A deep sigh left Celine's mouth, feeling completely empty. She could only wait it out.
There was no Lucian to speed up the process for her, and she was not ready to face the onslaught by herself.
'Maybe I should start daydreaming like him,' she thought, 'Let my little husband keep me company, since someone certain doesn't want to,' she complained to herself.
She had no idea where these desires came from. Maybe it was her soul, trying to remind her that she was a human being and not a dead fish.
Distracting desires that didn't stand in the way of her goals, and, in fact, were pushing her toward her goal of living her life, not just surviving.
"Master, the merchant from the north is outside the camp," Maya reported to her.
'He's not going to keep his distance without a fuss, is he?'
He should leave before she decides to take another piece of his flesh to chew on.
'He says I'm eager to die, but is it not he who keeps coming to me and offering himself up to be butchered?'
She thought Lucian had come to stop her from using his seeds and remained seated, resting.
It's good her face was covered. She didn't have to go out of her way to look presentable to him. She could look like the corpse she was inside.
Soon, a familiar silhouette stepped inside.
She didn't say a word and also didn't offer him a seat, so he took one on his own. By the buckets of water that were brought in for her bath.
He casually removed his mask and cloak, throwing them on a chair. His disheveled hair fell around his face, framing his features, making him look even more attractive in Celine's eyes.
He scooped a handful of water and washed his face with it, then rinsed his mouth. His head tilted to the side, his gaze landing on Celine, his expression a bit distant.
"I want to see your face," he said.
"Why?" she asked in return.
"I'm not a fan of talking to masks."
His tone was quite unsettling, given how calm it was.
It sounded like he had lost his usual playfulness and turned into the calculating devil he had always been underneath that mask.
He began unbuttoning his vest, revealing the bruises she had left on his chest, then pulled off his shirt, and started wiping the dirt off his body.
A particular one caught her attention. Definitely not her doing. She would have been irked at the sight of it if she were in her normal state. But instead, it was just an observation, and nothing more.
Once he was done with his upper body, he started to remove the belt and his pants.
"I want to see your face," he repeated, looking her straight in the face, "Now."
Her observations told her that Lucian was trying to regain his control over her.
"Or what?" she asked, "You'll throw a tantrum?"
He stood up and walked towards her, his pants hanging low on his hips, exposing the lines that disappeared beneath the waistband.
Tempting devil using seduction against a corpse was unfortunately not a winning strategy. She felt no temptation towards him, only a need to show him his place.
He was more complicated than a book of riddles. When she thought she had him figured out, a new page would appear in front of her.
But the more pages she uncovered, the more she would fall under his spell.
The spell of fascination and admiration.
'How is he able to control the shackled?' she wondered in hope that he was not an awakened shackled, because the thought of her being played with like a doll made her furious.
If Lucian was indeed an awakened shackled, then she was in danger of being betrayed by him.
Yet somewhere inside, she trusted his capability to control the situation.
At the same time, she had to keep her guard up. If he was not in control of the shackled, then the awakened shackled was going to use his knowledge of her to strike at her weakest points.
'Where are the good old misunderstandings that could be easily resolved through talking?'
Celine was not one to talk things out anyway, so she was not too concerned. But it would be nice to have the option, wouldn't it?
It all started with how he picked up a fight with her, only to end up giving her an apology hug.
He had already started showing signs of understanding what was going on at such a young age, but she had dismissed it as a coincidence and then tried to explain it away as his little ego not liking to be seen in a less favorable light.
From her friend to her avoider. She explained it as him being afraid of her status and his inequality to her.
She truly believed that was the case. Seeing him work hard to change his position in life was admirable. She even tried to help him, but was turned down with excuses.
The excuses started to pile up, but then again, they both had a lot going on in their lives.
Even his attempts at correcting her behavior were half-hearted at best, and the way he was trying to paint himself in a good light was laughable. Creating contrast to highlight his best qualities made him seem insecure and not a gentleman at all.
Weren't they smarter than this?
Their conflicts should have been solved with a wave of the hand, yet they were not. He kept pushing her away, and her pride wouldn't let her take it lying down forever without retaliation.
All of this just for him to show up, seduce her, and disappear.
He would pop in, make sure she was still infuriated, and then leave.
Then he would show up again, make her believe they were making progress, and then dash her hopes.
Over and over again.