While the other students enjoy themselves below, Blaise trots his way to the upper level, questioning the various crew members he encounters on the way if they have seen the princess.
They all had one answer, with their fingers pointing in the direction of the upper deck.
Blaise climbs the stairs leading to the deck, his heart beating a little in his chest in anticipation of being alone with the princess. He had missed his girlfriend over the holidays, and the kiss they shared on the deck did little to quench his desire for the white haired beauty.
Expecting his girlfriend to be by her lonesome self, he freezes as he takes the last stair, and catches the broad view of the deck, spying his girlfriend with a tall, masculine frame beside her.
His girlfriend is never one to abide in a stranger's company, so the sight before him was a strange one. Instead of speaking, the blonde boy holds his peace and observes the duo on the deck. They are yet to pick up on his presence.
What he saw sent his heart into a raging jealousy. His girlfriend hardly loses herself in his presence. Always on guard whenever they are together. But with the strange boy, whoever he is, the white haired girl's frame seemed relaxed.
His jealousy, like a greedy monster, threatens to consume him, depriving him of all reasoning. He storms out of his hiding spot towards the duo.
"Victoria," he calls out to his girlfriend, his tone a little sharper than usual.
The quietness surrounding them, as they enjoyed the pleasant view of the sea with the moon casting a lovely shadow over it, was one Victoria hated to see come to an end, which is why her body reacted negatively to her boyfriend's interruption.
Talk about bad timing.
The boy standing beside her, though sharing the same sentiment as the princess, remains calm, not speaking or turning to acknowledge the new voice, but Victoria does.
She turns to face her boyfriend, her face schooling back to its usual impassive mask. "What are you doing here, Blaise?" She questions, as if the boy's presence is a pest to her existence.
When she left her boyfriend to find solace on the dock, she expected him to find other ways to amuse himself. Victoria is not the clinging girlfriend type; in fact, she is the opposite. Not remotely interested in hanging hip to hip with her boyfriend. She likes to do her thing, while he does the same with minimal interference from her.
It is only Blaise who craves to be in her presence all the time, unaware of how much he is suffocating the white blonde.
Their relationship was sanctioned by the Empress, who deemed Blaise suitable for her daughter in the light of his family background.
Blaise's family is one of the seven powerful families of the Kingdom, with the Princess's family being another one of the seven.
Blaise stiffens momentarily in annoyance at the Princess's cold reception, before he pushes it down to favour the white blonde with a charming smile.
"Looking for you, darling," he says sweetly, moving closer to the blonde.
"I wonder why," Victoria grumbles underneath her voice, but not low enough that it escapes the listening ears of the boy standing beside her.
Jesse told himself that he didn't mind the presence of the blonde's boyfriend, but as they talked, he began to feel something strange in his chest. An emotion he couldn't identify.
When the blonde said what she said, he couldn't stop himself from laughing, hopelessly pleased to hear the blonde was not happy to see her boyfriend.
Blaise didn't hear the blonde's words, but he definitely heard the low chuckle from the boy beside her. Closer now, he can identify who he is, and as his mind recalls the Princess's weird reaction to the boy at the cafeteria, his jealousy rears its ugly head again.
Glaring at Jesse, he demands, "What is funny?"
Jesse slowly turns to face the blonde, his expression inscrutable. "Nothing," he says mildly, but Blaise is itching for a fight and doesn't want their conversation ending just yet.
"What is a nobody like you doing speaking with the Princess?" He enquires, with a haughty expression, staring at Jesse like he is trash.
"Blaise!" Victoria warns, displeased at the way her boyfriend is speaking to the boy beside her.
Her defence further worsens Blaise's annoyance, and he glares at Jesse as if it is his fault.
Jesse's expression doesn't change at the face of Blaise's insult. He has dealt with a lot of narrow-minded people like him and knows that they are not worth the effort.
He decided to ignore him and return to his sightseeing, after all, the view behind him is better than his present view.
Blaise hissed at his snob, smoke coming out of his ears. "I am talking to you, trash!" He snarls, his voice raised.
Victoria, seeing that things are about to escalate, goes to intercede again, but Jesse speaks, having heard enough of the blonde insulting him. He turns his head around and stares at Blaise like he is an immature kid, as he responds in a bored tone. "I don't answer stupid questions."
That is it. Blaise's control on his fury snaps, and he glares deadly at Jesse, while his fingers crackle with flames, his brown eyes flickering gold as his wolf stirs to the surface.
Seeing that the blonde is about to use his powers on the boy beside her, Victoria moves in with her body to shield Jesse, standing between the two guys. "That is enough, Blaise," she speaks with authority, snapping the blonde back to his senses.
His fury didn't clear completely from his eyes, as he gaped at his girlfriend in disbelief. "You defend him?" Blaise whispers, sounding hurt at Victoria's action.
Victoria doesn't acknowledge the look in his eyes, instead answering in a no-nonsense tone. "No, I am stopping you from doing something stupid," she utters with annoyance, her expression one of irritation.
Blaise looks as if he is going to go against the blonde's words, but the authority in her tone and the power exuding from her eyes warn him against challenging her in this. His tensed body relaxes, and the fire on his fingers extinguishes.
Victoria's tensed frame doesn't relax as she reaches for her boyfriend's hand.
"Let's go," she snaps, taking Blaise's hand and leading him away from Jesse, without sparing the boy another look.
As he trails after his girlfriend, his hand locked in hers, Blaise couldn't resist throwing a backward glance at Jesse before he disappeared with his girlfriend.
Alone with his thoughts, Jesse immediately missed the Princess.