The Monster and the Witch

⚜︎ Ep 29: Don't Kill Carmine ⚜︎

The sound of birds singing woke Carmine up. Her eyes opened to sunlight appearing from the gaps in her curtains. Her eyes blinked several times until she got used to the light.

She noticed her body was wearing a bathrobe instead of her nightgown. It took a moment for her memory to remind her that her nightgown had been ripped to shreds by Damian. Then who put the bathrobe on her?

Damian?

She turned to her right side, where a man should have been lying. Or was last night just a dream?

As she remembered what happened last night, a burst of pink smeared her cheeks. No, there's no way it's all just a dream.

She felt a little disappointed that the man was gone. It felt... a bit cold. As if she was being used and after he was done and satisfied, he threw her away. Didn't Damian say that intercourse is between two people? He didn't even say goodbye to her and it irritated her.

Wait... 

Carmine rolled her eyes.

This is bad.

She shouldn't have thought about him that way... What did she expect from the Duke? Their intimate act yesterday was a common activity performed by married couples and it became their obligation to each other. Only that. Nothing more. Carmine should wipe out her disappointment. She didn't have the time and obviously, she didn't have any reason to feel irritated that he was nowhere to be found in the morning.

The girl tried to sit down. Instantly, pain emerged from her lower abdomen. 

It hurt a lot.

"Ah!"

Biting her lip, she moved her legs towards the floor even though the pain had not subsided. As soon as she tried to stand up, her legs gave up fast causing her body to stagger forward.

Shit.

She prepared herself for a clash with the floor when a large hand caught her. Shocked, the girl looked up. Her red eyes met Damian's green eyes. The sunlight made the man's blonde hair look radiant.

Damian was wearing the clothes that she had delivered yesterday to the bathroom. A casual white shirt with black pants. Watching the man's face in the sun allowed her to see the small details on his face. The facial hair on the man's jaw was beginning to appear. She also noticed a small mole on his chin.

"Be careful," the man said. His heavy voice created goosebumps on her arms but she wasn't scared at all.

"You're still here," she said more like a whisper. That turbulent feeling came back inside her.

Why am I glad that he's still here?

Damian chuckled to answer her. Then he put one hand below her knee and lifted the girl back onto the mattress. He rested her on a pillow. The movement made the pain spread back throughout her body. Surprisingly, it drew an anxious expression from Damian.

"I'm going to call a healer for you," he said. He was about to leave when she held his sleeve.

"Is he trustworthy?" she asked in a serious tone.

Damian immediately understood the meaning behind her words. She knew the girl had a fast healing ability. And all this time she had managed to hide that fact. It was clear from the look in her eyes that the girl did not want her secret to be revealed yet.

"Bran's been my family healer since my teens," he said, "He'll keep his mouth shut."

She nodded.

Damian rang the bell that he took from her dresser. Soon Lisa arrived and Damian instructed her to call Bran, the healer. Bran came in just a matter of minutes. His eyes kept glancing from Damian to Carmine and then to Damian again.