Illi had to admit that her siblings made good cases... things would have been a lot worse if Braxton had acted. First off, Davishire probably would have actually been hurt (more, at least). Second off, it could be excused if it was Cherie. She was the youngest, while Braxton was the face of the family. Plus, it wasn't like Davishire could rat out a girl so much younger than him.
Then again, Illi got the feeling he would have kept the whole situation a secret, anyway.
Illi enjoyed the intention behind Cherie's sweet words, but appreciated that Braxton had enough respect to let her make her own choices. Though honestly, the only person he would probably ever restrain from men would be Janette.
But despite both warnings from Cherie and Braxton, Illi couldn't help but want to apologize to Davishire. And she didn't even know why. He was being a jerk, even if he had some reason. But there was something different about him. Something quirky that made him stand out amongst all the fake nobles. Plus, he knew who she was... her costume, that is.
Illi gave Cherie one last hug and affirmed her, "It wasn't a big deal, Cherie, it really wasn't. I've just been expecting so much from this ball and was upset when it wasn't delivered quite as I had hoped." Which wasn't technically false—after all, she had been waiting for her prince charming and Davishire wasn't anywhere close to charming. "And if nothing else, respect says that I should apologize to him. But thank you—thank you both." She turned to Braxton and gave him a mischievous smile, "And I'll let him know you said that, don't worry."
She then leaned down and placed the remaining books carefully on the counter. While she wished she could have returned them to their spaces, she knew it wasn't required. After all, that's what the librarian was technically for. And surely the Duke expected to deal with a lot more at this party than a couple out of place books... plus, she wanted to catch up to Davishire while she still could.
With one last smile to her siblings, Illi said, "I'll see you guys later!" Then, in a slightly quieter voice, she added, "And don't let that handsome fallen angel learn about this, okay?" They all knew Jana would want to do something about the situation, and Illi didn't really want any more outside involvement. "Bye!" and she walked out of the library with full intentions of returning to its magnificent beauty someday.
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Exit to:
Vanilla Pecan Candies