Lovesick

Lovesick 2

The man paused in silence, then answered.

"You said that by being alone with you after hurting me will make me build a dependency towards you." Valentine spoke in a soft voice, he felt the sudden exhaustion seeping in to him. It's probably the poison in the whip. Or the glass of water that Lady Selene gave me a while ago. It can be anywhere.

But Valentine like this time the most.

In times when he's in his weakened state, she's always by his side. When he's in pain and vulnerable like this, she will surely be by his side for a fraction. That's one of the reason why he grew to like the pain. The same pain that she caused will be pacified by her. She will talk to him and keep him company for a short time.

And that short time with his Lady Selene made him breathe. The short company with her kept his last strand of sanity from snapping. In a deep, secluded part of his mind, it somehow made him look forward to every pain that she will inflict on him, just so he can have that little bit of attention that she will give after every pain. He knew long ago that how he think was utterly sick and twisted. But this is exactly what he felt and he realized that he can't turn that back now.

His mind is no longer his.

Valentine knew that it's not his fault for being sick. This is just what my Lady Selene shaped me into. Just like how he can never stomach calling her in his mind with her name only. She made him call her Lady Selene and even in his mind, he cannot force himself to disrespect her by calling her without a title.

"Hmmm," Selene circled her arms around him, dressing his wounds in a white gauze. "Do you feel it now?" She asked him back, feeling a faint curiosity in his answer. She doesn't really care about him but she still needs to flourish him like their perfect lamb.

Valentine didn't know why as he never felt embarrassed before but the moment that he decided to speak, he felt his throat tightening all of a sudden so he just nodded tentatively. He didn't hear anything for a while so Valentine assumed that she didn't see him so he opened his mouth to answer. But Selene beat him into it. "Then how much?"

Selene let out a cold smile behind him and continued. "How much do you depend on me? What will happen to you if I made you leave and command you to never come back?"

Valentine didn't expect that she will question him back. Now that he think about it, he felt a sudden prick in his heart. He will.....truly be crazy if that happened. He'll die.

He doesn't want to even think about it.

"I d-don't know." Valentine settled with an ignorant answer after a moment of silence. He thought that it's the best answer at the moment. Selene however thought otherwise.

"You....don't know?" Selene paused then resumed with a knowing look behind him. "Or you don't want to know?" With her continuous nonchalant questioning, Valentine knew that he cannot lie to the woman. So he answered truthfully. "I don't want to know." He will just answer her honestly instead of being pressured like this. Besides, he's incapable of lying to her. Even if he attempted to, his mind will punish him even before Lady Selene does.

To his surprise though, she ended the conversation with that. Staying silent even after she ended the bandaging.

She only bid a short farewell before she left and permitted him to sleep in the hall oustide of her room. Not the black room or his own room. Which made him extremely happy and grateful to her.

His heart was enveloped in a warm feeling.

~

"Welcome back sister! That was fast." Elias beamed at the appearance of her older sister. She gave a gentle smile to his direction as usual. Then gazed at the man sitting at the head of the coffee table, sipping a lukewarm tea. He adjusted his gold rimmed glasses and lowered the book on his hand leisurely. Lifting his gaze to look at the side.

When their gazes met, Selene greeted him politely. "Eldest brother." Selene lowered her head slightly as a respect then directly sat down beside him. The maids swiftly served refreshments as well as some light flavored tea. As they knew her preferences over the years.

The man whom Selene called as Eldest brother is called Jun. He's the first born child of the Marquis Fasci family. Since he's the eldest, he naturally will inherit the position as the successor.

The first born doesn't always have to be the successor, any sibling competent enough for the position can compete with each other, but now that the five of his siblings are dead and only three of them are alive. It's not like there's still any competition happening.

Jun let out a bittersweet smile, remembering his deceased siblings.

"He'll be 18 after a few months Selene, is he ready?" Jun spoke up in a somber voice, burying the painful memories again in his mind. His apathetic mature face scared the servants standing at the corner.

Their hearts screaming with 'the young Marquis is truly terrifying'

"He's been ready since last year eldest brother, you already know that." Selene let out a soft smile while slicing a blueberry cake. The servants stared dazedly at their young mistress. As their Marquis terrified them because of his mature face, their young miss enchanted them with her beauty. Aside from the Crown princess in the capital, nobody can contend with their young miss in terms of beauty and elegance.

Her manner of speaking, walking, eating and every action reeks of sophistication. It was no doubt that she is the treasure of the Fasci. Her disposition obviously belonged to the aristocratic noble family.

Jun narrowed his eyes at her words and asked, "If he's been ready long ago, why do you still insist in excessively doing it." Elias also curiously look at his sister, eldest brother Jun was obviously talking about the amount of torture that Valentine is subjected to.

Selene chewed for a few more times, then wiped her lips slowly. Her actions seemed to be so careless, like a gentle wind unafraid of anything. "Brother Jun, did you perhaps hear of the process of taming wild stallions?" She stopped for a few seconds but resumed immediately. Her question didn't really seek an answer from others.