บท 13: The Two in a Reverie
Not only is he playing the role of her captor, but this time around, Zen's trying to fit in the shoes of a thief -
One who's capable of stealing something she already lost, a heart.
At that momentous minute, a whirlwind of emotions seeps through their unyielding gazes. As they get pulled together by an imperceptible, irresistible magnet, Anastasia can't avoid letting her eyes wander over his beauteous frame.
She can clearly make out that unsullied perfection on his exterior - a face that lacks even a dot of blemish.
"Oh gosh... H-He... He has no blackhead..." she thought in silence, slightly flinching at this realization.
For some reason, Anastasia suddenly feels intimidated by his flawless facade.
Zen is about to shut his eyes close, completely enraptured, when she leans backward in flummox out of nowhere. Her hand unceremoniously lands on the piano keys in the process, causing a loud, distorted tune to echo all around them and breaking this dream-like moment.
Jolting in surprise, both of them then end up staring at each other with eyes as wide as saucers.
"U-U-Uhhh..."
Anastasia feels like digging a hole at this very second while Zen is about to have a meltdown.
He appears taken aback by how she retreated at the last minute. Too enchanted by her glistening sapphires and soft, rosy lips, he didn't realize that he's already leaning forward in an attempt to capture every spellbinding detail of hers.
He assumed that she was in it either, considering how she still hasn't pushed him back.
But then, that happened.
Just when he thought that everything was finally going the way he had always dreamt of, she suddenly backed out. Now, surprise and bafflement are the only reactions he can decipher from her nonplussed face, and not even a faint blush can help him keep his hopes up.
"Does she... dislike it?"
Zen feels something shatter in him just by thinking that.
He didn't mean to force her into it, though. He didn't mean to catch her off guard and make her look at him with those skeptical eyes.
Unable to bear her lack of response and the sprawling silence any longer, he decided to man up and take the lead again.
"It's getting chilly. Should we go back now? I'll take you to your room," Zen voiced out, veiling his inner turmoil with his trademark sunshine smile.
But even then, Anastasia can nail down that trace of disappointment in his tone. He's probably serious about earlier, after all. Otherwise, he wouldn't desperately conceal his dismay with such a congenial facade.
Most of all, though she has no idea why, she also feels a tad bit disappointed. It's as if she just lost a chance that she tried to earn so hard before.
Then, days passed after that incident.
Things have been awkward between them, or so how Zen saw it. Anastasia started keeping her distance. She also couldn't look at him straight in the eyes.
Now, he feels like building a time machine to go back to that moment and insist his past self to restrain his teenage hormones from doing anything unplanned.
"Ughhh... I still can't believe I went ahead and jumped to plan B. We should've gone on a couple of dates first before doing something that intimate. I haven't even tried bringing her flowers either..." Zen grumbled underneath his breath as he sulked and cooped himself up in the kitchen.
An idea just happened to cross his mind earlier, and he's now about to prepare for it.
"... What's more, she didn't react the same way she used to in the past. Whenever I tried getting that close to her before, her face would be beet red almost instantly. She also couldn't stop fidgeting when I'd stand beside her, and she'd jumble her words from time to time. She kept making a mess either..."
Now, Zen isn't boasting nor assuming when he says that Anastasia was that helpless when he's around. He'll never forget all of her weird antics in the past.
"...She was cute and clumsy."
With that in mind and a giddy smile on his face, Zen proceeds to put on an apron and readies the ingredients.
He's planning to bake something for Anastasia as a way to make up. Though he's not confident with his cooking ability, he thinks he can manage if he'll just retrace his memories for the right process.
She did teach him about it multiple times before.
"I'm not really good at this kind of chore, and even before, I used to have personal chefs who'd cook for me. I almost forgot how to properly use an oven too... However, I'm the only one who can make this now. I shouldn't give up too soon," he pondered in silence, steeling his resolve to see his plan through.
While Zen is busy making a racket in the kitchen, Anastasia is presently strolling around the castle all by herself.
Acting on guard whenever he's around is probably not the best way to wrap things up, but she thinks that both of them need to recollect their bearings. He's most likely taking some time to cool down after his failed attempt to initiate contact the other day, which works best for her since she can freely roam around on her own.
At this moment, she just reached a spot she didn't visit yet - an enormous field with a festive plethora of flowers.
"Woah~ How beautiful..."
Everything in this castle always leaves her in awe and wonder-stricken, but this place in particular is the very first that suits her taste.
It appears very revitalizing with how the clear celeste sky reminds her of what it's like to be free. It's definitely her ideal resting place.
"Mind if I go out, then~" she chirped in a sing-song voice, ready to step a foot outside.
That's until an explosive boom suddenly echoed throughout the hall, making Anastasia jump out of her skin in nonplus.
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