"I am Cixi," she introduced herself.
She could not take her eyes off him. Something about his presence had reached inside her chest and turned a dial she did not know existed, and now every part of her attention pointed at him like a compass pointing north.
"Who are you?" she asked.
On the side, Cassian watched Cixi's reaction, and it was obvious he did not like the way Cixi was reacting while knowing it wasn't her fault either.
"You could have waited, the King," Cassian tried to stay polite. His voice was controlleda nd tight.
The King turned his gaze from Cixi to Cassian. His smile did not waver. If anything, it deepened. "You are asking me to —wait?" Each word was placed with the precision of a man who was giving Cassian one chance to reconsider what had just come out of his mouth.
Cassian did not reconsider. "It is rude to barge into a date."
"You were not answering your date properly," the King replied, his tone light and amused, "so I decided to help her."
