To please her future husband

They were outside the Mansion and had not yet entered because her father was waiting outside. Her father's face was dark when he saw her like a wet chick without a hen, but Gideon suddenly caught Don Sebastian's anger that would have been for her.

"I'm the one apologizing for Jewel, Don Sebastian."

Jewel waited for her father's anger. But she was surprised when Don Sebastian smiled at Gideon. She was blown away.

'That's unfair! He just kept smiling at Gideon. I didn't even remember the last time he smiled at me!'Jewel thought and huffed in annoyance.

"What did my unica hija do again and she's like a petty chick who got lost here in the mansion?" Don Sebastian asked. He turned to her and the side of his eyes crinkled as he narrowed both eyes on her. It made her eyes glaze over.

Jewel looked down and crossed her arms over her chest. She let Gideon reasoned out for her. He already defended her in the beginning, so she just waited for the two men to arrive at a conclusion and let her go. Well, she was still shivering in the cold and there were times that she just bit her lip to stop from interfering them.

“She just fell into the river,” Gideon recounted.

Her father's eyes widened. "Fell? Did my daughter really fall into the river?" His eyebrows met. He turned to her again with a darker expression than before. "Jewel Laine! I told you never to wander in the dark! It's three in the morning and you're already in the woods? You're a lady, you should act like one!"

Jewel bit her bottom lip and tried to calm her emotions down. She knew that it was the consequence. Well, she thought that Gideon would protect her all the way.

"Don Sebastian," Gideon adressed her father.

A silent sigh escape from Jewel's lips as she kept her eyes on the ground. She thought that Gideon's courage had ran away, but she's wrong.

Don Sebastian looked at Gideon. Even she turned to the Mayor's son. Gratefulness was evident on her eyes. The memory of him saving her was still clear in her mind.

Gideon smiled and glanced at her for a second before he spoke. "Francisko was swept away in the river. Pedro once told me that your daughter doesn't use different horse. Maybe this is the way for Jewel to stay home."

All the gratefulness in her heart was subdued by his words. It felt like a cold water being poured down on a hot coal. She glared at Gideon who was now looking at her father.

Don Sebastian smiled from ear to ear, and a chill ran down on her spine. She knew that her father had his mischievous plan in that moment.

"That made sense..." her father trailed off as he turned to her. "No one's gonna look for your Francisko anymore, Jewel. He might be at sea right now. Get inside and get dressed in your room."

"Dad --"

"Follow my command. Or do you want me to drag you upstairs?"

She stormed inside the mansion, not minding the looks that those housemaids gave to her. She even saw Dalya signaling to her but she was upset. And fuming mad.

She knew it would be a few more years before she could receive a horse again. Other knights do not allow horses to be used in the stable, especially when they are taken care of for a market. Francisko was the only one she had ridden in almost five years. But her horse was gone in just one unfortunate event. It was her fault anyway so she could not point the blame to other people.

She was stepping up the stairs when Dalya chased after her. "Miss, those -"

"I'm not in the mood, Dalya."

"But Miss -"

"I said shut up!" she roared, stopped midway and stamped her foot in annoyance.

Dalya went silent and hurried back to the kitchen. Jewel sighed. She noticed that some helpers standing on the side of the stairs were laughing. She recognized some of them. They were Dalya's enemy whom the maid had a fight last month.

"What are you laughing at? Go back to work!" she yelled.

"Yes, Miss!" The group dispersed in a blink of an eye. One by one, they ran away from the stairs.

The wind blew from the open balcony when she passed by the hallway. Her heart was still heavy as she walked straight to her room. She heaved a sigh when she was inside the medium sized room and she hastily went into her bathroom. She bathed sad and resentful. Then, she came out just after half an hour.

But when she turned her gaze to the bed, she was startled to see a large box lying there. Her forehead furrowed, her eyes lit up when she realized what it was.

With just a towel wrapped around her body, she ran to hug the box and opened it. Her heart jumped with joy when he saw various international and local erotica books. She took them out of the box one by one and laid them on her bed. She kissed every tangible books.

No one can describe how happy she was. Jewel seemed uneasy with what she saw as happiness flowed in her like a wild river, and if she could just eat the books, she would have done it.

There was almost a hundred books when she laid out the last of it on her bed. She threw the empty box on the floor and quickly picked up her phone on the bedside table.

She immediately took a picture of those eye-catching books with lustful covers, then took a selfie with them. She opened her social media account and sent the photos to the group chat with her friends.

In less than three seconds, she received a notification. Hazel had replied to her chat.

[Hazel: Wow, Laine! You hoard the books! That's awesome!]

Another person joined the chat.

[Tiara: How cheap.]

She made a face when she read Tiara's comment. Well, the girl did not reach the level of her addiction to erotica books... yet.

[Gabbi: Sh*t! Be able to hoard some!]

She was startled when her phone vibrated and a notification popped saying that Gabbi had replied to her message. A chuckle escaped from her lips as she typed her reply.

[Jewel: More books to come!

#bookAddict]

She laughed as she put down the phone but it rang, making her jolt. She almost fell from the side of the bed where she was sitting at. A frown made its way to her forehead as she answered the call.

"Have you seen Ara's book?" Hazel's enthusiastic voice shut her annoyance.

She thought for a moment and her eyes widened. She squeked in excitement also. "I haven't seen it yet! Gonna check it out right away!"

She quickly reached for the laptop and turned it on. While waiting for the website to load, she hastily went inside the walk-in closet and chose a green dress that's knee-length. When she's all dressed up, she ran her way out of the closet and sat on the edge of the bed and. Her hand reached for the laptop and put the thing on her lap.

Her eyes glimmered as the screen displayed her favorite author's website. She logged into her account and skimmed over the latest book release.

It was only then that she remembered that she hadn't turned off Hazel's call. She looked at the phone's screen but the call had long way ended. Her shoulders shrugged and continued her business to Ara's website.

She chose Bundle 3 of the new bundles added, with special dedication, and a voucher -- ten percent discount on future books. She paid using her E-Card. After filling her order, she wandered around the website.

Her forehead furrowed when she saw a comment that was quarrelsome. Her eyes stayed on a toxic fan's account name, but then she decided to shrugged it away. She's not that lowkey to even quarrel with some faceless guys over the internet.

She happily stretched her arms, put her laptop away, and stood in front of the wall near the balcony. She pushed against the wall and a small door came to view. Her foot took a step forward into the secret door and her hand reached for the switch to turn on the flourescent lamp above the small and little dusty room.

There was light in the small room full of books. On the wall was the bookshelf that held the books she bought five years ago up until the present. Another bookshelf had been prepared for her future books. Some of the books inside the bookshelves had a creased cover, and some had lost its color. But she piled all of the damage books in one corner.

That room was built six years ago. She was 13 years old when she asked her mother for a library.

Because her mother also wanted to see her read, she had that room built for her to study. But Jewel got bored with those monotonic and uncreative articles, so she turned her attention to Tagalog Romance Pocketbooks. Until she read a book written by Aranew Taliman. It's a sexy romance with lots and lots of explicit bedscenes. That’s where her passion for erotica began.

Maybe it's true what Gabbi said that she became an erotica addict. But her reasoning, 'it's okay to read as long as her fantasies will remain in fictional world.' Well, at nineteen, she was still a virgin without an experience. She thought she needed those books to learn how to please her future husband.

She snorted at the thought.