Siana

"So, what"s up with your voice?"

"It"s just a sore throat after the flu," "Ed" lied blatantly.

"Oh, I see. It sure sounds that way," Sia retorted with a smile that wasn"t a smile at all.

At her expression a shiver pa.s.sed through the man"s spine but he decided to ignore it as he was used to this kind of a feeling whenever he talked to her.

"So, do you live in Veturia or Ribekia?" the man asked trying to distract his mind from the nagging feeling he had been having for a while.

"Why would you a.s.sume that I live in one of those places?" Sia asked questioningly.

"Well, you don"t necessarily need to live in one of those places, but I couldn"t possibly name all the cities in the world to learn where you are from, could I?" Ed said with a smirk.

"Well, I guess you have a point there. I am from Ribekia. What about you?"

"Veturia."

Even though Sia could feel that her seatmate wanted to say something more she rushed in to ask a question first,

"So why are you flying to Ribekia, if that"s not a secret of course?"

For a moment, the man looked at the girl intensively. After taking in her sight he breathed in and out deeply and then started looking out of the window.

After a few moments, he answered with a slight smile that was well hidden by the mask,

"I am going there for the love of my life."

Sia looked at him quizzically and, finally, after some time spoke again,

"So, is this love of your life your girlfriend or your wife?"

Her neigbour once again looked into her eyes through the thick lenses of his gla.s.ses and again looking out the window said with determination and also some apparent impatience in his tone,

"She is my woman, and she soon will be my wife too."

As if a paparazzi interviewing a famous star on his love life, Sia continued asking,

"So does that mean that it"s a mutual love?"

The man furrowed his brows at her question and answered while this time not diverting his gaze from her,

"She might not still realize her feelings for me, but I will make sure that she does."

At his words, Sia gave him a bright smile and said encouragingly,

"Oh, I wish you the best of luck then!"

Her smile then disappeared momentarily, replaced by sadness. Turning towards the window she stared at the pa.s.sing clouds in deep thoughts. Taking a secret glance at her neighbour she then continued with a sigh,

"I wish my crush would also be like you. I mean, he is obvious with his feelings but he doesn"t have the guts to say them to my face."

At her words the man"s gaze became incredulous and soon uncontrollable coldness and bloodthirst starting oozing out of him.

"Your crush? And who is it if you don"t mind telling."

Even though he tried to control himself one could easily tell that he was speaking through gritted teeth.

Feeling his aura the people in the business cla.s.s braced themselves for the worst to come. The devil was ready to kill.

Sia gave a slight smile to him and said,

"I literally met him recently thanks to my trip to Veturia. Honestly, like your woman, as you call her, I guess I always avoided accepting my feelings for him. But now sitting here I realize how much he means to me and how much I want to share my moments with him."

The man took deep breaths to control the raging anger in him. He didn"t talk for a while and didn"t look at her side either, thus completely missing the smirk on her face. When he finally turned to her she was already looking out of the window with a desolate aura around her.

"Are you sure that you like that man. What if it"s just attraction and not real like? What if you just haven"t met the love of your life and he is just ... just a way to kill your boredom?"

Sia turned to him and making an angry face she retorted,

"You know ED, when you told me about your crush I didn"t jump to conclusions and didn"t laugh at your love that honestly feels laughable to me. I mean, what do you mean by "She might not still realize her feelings for me, but I will make sure that she does"? Do you think that if she had feeling for you she would not realize them by now without you explicitly telling her that? Honestly what rights do you have as a stranger to judge me?"

The man"s expression turned even darker,

"Huh? Stranger?" He laughed self-mockingly and sadness could be felt in his voice. With a lowered tone and much less hoa.r.s.e voice he continhed, "yeah, I guess you are right. I am but a stranger to you Siana, am I not?"

He clenched his fists trying to control his emotions. He couldn"t burst here and not in this kind of a situation. He couldn"t blame her for what she said. She was right. He was but a stranger she met for the first time. He was digging his palms with his nails without even realizing the self-harm he was causing himself. He felt like all life had faded away.

He always knew that She was the source of light and warmth in his world of darkness and cold. She made him feel alive and willing to live. She simply made him feel. She made him human.

And now she decided to just walk away from him because of a guy she met just a few times. Was Will better than him? No, he couldn"t accept that. He didn"t want to accept that.

He could feel the coldness invading his body when suddenly a source of warmth surrounded his fist.

He opened his eyes and looked with surprise at the delicate hand that was now covering his own. He looked up to her and he couldn"t help but feel contended seeing her smile.

"I am so dumb. The answer is so simple: all I need to do is to protect that smile of yours. Even if it means I will suffer, I will make sure that you are happy. You are all that matters to me. If you truly like someone else I will do everything in my capabilities to support you from the shadows. But before that, just give me a chance and let me try my best to conquer you. If you truly don"t like me I promise I will disappear from your life straight away."

He returned her smile with a slight smile of his own. But the next second his smile froze upon hearing her question,

"So are we done role playing dear seatmate Ed, or shall I call you King? Or actually, maybe I should go for your real name Cain, should I not?"

While he was frozen at his place she reached with her hands and gently took off his gla.s.ses, then the mask and finally the beanie, revealing a man so handsome that even women would be jealous of.

"You really are even more handsome than in the photos!" The girl said with astonishment while cupping his face and looking straight into his eyes.

"So, are you really surprised, My Dearest King?"