Chapter 279: Where Silence Feels Safe
"I’ll eat after you’re done," Ivan replied, bringing another spoonful towards her. That was when she reached out, gently holding the hand that held the spoon, and shook her head.
"I won’t eat if you don’t eat with me."
She then guided the same spoon towards him. He studied her for a moment, fully aware of how stubborn she could be when she set her mind to something, and finally relented.
They alternated each bite, feeding one another in silence until the tray was empty. Ivan felt a wave of relief knowing she had managed to eat at least half of the food he had prepared for her, while she had fed him the other half.
Handing her a glass of water, he asked softly, "More?"
"No, I’m good," she replied before taking a sip.
As he placed the plates back onto the tray, he heard her speak again. "Thank you, Ivan. Thank you for being patient with me..."
He smiled gently at her. "Who else would I do this for, if not you?" he replied simply, yet with quiet depth which warmed her frozen heart.
She continued to watch him as he rose from the carpet and carried the tray back into the kitchen, feeling nothing but gratitude for his presence in her life....especially now, when she needed him the most.
She knew she had not spoken about anything since returning, and she also understood that Ivan’s choice not to press her for answers was his way of offering silent support. It was exactly what she needed.
She felt numb after the entire ordeal. Never in her life had she imagined that a single day could leave such an impact. She had never thought that the day she would finally visit her mother’s grave would turn out to be so dreadful.
Had she known this would happen, she would never have asked him to take her there and would have remained blissfully unaware of the darkness hidden beneath it.
As the heaviness returned to her chest, she redirected her attention to the books once more, choosing to lose herself in uncovering the truth behind the strange locket rather than letting her thoughts drift into darker places.
She had just resumed reading when Ivan returned and sat beside her, one glass of blood in his hand and another containing warm tea for her. She looked up at him with softness in her eyes and thanked him again as she accepted it.
Without a word, he picked up one of the books she had yet to go through and joined her in the search, his back resting against the sofa behind them as he read from the book in his lap.
The silence between them was comfortable. There was none of the unease that often accompanied quiet moments between lovers. They spent hours like that, and when the clock finally struck eleven, they still had no answers about the locket.
A yawn escaped her lips, and her eyes grew heavy as exhaustion finally caught up with her.
Ivan noticed at once. He closed the book in his hands and placed it onto the read pile before glancing at the clock on the wall. "It’s late," he murmured.
"Mm," Eve hummed softly as she closed her own book. She looked at him then. "Did you find anything?"
"No," he replied. "All the books here only contain information on basic relics. We might find something in the royal library once we return to the palace tomorrow."
Reaching out, he wrapped his arms around her and lifted her effortlessly, carrying her upstairs to their room. Eve did not protest this time. Instead, she quietly slipped her arms around his neck and leaned into him.
As he walked, she asked softly, exhaustion lacing her voice, "Do you think your father might know anything about this? About the locket?"
Ivan glanced at her as he opened the door and closed it behind them. He gently set her down on the bed, where she sat to remove her robe, revealing the soft sheen of her skin beneath the thin straps of her silk nightgown.
Ivan slipped off his own robe as well, revealing his bare upper body, before lying down beside her. "He might," he said after a moment, snapping his fingers to extinguish the candles around the room, leaving only the glow of the fireplace. "Though I’m not sure how much he can help us in this particular case."
Eve pulled the blanket over them and instinctively scooted closer to him, only for Ivan to draw her even nearer, holding her flush against him beneath the covers as his hand moved slowly along her back.
She sighed softly at the comfort of his touch, finally allowing herself to relax little by little as the day’s tension began to ebb away. Ivan watched her closely as she met his gaze.
Unwilling to dampen the moment by bringing up anything about her mother, he stilled his hand at her waist and pulled her closer still, until there was no space left between them.
Eve continued to hold his eyes as she lifted her hand to trace the warmth of his neck, then slowly let it drift down over the firm muscle of his chest before resting it against his hard abs, and paused there.
She saw the fire already lit in his gaze by her touch and whispered softly, "Thank you....for being here with me. I don’t know what I would do without you."
"I’ll always be there for you," Ivan whispered. Though his voice was barely audible, to Eve it echoed in her mind again and again as she pressed closer to him.
Sliding her hand to his waist, she curled into him, burying her face against his neck as she murmured, "You are so good to me. It’s unbelievable to think that the cold, brooding ice prince I met at the academy could be so....warm."
She knew warm was an understatement as he was a burning inferno to her, but she clung to the word, because it perfectly captured how he made her feel in that moment.
Sensing her emotions finally settling, he held her more protectively. "Because you managed to thaw that ice," he replied quietly.
She hummed softly and closed her eyes, pushing away every dark memory of the day and replacing them with his presence.
She breathed in his calming, intoxicating scent, only to feel his lips brush her exposed neck, his warm breath grazing the shell of her ear as he whispered, "Sleep, baby. You need to rest."
Eve hummed softly once more before pressing another light kiss to his neck. Soon after, darkness claimed her again, and she was lulled into sleep.
Ivan felt her heartbeat gradually settle into a gentle rhythm, her breath falling evenly against his neck. He remained holding her for some time, his thoughts drifting back to those moments when she had cried so heartbreakingly, calling out for her mother.
His throat bobbed as memories of his own mother stirred, but for her sake, and hers alone, he kept them tightly sealed away. He knew it was a part of himself she knew nothing about, and he wished to keep it concealed forever.
Yet after Eve had laid bare her past demons, he felt the desire to do the same. He simply did not know when the right time would be.
Unwilling to dwell on it any longer, he quietly closed his eyes, focusing on her breathing and the steady sound of her heart. Before long, he too was lulled into sleep.
When morning arrived, Cece, Damien, and Edward were already up extra early. For once, they could not contain their excitement at the thought of seeing Evelyn again. They had not seen her since they had parted ways in Dartmouth, when everything had gone horribly wrong.
Yet more than Cece, it was Damien who was especially eager to see her. He could not quite explain why, but during that ordeal in Dartmouth, he and Evelyn had formed a special bond.
Call it brotherly affection, but aside from his real sister, Cece, he had come to love Evelyn as another sister just as deeply. It was not only because she had saved Ivan, but because of the kind of person she was.
Whistling as he walked, he threw out unsolicited instructions to Arthur every now and then, commenting on how the room should be prepared and insisting that all of Evelyn’s favourite breakfast items be laid out. His unusual proactiveness left both Cece and Edward thoroughly shocked.
He was behaving exactly like a mother about to be reunited with her child after a long separation, and they could not help but snicker in the background as they watched him relentlessly work his way onto Arthur’s last nerve.
Just like them, there was someone else who was positively thrilled about the day. It was none other than Alex, who was beyond relieved to have his prince back at last. For he knew, with absolute certainty, that he would not survive another day of Damien assigning him all the work of making people miserable, only to recline comfortably and savour the collective suffering of the palace.
