Surprise in Red

Seraphina stood outside the unfamiliar door of the room that supposedly belonged to the Fourth Shadow Lord. She was curious to know why he wanted to meet her all of a sudden, but at the same time, she also felt a little bit anxious in her heart.

After her embarrasing interaction with the four Lords the morning of her first day in the castle, she had not seen much of them throughout the past five days. She only met Arwan when he helped her in shifting the furniture and then came across the other three every now and then while she was running in and out of the castle. But that was it. There had been no further interaction between them until now.

She raised her hand slightly, thinking about knocking on the door to announce her presence. However, before her hand could have touched the wooden frame, the door flew open and she came face to face with a very bare chested Kethan.

Her eyes immediately went wide as she found herself taking in the man's appearance who only had a white towel wrapped around his waist while the rest of his well-built body was on full display. If that wasn't enough, his hair was wet and water droplets could be seen running down his shoulders, arms, and chest as if he just walked out of the shower.

"Eyes over here, darling."

His voice and the words he spoke startled her, forcing her to shift her gaze on his face where she found him smirking as if he knew exactly what his current appearance was doing to her mind. Feeling that familiar sense of embarrassment taking over her, she tried to think of something to say, anything.

"I... I will return later. Y-you can get dressed." She quickly muttered the words and was ready to flee from the spot, but never got the chance as a hand grabbed her wrist and stopped her from succeeding in her plan.

"We don't have time for that. Since you are already here, come inside." Kethan spoke before he dragged her inside his room, closing the door behind them.

Seraphina's heart thumped at a speed two times faster than normal as she was pulled into the room. She would probably have made another effort at bailing from there if not for the surprise that took over her when her eyes fell on the extremely breathtaking view of Kethan's bedroom.

Unlike her lifeless bedroom and the rest of the gloomy castle, this particular room was filled with the vibrant red color. The dark stone walls were covered with red wallpapers, the ceiling had beautiful red patterns carved on it, huge red silk curtains were hanging all around the room, and the bed was also covered with red. The twin bedside lamps were filling the room with their warm glow along with the dozens of candles that were lit up on the candlebra hanging from the ceiling.

A thick red rug was spread across the floor and all the furniture around the room were decorated with the same red color. If this wasn't already surprising enough, her gaze shifted to the other side of the room and she almost felt like she had stepped inside some fantasy novel.

Huge glass windows were lining the wall opposite her, covering the area from ceiling to bottom. Placed there were couches that once again matched the theme with the rest of the room - red. But what really left her stunned wasn't the tempting soft-looking couches or the huge glass windows. No! It was actually the beautiful view that greeted her eyes beyond them.

Tall mountain peaks were standing at a distance, greenery covering them along with some other colors that made the view even more alluring. Separating the castle from the mountain peaks was the clear water that glistened under the warm sunlight as the sun shone high in the clear sky.

Clear water, blue sky, green plants, and sunlight - none of these things was present in the Shadow City. The view that she was seeing at the moment barely made any sense, but it was alluring nonetheless. It felt like eternity had passed since Seraphina last saw such beauty of nature.

"Mesmerizing, isn't it?"

Kethan's warm breath, that suddenly grazed her ear, finally pulled her out of her shock. Surprised by his nearness, she quickly turned her head and found him standing right behind her with his face barely inches away from her.

"W-what?" She asked.

A barely noticeable smile curved the corners of his lips as he replied, "The view."

Seraphina would have loved to believe that he was talking about the view outside the window, but for some reason, she felt like he was talking about himself, and that reminded her the man was still pretty much naked. She quickly turned away, looking at the view outside the widown. "How's that even possible?" She found herself asking with a sudden heaviness in her voice.

She felt the man shifting closer behind her, and she was suddenly able to feel his body's warmth against her spine. "Like this." The man once again whispered against her ear before he brought one of his hands in front of her and clicked his fingers. She watched in shock as the view disappeared completely and walls appeared in their place. The loss of such a beautiful scenery made her heart sank, but not for long as the man once again clicked his fingers and the previous view of mountains and water returned.

She would have loved watching the view for a while longer, but then she heard the man speaking again, and this time, his mouth was so close that she almost felt his lips brushing against her ear. "I will let you appreciate that view sometime later, darling. How about you focus on me now? I need your help with something."

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Author's Note:

Click on this paragraph comment to see images of Kethan's bedroom.

Special thank you to nalaDenniss_3871, OneMore_Chapter22, and Fairy_Night for the powerstones, golden tickets and gifts! Love you guys a lot!