Grim Reaper's Handmaiden [Grim Books:1]

Chapter 63

“What the hell is your problem?” He asked sitting up, stroking his pinched cheek as I held my laughter.

I pressed my lips tightly as I stared at his swollen cheek making his face look slightly uneven. Without another minute, I burst out laughing as I swatted his arm repeatedly.

I flinched once I calmed down, realizing what I had done. Both of us stared at each other, shocked at my sudden gesture.

That’s way too much for getting comfy, Chevel.

I looked away embarrassed as I slapped myself in my mind.

“Pft.” Dante snickered, breaking the awkwardness in the air.

“You can’t make a guy fall for you that way, doll.” He said, gaining my attention.

I shifted my gaze towards him, about to retort back when he flashed me a bright smile that greatly complemented his golden locks and ocean blue eyes.

It’s as if I was watching the sunrise before my eyes.

I then wondered how could someone so bright hide such darkness beneath their eyes.

“Dante, what were you like before you became a reaper?” I asked all of a sudden, guiltily taking the smile away from his face.

“What would you like to know?” He asked, making me somewhat surprised that he didn’t jest around this time.

I watched how his sapphire eyes gleamed as they stared up the ceiling as if he’s reminiscing his old days.

“About the picture..” I mumbled absentmindedly, instantly grabbing his attention towards me.

I covered my mouth as soon as I realized what I just said while he stared at me dumbfounded.

I slowly turned to look back at him who’s still staring at me with a blank face. He then suddenly flashed a small smile upon meeting my eyes.

“It’s fine. If that’s what you want.” He said, making my heart skip a beat. I blinked repeatedly trying to calm the pounding in my chest.

“Well, it all started during that one examination.” He began as I listened intently.

Dante’s POV(Flashback)

“You’re going to have a merged examination this time.” The proctor said, making the whole class excited.

He gestured towards the door and the guard proceeded to open it. Behold, the succubi and incubi came marching in lines.

The whole room was instantly filled with cheers as they come in. Succubi and incubi are known to have attractive and ravishing appearances since it’s one of the requirements to be one.

“You’re going to make a group with three members each. One or two of which are succubus or incubus, your choice.” The proctor instructed.

“This is such a drag.” I complained to myself as they all enthusiastically went to make groups.

I looked around for some leftovers and luckily I found a lone guy standing on the corner all by himself. I approached him and I smirked upon seeing the same bored look in his eyes.

“You see, I’m more of a lone wolf but we got no choice. So, would you like to team up with me?” I asked as he looked back at me with those death-staring emerald eyes.

“Agreed.” He answered shortly after.

“Dante.” I said, reaching out my hand for a shake.

“Gyth.” He answered, shaking my hand briefly.

One problem solved. Now all we need is one of those sly devils.

“Hey, you two. Can you include me in your team?” A scarlet-haired succubus said as she approached us.

I raised my brow as I look at her from head to toe. She’s obviously the annoying type.

I glanced over to Gyth who’s disinterested as I am but the clock’s ticking so we decided to stick with it.

“Sure.” I said and we introduced ourselves to each other.

We came to know that her name is Lilith and she’s aiming to be the best succubus in the underworld. A pretty grand dream if you ask me.

(End of flashback)

“Even with colliding personalities, we became close friends since then.” Dante concluded.

Silence filled the room as I got lost in my own thoughts. I disliked Lilith the moment I saw her but after hearing Dante’s story, I came to know that she might not be despicable before.

My curiosity grew bigger as time passed by.

“Of course that’s not really what you wanted to know.” Dante suddenly said, darting my eyes towards him in shock. It’s as if he was reading my mind all along.

“That photo was during our commencement. We all graduated as top of our classes.” He said and that explains the matching black cape they wore.

“Things started to spiral down once Gyth and I moved into the reaper's castle in the east.” He said as I fixated my eyes onto him.

“We were horrified by the amount of cruelty towards humans. They have always taught us in class that humans serve as slaves but we never thought that they would treat them as badly.” He said with furrowed brows.

I rested the palm of my hand on top of his to calm down his anger. He whipped his eyes towards me in surprise and smiled soon after.

“While the succubi and incubi resided in the king’s castle.” He continued after calming down.

“For a month, Gyth and I planned to get out of the reaper's castle once we get our own badges. Having your own badge signifies your singularity from the king’s castle.” Dante said, glancing towards my ring.

“If you noticed the photo, we all had the crimson badge. It’s the symbol of graduation and the king’s badge.” He added.

“As for Lilith, unfortunately succubi and incubi remain under the king. They aren’t privileged to have a badge of their own. That’s why Gyth and I decided to fetch Lilith once we got our own badges.” Dante said with serious blue eyes that can pierce through a glass.

“Since Gyth and I were the top of our class and good at doing our jobs, we easily got the king’s approval and got vested for our own badges. As you well know, Gyth’s badge is silver and mine is gold.” He said, flashing his badge on his chest.

I stared at it in awe for it’s the first time I’ve seen it. It has the same scythe symbol, the only difference is that it’s surrounded by gold.

“Once we’re vested, we flew towards the king’s castle to fetch Lilith, whom we haven’t seen for a month, only to find her actually coping very well.” Dante said, anger evident in his tone.

“We witnessed how she treated humans cruelly just like them. Even so, we tried to convince her to come with us but she refused, telling us how the king favored her. We blamed ourselves for the monster she became.” He said with utmost regret written all over his face.

“It’s during that time that I had a serious talk with myself. I decided to stay in that rotten castle to change its ways from within." He said with a look of remorse.

"But I guess Gyth misunderstood my intentions. That’s why it all became how it is today.” He wrapped up, drifting his gaze towards me and forcing a smile on his face.

A sigh of relief escaped my throat. For a second I thought they had a huge fight but it was all because of a misunderstanding. I’m somewhat relieved hearing Dante’s story.

“Thank you for telling me all this.” I said, locking my eyes in his blue ones as the setting sun’s rays shone over his golden strands.

Like the sunset, our day together is coming to an end and for some reason I found myself unexpectedly wishing for it to last a little bit longer.

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A/N: I got a job (´・ω・')