The house was left gloomy for a while, and the candlelight gave its utter effort to stay alive, but like everything in this world, it too had to die out.
The candlelight died, leaving its traces and ashes in midair, and so Lila's house was in the hands of darkness to embrace it.
Only the loudness of the rain outside occupied them.
Lila was in her tears, unconsciously hugging Damien. Wrapped around in his arms, she embraced the warmth of his delicate body and his sweet rose scent.
His fast heartbeat was the only thing keeping Lila sane. So she listened to it, hugging him, her nails pressing through his back.
He didn't even flinch at the pain, bringing his chin down on her head, rubbing that long hair softly.He slowly muttered:
"It's going to be okay. I'm here."
But she could only thank him with her watery tears in return. And Lila didn't stop there; she sank into his body by tightening herself crucially, leaving no space for letting his warmth out.
She cried, she cried, she cried — for how long she couldn't even remember.
....
The morning sun rays came from the window, landing on her sleeping face. It immediately showed her delicate features; she looked like a newly bloomed sunflower.The rain also seemed to have stopped like it never existed, leaving only wet floors in Lila's house.
When Lila woke up, she was still wrapped in Damien's arms. Damien was sitting in the wooden chair, arms across her, his hands still tightly holding her even in his sleep.
It was like the day they met — in the alley, after he saved her from those soldiers and covered her to save her from the cold.
Memories came rushing through Lila; her face reddened from the sudden feeling in her heart.But this time she wasn't avoiding it — she wanted more.
Just as she tried to get comfortable and tighten herself to his body more, Damien woke up."Hawwah…" he yawned, scratching his arms, his gaze lowering slowly.
"Huh…?"
And there she was — her reddened, beautiful face looking directly into his eyes with an unrecognizable wide smile. He was unsure what it was, and it didn't seem good either."Oh geez, maybe she's mad."
He quickly adjusted to the situation, getting up and tossing her aside."Umm, I fell asleep holding you on my lap, didn't I?… I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he tried to explain, apologizing and looking down to not meet her gaze.
"Oh… What have I done? I tried to comfort her but ended up making her more uncomfortable," his mind blamed the hell out of him.
She is a young lady who lost her mother, Damien. What were you even thinking? his thoughts blamed one after another until it crushed his soul. It was too much.
Just as he tried to apologize again, Lila raised her voice:"It's okay… I quite liked it."
Astonished by this, Damien looked at her. Lila was holding both of her hands clasped together and nervously smiling at him.
His face suddenly filled with embarrassment, burning his cheeks. He tried to get a hold of himself; he clenched his fists and gave her a smile."I like that too."
.....
By the time they both calmed down, they discussed what happened to Lila's mother."It was definitely magic your mother was using," Damien spoke while sitting with Lila on the old bed in her house.
"But how does my mother… know that?"
Lila's voice cracked; she couldn't understand how her mother could use something only royals could use. She had only heard stories about them in the streets. Magic was not something you could witness easily in this world — it was rarer than a diamond.
And now her mother used it like eating a tomato — not to mention she was terribly sick and couldn't even get up from her bed sometimes.
"By the looks of it, it's teleportation magic. Once, in a book I read, when using teleportation magic it uses a heavy amount of mana, and it glowed in yellow light," Damien explained while rubbing his chin. He had read it in a book once, but it didn't describe much.
"What's mana?" Lila questioned with an unfazed expression."And what does it have to do with my mother?" Her eyes began to tear up again.
Damien saw this and immediately comforted her:"What I heard is only those who are talented enough to wield mana can use magic. And I'm sure your mother had a good reason to go away.
And meanwhile, I promised her that I'd protect you — and I will."
"From what?" Lila, stunned by Damien's determination, felt that heavy feeling again. So she used her one method to calm herself down and suddenly wrapped her hands around Damien, hiding herself within him and smelling his scent.
Damien was used to this at this point and he didn't mind it. This girl lost her mother — it was only natural to feel alone — so he rubbed her hair slowly while saying:"I don't know, Lila, but I know it has something to do with the Dark Forest."
"Dark Forest…" Lila muttered under Damien's chest. He felt her warm breath; it was very warm and soothing.This was the first time, other than his mother Liora, that Damien had ever had a woman in his arms. His heart began to race.
"Yes, and I have to go today, Lila… I know this is a lot to ask.I promised your mother that I would keep you safe—" Before Damien could finish:
"No, I'm coming with you… ummm, I can't leave you alone," Lila interrupted while looking up to see his naive face she felt a bit bolder, slowly placing her hand on his snow-like cheeks.
She was so close to his face that she could feel Damien's warm breath brushing on to her. still having a delicate flower like sweet scent to it
"I'm coming with you anywhere you go — that's a promise."