PeaceMaker

Boris blinked once and then again as her words went over his head. "What?" he retorted, a flash of confusion flickering in his eyes, "Isn't that the same thing as what I mentioned earlier."

"Nope," Adia shook her head, "You were not mad about the fact that I was talking about the scandals but rather the fact that I was talking about the scandals with Litian and Dominic."

Boris blinked again as it once again went over his head. 

"You're only mad about the scandals because of the fact that it involves Litian and Dominic not because I'm talking about a scandal," Adia divulged, "basically, it being a scandal is not what upsets you, but rather because it's about Litian and Dominic."

Boris thought about it for a moment. 'Because it was about Litian and Dominic?' he pondered. He turned back to Adia who was looking out the wide windows of the office. "So not because of the fact that it was a rumor about his royal highness but specifically because it involved a woman?" he wondered. 

Adia's head snapped up to Boris, her eyes shining brightly. "What did you say?"

"I don't think I have to repeat mys-"

Adia cut into Boris' comment, "Because of a woman? Is that your reason why?" she burst out, "the reason why you didn't like me saying the rumors was because you didn't like the fact that it was between his royal highness and a woman?!"

Boris flinched, his body moving back into his chair defensively. "Isn't that what you said? I'm simply restating what you said, the way you're making it sou-"

"Is exactly how it is," Adia completed, once again interrupting him, "what you said back to me just now was not what I said to you. I simply mentioned the fact that it was because it was between Litian and his royal highness but the way you restated it by simplifying Litian's position in the rumor is saying that it wasn't because it was Litian and Dominic, but that you wouldn't have been ok with it if it was any other woman and Dominic." 

Boris eased his shoulders slightly and leaned back forward to Adia. "Isn't that the same thing as Litian and Dominic? She is a woman afterall."

"Yo-" Adia began before stopping and pursing her lips together. She sat there for a moment and stared at Boris in contemplation, her eyebrows raising in confusion. 

Boris rolled his eyes and leaned back into his seat, crossing his legs. "What is it now? Figured out another way to make me annoyed?"

Adia shook her head in response. "Nope, not that," she mumbled, "just wondering if you don't want to figure out why you're like this or if you're really just that dense."

Boris twitched slightly with frustration showing on his face. "Seriously?! You must have really come here to annoy me. You can leave now if you want."

"Nonono! Hey! it really does seem like you just don't want to get this," Adia huffed, "I can't believe you're literally saying the words with your own mouth but don't understand it!"

"I understand what I'm saying but I don't know how to put it into a simpler term! What I'm saying right now is just a description of what I am  feeling but I want to know what the emotion itself that I am feeling is!"

"JEALOUSY!" Adia snapped back. 

"HOW DOES THAT MAKE- huh?" Boris froze, his hand stopping halfway to the table that it was about to hit. "Jealousy?" He repeated.

"Yes. Jealousy. Something about the woman and Dominic being that close, so close that they get dating scandals bothers you. You don't like being told about something like that or even admitting that something like that could happen when it comes to the two of them or any woman nin general," Adia groaned massaging her head, "honestly the fact that I have to spell it out for you simply outstands me…you must really be dense."

"I'm jealous?" Boris queried, his eyes showing further confusion. "Why?"

"How would I know? I can only guess by what I've observed from you recently. And judging form them, jealousy seems correct," Adia shrugged, "I'm not sure why you would be jealous about that though." 

There was a pause and a weak "oh…" leaves Boris' lips. 

She looked up at Boris and watched his crestfallen face for a few seconds before sighing and sitting up straight. " But I may have a guess as to why."

Boris' head whipped to Adia immediately, his eyes shining curiously. "Really?" 

She hesitated for a moment before continuing. "Yea… but it might not make sense to you… at all. Might even make you angry."

Boris chuckled in response, "Ok sure, not sure anything more you could say could get me even more upset today but give it a-"

"You have feelings for his royal highness," Adia cut in, bowing her head as she blurted out the words. 

Boris froze, his hand trembling slightly. "W-what?" he stuttered as his heart dropped to the ground.

"You have feelings for his royal highness," Adia repeated, locking eyes with Boris, her words wavering slightly when she caught the look in his eyes. 'Huh?' she thought to herself as she took in the terrified gaze. 'Why is he so?' "I'm not sure what type of feelings they are, but I think it is admiration."

Boris sat there in silence as his heart thumped against his chest, slowly calming down. 'Admiration?' he mused, 'I admire him?' He pondered about it for a few more seconds before turning back to Adia for more information. "Continue."

Adia stayed silent as her eyes observed his gaze. 'He's unsettled right now…' she noted before speaking. "I said earlier that this might upset you so I'm sorry about that but yea, I think it's admiration," she imparted, "if you think about it, it makes sense. You constantly think about him when he's not present and when he was, you… agreed with him? Understood or tolerated him in a way. This might be because you came into some kind of eternal verdict that he was someone that you were supposed to stand beside. That he was worth looking up to and caring about."

Boris took in her words and nodded his head to show that he was following along. 

"And earlier when I did that in the hallway, mentioning Litian with Dominic you probably felt protective like you felt that he shouldn't be mentioned with someone like her or with any woman because you think he's just that much of an amazing person," Adia continued. 

"That… makes sense," Boris agreed, reflecting on his own actions. "Does admiration create some type of affection towards him?"

Adia froze for a moment before nodding her head. "Yes, it does." 'So he's aware of his affection towards the prince because of his admiration.' She watched him silently and leaned back into her own chair. 'But..'

'Admiration…is that what I've been feeling about Dominic this entire time?' Boris thought to himself. His hands ran through his hair. 'Admiration.. So that was the reason for all my emotions all this time,' a light sigh left his lips as he rolled back his head onto the edge of the chair and peered up at the ceiling, 'hah...that's a relief.' He leaned back up and glanced at Adia who was staring straight at him quietly before he flinched, rewinding the words that had crossed his mind. ''That's a relief'??? What's a relief???!'

'...but what was that expression on his face,' Adia thought to herself as she recalled the fear that had run through Boris' eyes. 'Why did he get so put off by what I had said? Does he not like the idea of him having admiration for the prince? I don't think that's a problem though, it's quite normal for people around the pr- wait, that's not what I had said when he reacted that way.' 

She looked at Boris for a moment before looking down at her hands. 'I had said, 'you have feelings for his highness' when his eyes reacted like that. He was taken aback and terrified of what I had said… what's wrong with having feelings for the prince? Why did he panic at the words I said?' she massaged her forehead as she thought, a look of confusion plastering on her face. "I don't understand… all I said was that he had feelings for his highness…' Adia froze, her head snapping up and her eyes pinning on Boris. 'You have feelings for his highness' feelings… what if those feelings were not the ones that I meant?'

She watched as Boris glanced at his desk nervously for a moment before turning and locking eyes with Adia again. 'What did 'feelings' mean to Boris for him to have panicked?' "Boris do yo-"

Her sentence was cut off by the sound of the doors opening and a messenger running into the room. They both immediately turn to the panting messenger, Boris, and Adia jumping out of their seats instinctively. 

"What happened?! Are you ok?!" Adia called out, rushing to the messenger's side to help them stand up properly. 

"Y-o- His royal highness is back," the messenger informed through huffs of air. 

Adia felt a light breeze pass by her and she turned to the door where Boris stood, already sprinting from his position from behind the desk to the door. His hand hovered over the door handle and slowly lowered. "Hah… never mind," He muttered with a self-mocking smile, "it's probably another false alarm. You should really start being more accurate with thes-"

"NO!" The messenger yelled, turning to Boris, "IT'S REAL! THE PRINCE IS BACK!!"