voice them to remain as a bat but Selene wouldn’t like it.

Xavier watched Selene, trying to understand how two people with different hearts worked so well together. He enjoyed torturing others while Selene would be the one to take pity and try to free others.

Despite their differences, Xavier didn’t have any intentions of letting go of Selene so even now, he held onto her hand to not let her slip away from him.

"Where must you go first?" Xavier asked.

"There isn’t a place in mind. I thought we could walk around together to see what we like and then go on our way if we become bored. We have a lot of time before we are to meet with Francesca. Do you have anywhere you must visit here? For books or weapons," Selene said, regretting saying the latter.

"No. I have enough books and my weapons are made on the estate unless there is a special one to catch my eye. We will see today," Xavier said, starting to walk since they were gaining attention.

This attention was part of the reason why he was never fond of coming to the market in the day. The crowd around him acted like they had never seen his face before.

Xavier didn’t like the stares Selene received and the chatter about her parents. Selene seemed to have grown to ignore it well but the fact remained that she could hear it.

Lucas was puzzled by the gossip about Selene’s parents. The last time they came to the market, the gossip was about her previous and new marriage. What was starting back this talk about her family?

Xavier thought of Darius’s plans to take Selene to court to probe about the past. They would only get Selene in the court again over Xavier’s dead body.

"Whenever I came to the market before, I liked to get apples. I know their food isn’t of any use to us but the apples the farmer sells here have always been some I enjoy for the sweetness. Xavier?" Selene called out to him, now noticing how distracted he was.

Selene looked to the crowd who was eyeing them since Xavier was around. She expected it since before her marriage to Xavier, Selene hadn’t seen Xavier walking around like this so it was a rare treat for those curious about him. freewёbnoνel.com

"Ignore it," Selene advised Xavier. "I am used to it," she said, referring to the mention of her parents. "When they have nothing else to speak about that comes up. I am not bothered by it so please ignore it. This is meant to be a day we focus on the two of us."

Xavier followed as Selene wanted now only giving Selene his attention but he planned to look into what was said.

"You wanted apples," Xavier said, going toward a man with many fruits before him. "Is there anything else you need?"

"No," Selene shook her head. "I only liked the apples and I wasn’t going to buy any. I just wanted to start a conversation."

"Do you need any more dresses or things to go with them like shoes?" Xavier asked, deciding to use this time to spoil her.

"I have plenty of dresses," Selene replied, not interested in looking at more.

"From what I have seen, women all around the kingdom enjoy getting new dresses. Something about them going out of style," Xavier said, having seen his mother toss out dresses she only wore once for this reason.

"That is when you have somewhere to be. I haven’t used many of the dresses you gifted me or the ones that I bought since I don’t have parties to attend. All the invitations I received so far were from ladies I know are close to the queen and now, aside from Francesca welcoming us for dinner, the invitations have stopped," said Selene.

What was the use in getting dresses meant for parties when she didn’t have any to attend? Selene didn’t mind if the servants on the estate saw her in the same dresses often. Until those dresses could no longer fit or they ripped, Selene didn’t want anything new.

"Do you want to attend another social gathering?" Xavier asked, thinking of a few he had to attend but he ignored them.

Selene smiled, grateful he would find one for her but she did not need it. "I don’t want you to attend a gathering that you wouldn’t have looked at if not for me. I am fine with not attending any. It is better to be at home in peace than to have to be prepared for countless attacks."

"There are some I am to attend hosted by people who don’t annoy me as much as others. It is good to get out of the estate so when we return, I will decide on which one we will attend," said Xavier.

Selene didn’t want Xavier to force himself to attend parties but the thought of them having a night out sounded good. She only needed it once and then she wouldn’t care for it anymore.

With Xavier by her side, Selene knew people who confidently spoke when she was alone would be as quiet as a mouse.

"We need ten apples," Xavier said, picking up the apples from the stall and placing them in Lucas’s hands to be carried. "Don’t drop any of them."

Lucas panicked, worried about how he could hold the apples and protect Selene at the same time. Was Xavier out to get him for something?

Selene stepped in to save Lucas. "Instead of us taking them now, could you have them sent to Lord Blackthorn’s estate? You will have your payment then. If there are other fruits as sweet as the apples, please send them as well."

"I can do that," the stall owner replied. He smiled as he counted how much money he could make if had to deliver to the estate frequently.

Away from where Selene stood with Xavier, Natalie awaited the best time she could approach Selene. It was just her luck that after finding out she was banned from the palace and coming to the market with her friend Valentina, she spotted Selene.

Selene was just the woman she needed to get back at Vivienne for tossing her to the side.

Valentina followed what had Natalie’s attention and frowned when she saw Selene. "We must avoid them."

"Why?" Natalie asked, her gaze still fixed on Selene.

Valentina crossed her arms. "I don’t think she will ever forget how I laughed at her husband parading around that human. Now she’s married to Lord Blackthorn. If I had only known she would stand beside him."