Sweet Innocence and Gentle Sin || 𝐀𝐂𝐎𝐓𝐀𝐑

Chapter 27: Our Gentle Sin

In the madness and soil of that sad earthly scene. Only then, I am human. Only then, I am clean

Content Warning: graphic smut... have fun

skip to the ~)(~ symbol to avoid smut. but please read the end of the chapter :)

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It was so silent that my mind conjured up imagined noise. Sleeping didn't feel right, as if I were betraying my body to escape reality. I was afraid to close my eyes, to let in the darkness that would surely consume me.

Slowly, I rose from the uncomfortable bed, having seen plenty of that boring ceiling to last a lifetime. I needed something to pass the time before sunrise, otherwise I would go insane. I threw on a heavy robe hanging off the back of the desk chair and left the room, my slippers scuffing along the stone floor. It was less for warmth and more to cover my thin nightgown that I had no care to change out of.

I started walking down the various halls with no real destination in mind, just a general understanding of direction. I hoped to circle back to my room and finally be tired enough to get some sleep. In the end, though, I somehow stumbled into what looked like a storage room... but with a suspiciously heavy scent of alcohol.

It seems my head and body had very different things in mind for the night. But I wasn't going to complain—or say no.

I needed something to calm the racing in my mind and loosen my muscles to make me forget the constant conflict inside. I wanted to wallow in my emotions and force myself to finally shuffle through them after a long period of blindness.

I tried to unpack a couple of bottles of dark liquid quietly, shutting my eyes as the lid of the crate snapped open. It was probably not that loud, but the otherwise silent space made any hint of sound amplified.

With my goal securely in hand and the lid replaced just as I found it, I stepped out and started walking back to my room. It wasn't exactly quiet in this place—no more quiet than it always was. I knew guards were patrolling upstairs and many were awake late into the night to work and celebrate victory.

I didn't worry about being loud as I walked through the halls and uncorked one bottle, tucking the other under an arm. I took a large gulp and felt the warm, velvet liquid slide down my throat with a slight hiss of wine. The oak mixed with the sweetness in a way that made it easy to drink.

I was at a point in life where I stopped caring if someone saw me drinking straight from the bottle. It didn't matter what they thought anymore. My once glistening crown was now a heap of melted gold in the ash-covered fields.

It was a surprise then when I turned the corner and saw a familiar face standing at my door. I stopped in my tracks and lowered the bottle from my lips as Azriel turned his head and looked at me. His eyes glanced at the open bottle, then the one under my arm, then to my face, then back to the bottle again.

"What are you doing?" he asked, head tilted.

There was no point in trying to hide the evidence unless I wanted wine all over the ground. "Isn't it obvious?"

His gaze darted between me and the bottle again before his lip curled slightly and he said, "Planning on drinking both?"

I saw through his words and smiled, then took the unopened bottle in my free hand and walked up to him. "Of course I wasn't."

He chuckled and took the bottle from me, glancing back at the closed door. I opened it and stepped inside, dramatically outstretching my arm towards the interior to invite him in.