Moonlight Ball

What if I’m wrong? What if he really called Rosemary “Ris”? Iris second-guessed herself and couldn’t help but ask. In response to her query, Sidrain raised his eyebrows as if he was surprised but then proceeded to smirk playfully at her.

“I am destined to be in love,” he whispered in Iris’ ear, his hot breath lightly grazing Iris’ neck.

“Since when?” Iris continued to prod.

“Since 14 years ago. In front of your door,” Sidrain quickly responded.

“Don’t, don’t tell me you know who I am?” Iris’ voice trembled, worried that her secret had been found out by the King.

Sidrain didn’t say anything. Amidst this momentary silence, he slowly intertwined his hands with the hands of his first love. It was a surreal moment for him. He felt calmness wash over his body yet his heart pounded loudly against his chest at the same time.

“Ris, you know what? I’ll tell you a secret story, too.”

Iris nodded at him. She found it difficult to breathe, as she expectantly awaited his response. It felt like an eternity before Sidrain finally spoke.

“14 years ago you were my girl, and now you are my queen, Ris. Whoever you are, remember that you are my queen and this fact will never change. I will never let anyone take you away from me. Never.”

Iris lifted her gaze and looked at Sidrain. She was so close that she could only see his eyes piercing against her soul, but she couldn’t exactly recognize the expression on his face.

“You’re going to have to kill me or else,” His voice softly caressed her ear, almost like a soothing music reserved just for her.

***

The sun slowly peaked through the horizon, signaling the beginning of a new day, and the sky appeared like a beautiful canvas painted with light hues of orange, pink, and blue.

As soon as Iris opened her eyes, she noticed a man lying next to her. He didn’t seem to be breathing. She guesses it was probably because of his face. In a good way, his features were symmetrical, but in a bad way, he lacked individuality, as he appeared almost like a sculpted granite statue. He was a personification of a statue.

Iris was compelled to reach out and touch the tip of his nose, even though she knew his face always looked like this. You’re not breathing, are you? She jumped to her feet. Uh, what should I do?

As a full-fledged wizard, she could distinguish living creatures from nonliving things in a split second. But the person in front of her was no ordinary man. He was confusing and intriguing, which made her restless. She gathered courage to rouse the man from his deep slumber and muttered in a voice as loud as an ant.

“Excuse me.”

Iris then reached out and touched the man’s neck. Fortunately, his pulse was beating. She let out a sigh of relief. Should I be worried? Maybe the Sword Master never breathes because he’s assimilated with a sword? Even if he’s a Sword Master, if he doesn’t breathe then…

While lost in thought, a strong arm suddenly wrapped around her waist. She couldn’t even scream despite the sudden spike in adrenaline. Soon, she heard the man chuckle mischievously. As she opened her eyes, she was sitting atop the king’s body. The king looked pleased at her surprised reaction and was smiling charmingly at her.

“Hi, Ris,” he deeply muttered, voice still raspy from sleep.

Last night’s events passed like a flash at his words and Iris felt a chill run down her spine, like electricity coursing through her every nerve. Iris looked down at the king.

The king entrusted her to Elena yesterday, and shortly after, Elena hurriedly brought her out of the party. No one seemed to have heard the conversation between the King and Elena, but Iris could sense that Elena acted with the intention of saving her from an imminent chaos.

Iris was immediately accompanied back to the castle, and as soon as she reached her bedroom, all her handmaiden hastened to take off all her clothes and accessories as quickly as possible. The bathtub had been prepared for her and as soon as she stepped in and felt the relaxing warm water against her skin, she became extremely drowsy. She had a lot to think about that night, but she couldn’t process anything because of how overwhelmed she felt. She was beyond exhausted both mentally and physically. Eventually, she let herself wind down from all the tension bottled inside her. It only took a couple of minutes before she fell asleep, so deeply, that one might even mistake her as a corpse.

And now the morning has finally arrived.

Last night a man who wasn’t there was now lying next to her, hugging her, and putting her on top of him to greet her with a sense of familiarity. He even called her ‘Ris’ again.

“Your Highness, I…”

“Call me Sid. That’s what people close to me call me.”

Why is he addressing me this way? Iris thought to herself, her eyes widening in disbelief, and Sidrain laughed at the sight.

“My baby brother, my nanny. There are a few that call me by that nickname. ”

“That sounds disrespectful,” Iris commented and pouted adorably.

“I think that’s the least disrespectful thing you’ve ever done to me. But you know what?” Sidrain pulled Iris closer and whispered sexily against her ear, his husky voice making her cheeks flush bright red. “I like it when you disrespect me.”

And he truly meant it. Iris could tell.

Sidrain wanted Iris to be a little more selfish towards him. He wanted her to wish and beg for something. Anything at all and he’d give it to her in a blink. Not knowing what Iris fancied made him nervous. He had tried to buy her a bunch of jewelry and diamonds, but she merely ended up using them for the public bidding. He’d admit that her idea was great and the people of the capital praised her for her generosity, but the fact remains that he still hasn’t bought her anything she’d like to keep for herself. Meanwhile, she had done all she could to contribute to the royal palace.

“But Your Highness…” Iris called him nervously, but Sidrain shook his head.

“Sid,” he corrected her.

“S-Sid.”

Iris didn’t get along with people and had a hard time turning people down, so she often gave in easily to requests. She eventually called the King, ‘Sid’.

The moment she called him Sid, his ears burned as if he had a fever. It made him gulp. The way his name rolled off her luscious mouth was sweet and sultry in his ears. He never liked his name as much as he did when Iris said it. It was like burning hot chocolate, melting all his reasoning and logic.