"That was beautiful, Alana!" Kiara excitedly clapped after her dear friend finished performing a piano piece that she had recently prepared.
"Thank you." The girl with chocolate hair politely smiled and then received praise from the two auburn-haired princesses, who were impressed by her music as well.
It had been a couple of weeks since she had been living with her friends at this Manor, and with every passing day, she learned some new things about this strange family.
What she had been curious about and was still curious about was how all these girls that surrounded Keith got along so well with each other.
She was not from an affluent family, and her background was quite humble. People who belonged to the social class she was born into, who belonged to middle-class or poor families, did not have the same family system where men could have multiple wives at the same time or afford to keep lovers. Therefore, everything she saw seemed very alien to her the first time she met Keith's Family.
What had surprised her, however, was how every girl in this family was extremely beautiful, and though it had not bothered her much at the start, it now made her feel a little self-conscious.
Yes, she was one of the most desired ladies in the world and people were madly in love with her, but as she sat here on the bench and looked at these three girls in front of her, she felt that she was quite pale and had nothing on them to be confident about.
"Are you daydreaming about Keith again?" A voice sounded out near her right ear, and everyone heard her heart thump hard against her chest, which prompted them to giggle at her behaviour.
"W-what? No, no!" She was flustered and shook her head, but Kiara and Ingrid were not going to buy her excuse, and when she realised it, her face burned into a furious blush.
"Don't worry. He will be here before lunch, and then you can finally see him and confess your feelings..."
"Kiara!" Alana sternly looked at her friend, but then lowered he head again. "It is not like that..."
"Is that so?" The little miss of the Demiliore Family smiled at her. "Fine." She shrugged. "I was thinking about helping you out a little, but since it is not the case, it's fine."
Alana felt a little at a loss when she heard those words, but she did not have the courage to ask her to help her out. It was something that she had to deal with by herself.
"Kiara."
"Yes?"
"Does it not bother you?" She curiously looked into the girl's electric blue eyes and asked.
"No." And Kiara did not play around or ask what she meant since she could understand what her friend was talking about. "Honestly, it's fun having so many sisters." She smiled. "There's never a dull day at home. It's just too much fun."
Though Alana doubted her words a little, she could not deny them after what she had observed in the last few days and for years that she had been friends with the ladies of this family.
It was indeed a lot of fun being in this house with them.
"Not even the new girl?" She asked again, referring to Zoey, who was from a very well-off family and had arrived here a few days ago.
She did not know why, but she was very uncomfortable with Zoey's presence in the family, and it was probably because she considered the daughter of the Alvarez Family someone just as beautiful as her. She was someone she could compare herself with, and Zoey had only known Keith for a few months, whereas she had known him for years now.
A sense of loss washed over her heart as she realised that he had never once truly flirted with her or shown any signs that he was attracted towards her. He was always too respectful, though very funny, and never shy from poking fun at her, and she felt incredibly at ease being around him and talking with him.
He behaved like a doting older brother at times, and at other times, he was your best friend whom you could share anything with.
However, it was also something that made her hold him in high regard since she knew that he was not some lascivious Young Master who lusted after every beautiful girl he laid eyes upon.
Though the media and people talked a lot about him, some did not shy away from calling him a playboy, something which she could never deny or defend him against in public. However, her heart knew that he was very different from what people thought he was.
He was not like those people who used girls for their bodies and discarded them or threw them in the arms of their friends.
Keith was good to every lady in his family, and it was all so clear if you understand how much they all deeply loved and cared for him.
She remembered how distressed she was at the start when she found out that people really believed that she was his little lover. The gossip about them was always fresh in the media, and even now, after all these years, she was always linked with him and no other man.
Her cheeks warmed up a little as she had come to like being linked with him in that way. And she blushed some more as some fuzzy images from her most beautiful dreams crossed her mind.
As she was right now, in a very hopeless situation, truthfully, she could not even imagine herself being with any other man but Keith. It just did not feel right to her. And then there was this fear in her heart that if he refused her feelings, her dreams would all come crashing down, something that the people in her industry were eagerly waiting for to happen.
She was hounded by people who were extremely jealous of everything that she had managed to achieve in just a few years. And a smile crossed her face because she knew that all those girls in her industry were also jealous of her because of the man she was linked with.
Yes, she was hopeless. And she was starting to love and hate her situation at the same time.
"Oh, come on!" Kiara rolled her eyes when she saw a deep frown take root in her friend's expression. "Come, let's go and meet the twins." She stood up and then grabbed Alana's hand, leading her out of the Music Room.
Ingrid and Ingvild did not follow after them as the older sister was busy teaching her sibling how to play the piano, and their class was going to continue until lunchtime.
The two of them arrived in the lounge where Lady Diana was sitting and chatting with Rebecca and Qingyue, and Kiara happily walked over to them and hugged her grandmother.
Alana was not too shy in the presence of the old lady anymore. The latter had always treated her like a granddaughter, and it still felt like a dream to her that the former and revered Deputy Governor-General of Netheria treated her in such a familial manner.
"What have you been up to?" Diana planted a kiss on Kiara's forehead and asked.
"We were helping with Ingvild's music lessons." The little miss of Demiliore's Family informed her grandmother and then brightly smiled at Zoey, who was sitting on the other couch. "Keith is on his way." She informed the girl and giggled as she watched her blush a little.
To distract herself, Zoey looked at Alana, and her eyes sparkled again in reverence. She was a fan, a very loyal fan of Alana Storm, and her excitement had not diminished even after days of staying with the girl under the same roof.
"Hi!" She smiled and greeted her.
"Good morning." Alana politely smiled at her and then walked up to sit by her side, allowing Kiara to chat with her grandmother as they discussed something about the guests whom they planned on inviting to the Noxville Netheria's Opening Ceremony.
"Kiara told me that you are working on a new single." Zoey initiated the conversation and Alana nodded to her.
"Yes. It's called Wicked Game, and it has two versions, one for a male and the other for a female."
"Did you write it?"
"Yes, and No. I wrote a few lyrics, and he finished the song with two variants." Alana smiled as she informed her about it.
She never shied away or felt any reluctance in giving Keith the credit where it was due and more. And she felt at peace whenever she informed people that it was he who wrote a song for her. It made her feel special.
But she knew that she was just being silly thinking about things in this way. After all, these were songs he wrote for her to sing, not the songs he wrote for her. There was a difference, and sometimes, this difference ached her heart a little.
"Can you tell me something about it?" Zoey expectantly asked, now even more excited about the upcoming song since Keith wrote it.
If there was one person whom she was a bigger fan of than Alana, it was Keith, and it was even before she was madly in love with him and became his woman.
"Of course." Alana smiled as she saw the excitement in the girl's eyes. She just did not have the heart to refuse her even though she was not exactly comfortable with her just yet.
But she knew that she had to bear with it, and she would have to get along well with all of his ladies if she wanted to stay in his life.
