I slowly made my way back to my room, trying to decide how I was supposed to explain all of this to Khloe.

Part of me cursed myself for not at least trying to refuse the Lord's request, but everyone knew that denying a Lord, especially this one, was a terrible idea.

I sighed as I stared ahead at the door to my room.

There was no way to explain this in a positive way. I didn't want to treat Khloe in a way that would keep Layla free of suspicions.

And I doubt Khloe is going to like that fact either.

If anything, this whole thing was going to stress her out and that's the absolute last thing that I wanted.

Reluctantly, I opened the door.

I wanted to hurry and explain this to her as soon as possible so I could try my best to assure her that I would do everything in my power to make sure that she still felt comfortable even while Layla was here.

But Khloe wasn't where I left her, nor was she on the window sill or sitting on my desk chair.

Instead, I saw that the light was showing through the open bathroom door.

I gently closed the door, now being able to hear the beautiful sound of Khloe quietly humming a melodic tune.

The sound itself caused some of my frustration to just melt away.

Curiously, I carefully made my way to the bathroom, setting the envelope from my father on my desk on the way.

I'll get to that thing later.

What I saw once I looked into the bathroom shocked me.

Khloe was in her dress from the ball, heels, and everything.

Even her hair was tied up with that ribbon.

She looked over herself in the mirror as she hummed and gently swayed and danced to her own tune.

The way that she smiled at herself as she looked in the mirror and her overall gleeful disposition in this moment... I didn't even try to stop myself from staring.

This was an image I wanted in my brain for as long as possible.

But apparently, this whole sight of her like this legitimately took my breath away, because next thing I knew I was sharply inhaling trying to regain it.

Khloe immediately turned towards me, her face looking surprised.

"O-oh Nico" she began nervously as her face began to fill with color from embarrassment, "You're back earlier than I thought."

So, trying to take advantage of this situation that she has so angelically granted me, I walked towards her.

"Is this something that you always do when I'm gone?" I asked with a smirk.

She laughed nervously, her hands clasping together by her front.

"Well, no. I-I just. I don't know I wanted to try it on again." She explained, turning her body towards the mirror.

"I see," I replied, snaking my arms around from behind her to gently trail my fingers up her arms to her shoulders.

She leaned back in reaction to my touch, relaxing even though her heart began to speed up.

I took the opportunity, to rest my chin atop her head, just looking at the two of us in the mirror.

She did the same.

"I told you that you'd wear it more than once." I teased, wrapping my arms around her under her arms, trying to savor this moment for as long as I could.

She let out a quiet laugh.

"Yeah, I guess you were right," she admitted.

"So does that mean that you finally like the dress?" I asked.

I honestly couldn't see how she didn't like it to begin with.

After a couple seconds, she nodded.

"I do," she said as she softly grabbed the middle of my forearm.

I held her a bit tighter after her response.

I loved seeing her like this.

Seeing her with a smile on her face, hearing her laugh and seeing the glee in her eyes.

These kinds of moments seemed to be showing up more and more as of lately and it was really beginning to rub off on me as well.

I felt happy when she was happy.

Hell, I was happy as long as I was close to her.

God, I wanted this girl so bad it hurt.

"So what did the Lord want?" she asked.

My breath caught in my throat as soon as she spoke, pretty much forcing me to crash back into reality.

It even caused that pain in my chest to return.

Trying my best as to not let my sudden change in emotion show, I looked back at the mirror, seeing the smile still curving her lips as she looked at me curiously.

I couldn't do this, I couldn't ruin this moment.

"I'll tell you later," I spoke quietly.

I needed to ask her about that slave boy too.

If what I think is true, then I needed to do something to return his favor. Something that will somehow make up for what the Lord has done to him.

The look on Khloe's face told me that she was questioning my answer.

So before She could say something about it out loud, I released my hold on her, took one of her hands in my own and twirled her with ease.

Her face was full of surprise as the twirl ended and she was facing me, her other hand apparently instinctively setting itself on my shoulder.

"Perfect," I said as I set my hand on her waist.

Color filled her cheeks once again.

"I-it probably could have been smoother." She protested in her flustered state.

My smile only grew, knowing how she doesn't take compliments easily.

The thing is, I wasn't talking about the twirl.

~~~