11:59 PM
WHEN the night came, Luna went to his room and spent the night with him. He was reading her books and she would listen until she fell asleep.
He closed the book as he looked at her closed eyes. She was breathing fine and it was peaceful. He put down the book on the table, rested his elbow, leaned his head on his fist, and stared at her face.
You made it.
Yes, she made it alive. She won't die in this castle. It's been eleven months since she came in, and changed her creepy castle to a brand new antique castle. He didn't stop her from making changes that time because he wanted to see what she can do and what she can make. Who thought that she could turn on the lights in his castle in the morning? And she put flowers inside his castle, it was kinda... adorable. And her cooking...
Who could have thought that he was hoping she would cook for his meals forever? And that he can taste it? He has never loved a dish in his whole life but now he is craving for the food she makes. He wanted to demand but he didn't want to force her. He wanted to command it and obliged her to do it but he didn't want to overpower her.
He scoffed. When did he become doubtful of his power?
It's her.
It's because of this only woman who has ever slept in his bed, the only woman who wasn't afraid of him, the only woman who can tell him what she really thinks, and the only woman... who isn't disgusted with him.
"querida..." He stood up to move his curtains and the light of the moon struck his face. He was looking above thinking only one thing.
El Hermosa Luna, the Beautiful Moon...
DAYS passed, Luna had been naughty to insist on sleeping on his bed. He didn't decline either so she continued barging in his room and requested him to read for her. Sometimes they would converse with some things relating to their opinions on what he is reading.
"Where do you sleep, querido?" She once asked him before laying on his comfy bed.
"Demons don't sleep.
"Then what is the purpose of this bed?"
"Lying"
"Not for sleeping?"
He clicked his tongue, making her chuckle. And then she wanted to ask more.
"How old are you, marido? One thousand years old?" She teased.
"Who told you?" She heard him grunted and she can visualize his raging face, about to explode in anger.
"I just took a guess."
"I am not as old as Nevarro."
That was an annoyed answer. He was forced to say that instead of answering her directly.
Since when did he become conscious of his age? Like it matters.
She laughed before covering her whole body with his thick manta.
"It's okay, querido. You don't have to be shy about it." She beamed and sniffed his smell in the bed.
"You really smell good, querido." She closed her eyes feeling sleepy.
"Thank you for today."
Spending the night with him, she becomes addicted to conversing with him and listening to his voice. She would sometimes annoy him because she knows he won't argue with her.
It's always been good... with this bed.
He was there speechless. She was playing with him and she didn't give a damn with his age. He is 100 years old and it is pretty old for a human being. He lived in a luxurious dark castle and was consistently disobeyed by his human prey. And about his concubines, he has concubines but never met them all.
Whenever a concubine visits him, he would be polite in greetings but would drive them away after. He wasn't focused on having a wife. She was focused on being free.
THE sunlight would wake Luna up. She would then run to the bathroom to smell it. Then she would fix the room before going back to her own room.
"Milady." Gael approached her who had just finished changing the flowers in the castle and was disappointed because he didn't make it in time to fix the King's room. That's why he is sure that he will lose a limb later.
"Don't worry. You won't lose a limb this time Gael." She informed him before closing the door behind him.
That day, all she did was to busy herself with knitting. She would eat Gael's served snacks until she taught him how to knit. She would only stop when it's meal time because she's going to eat with the King and converse with him. When the sun sets, she would go to the garden and wander around picking them, smelling them or putting them on the pond. In the whole month, she had known some things about the King after exerting so much effort to annoy him before he would answer silently and coldly.
One thing she knows about him is that they have the same interest when it comes to books. Their ideas don't collide, they usually unite. He likes collecting wine and she saw them close. He likes the color white but he doesn't wear them. One time, she barged into his walk-in closet and she regretted going in. Her eyes almost went blind with all of his expensive stuff. From head to toe, she is nothing. She felt so poor and low just by looking at his watches.
"Sometimes, I think of becoming a thief, marido." She commented after closing the walk-in closet.
"If I can't get something from the carats in your bed, one watch inside this," She pointed to the door of the walk-in closet. "...will make me rich."
She hears him chuckling while she's getting back to his bed.
"Make time to see yours." She heard it, making her groan.
"I'll blind my eyes with sparkling accessories, marido. I can't go inside it." She lay in his bed comfortably.
"You won't like it if I get sick right? So don't make me sick with expensive things, marido."
She had never entered the walk-in closet beside her wardrobe. Her eyes were hurt with the brands of the dresses in her wardrobe, what's more in the walk-in closet? She will get blind.
"Mine is yours, mí querida."
She bit her lips sniffing his thick manta. Why does it sound so sexy when he calls her querida? It's normal but why does she feel so excited all over?
"Marido..." She spoke and sniffed his manta.
She didn't speak for a minute until she mumbled...
"I'm glad you happened to me." She then fell asleep.
THE next morning, she wasn't awakened by the ray of sunlight. She opened her eyes on her own and saw the glass windows become white. Half asleep, she realized that it was snowing and it excited her. Getting up from bed, she only tidied the bed because the room seems to have been cleaned. She went out to go to her room, fixed herself and wore thick clothing. She then wore the capucha, guante, and scarf she knitted for herself. She then exited her room, went downstairs and went outside the castle and played with the snow.
Later on, Gael went to her with a champagne long thicken overcoat hanging in his right arm. He bowed down his head motioning his right arm to her.
"My King wants you to wear this on the snow, milady."
Her cheeks flushed and did as he said. She undressed her own coat to change it with his given coat. She immediately felt the warmth making her grasp herself and run around the garden while jumping.
She has always loved the snow because it is the most exciting season, building a snowman and others that can be built through the fallen snow. She stopped as her eyes landed on his closed windows.
"I told you, we're the other Romeo and Juliet." She smiled as she spotted the open curtain on his room. That is where he usually sits and reads.
"I like tragic plays, marido. But since I've been here, I hate them because I want us to have a happy ending."
Behind those windows, he closed the book of William Shakespeare's tragic plays. Now he knows why she liked them. It is because it changes your perception to love, you become realistic and careful of your heart not to break. He heard her and he smiled.
"I hated tragic plays, querida. But since you've been here, I liked them because I hate to have a tragic end."
LUNA spent her whole day knitting. She was alone in her room because Gael was in his own room. After dinner, Gael told her to sleep early because of the snow. She didn't agree but he was persistent so she nodded. But as soon as she lay on her bed, she couldn't sleep. That's why she continued knitting. She wanted to finish what she was doing to give them to the King this midnight after sneaking out.
"It's done!" She stood up and lifted up the pair of guante she just finished knitting. She was so happy that she embraced it while giggling.
She then runs to a wrapped red box she made and puts it in with the other knitted things she had done. She closed the box and put on the ribbon. She clapped her hands and jumped out of joy.
Looking outside the window, the snow must be thick. She wore her own knitted guante, fixed her knitted red scarf, and capucha. She then walked towards the window to open it. Feeling a little bit cold, she lifted her right hand to catch the falling snow.
And as she was doing this, she only thought of her father and she felt at ease.
Papà. I'm happy. Don't worry.
She closed the window and the curtains before getting the gift she made for the King. She went out of her room, lit a torch, and walked towards the left wing of the castle.
It was 11: 59 AM, she was sneaking out to give him a gift. She was excited to present her gift not until she heard a groan of pain. She stood numb for a while feeling the weakening of her limbs as she hurriedly opened his door and then again she heard him moaning in pain.
"Marido?"
Panicking, she put her gift to the glass table and walked anywhere in the room to look for him. He was suffering in pain! She can tell that in the sound of his voice.
She heard another groan making her spot where he could be. He is in the bathroom! Without further thinking, she came to rescue, stormed herself in the bathroom holding a torch with her.
"Marido."
"Get out!"
She stiffened hearing him shout to her for the first time. She was looking at this... hairy wet creature who was clearly suffering in pain. No, he is in pain. She won't leave!
"Marido-
She was supposed to step one more but he felt his hand pushed her away.
"LEAVE!"
She stood dumb as she met his blazing turquoise eyes she had never seen before. She doesn't know why she felt trembling all over body. She couldn't move her feet and was feeling numb. She just found herself sprawled on the floor and the torch she's holding fell from her weak grip, and then everything in her vision went dark.
"m-marido..." She felt sleepy and then she closed her eyes.