Chapter-21 Join University

"Shall we go?" Sebastian extended his hand for Elliana to take, and the latter looked at the hand as if she was looking at something alien.

She raised her gaze to Sebastian, looking into his hazel eyes, her heart increasing its pace at such a small gesture, and Sebastian didn't know what to feel about this girl anymore.

He was just extending his hand for her to place her hand so they could leave. One time he is trying to be nice, and she has to act so shyly. What will she do when he will actually -

Sebastian put a full stop to his wandering thoughts before sighing.

Elliana wiped her hand on her dress gently before placing her hand in his softly.

She acted like a curious cat and noticed how small her hand looked with his, even when she had long slender fingers.

"Hehe," She giggled, and Sebastian raised his eyebrows at her soft voice.

Did she just giggle? If yes, then why? And why the hell did it sound so cute? He looked at the innocent smile on her face as she looked at their hands that looked like she was comparing the size and couldn't help but sigh.

After they walked downstairs and sat for Lunch, Sebastian placed his cutlery down and looked at the girl with his full attention.

"Elliana, there is something I have been wondering about. You did your graduation before you went to prison for your sister's deeds, right?" Sebastian asked, and Elliana nodded before wiping her mouth to answer Sebastian.

"What do you think about joining a University?" Sebastian asked, and Elliana bit her lips.

"University?"

"You must've wanted to join one, right?"

"But I don't want to be a burden on the kingdom. The fee is so high these days. Besides, I will stay at home most of the time. You will waste your resources on me like this. It's not important at all -"

"I want my wife to be on par with everyone. You are not wasting my resources but utilizing them. I am rich enough to afford these things. Or do you have any misunderstandings about me being incapable of affording a thing as cheap as education?" Sebastian asked, and Elliana felt heat rising to her cheeks before shaking her head.

Stop it, girl! Why does your heart react like this whenever he mentions things like these? He just called you his wife, and you are swooning like he confessed his love or something. He is a vampire, for god's sake, and can hear your heartbeat crystal clear. Elliana scolded herself, and her heart immediately calmed down.

"If you say so, I will go," Elliana said.

"Which stream would you like to choose?" His next question made Elliana think carefully.

"I would like to choose science," Elliana fidgeted with her food.

"Great choice. I will have the arrangements done," Sebastian said before leaving the table once he finished eating.

"Did that just happen?" Elliana voiced out loud, and Miss Zoya smiled at her.

"It did, my love. You will be attending college too," Miss Zoya was happy, and Elliana smiled forcefully. She looked at Miss Zoya's big smile and didn't know what to think about it. Only if she knew Elliana was anything but happy with this decision.

"Mr. Prince," Elliana remembered something and shouted his name, following him out of the house, and the man paused, making her bump into his back before she rubbed her nose with a scowl.

"What is it?" He asked, and she bit her lower lip.

"Well, can you...ummm can you keep our relationship a secret? Like not tell everyone we are married? I don't want my college life to be influenced by that. I want to have a normal experience rather than everyone trying to coax me because I am your wife. You are a vampire prince," Elliana said, and Sebastian understood what she was trying to insinuate.

"Don't worry. Lucas will make all the arrangements," Sebastian looked at Lucas, who bowed at the princess.

Elliana looked at the man who was always with the prince and smiled softly.

"Thank you. I will be under your care then," Elliana was about to bow back in respect when Sebastian placed his finger under her chin, forcing her to look at him.

"You don't bow down to anyone even if you want to show respect. And you will be under my care, not someone else's," Sebastian said, and Elliana looked at him, confused.

However, Lucas, who felt the hint of jealousy in the prince's words, didn't know how to react to the situation. Should he be happy that the prince was finally starting to show humane reactions, or should he be annoyed because judging from how he reacted, it's going to be a problem for him in the future?

Elliana returned to her room after chatting with the chef for some time and was about to change her dress when something on the bed caught her eye.

It was a box wrapped like a gift. She walked to the gift and lifted it, confused.

"For wife," The gift said, and she was confused if she was supposed to open this box.

Sebastian didn't mention anything regarding a gift. What if it's someone else's? Don't friends buy gifts for their friends to save them from issues? Besides, he didn't have any reason to give her anything.

Today itself, she spent so much of his money. Elliana placed the gift back on the bed and was about to turn when she heard the ring going off.

Was it coming from inside this box? She brought the box closed to her ears.

Was it the phone that the prince was talking about? She felt excited like a kid and opened the gift wrapping hurriedly.

She took out the brand new phone from the box and smiled when she saw the incoming call from an unfamiliar number.

However, the name looked too familiar to her.

"Mr. Marino, my husband," The caller ID said, and Elliana chuckled with tears in her eyes.

This was the first time someone bothered to consider her feelings and comfort and bought something for her. She sat on the bed before looking at the caller id with trembling fingers.

She has talked to people over a landline before and has seen her bullies from the school using this device, but she never got the chance to use it personally.

The one time she took Madeline's phone because she wanted to contact Aditya, Madeline had deliberately crushed the phone and blamed it on her.

Elliana looked at the phone ringing again and gulped.

She looked at the caller icon and swiped it up gently. With the phone near her ears, she breathed gently, unsure what to say.

Sebastian, who had called her to ensure she sees the gift and knows what was inside the box, heard her ragged breathing and couldn't help but sigh.

None of them spoke anything for a few seconds, and Lucas looked at his prince from the rearview mirror, looking out of the window with a neutral expression.

It was hard to read what he was thinking about, and who he was talking to.

After what felt like an eternity, Sebastian finally broke out of the silence.

"Did you like it?" His voice was cold, void of emotions. But to Elliana, it was the softest voice filled with care in the world.

"Yes. Thank you. It's... It's my f- first gift," Elliana's voice shook, and Sebastian closed his eyes, concentrating on her breathing which was strangely soothing.

"I am glad I am your first," he said after a long time, and Elliana nodded before remembering he couldn't see her.

"Me too," she said.

"I have work to do," Sebastian said after some time, and Elliana hummed.

"I am going to end the call now," Sebastian spoke, and Elliana hummed again, making him sigh.

He waited for her to end the call for a few seconds, but when she didn't, he spoke again.

"I will be back soon," he said before ending the call and stuffing the phone in his pocket.

This was probably the most mundane and boring conversation he had with someone for any onlooker, but for Sebastian, there was a feeling to this conversation that was unexplainable.

Everything surrounding Elliana was becoming unexplainable now, and he didn't know what to feel about it.

Did he like the change? No. Did he hate the change? Definitely not.

He wasn't a soft person. He never was. Even when his parents were present, he never took the pain to soften his voice for someone, but when it comes to this girl, he just can't bring himself to raise his voice at her.

Was it because she was soft-spoken herself, or was it because she was so calm and scared most of the time that scaring her more sounded like a bad idea?

Lucas looked at his prince before smiling inwardly. After a really long time, he was finally seeing some hope that his prince would be able to live a happy life. It all started with these humans that Sebastian hated the most, but for once, maybe something greater than hatred would ignite again, all because of a human, a very good one at that.

Elliana placed the phone on her side of the bed with her utmost care as if it was the most fragile thing in the world and went to change her clothes. After returning, she finally took out the art supplies she bought and sprawled on the ground with them.

With a dream and image in her mind, she started sketching what her imagination looked like.