Don't mention it

"Whatever you think you feel for me just cut it out," he added.

"Why?" she asked in a low and sad tone.

"Luisa, I am a man with many wants, you can't handle me," he began.

"Yes I can," she objected.

"You couldn't even handle a single kiss," he pointed out.

"It's because it's my first time, I'll get better, I promise," she responded, tears forming in her eyes at the fact that he was rejecting her.

"Cut it out, Luisa!" he yelled at her, his cold aura coming back, hovering around him trying to swallow her as well.

She bit her lower lips. It healed immediately she let go, biting her lips was a habit of hers and she was lucky she was an elf with quick healing.

"Stop it, that's an order. I'm not the kind of man you want to be with," he said trying to scare her.

"But you kissed me back, didn't you?" she questioned.

"You kissed me first. Are you hung up on that? Well I was only trying to teach you how to kiss better for future reference," he used his earlier tactics on her. The air became thick between them with tension and the butler was the one who ended it as he entered the drawing room.

"Master Zeke, Duke Avalor of Caradane is here to see you," he announced.

"Really?" Zeke responded almost sarcastically.

"I haven't seen him for a long time now. I wonder what brings him here today," Zeke added. He stole one last glance at Luisa before leaving with the butler.

Luisa's legs weakened all of a sudden, she leaned on the table before she sat on the round couch behind the table and the silent tears began to walk down her cheeks majestically.

This feeling hurt even more than jealousy, to love someone and not have your feelings returned.

...

Zeke opened the door to the drawing room slowly. He had just bid the Duke goodbye, the Duke only came to catch up with old times.

He walked into the room and found Luisa seated in the couch, her head on the table as she slept off peacefully.

He walked towards her and squatted in front of her. The dangerous facade he had earlier had dissipated the moment he saw her sleeping. His gaze on her softened as he removed some strands of hair that hovered on her face.

He saw the lines of dry tears on her face which showed that she had cried to sleep. This stupid shortie of his, why did she have to fall for him? She shouldn't have, now it will be hard for her to fall out of it.

He saw the way she looked at him now, there was no way out of it unless he helped her by making things hard for her but how could he possibly do it now. Looking at her, he has discovered that she has succeeded in leaving a soft spot for her in his cold and stony heart.

He should have rebuked her the moment she kissed him but instead what he did only ignited her desires for him. He didn't even know why he kissed her back, it was as if that little sweet kiss of hers teleported his senses away.

She was a good and lovely young lady, a girl that was going to grow into a beautiful and strong woman, she wasn't the problem, he was. He wasn't ready to open up to anyone, he didn't even expect to open up to Luisa as much as he had already done.

He was afraid to love anyone again, all the people he ever loved were either gone or had betrayed him. The one he despise most was losing them, with love comes pain and he wasn't ready to go through all that again. He didn't want to lose or hurt this little shortie of his, he doesn't deserve her.

He slowly carried her in a bridal style and took her to his room. She wouldn't be able to wear the night gown again as she was already fast asleep and he didn't want to wake her up. He tucked her in and freshened up.

He wore his night attire and went to the balcony. Soon, the butler brought in a glass of blood. Zeke collected it and the butler excused himself.

Zeke spent quarter of the night sipping the glass of blood slowly and smoking just a piece of cigarette.

...

Luisa's eyes opened slowly, adjusting to the light. A beautiful face hovered in her blurry vision that slowly cleared for her to see Zeke staring intently at her.

She smiled at him, she hoped it was a dream, wanting to forget all about yesterday. It would be the best dream she has ever had so far since her parents and clan were murdered as she only dreamt of them, reliving all those horrors over and over again in her dreams.

Sometimes she doesn't sleep, afraid to dream and only succumbed to sleep when she was truly tired, only to wake up shaking with horror and fortunately sometimes she doesn't dream and that night would be a peaceful one.

"You are finally up, hope you slept well because you slept like a log," he greeted removing her from her world. So it wasn't a dream, then she guessed she didn't have any dreams yesterday. She slowly got up;

"Yes. What about you?" she asked him and he gave her a small smile.

"Yes," he replied and got up. He was already dressed up and only lied back to savour her beautiful sleeping face.

"Get ready, we leave today for kimoira," he reminded her. She had totally forgotten, Fernandel was really a peaceville, somewhere to forget about all your troubles, worries and problems, she didn't feel like leaving all of a sudden, she wanted to stay a bit longer.

She freshened up and wore the other set of clothes Zeke bought for her that consist of a pair of trousers, a shirt, a brown leather bodice and boots and she perfectly tucked her medallion that was around her neck inside her chest.

She joined Zeke for a quick and quiet breakfast. Things surprisingly wasn't awkward between them after what happened yesterday but it wasn't as sweet as it was. Luisa felt a little bad about it, neither of them brought up what happened yesterday and only talked randomly.

If shutting out her feelings for him was all it takes for her to keep this sweet bond with him, then she would try, but how...

After the meal, they departed immediately for kimoira. When they got there Zeke personally walked Luisa to her quarters. He left to meet with Nuka and the others.

He opened the two sided doors and entered the room. Inside stood Nuka and that ginger red haired witcher and sat two leading mages.

"Hey, there's Mr. vacation. How was your vacation, aye?" the ginger red haired witcher started.

"Such welcoming gestures, I'm flattered," Zeke said sarcastically and the witcher grinned.

"You seemed really fond of this elf girl, no wonder you agreed to teach, some people even calls her Zeke's favorite now," Nuka informed and let out a sardonic laugher.

"I'm not sure you would do it again if she manages to pass the final stage," he added but Zeke only stared back at him with a poker face.

"After the humans among them heal enough, they shall undergo the final stage, the trial of the grasses," Nuka continued.

...

Luisa slowly walked towards their room in their quarters. She eventually got to the two sided door and opened it. Now the room looked empty with only four of them remaining.

She really missed Heron, and surprisingly... the pestering Davis as well. She walked into the room ignoring the three boys and then she sat on her cot.

"Hey..." a voice said and she looked up to see Gideon. "Are you okay?" he asked in concern.

"Yes," she nodded

"I never got to thank you for saving me, thank you," he reminded.

"Don't mention it," she replied

"Seriously, thank you. I'm... I'm so sorry about heron and the others..."

"I said...Don't.Mention.It" she cuts him off almost aggressively. She lied on her cot and shut her eyes trying to reduce the heaviness in her heart.

Luisa found herself in the red swamp again when she woke up. She began to run, she ran to see if she could find anyone.

"Luisa?!" she heard Heron's voice calling out for her. She started running towards the direction his voice came from.

...