Chapter 98: Princess treatment in the dressing room

As Mia turned to tell the man in the room that she would be fine on her own, she saw that he had picked up the bags containing the dress he’d brought for her, then glanced at her with a serious expression,"Tell me what to do, I will help you get ready." He announced in a calm voice as if it was a normal thing for him to help her dress up.

Neil knew she wasn’t feeling completely fine but since she was determined to participate in the competition, he wasn’t going to stop her. She was so much like him when it came to determination. He was the kind to do something he had set his mind on doing no matter what condition he was in. Apart from death, nothing else could stop him. Thus, he understood the girl in front of him. Even though he had never in his life touched a female dress not to mention help them into it, he couldn’t leave knowing she wasn’t ready yet.

Mia, who heard his words, was taken aback. Her face flushed deep red."I... I can do it_"

"Don’t argue with me, Harrison, I have other things to do. Come here and let’s get you into this dress." He said firmly leaving no room for augment as he pulled out a striking purple dress from the bag and lifted it up. The dress caught the lights in the room making Mia momentarily spellbound as she gazed at how beautiful it looked.

Despite her embarrassment, Mia found herself walking towards him as she stared at the striking purple dress in his hand. She had seen the logo on the bags and knew it was from an expensive brand in the country and even though she would like to reconsider taking the clothes, she was desperate. She watched as he struggled to find the neck of the gown, and when she was about to take it from him, he got it right and told her to take off her robe.

Blushing deeply, she meekly too off the robe and stood before him in just her underwear. With a serious expression, he moved closer and put it over her head. Though Mia could dress by herself and the only help she would be needing were with makeup and hair styling, she didn’t protest when he helped her with the dress.

"Bring your hand up," he said softly as he opened the sleeve of the dress. Mia did as she was told like a child getting dressed up by her mother. She couldn’t help the faint smile that threatened to break her lips at how concentrated he looked when pulling her arm into the lace sleeves. He pulled the gown over her body and pulled her hair up from behind. However, he stopped when he noticed that the back of the gown was opened; it had a flesh-toned sheer fabric that made it look like it was open from the top part of the back to the lower part.

"Why is the back this open?" He asked as if Mia was supposed to know when he was the one who bought the dress for her. Mia, however, was too fascinated by the gown to pay heed to his question. She stared at her reflection in the mirror with slightly widened eyes.

Mia couldn’t believe her own reflection in the mirror, the gown looked so beautiful she couldn’t tear her eyes away from it. It was a stunning purple gown with a flesh-toned sheer fabric at the shoulders and upper chest area, It had a fitted bodice that pushed up her bosom with long sheer sleeves, a fitted waist, and a full skirt that flowed to the floor. The lace details on the fabric added a touch of elegance and sophistication to the overall design of the gown. As Mia admired the gown, she couldn’t help but think that it looked like one of those dresses celebrities wear to red carpet.

"This must have cost a fortune..." She murmured as she ran her hands on the front of the gown while looking at the man behind her in the reflection, but he brushed away her words as he knew if he told her the price of the dress and who had designed it, she might reject it. He didn’t have much time to stay here and convince her into taking it, thus he didn’t reply to her words and instead moved to her front and said,

"What is next? Are we going to put on the shoes first or the accessories?" He asked calmly as he picked up the other small bags with a passive expression on his face, as he was trying his best to look past the revealing part of the dress he had bought. Though it suited her perfectly but if he knew it was going to reveal this much flesh, he wouldn’t have picked this one from the pictures sent to him. However, because he had noticed she loved purple, he’d picked this one.

"I have to do my hair first." Said Mia as she took the comb from the dressing table and did a quick simple style for herself. She packed the hair into a messy bun as that was the only style she could think of at this moment, and then, not being skilled with makeup, she just applied the powder and left the foundation as she wouldn’t want to ruin her face. One thing Mia was grateful about her face, was the fact that she had no blemishes or pimples, thus she didn’t spend a long time trying to cover anything but the little swelling under her eyes, which had appeared because she was sick. She brushed her eyebrows and straightened her natural long eyelashes then applied a faint lipstick on her pale lips.

While Mia was busy doing her makeup, Neil patiently stood behind her with his arms crossed against his chest. He could hear Liam’s voice asking where he was from the hidden earpiece in his ears, but he ignored him as he had muted his own part. He didn’t know what he was doing waiting on a woman that could jeopardise his mission, but then he also couldn’t walk away from her knowing she had no one to assist her. For years, Neil had made himself into a man who never cares about others unless they held importance to his only goal in life and mission, but he didn’t know when he started to let himself care about someone who he had once liked as a young boy. She was supposed to remain in his past but the more he got entangled with her now, the more he didn’t want to let go and want to keep her.

"I’m done." Mia announced, breaking him out of his thoughts as she glanced at him from the reflection in the mirror where he stood casually behind her with a passive expression and his gray eyes appearing thoughtful, but when he looked up at her reflection, Mia noticed how his expression changed into admiration. His bold eyes moved over her with unhidden masculine appreciation. Pride of ownership was evident in his possessive gaze and Mia’s stomach jumped nervously when she noticed it. He had never looked at her like this before_as if she were a tasty morsel he was planning to devour at his leisure.

Neil found himself at a loss of words. He was more than pleased and proud at how she looked in the dress he got for her. Though she had looked beautiful without the touch up she did to her face and hair, she looked even more elegantly alluring after the touch up. Her feverish face now looked normal and her large brown eyes seemed more prominent with thick, long lashes hovering over them. "You have a knack for transforming from an adorable kitten to an incredible alluring woman." He remarked nonchalantly as he approached her with the other bags.

"Um... Thank you," Mia replied not knowing if that was meant as a compliment or just a remark. "I think." She added.

"It was meant as a compliment, querida." He reassured with a slight frown as he noticed her uncertainty to his compliment.

Touched by his weird compliment, Mia observed as he took out a box from the bag he was holding, he dropped the other bag on the table. Even though she was curious to ask him what querida means, she kept quiet knowing how he never liked to answer her questions. Instead she watched as he opened the elegant black box he had pulled out of the bag. He took out a stunning purple necklace and a set of earrings, which he handed for her to wear. The necklace had a large teardrop-shaped purple gemstone surrounded by smaller white stones, while the earrings he gave her to wear were shaped like purple teardrops.

When she finished wearing the earrings, he stood behind her. Wordlessly, he pushed the little strands of hair falling on her neck aside. His warm fingers sent tiny tremors down her spine as he removed the necklace and laid it around her slim, long neck. In the mirror, Mia watched his expressionless features as he fastened the necklace clasp at the back of her neck, then lifted his eyes to hers, studying the diamond at her neck.

"Do you like them?" He asked, his whispered voice falling on her earlobe making her cheeks heat up from how close he stood behind her. Mia nodded her head as she was unable to form any words but to say, "I’ve never seen beautiful gemstones as the ones on the necklace and earrings. They look fit for an heiress."

"They belonged to a Russian princess a century ago but it had been remoulded to fit this generation’s style. It’s suits you better than it would another heiress." He whispered huskily as he turned her around to face him without giving her any chance to digest his words about the necklace belonging to an ancient princess. He pushed her gently to sit on the chair behind her as he took out another box of shoes. However, Mia was oddly touched that he apparently thought of her worthy of such a priceless necklace rather than argued about how he shouldn’t have gotten it for her.

When he crouched down to help her wear her shoes, Mia suddenly felt like a princess as he held her ankle and slipped her feet into the elegant closed-toe high heel. He did the same with the other feet, and her toes involuntarily curled up inside the shoe as his finger grazed her skin. When he looked up from his crouched down position to ask, "Can you walk with this?" Mia felt her heart burst forth with a tingling warm feeling, then it started to beat faster. She had never been treated like a princess by a man in all of her life, but here she was being tended to by the last person on earth she would imagine would ever care about her.

Though they had known each other for a short amount of time and there was no name to this relationship between them, but deep down Mia felt like she had known him for a long time and he had always been there for her whenever she needed someone. He appeared like a heartless man, but Mia realised he was the most caring man in her life. And the thought that after he lelt the school she would no longer see him again sent a stabbing ache to her heart that made her eyes swell up with tears. She would miss him terribly...

Neil glanced up at her waiting to hear her reply to his question and when he noticed the tears glimmering in her eyes, he frowned but before he could ask why she was crying, Mia surprised him as she leaned down and pressed her mouth to his and wrapped her arms around his neck. He had been caught by surprise but when she kissed him first, he deepened it and plunged his tongue into her mouth. Unknown to them as they kissed, there was a camera planted in the dressing room.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read