You were meeting The Count, your ex fiancé, because you felt bad for not giving him a chance before the first Caraval game you attended. That game was a mess, and you still had the effects from the game that seemed like they’d never wear off, like the fact your dressed would always adjust to show your emotions, no matter how much you tried to hide it. Sometimes, it seemed like the dress had a mind of its own.

Julian didn’t really want you to meet your ex fiancé, because while he was only your boyfriend, he was weary of the guy. Your abusive father wanted you to marry The Count for money, and you agreed helplessly to try and escape your father. But you never got to officially meet him because you had escaped without the marriage. You had escaped via Caraval, and now you felt bad for just ditching him.

Julian had came back that same morning your were going to meet Nicholas, The Count, and it was so coincidence that he was five weeks late upon his return from working with his brother as an actor for Caraval. He had been gone longer than he promised because he thought you needed space. That’s what he told you. He actually wanted to leave longer than promised because he wanted you to be jealous of his absence. Now he was the jealous one, offering to chaperone you even though you were fully capable of going yourself.

He grinned at you as he got inside the carriage before you, because while he dressed gentlemanly, he sure didn’t act it. He wanted to get in first before you could protest, and you did protest about how he was trying to sabotage you. “I’d say I’d never do that, but that would be a lie.” Julian said while he lounged back in his seat, spreading out the way young men always seemed to. He stretched his arms across the brocade cushions, and kicked out his legs to take up more than half the space so his leg was touching your thigh.