Chapter 101: I fear his growing obsession for me.
Ahriman and Cornelius were startled by the loud crash upstairs.
They hurried to the third floor and saw Erebus furiously flung the doors open and stormed out of the chambers.
He held the battle axe in his left hand and stomped downstairs without paying any attention to them.
Jafar was a few steps behind them and tried to approach him.
He brushed him off and growled like a beast.
"Leave me alone."
He let him go, while still holding a letter that was delivered by the imperial messenger.
"Another disagreement between them." He sighed and looked up.
Ahriman and Cornelius were still shaken from their unfortunate encounter.
"L-let's proceed." He escorted him.
Cornelius was relieved that Erebus was out of sight.
He did not want to carelessly mess around provoking a demon, unnecessarily incurring his rage.
The doors of the chambers were wide open.
They saw Luciana making an attempt to get up with Nemesis in her arms.
Cornelius hurried to help her before she tripped on her dress.
He caught her on time and offered her to carry him to the bed.
"Thank you Neli."
"Please don't exert yourself. Your Highness."
He gently laid him on the bed and was cautious enough to not wake him up.
"He has grown so much. And has gained weight." She knew that she no longer could lift him up.
"He kind of looks like you." He complimented his refined features.
She laughed and took it as a compliment.
"But he's not your highness's biological child."
That last sentence struck her. She did not respond to him.
Cornelius waited for her answer.
She looked at Nemesis soundly breathing. His eyes were puffy from all the crying.
"Yes he is not our biological child." She told him about Nemesis.
"No wonder he emitted pure energy." He now understood that Nemesis was an Amanécerian orphan.
"I'm surprised that he accepted him as his own kin."
She smiled wanly and told him about the people of the domain and their lives before settling in Stygian.
"He never refused anyone who had forsaken salvation in his lands. He lets criminals and the shunned start a new, allows outcasts and abandoned ones to live a life free of any worries. Even when there is not much. Their faces tell it all."
-"She's talking about that scary beast right?" He couldn't believe his ears for what he was hearing.
"Your Highness!...are you really at peace in this place?"
He was concerned about her far more than before. He anticipated that she might be compelling with such an overwhelming situation by cooping up her own feelings deep down.
She felt disturbed by it. Her mind was already conflicted and too exhausted to take any risks that could end her life.
She felt her her lower abdomen and then looked at Nemesis and pursed her lips.
"I'm tired of all of it now Neli. Everyday is painful for me. To accept it by force. To bear with the servant's stares and gossips. Some even have lustful desires. It makes me overly uncomfortable. Even if there are few of them who care about me. No noblewoman can live in this place out of her own will. I'm too conflicted. If I leave here, how will I deal with the shame from my people? I can't go back. Nor can I proceed to get remarried."
"But Octavius is still blindly after you! He will be a great father to that boy!"
"Neli please!"
Cornelius fell silent to her plea.
"I can never go back to the way we were. This marriage was consummated." Her voice trembled with fear of remembering the night Erebus had embraced her without hesitation.
The silence in the room was an inevitable response she received.
"Don't tell me....you mean to say that you're.... expecting?"
She felt embarrassed even though it was bound to happen sooner or later.
"Neli...I can't really escape now with his child in my womb."
She looked at his worried expression.
"Don't be like that. Atleast you can help me out while you're here." She reassured him to not worry about her.
"This is really awkward. I thought I could take your highness back to Amanécer. Aria will not let me live." He groaned and scratched his head.
"Aria? Have you finally managed to woo her?"
She forgot her worries and teased him about her.
He told her about their engagement.
"Although I wanted to hold it after bringing you back."
Luciana shook her head and congratulated him for taking the step ahead.
"Aria must be worrying about you right now." She knew her sisters like the palm of her hand.
"Oh yes!" He suddenly recalled the things she requested him.
He frantically got up and pulled down two bags he had tied to himself.
"Oh! The seeds I asked for." She got up excited to study them.
"I hope the soil is suitable for them."
"Don't worry about that your Highness! This excellent alchemist will be at your service from now on. Oh and here is the newly developed linking device that Canute and I have made. It is the best version." He bragged about it while Luciana earnestly listened to him feeling the nostalgia coming back to her.
"It is always refreshing to talk to you." Her stressful thoughts had vanished.
"Please don't tease me your highness!" He felt embarrassed for once.
"I'm being honest. Neli please don't refer me as your highness. The servants here except for my husband's aide do not know that I am a princess." She advised him to call her by a different title.
"Then...my lady it is." He swore to keep her secrets with him.
"But where is your lord husband right now? I saw him leave quickly. He was in a rage that I got scared of him." He shuddered trying not to recall his anger.
Luciana looked out of the window and remained quite.
"I fear that he will never let me go. He will persue me to the ends of the earth until I die."
Neither of them had exact solution for anything. They just stayed silent lost in their thoughts trying to make a way for them to leave safely.
"Even if he tries his best to control himself.I still fear his growing obsession."
"My lady is like a tamer of the beast. I am confident that you'll be fine." He tried to reassure her from her fears.
"You are too kind for your own good."
"I can be mean too. Especially if someone tries to take away something precious to me."
He realized his fears if Aria was taken away from him.
-"Maybe that obsession is the feeling of insecurity. He might be fearing that Luciana would slip away from his hands and he would not be able to have her back."
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