For a moment, everyone smiled very faintly—Chloe's smile was strange, her expression carrying an aged maternal quality at odds with her years, yet the way she patted the stool was like teasing a puppy. Trion coughed several times before suppressing his reaction. He had long known his daughter was bad at pretending, but he had not expected it to be this funny.
Kovishik's face flushed at once, and he immediately felt insulted. It took all his strength not to lose his temper at Chloe on the spot. In that moment, before he could even consider Hesta's reaction, Chloe's affection—which utterly disregarded his own wishes—had already shattered a piece of his self-respect.
"Miss Chloe." Kovishik's voice seemed to be squeezed from his throat. "I'm not sitting there."
"Fine." Chloe rose from her seat and half-ran, half-skipped over to Kovishik. "Where do you want to sit? You pick first?"
Fatima smiled. "I think the Duke means you shouldn't get so close to him... You frightened him, Chloe."
"But Cody hurt one hand," Chloe said. "He needs someone to take care of him."
"I don't." Kovishik replied coldly. He immediately glanced toward Hesta—thankfully, Hesta was whispering to the female companion beside her and seemed not to have noticed what was happening here.
"Come here, Chloe." Fatima gestured for Chloe to sit beside her. "Do you remember what Mother told you this afternoon?"
Chloe reluctantly returned to her mother's side.
Everyone took their seats.
In the end, Kovishik sat diagonally across from Hesta, with Victoria between them. Kovishik secretly rejoiced—he suddenly realized this seat was even better than sitting beside her! If Hesta sat next to him, although they would be closer, it would be difficult for him to see her expression. But now, Hesta was right in the corner of his eye!
Fatima