The servant's daughter and the aristocrats' son engage in a prohibited bond.
Melanie moves in with her mother to work in the Kingstons' household, who have just had their son, Kai, come back from a mysterious absence.
After Kai walks in on her at...
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When I came back from work, Kai was sitting by the fountain.
My legs refused to move and pass by him. A five-metre radius around him felt like a danger zone. If I got close, I’d get sucked into a blackhole.
But I had to eventually go inside.
I took small steps towards the double doors of the mansion, keeping my head hung low as if I had never noticed him in the first place. My irregular breaths were creating a white fog around my mouth in the cold.
“Melanie, I was waiting for you,” Kai called.
My skin grew goosebumps. I stopped on my spot. Why couldn’t he just let me pass and pretend he didn’t see me? What would he want from me?
I craned my neck his way and found him smiling, but his features were barely recognisable due to the dim lighting. He had his arms propped backwards as his body leant on them.
“Yeah?” I responded, fists clenching.
Kai hopped down from his place and walked up to me. He stared at me, scrutinised me, then his eyebrows knitted. “You look pale as if you’ve seen a ghost. Are you okay?”
I gulped. “I’m fine. It’s just cold.”
He nodded then stuffed his hands in his pockets. “How was your day?” he asked, noticing my exhaustion.
I looked up at him, blinking. “My day?” I pointed to myself. I almost snorted. “It was normal. School, work, and now I’m back home.”
“When do you not have work?” Kai pressed his lips in a tight line.
“Huh? Why do you wanna know?”
Kai smiled at me and rubbed his nape sheepishly. “I wanna take you out if you have the time and don’t mind.”
I thought my ears were playing tricks on me, but no, Kai Kingston was very much in front of me and asking me out. I wished it was that easy. I wished I could say yes immediately and go on with my life, but the simple answer to that request held a lot at stake.
I licked my lips, thinking of the right words to say, so they wouldn’t hurt him and wouldn’t embarrass me at the same time. “Kai…” I stammered.
His goofy smile grew wider. “You didn’t actually expect me to spend a lot of time with you and get intimate then not try to make it serious, did you?”
Oh, wow. I actually did, and it gave me a sense of relief that we didn’t have to get serious and face his parents —simply enjoying a short-lived euphoria. No one would ever know about what we were doing as long as it stayed behind the closed walls of the library.
