Chapter 07 – That Pretty Boy

The young lord swallowed hard at that. Obviously, aside from pointing out that the emperor does not have the right over Durham’s matters, there isn’t anything else he’s prepared to rebut.

The room isn’t scorching but Eve can feel cold beads of sweat forming on her forehead and bare back. If a genie would appear that moment and would ask her for any wish, she would tell it to have her transported to a different world where she can live freely.

She’s not liking the conversation right now. She doesn’t want the feeling of being trapped, not knowing what to do like what she felt in the past. She’s not the kind of person who’s obsessed with powers or position but she hates not being in charge especially when it comes to herself.

“I’m not obliged to tell you anything about me and the lady, though I must warn you that she is mine and I am not exactly fond of sharing my woman with someone else.”

At this rate, Eve’s cheeks are practically burning. When she has composed herself and mustered the courage, she stood up from her seat, and faced the emperor who raised a brow at her sudden movement.

“Emperor Arsene,” the words that came out of her seems to do not belong to her but she does not want this to go any further. “Let’s talk outside, please,” she didn’t wait for an answer. A knight was about to stop her but Arsene told them to stay on their position. Everyone could only watch her leave with the emperor at her tail.

Once they’re outside, she made sure that they are at least a meter away from each other before she faced him.

“What the hell, are you talking about there? And why are you even here?”

Instead of answering her, Arsene just gave him a blank look. Eve silently cussed to herself. Every time that the Dawn Conqueror Knights will be off to an expedition, she sees to it that she’s equipped and ready. She has mastered a lot of skills through the years but nothing prepared her for this moment.

The emperor then closed the space between them and when he’s just inches away from her, he lifted his hand and tilted his chin upwards. She didn’t have the time to react when Arsene lowered his face and gave her a quick, soft kiss on the lips.

“I came to take you home.”

The kiss left Eve in a deep shock that she was not able to say anything more let alone remember what happened after that. She just came to a realization that she’s in an unfamiliar carriage right now with Arsene who’s busy reading some documents he’s holding.

Her mind is still in a swirl, with a lot of questions yet the more she thinks about it the more she felt confused so she has decided to just tame her thoughts. After all, she can feel that Arsene won’t leave her alone just yet so her questions can wait.

The carriage is spacious that it could carry around ten people but she ironically feels suffocated especially sharing it with the person she least expected to meet again in this life.

Eve silently gazed at Arsene who’s evidently absorbed at what he’s doing. It has been seven years since they last saw each other and from what she can tell, a lot has changed about him physically. He used to describe him as a pretty boy, one who looks like a flower in a well-tended garden. She recalled a lot of ladies let it be nobles or commoners being immersed in his looks even though he was just from The North of Forsythia who happened to be extremely talented when it comes to swordsmanship, hence he was able to be in The Capital and received proper education.

But looking at him now, Eve came up with a realization that there are no traces of how she remembers him that she can see right now. That “pretty boy” sitting in front of him is already a man. A powerful man, to be exact. He may still have that red, jewel eyes he used to love the most about him but obviously he is a different person already. He has this cold, dark aura that she can sense from him that the thought of it gave tingles at the back of her neck.

“Like what you see?” she almost jumped upon hearing him said that without tearing his eyes off from the documents.

“I’m sorry if I offended you. I did not mean to be insolent.”

Instead of replying, Arsene put down the documents beside him and looked at her sternly. He’s been hearing a lot of stories about her through these years, but it seems to him that all of it were lies especially the part where they told him that Guinevere Calypso, is a fearless woman whose eyes are always voided of any emotions and unfazed by anything.

Even of death.

Because the woman in front of him right now is just how he remembers her. Her cheeks are beet red when she’s shy, and she also fidgets a lot when she is uncomfortable.

“I could only imagine what if I didn’t arrive and sort out that marriage proposal for you.”

Eve looked up to him with uneasiness. She’s searching his face for any emotions but unfortunately, she can’t see anything aside from his blank expression.

She swallowed hard, carefully threading her response. “If His Majesty did not arrive, I won’t still be marrying Lord Calix. We may be not a powerful house but I am sure that my brother won’t allow it.” she said with conviction.

Arsene smirked at that and shifted on his seat, crossing his legs together. Eve tugged on the cape he put around her shoulders last time when they went out of the mansion when he noticed her bare back. The emperor looks menacing right now it’s as if the temperature inside the carriage has dropped.