Zara stared at him as though he’d suddenly grown a second head, her arms slowly loosening from their fold as disbelief momentarily eclipsed her anger.
For a heartbeat, she seemed too stunned to even process what he had just said.
Then—
"WHAT. Do. You. Think. You. Are. Doing, Alexander Abyss?!"
Her voice echoed through the room, sharp enough that Alex swore he felt it in his teeth.
Alex instinctively leaned back a little, blinking in surprise, one hand still pressed to the sore spot on his skull.
’Why does she look... flustered?’
His brows knitted together, gaze flicking over the high color in her cheeks, the way her eyes wouldn’t quite settle on him.
’WAIT!!’
’She is flustered?!’
’WHAT—’
His thoughts screeched to a halt.
Fragments of his dream resurfaced, hazy and disjointed at first, then sharpening with uncomfortable clarity.
An endless imperial banquet stretched before him.
A table overflowing with countless delicacies, steam curling up from dishes he couldn’t quite name, the smell of it rich and impossibly vivid.
He had been seated proudly at its head, eating to his heart’s content, utterly and blissfully unbothered.
’So... it was a dream.’
’But it tasted so real...’
His expression slowly stiffened, the easy confusion draining out of his face by degrees.
’Wait... food... eating...’
Alex turned his head, slow and reluctant, like a man dreading what he already suspected he’d find.
His eyes landed on Zara.
Then, almost involuntarily, they drifted toward the faint bite marks scattered across her shoulder and the side of her neck, small crescents of color against her pale skin.
Silence.
’oh...’
A second passed.
’Oh...’
Then realization struck him like lightning, jolting straight down his spine.
’OH...’
’...So that’s why everything tasted so damn real!’
Zara unconsciously lifted a hand toward the marks, fingertips hovering just above her own skin, lightly touching them before immediately stopping herself, as though she couldn’t decide whether to hide them or simply pretend they weren’t there.
She tried her best to compose herself, shoulders straightening, chin lifting in that familiar, practiced way, but the growing warmth creeping across her cheeks betrayed her efforts completely.
A faint blush slowly spread across her face, deepening the longer his gaze lingered.
Alex simply stared.
She looked...
Ridiculously adorable.
’I wish I had a camera in this world!!!’
He couldn’t tear his eyes away, some distant, more sensible part of his brain screaming at him to look literally anywhere else.
Then reality caught up with him.
He was the reason she looked like that.
Blood rushed in a lower region, heat crawling up from his collar in an instant, because he realized what was happening.
’FUCK!’
’I need to leave before—’
Panic took over, sharp and immediate, scattering every coherent thought in his head.
Then an idea flashed through his mind.
"I have to go, emergency, sorry!"
Without waiting for a response, Alex launched himself off the bed and sprinted toward the bathroom, bare feet slapping against the cold floor.
Seven years ago, Zara would have caught him before he’d managed a second step, closing the distance faster than he could blink.
Now?
He was just fast enough, only if he played it smartly.
Grabbing the blanket as he passed, he flicked it into the air behind him in one smooth, desperate motion.
The sudden distraction was enough.
By the time Zara brushed it aside, batting the fabric out of her face with an indignant huff—
The bathroom door had already slammed shut.
"YOU—!"
Her frustrated shout rang through the room just as the lock clicked into place, final and unmistakable.
***
"Haah... haah..."
Alex leaned heavily against the back of the door, one hand over his chest as he slowly slid down until he was sitting on the floor, heart still hammering from the sprint and everything that had led to it.
He let out a long, exhausted sigh, tipping his head back against the wood.
"Oh, damn..."
A nervous laugh escaped him, half disbelief, half something closer to giddy panic.
"Good reflexes, Alex."
He nodded to himself with exaggerated seriousness, one finger raised as though awarding himself some invisible medal.
"Incredible save right there."
For a few peaceful seconds, silence returned, broken only by his own breathing gradually slowing.
Then...
His curiosity got the better of him.
’I wonder what she’s doing now...’
’Is she still angry?’
He hesitated, only briefly.
’A little peek wouldn’t hurt anyone.’
Convinced by his own terrible reasoning, Alex slowly rose to his feet, joints protesting faintly, and carefully cracked the bathroom door open.
Just enough to see through the narrow gap.
The sight that greeted him stole the words right out of his mind.
Soft morning light filtered through the room, casting everything in a gentle blue glow, catching the dust motes drifting lazily in the air.
Zara was lying on his bed, completely still.
One hand instinctively covered her mouth as though she were trying to hide her own reaction, or perhaps stop herself from saying something she’d regret.
Her usually composed expression had completely fallen apart, cracked open in a way he rarely got to see.
Her obsidian eyes darted about uncertainly, wide with embarrassment, disbelief, and lingering indignation all at once, unable to settle on any one point in the room.
A vivid blush had spread across her cheeks, refusing to fade no matter how hard she tried to calm herself, one hand pressed briefly to her own face as if she could will the heat away.
Strands of her dark hair framed her face in delightful disarray after waking, a few loose locks falling across her cheek, making her look far less composed than she usually insisted on appearing.
[ Image ]
For perhaps the first time in a long while...
She looked genuinely flustered.
Completely, unmistakably, adorably flustered.
Then her eyes met his.
Time froze.
"Y-YOU BASTARD!"
Alex’s eyes widened.
"Oh no."
A pillow was already airborne, launched with far more force than a pillow had any right to carry.
He reacted purely on instinct.
SLAM!
The bathroom door shut just before the projectile struck it.
BAAM
Silence.
Alex slowly looked downward, paused, watching the reaction of his body.
"...Ummm...I really got hard from that..."
His shoulders relaxed, tension bleeding out of them in a slow exhale.
Then the corner of his mouth twitched upward into a helpless smile, equal parts embarrassment and something warmer underneath it.
’Sigh...’
’I guess I’ve been completely bewitched by a shadow maiden...’
Deciding that lingering any longer would only make things worse, he turned toward the shower, running a hand back through his disheveled hair.
There was only one thing left to do.
"SELF-CONTROL!!!"
His voice echoed through the bathroom as he stepped under the cold water, the sudden shock of it doing absolutely nothing to cool the heat still lingering in his face.
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End of Chapter 97: Hickey?!
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