Chapter 15: Trust

The sounds of growls and explosion woke Lareia up from her deep slumber. She covered herself with a black coat and peaked out of the windows. There she saw wolves passing by, hunting for prey. What caught her attention is the five familiar figures in the midst of the pack.

They stopped right in front of her room, the second tallest of them all, glanced her way. It was dark, and their faces were unrecognizable. The only thing she was able to see clearly was the bright, orange eyes that met her red ones.

It felt familiar yet different as her brows knitted. She felt chills down her spine as the man turned into his wolf form, still staring straight at Lareia. The wolf was about to advance in her direction when Clint blocked his way.

They stood there for a while, looking at each other's eyes. Lareia wanted to go there, but Clint already warned her not to go out during nighttime. She only watched them hopelessly not until she thought of a perfect idea. Using magic, she enhanced her hearing and was able to catch some words.

"She is not here. Leave my manor or I will start a war." Those are the words she last heard from Clint before the wolf growl then left with the others following him.

"What was that?" she asked herself. Clint suddenly turned to her, his eyes red. Out of a sudden, he stood right beside her, inside her own quarters.

"Why are you awake?" he asked in a low voice. Slowly, Lareia turned to him, and his blue eyes were red as it met hers.

"Your eyes," she uttered, her hands unconsciously reached for them, but Clint stopped her hand midway.

"Are you falling in love with my bloody-red eyes?" he asked mockingly.

"Oh, shut up. By the way, who are those wolves from earlier?" Lareia asked, changing the subject. Clint looked at her for a while, then averted his gaze to the beautiful red moon. He heaved out a heavy sigh before uttering a word.

"Alpha Jake, some of his pack members, and his half-brother dark elf. They are looking for you. Why did you escape when you're in good hands already?" he asked, still avoiding her gaze. Upon hearing these words, she felt relieved that they are alright but worried at the same time.

Turning to the night scenery outside, she asked, "should I trust you?" It was a question that she wanted to ask herself than him.

"Can you trust me?" he replied softly. Clint knew that the question was meant for herself and not for him. He hoped for her to trust him and prayed for it, deep inside his head.

"I should, shouldn't I?" she asked to herself once again.

Heaving out a heavy sigh, he said, "you can have the whole night to think about it. You should sleep though, I shall take my leave then." He left the room and peeked through the gap and took a last glance at the distracted Lareia before completely closing the door.

After the door made a clicking sound, Lareia lied down on the bed, her hand on her forehead. Her mind was in chaos. First, Jake and the group went here in search of her. Second, she still can't fully trust another person after the last accident, but wanted to trust Clint at the same time.

She was frustrated to the point that she ruined her own hair and groaned multiple times. After a couple of minutes of continuously stressed gestures, she slowly got tired and every part of her body was drained. Her consciousness drifted away into dreamland, where another man is waiting.

---

"Princess, you're finally here," the man greeted her with a smile. His eyes were full of admiration from the past days. "It has been a long time since we met in your dreams, my lady."

"What do you mean? Looking at your outfit, you're the Grim Reaper, right?" she asked with eyes full of curiosity, but it didn't completely hide the confusion and pain that lingers in those red eyes.

"Tell me everything. I will listen to every single thing you say and expect me to accept you wholeheartedly. I won't be like that-" he stopped halfway when he saw the pain slowly surfacing from her eyes. "-jerk." He decided not to mention her lover, knowing that it will only pain her.

Their surroundings turned to a beautiful garden of black roses, a bench right behind them. Lareia sat down and she pats the seat beside her, signaling him to sit. He did as said and looked at the beautiful scenery right in front of them while he waits for her to start.

After contemplating for a while, she decided to open up to him. Telling each and every detail from the day she left until the earlier event. She smiled, cried, and laughed while narrating everything. Meanwhile, Sebastian watched and listened to her intently, taking in every detail of her facial expressions and her beautiful voice that is music to his ears.

"Should I trust him?" Lareia asked. She looked down at her feet, feeling fulfilled yet disappointed at the same time.

"Did you find any reason not to?" As he said those words, he felt a pang of jealousy on his chest. Even though he didn't like the thought that she will show these things to someone else, it is still for her so he shrugged the thought off his mind.

"It will take some time, but gradually, you will learn to trust again. Don't close yourself away from others like what you did after the Valor accident..." he said in a comforting tone.

"Hey, Grim Reaper. What is your name?" she asked, turning to him. Her eyes were full of mixed emotions, but anticipation surfaced above them.

"Devil is fine, you don't have to know my name," he said nonchalantly. Lareia probably has some intel about his real name, so he should keep it private for her not to know his real identity. Sebastian promised himself to find out the truth behind her past before revealing it.

"Will I remember you when I woke up?"

"You asked the same question before, and the answer is still no. Your body is slowly regaining consciousness now, it's goodbye, for now. See you soon, my lady," he said and Lareia felt her mind getting pulled back to reality.

---

Slowly opening her eyes, the warmth of the sun's light greeted her. She felt refreshed and complete for some reason but empty at the same time.

"Why is that though?"