The Duke's Passion

"I don't want to look ugly!" she cried out in panic.

Samael froze for a moment before he asked, "Who said that?" and he strutted towards her, stopping when she's within his reach.

He couldn't understand the strange fury that surged in his heart with the sheer thought of her thinking that way. He never felt that — not before or now in this fickle state — she was an embarrassment… if anything, this unfamiliar sense of shame stabbed his gut.

"No, it's not… that," she answered, barely reaching his ears. It's definitely that, he thought. 

He had seen it, just moments ago, how Cassara raised her hand at Lilou. It would be more strange to him not to figure out that everyone in the palace shamed her. And yet, she was trying to come up with an excuse to not cause any more trouble. And he was letting her. (For reasons he couldn't understand himself.)

"Hmm." It frustrated him he had to keep his cool, scanning her as she tried to protect others… or him. Samael didn't know, but in his eyes, Lilou definitely knew a problem would arise if she mentioned a name.

But Samael wanted to try his luck for the second time, so he repeated. "So, who said it?"

"Pardon?"

"Are you daft? Or deaf?" He frowned, displeased at her excessive concerns and worries. She only needed to tell him to burn everyone, and he would. Forget about everything, and just leave the damn kingdom.

"What gave you that impression? I just want to look pretty in your eyes!"

'This false bravado of hers is aggravating but…' His thoughts trailed off momentarily. '… part of me thinks it's not a mere front.' And he found it admirable.

"You're not ugly," He said as she was the prettiest and purest flower in this hell. "I never thought you are. Oh, it never even crossed me even when you were snoring last night."

Samael never thought of working on his tone in his existence until now. It could be nice to sound a bit more gentle.

But to his surprised, her face flushed in red as a muffled, "Too sweet!" came out from her lips.

She puzzled him. He took a step forward as the strong urge to touch her — the only light in this grey world — overwhelmed him.

Usually, when prey meets the predator, they would flee for their lives. But this prey didn't run away, but instead walked around him while gazing at him with those strong, earnest, and curious emeralds.

'A leash I never needed,' He thought, brushing just a few strands of her hair, afraid she'd wither away if he came off strong. 

"Just put your hair down like this." He commented as looked pretty whether she put her hair down or tie it up like last night. "Hand me some hairpins." And the maid immediately handed out a pin crested with rubies.

'What am I doing?' He wondered as he clipped the hairpin on the side of her hair. 'Thinking how she'll look like if I put something on her hair?'

A quick, subtle smile flicked on his face, seeing how the hairpin clung to her hair. "Done!" he exclaimed as he spun her around for her to see the beauty he was seeing.

"See? You don't need to go through that hassle." He whispered, wanting to add, 'because even the rubies paled in comparison with your natural allure,' for clarity, but decided not to.

The way she touched the clipped while smiling pleased him more than when he releases his fury through violence. He liked it… somehow.

"It only looks good because you're the one who put it on."

"Oh, love. Don't mention it." He grinned as he thought she could just ask him next time, since he had done a better job than the maids.

Lilou just stared at him through the mirror, catching his attention while tickling his curiosity about what was on her mind again. He studied her, but wouldn't come up with proper reasoning behind those olive eyes.

He quirked his brows when she faced him squarely. 'What was she planning?' He wondered as he tilted his head to the side. 

"Ahem!" She only cleared her throat once before she suddenly stood on her tiptoes and planted a kiss on his cheek.

Samael's back stiffened for that second. 'What…' It was brief, but he heard his heart throb loudly against his chest, resonating in his ears.

He touched his cheek when he recovered. He could still feel the softness of her lips against his skin, and couldn't lie about how it felt nice.

"Thank you," she said, which made him raise his gaze, and was thrown in a daze at how pretty and bright her smile was.

'How could she… smile like that?' He wondered, fully aware of their situation and the hell they were currently stepping on. She could be just foolish, but her bright aura was too… contagious.

For someone like him who had taken the form of cruelty and heartlessness, her light was almost blinding. Was this, perhaps, the reason a part of him wanted to kill that light? Samael had zero ideas.

He didn't hate it, though. If anything, her light felt more refreshing. No wonder Samael fell for her the first time he laid his eyes on her. Lilou's aura was just different.

Right now, he couldn't say he felt anything more than curiosity and obsession. But Samael knew he was falling deeper… in hell. And in hell, he never thought he'd ever desire to be someone else's personal hellhound.

'Really… she will drive me crazy.' He muttered helplessly in his head before she grabbed his hand, and suggested, "Let's go?"

And all was left in his memory was the warmth of her palms and her hair flowing back as she dragged him to quench her growling stomach.

'Ah… why did I even decide to shut off my emotions?' He wondered, forgetting the reasons he was driven to such a decision. However, there was this tiny part of him that felt that it was not that bad.

Being accepted even at his worst… it didn't feel that bad.