Dearest Grandmother

It took a minute for Aylin to register what Andromeda said, and when she did, Aylin didn't know what to say, she simply stared at the woman sitting in front of her with one of her legs over the other, enjoying her tea.

After what felt like a lifetime, Aylin finally managed to get out a 'What... what did you say?'

"I said, you will make my Grandson fall in love with you in exchange for your life and somewhere to live."

That was not what Aylin expected Andromeda to say. Aylin blinked, trying to process it. She wanted to ask how exactly this conversation happened, but she couldn't seem to find her voice or her tongue anymore. The only thing that made sense was the fact that they were talking about something so, so f*cking ridiculous!

"Are you... serious? Like you aren't joking?" She let out a laugh, "You must be, you are joking, right?"

Andromeda raised an eyebrow at her. "Why would I joke about something like this?"

"Well…" Aylin tried to come up with an answer to the question, "Because it is just too ridiculous, and why would you even want me to make your hunk of a Grandson fall in love with me, I mean... you don't even know me, the only thing you know about me is my name and the fact that I come from another world."

"You may think it's ridiculous but... I've my reasons."

""Can you tell me what those reasons are?" Aylin asked in hopes that Andromeda would tell her the reason why she wanted her to do such an absurd thing.

Absurd was an understatement!

"The only thing I can tell you is... it's the only way for you to save your neck, and maybe even go back home, it's the only option you have. So tell me, are you going to take it or not?" Andromeda looked straight at Aylin.

Oh, God! She had thought that today's surprises had ended, but no! Not only has this day been filled with unbelievable shit, but today had also turned into some kind of fucked up problem in her life. Not in a million years would she have thought that that was what the woman wanted from her, just thinking about it gave her chills. She wanted to say she couldn't do it but saying that would cost her not only the opportunity to go back home but also her life. Aylin also couldn't wrap her head around why the woman would ask such a thing.

But, what could she lose? It wasn't as if she was the one who was going to fall for him, it was going to be the other way around! Andromeda gets what she wants and she gets what she wants. It was a win-win situation.

Taking a deep breath, Aylin nodded her head, "Fine, I will do it." Not like she had any choice.

Immediately she said that – a grin appeared on Andromeda's red lips, "Perfect!"

"You do know that if you can find the witch or whatever, I will go back right? So what are you going to do when your grandson is already in love with me, what if he stops me from going?" Aylin wasn't even sure if she could make that scary as hell red–eyed guy fall in love with her, because he was so cold and so out of this world, especially with his looks! But there was nothing she could do, this was the only way. This means even if she had never made an effort to get people to like or love her, It was usually them doing that, she'd have to start doing it now. As they say, there was a first time for everything.

Andromeda smiled at her words before leisurely taking a sip from her tea, "You don't have to worry about that, the only thing you have to worry about is how to make him fall for you."

That wasn't exactly the assurance she needed but she just had to trust this woman because if she didn't, who else would she trust?

"Alright, so what now?" Aylin crossed her arms, she still couldn't believe she agreed to do this.

"Now, we need to let the owner of the house know that he would be having a new guest," she said, and when Aylin looked at her with a raised eyebrow, Andromeda sighed, "Since you will be staying here, the owner of the house has to know right? and I'm sure he would know by now that I got you out of the dungeon, so now, we will have to go and explain ourselves to him."

"We? can't you go alone?" Aylin didn't want to go anywhere or see anyone right now, what she wanted was to get some good sleep on that very soft bed.

"Unfortunately no, Listen, I know that you are scared of him, and don't want to meet him anytime soon, but eventually, you would have to. So it's better to see him now than later. Also, he wouldn't believe my words only. He needs to hear it from your lips to believe that you are not a witch. So shall we?"

Aylin reluctantly stood up from where she sat and walked to Andromeda who stood by the door, "Are you not his Grandmother, doesn't he listen to you?"

Andromeda chuckled, "I wish. He might be my grandson, but I can't tell him what to do, no one can. He doesn't listen to people most of the time, not even the king. He only does what he wants to do. You might find him odd but he is just a little different from everyone else," With that, Aylin followed Andromeda out of the room and through the lit corridor.

"Where are we going?" Aylin asked as they walked through the hallways, her hand gripping the golden-colored railing as she couldn't help but look around the mansion which was huge, extremely huge that it could even pass as a mini Castle.

The whole place was white; from the marble tiles to the walls and high ceilings of the expansive living space. Two grand curved staircases led down to the lower floor, and hallways went left and right.

Everything was so clean and pristine, and every surface reflected the light around it — the ornate furniture, the embroidered curtains, and the paintings glittered under the large chandeliers, which Aylin guessed wasn't normal candlelight because the light it emitted was a bright white light that had to be some sort of magical light.

"To his study," Andromeda answered.

Aylin simply hoped that he would believe what she said.

They kept walking till they reached a large door that Andromeda pushed open.

—

Trevor walked out of the dungeon and straight to the Duke's room, his steps were hasty as he made his way up the stairs. Reaching the door, he knocked once.

"Come in," a deep voice said from inside.

The moment Trevor entered the duke's room, he saw the duke putting on his shirt, his back facing Trevor. As usual, the man didn't bother asking who was coming inside his room, and neither did he turn around to look at Trevor, there was no need to because the duke already knew who it was.

"Your Grace, Lady Andromeda —"

"If you are here to tell me that she arrived not too long ago and she's in the dungeon because she heard about the intruder, I know." The man interrupted Trevor, not even looking up from his shirt that he was buttoning up.

Trevor already knew who told him. A knock came from the door, which pulled Trevor out of his thoughts, and he snapped his head to it to see the butler coming in, holding a tray that had a glass of red liquid on it.

Speak of the devil.

"Your Grace," The butler bowed, placing the tray on a table next to where the Duke stood. "Sir, I brought your drink. Your dinner will be ready shortly."

"Hmmm, Anything else?" Kian questioned with a raise of one of his eyebrows when the Butler still stood there.

"Yes sir. I'm sorry for interrupting, but the Grand Duchess has freed the prisoner, and they are currently in one of the guest rooms."?"

"She freed her?" Kian asked with one of his eyebrows lifted.

"Yes, Your Grace," The Butler answered.

"What is my dearest Grandmother up to this time?" The man smirked as he started fixing his sleeves up, turning to face the butler, "You can go," After receiving the dismissal, the butler bowed and left the room, closing the door behind him.

Kian took the glass of red liquid and gulped everything down, licking the drop of blood off his lower lip before putting the empty glass onto the table beside him.

"Why do you think my grandmother freed the girl?" Kian asked while walking to where Trevor stood.

"I'm not sure Your Grace but Her Grace must have done it for a reason."

"Then It must be a very valid reason, one I can't wait to know," he said with a crooked smile.

A knock came from the door and a servant announced that The Grand Duchess was waiting for him in his study.

"Well, it's not good to keep your elders waiting," He said, walking around Trevor towards the door.

"Do you plan on standing there all day?" He asked as he opened the door, looking over his shoulder to Trevor, who stood there. "You know my Grandmother is not a fan of waiting." And before Trevor could utter even one word, Kian walked out and Trevor hastily followed.

After following the Duke, they went upstairs and then through many corridors until they reached a room, where Andromeda was sitting behind a desk.