I BOUGHT THE DEVIL

P8

          **Author's note**
So I just observed that there is this one reader that doesn't fail reading the book's update. I wish you would dm me so I can dedicate the next part to you. I hope this note finds you bubbling with life(⁠｡⁠♡⁠‿⁠♡⁠｡⁠).

    "Daya? Daya? Are you even listeni-"

"Someone kissed me!" I explode.

Aliya's gentle eyes start growing round. She jumps off of the bed and hurries to close the door. Her bedroom is quite similar to mine in terms of space, but too colorful. She loves brilliant colors while I indulge all the quite ones. Her taste in art is quite adorable, she will make a good wife someday in the near future...always the organized one.

   "Are you mad sister? How can you say such a thing? Tell me, who dared defi-" It's my turn to dash out of bed and cover her mouth.

  "You're now the crazy one. Who said I was...defiled?" The word roll out of my mouth with a taste of disgust.

She muffles under my hand while her eyes scold me. I press my lips together, doubting if she can keep it to herself.
In a sluggish pace, I lower my hand.

   Aliya takes one step back.
"What were you thinking sister? Do you not know how bad this can taint your reputation? Which man would marry you if they heard of such a wild exploit?"

I sigh moving away from her. She has a point. That, I cannot deny.

      "Nobody else knows."

"Daya!" She takes my hand while ridding the short distance between us. "You know I have your best interests in heart when I tell you to please never repeat such a thing, okay?" Aliya pleads lovingly.
    He was just healing me.

"By the way, wasn't your nose-"

  "A minor injury! It is better now." I fake a smile, but the skepticism in her eyes is bright as a sunrise. What a shame, if she had received the kissing side of the story with an open mind, I may have been honest about how I have miraculously recovered.
*

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After a night full of thoughts and mixed feelings, morning finally came. It was splendid and full of life as always. Today, I had set a goal of finishing reading Knight of Night, a romantic novel that Aiden had brought me from his latest business travels after our last conversation on the gazebo.

   But he asked me to hide it from our parents and brothers. For an unmarried girl is forbidden from reading such kind of books, even punishable by ten canes.

Breakfast!

Mother and father are talking about something Mr Lexington said in court. Cyrus, our elder brother, contributes, while his wife, Janet, keeps flashing smiles at the others.

Cyrus is the only married one among the three brothers, while Luca, our second brother, has just been engaged recently.
    Aiden doesn't bother the least about marriage, he is only twenty three. He also promised to marry only, when Aliya and I get married. Which should be after our eighteenth birthday.
I still have one year of freedom.

   "...some died while others disappeared!" I catch the last sentence Cyrus utters. My head pops up while my mouth goes on with the process of chewing the scrambled eggs. Delicious!

  "Cyrus!" Father almost yells. His eyes bounce between Aliya and me then back at his firstborn son. "You cannot talk about such thi-"

   "Father! We are grown up now!" Aliya interjects with a sweet smile. "If we don't learn how to grace such conversations, won't we be useless to our future husbands?"

   "Hmm!" He hums to himself, eyes on the table.

"She is correct!" Aiden suddenly speaks up. His green pair falls on me. "They really are grown up. Let them learn and be informed about how things are going on in Lashire."
His gaze holds a glitter of mockery. I am very well aware what he meant.

  I clear my throat, breaking eye contact with him to look at father.

"Was the case of Lord Sebastian closed?"

   He shakes his head while frowning.
"Sadly, nobody knows what happened that night. Not to mention the disappearance of his familiar."

My right brow peaks. She ran away?

No, maybe she died alongside her master! But if that was the case, why didn't they find her body?

   The pact could only be broken willingly, death of the master means death of the familiar. And from how horrible she looked like, Sebastian couldn't have willingly freed her.

"Could it be related to the killings in Lashire prison?" Luca asks in a speculating tone.

Father lets out a long sigh, his face full of worry and grief. How will he explain to the people that prisoners were murdered or captured? I had heard even the guards died.

    "These are small waves of the dark storms approaching." Mother says. We all dart our surprised gazes towards her. She had a way with sensing coming dangers which eventually came to pass. And hearing such words from her, creates a patch of fear around my heart.