Seven Devils and a Rose

"I'll take care of that, Alfie," he said. Then he ushered me inside, guiding me by lightly placing his hand about my lower back. Of course, I noticed that he didn't do that to the girls. So why is he doing that to me?

Once inside, I debated on where to place myself. This was a six-seater carriage, with three on each side, facing each other. Aria and Leona had already taken the side with their backs to the driver, while Brenna had chosen the opposite. My choice was to either sit beside Brenna, which would result in a spare seat Lord Geoffrey would undoubtedly take, or in the middle between Aria and Leona. I chose the latter.

Lord Geoffrey came into the carriage a moment later, and after placing the gift basket on the space next to Brenna, he sat down on that side of the carriage and then shut the door. He tapped on the ceiling and said, "Let's go, Michael."

"Roger, my lord," Michael replied from the driver's seat at the front, and a moment later, the carriage started moving.

Pleased with the seating arrangement, I grinned in delight. I felt quite safe here on this seat, with two beautiful ladies flanking me on either side.

Lord Geoffrey lazily watched me, and I didn't miss the amused smirk on his masked face either. What was he thinking about? I wondered. Of course, the look in his eyes made me uncomfortable. I felt like he was about to pick on me, to harass me or something, which was, of course, silly because Lord Geoffrey wasn't that kind of person. He was the head of the monarchy, after all. A father figure to his people.

He said, "Aren't you a cunning little thing, Alfie?"

I raised a brow in question. "What do you mean, my lord?"

"Not only did you choose to live with three beautiful women, but you can't even bear to sit a little farther away from them? Is it your dream to have your own harem?"

I nearly choked on my own breath. My own harem?

Well, of course, now that I thought about it carefully, it sure looked that way, didn't it? I mean, I was supposed to be a boy, after all, and I was living with three very beautiful cat women as if…

As if we were in some kind of intimate relationship.

The moment I realized that, heat rushed to my face and I wanted to hide in embarrassment. I just realized that I had my own harem of beautiful women.

I licked my lips, my body quivering in reaction. I said, "That's not what it is, my lord."

"Oh?" Lord Geoffrey cocked his blond head to one side. Meanwhile, Brenna started giggling as if she couldn't control herself, once again.

Leona sighed. "So is that what it is, Alfie? Which one of us is your favorite, then?"

I stammered, "That's not it. I like every one of you as my friend. You're all my friends. I mean, you're all very beautiful, but I don't view any of you in that way."

Lord Geoffrey said, "Oh? Does that mean you're not attracted to women, Alfie?"

I was lost for words for a moment because I had just realized that Lord Geoffrey had another side to his personality. He was obviously making me uncomfortable and pushing me into a corner with his words, despite his charming aura. I glared at the man. He was making my life miserable right now.

Lord Geoffrey Lancaster is a bully!

I said firmly, "Of course I'm not, my Lord Geoffrey. I admire girls and like them as friends. It's girl power, after all, and we need to stick together."

Lord Geoffrey suddenly burst out laughing, while Aria, Leona, and Brenna simply stared at me. I couldn't quite describe the expressions displayed on their faces, but I could hazard a guess that it was shock.

Aria asked, "So you're not attracted to girls, Alfie?"

I turned to her, and it was only then that I realized I had blurted out something unnecessary.

"Err…" I stammered. "That's not what I mean."

Leona leaned close to me and asked, "Then what do you mean, Alfie? Are you by any chance into men?"

Oh Lord, but I felt trapped.

Brenna wasn't going to be left out of this chance of bullying me as well and said, rather excitedly, "It's okay, Alfie. You can tell us. We don't judge. So what is it? Are you attracted to men? Is your type someone gorgeous and dependable, a father-like figure like our Lord Geoffrey? Or perhaps someone darkly striking and mysterious like our Lord Caleb? Or sinfully handsome, robust, and powerful like Lord Felix?"

I said, "That's not fair. That subject… that sort of thing is personal." I turned to Lord Geoffrey and glared at him. "It's your fault I'm in this uncomfortable situation, my lord. Now fix it."

With a devilish grin on his face, Lord Geoffrey said, "All right, love." In one swift move, he leaned over, caught my wrist, and pulled me toward him.

Before I could protest, I found myself on his lap, his arms tight around my waist like a seat belt.

Brenna giggled and said, "You fit perfectly on Lord Geoffrey's lap, Alfie. I see, so… you are interested in men."

Both Aria and Leona grinned. I believe because they found my situation amusing.

I turned to Lord Geoffrey, our faces close, and said, "Why am I on your lap, my lord?"

He grinned at me. "Because you want me to fix it, and now I have, love."

I didn't understand what he meant, and I harrumphed in indignation. "I don't know how sitting on your lap is akin to fixing a misunderstanding of this sort. And why are your referring to me as love?"

"I think it's cute when Lord Geoffrey refers to you as love," Brenna said. "Please continue to call Alfie love, my lord."

"Brenna," I said. "Please don't encourage him."

Lord Geoffrey said, "It's fine, isn't it?"

Suddenly, Aria pulled out a tablet from her bag and raised the thing up in the air, with the back facing me and Lord Geoffrey. Then I heard a click as if a snapshot had been taken.

I stared, flabbergasted.

A few more clicks rapidly followed that.

I asked, "Aria, what are you doing?"

Aria said, "Taking photos. Oh, you two look delicious together."

Brenna leaned over and asked excitedly, "Let me see. Let me see."

Leona unashamedly leaned over as well, and the three girls started giggling as they inspected what I assumed were pictures of me sitting on Lord Geoffrey's lap.

I said, "Please delete those, Aria."

Lord Geoffrey said, "Please send those to me, Aria." Which resulted in me giving him a dark frown.