【He’ll always put Elara’s feelings first. He’s terrified that this is all just the drug, that one day she’ll wake up, leave him, and despise him…]
[Let’s not be too hard on the Chancellor, guys. Elara ignored him for years. The whole city knew she was in love with that psycho Kaelen, her childhood friend. It’s only natural for him to be this insecure!)
【Keep a close eye on your girl! Watch out for Kaelen trying to stir up trouble again.]
I slept for a long, long time.
When I awoke, Julian had already left for court. Sunlight streamed through the latticed window, illuminating
the dust motes dancing in the air. All that remained of him was the faint, cool scent of sandalwood that
clung to the room.
“Lady Elara, you can sleep a while longer,” a servant whispered. “The Chancellor gave strict orders that no
one was to disturb your rest.”
I hugged my knees, sitting in the quiet room, surrounded by his scent. The poison had been suppressed for
now.
But the person I longed for was still him.
‘Lady Elara, Lord Kaelen is here to see you,” the servant announced. “The Chancellor forbid us from waking you, so Lord Kaelen has been waiting for two hours.”
wasn’t chasing after Kaelen anymore. Why was he here?
Outside the residence, Kaelen stood under a blossoming apricot tree. Soft pink petals dusted his shoulders,
but they couldn’t warm the dark chill in his eyes.
“Elara. Why did you come out of the Chancellor’s house?”
“Why do you smell of him?”
I looked up at him and smiled faintly. “Does that have anything to do with you, my lord?”
6/17
1737
Chapter 2
“I’m just an empty–headed doll with a pretty face, nothing compared to the brilliant Lady Seraphina.”
17:38 27
“Kaelen, you should go find her. You two are the perfect match.” A psycho for a schemer. I was giving him m sincerest advice. I had heard every word he’d said that night.
A flicker of panic crossed his face. “Elara, I was drunk that night. It was just foolish talk.”
“I never looked down on you!” he insisted, his hands clenching into fists. “But you! Why didn’t you come to me that night, when you were suffering so much from that aphrodisiac? Why did you go to Julian instead?”
“Elara, don’t you call him ‘Cousin‘? What is really going on between you two?!”
He grabbed my wrist, his grip painfully tight.
“Let go! Don’t touch me…”
The poison was only suppressed. His rough handling made my skin crawl with revulsion. The familiar heat
began to stir again.
Kaelen’s eyes narrowed, watching the change in me. He smirked, tipping up my chin with a callous finger. “T- he poison’s not gone, is it?”
“So, he didn’t touch you!” A look of relief and triumph washed over his face.
“Come to me, Elara.”
“I’ll cure you. I’ll marry you, how about that?”
“We were always meant to be, childhood friends…”
[Go away, psycho!)
[She’s ignoring him and now he’s crawling back? What a pathetic loser.]
[Let’s crowdfund some dish soap to wash that grease off his face!)]
I slapped him. Hard.
“Kaelen, don’t force me to hate you!”
His head snapped to the side. He licked the corner of his mouth where it was already starting to swell.
“Elara,” he said, his voice dangerously low, “Julian has spoiled you rotten.”
“Your eyes, your heart… they used to belong only to me!“14
Julian’s sedan chair, having returned from court, was parked just a short distance away on Sparrow Avenue.
I don’t know how much he heard. Or how long he had been watching.
“Julian!” I cried out.
7/17
17:38
Chapter 2
17.36
I tore my arm from Kaelen’s grip and scrambled into the confines of Julian’s carriage. The space was small, barely enough for two people.
“Elara,” he said, his gaze flat, his emotions unreadable. “Did you enjoy your chat with Lord Kaelen?”
The comments went wild.
[Elara, look at the veins popping on the back of his hand! He’s about to drown in his own jealousy!)
[Kiss him! I promise he’ll surrender completely!)
[Remember, Elara: the angrier he gets, the harder you kiss. He’ll be putty in your hands…]
Really?
I leaned forward and pressed a soft, tentative kiss to the corner of his tightly drawn lips.
He froze. The veins on his hand stood out even more starkly.
“Elara,” he murmured, his voice a low, dangerous laugh, his eyes dark and still. “Who taught you to appease a
man like this?”
He asked the question, but his arm was already snaking around my waist, pulling me down. I tumbled into
his lap, into the intoxicating cloud of his sandalwood scent.
“Was it Lord Kaelen?” he bit out, each word sharp and tight.
I would never be able to explain the strange, glowing text I could see.
“No,” I said quickly. “I learned it all by myself. I’m a natural.”
“Don’t you… like it, Cousin?”
Julian closed his eyes, refusing to answer. He let me press kisses to his eyelids, to the high bridge of his
nose.
Suddenly, the world spun.
“Elara…”
‘Don’t start a fire you can’t put out.”
His Adam’s apple bobbed.
A deeper, more demanding kiss fell upon my lips, stealing all the air from my lungs.
15
A full incense stick later, I was a boneless puddle in Julian’s arms.
I finally believed it. He was addicted to me.
B/17
