Serena felt him bite her nipple a bit roughly, and she gasped in both pleasure and pain. "Ah, that's…" she said as she opened her eyes. As she was now facing directly at the side where the entrance to the middle of the labyrinth was, she saw that there was a man standing looking at them. She did not recognize him immediately because it was dark, but still, she panicked thinking that someone saw their rendezvous. She immediately tried to pull and straighten Charlton so she can hide herself behind his frame.

Geoffrey felt what she was doing and knew that someone must be watching them. Was it Charlton? He smirked. He straightened himself and finally, their eyes met. He saw Serena's eyes widen when she recognized who he was. Not giving her more time to think, he placed his hand on the back of her neck and pulled her in for a passionate kiss.

When Serena's eyes met those deep blue eyes instead of stormy gray, her heart almost stopped. It took a few seconds for her to process what was happening. All that time, the one holding her body, kissing her shoulders, and even doing all those things she responded to was not Charlton but Geoffrey. How could she have not recognized him? How could she have mistaken his touches as Charlton's? As he continued to kiss her, her mind was adrift until, it clicked. If Geoffrey was the one kissing her then… the man, she saw… could it be? She tried to push Geoffrey away.

--

Charlton who was standing from the other side was rooted on the spot. He would never believe Serena cheating on him. Seeing what's happening in front of him, his body moved on instinct, and in complete rage, he grabbed the collar of the man who he thought must be taking advantage of his lover to get him away from her.

Geoffrey could feel Serena trying to push him away, but he did not budge. Then, he heard the angry footsteps. He anticipated what Charlton would do, so when he felt the back of his collar being pulled roughly, he let go of Serena so that she won't get dragged along.

Serena tried to gain balance as Geoffrey was dragged away from her, thankful that he let her go at that moment too. With her upper body exposed to the night air, she instinctively used her arms to cover her breast.

Charlton pulled the man and tried to throw him to the ground.

Geoffrey who was prepared did not fall but took a few steps back to balance himself.

"You son of a bitch. How dare you!?" Charlton exclaimed. As he followed the man and threw his first punch directed to the man's face.

Geoffrey who saw him coming took a step to the right the rest of his body turning with his movement. Charlton's fist landed on air but still grazed the corner of his mouth causing it to bleed. Then, given his position, he threw a counter punch directed to Charlton's gut. "How dare I!?" he asked back his voice filled with a mixture of anger and astonishment.

Charlton heard the man speak and felt the punch but with his adrenaline pumping it was like he heard nothing and felt no pain at all. He just wanted to pulverize the asshole who dared touch his woman. He elbowed the man who got hit on his back.

If Geoffrey could scoff at the situation, he would. His cousin already heard that it was him and he still had the audacity to fight him. The elbow landed on his back, and he staggered forward. 

Charlton took the opportunity to land another hit at the man's back so that he landed on his knees. Then, he used his forearm to strangle him.

Geoffrey used the back of his head to hit Charlton's face as he tried to take his arm off of his neck.

Serena seeing the fight unfold in front of her could only scream for them to stop. "Charlton! Geoffrey! Please, stop!"

Charlton heard Serena's voice and finally realized what he's doing. The man he was strangling… was Geoffrey? He slowly loosened his hold.

Geoffrey threw Charlton's hand off. Then, he stood from the ground.

Serena knew that the situation was not good. She has no idea how it was him who appeared there first instead of Charlton, but she still had enough sense to know that her lover murdering the crown prince while they were in a ball would lead to no good.

Apparently, her calling them to stop at that time was good, for suddenly, she heard footsteps coming as about 10 soldiers suddenly surrounded them. She instantly turned around not wanting the men to see her body.

"Your highness." The soldiers greeted as they went down on one knee.

"Turn around and leave." Geoffrey commanded a bit angrily knowing the state of undress Serena was in.

"Yes, your highness." the soldiers replied before standing up to leave.

As they left, he quickly took off his coat and he walked to approach Serena. He wrapped his coat on her to cover her body. Then, finally, Geoffrey faced Charlton who was still on the ground. "What were you doing cousin, and why did you react the way you did?" he asked. As if he completely had no idea why they were in that situation.

Charlton clenched his fist not looking Geoffrey in the eye. He wanted to fight and just continue strangling him to death. He was angry and was feeling suffocated with the situation. However, he knew that coming clean that instant would be a horrible decision to make. Serena was Geoffrey's intended and he was only a friend. Also, they were surrounded by Geoffrey's men. Thankfully, before he could speak, Serena made the decision for them.

"Geoffrey, you know Charlton is a friend. Perhaps he thought that you were someone else." She said as she held Geoffrey's hand to pull him back.

"Charlton, is that true?" He asked.

Charlton wanted to bite his tongue just so that he won't have to answer. However, when he looked up and saw Serena looking at him, as if begging him just to agree for their sake, he knew that there was no other choice.

"Yes." he replied.

Serena could feel the pain Charlton was feeling and her heart felt like it was being tied in knots. Tears prickled her eyes. However, she must keep up with the charade. She knew that she must shift Geoffrey's attention. So, she tugged his arm and looked at him with tearful eyes, as if the situation was embarrassing her to no end. "Please Geoffrey, let's just go…"

Geoffrey wanted to push more buttons again, enjoying the play he was partaking in, but he felt Serena tugging his arm. Knowing that pursuing the matter would only lead to the two having a clue that he already knows the whole truth to their charade, he decided to stop there.

"Alright." He said as he gave a small smile to Serena. Then he turned to his cousin. "Charlton, I will forgive you this time, but I expect that this would never happen again."

--

TBC

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