Chapter 84: The Revelations
"Some time back..." he responded softly, his eyes taking in her delicate features. When his gaze trailed to the right side of her cheek, he noticed the bruise had almost faded.
He lifted his hand and brushed the back of his fingers gently against the spot. "Does it hurt anymore?" he asked softly.
She slightly shook her head, "No, it’s almost healed." Her lips parted, and she instinctively licked them as her throat felt a little dry beneath his beguiling gaze. In a soft and sweet voice, she added, "Thank you again....for helping me with everything." A warm smile curved her lips.
"Hm..." he murmured as he stepped closer, caging her between his arms, with the stone railing pressing against her back. She leaned into it, swallowing softly at his close proximity, her hands gripping the railing tight. He really had a way to stir her with the simplest of actions, leaving her helpless against him.
His low, mesmerizing voice brushed against her ears, "You don’t have to thank me, Eve...I am just taking care of what’s mine." And a slow smile began to form on his lips as he caught the way her heart skipped another beat at his words.
He lifted his right hand from the railing and twirled one of her soft brown locks between his fingers, which were dancing in the wind with the rest of them.
"So...what’s strange?" he asked again.
"Huh?" Eve blurted, her thoughts scattered under his touch.
"You said, ’How strange’ earlier. So what’s strange to you?" he reminded her.
"Oh.." Remembering, she blushed hard, her gaze dropped to his hand that still played with her hair. "Nothing important, really...I was only thinking about this kingdom, about how different it is from...what I had imagined it to be."
"And how did you imagine it to be?" he tilted his head slightly, as curiosity flickered in his eyes.
She gave it a thought, then answered softly, "I thought the people would be much colder, less...welcoming. That I might be alone here in this foreign land with nobody to talk to."
"And how has your experience been so far, princess?" he asked in a slightly playful tone, his fingers continued to play with her hair, while his gaze never once left her.
"Well... I haven’t been bitten, drugged, or kidnapped in a couple of hours, so I’d say that’s an improvement." She gave him an awkward smile.
Ivan, who was listening intently, let out a low chuckle at her attempt to make light of the situation. But the amusement in his eyes soon dimmed, hardening as he imagined all the things she had already gone through.
He let her hair slip from his fingers and gently cupped her cheek tenderly and murmured softly, "I feel like I should apologise for what you’ve been through in my kingdom."
Eve’s eyes widened at his sincere words, and she quickly shook her head, "You don’t have to apologise. Even though you’re a prince of this kingdom, you cannot be held responsible for every crime others commit."
"I just...think if I have unknowingly offended someone, for them to go to such extremes to harm me." She lowered her gaze as she wondered.
Ivan saw her lost in thought, and didn’t want to leave her in the dark anymore. Now that he finally had a moment with her, he decided to tell her everything. So he lifted her chin with a tender touch and asked softly, "Are you not sleepy?"
Her brows pulled together slightly, and she replied, "I think I’ve slept enough." Her eyes searched his, and she asked curiously, "Why do you ask?"
He brushed a stray lock of hair away from her face, "I thought I’d tell you the things I promised to let you know once I returned...since you are not planning to sleep right now."
Her eyebrows raised in surprise that he remembered, and she responded immediately, "Yes! I would like to know!"
He smiled faintly and spoke in a low and warm voice. "Then let’s go inside and I’ll tell you everything."
"Alright," she said. With that, Ivan finally stepped back, giving her space to re-enter the room. As she stepped in, she noticed how the room was now dimly lit. The glow of bedside candles lit and the crackling fireplace cast a warm, cozy light through the massive chamber, warding off the night chill.
She walked over and settled onto the sofa near the fireplace and waited for Ivan to close the balcony door to keep out the cold sea breeze. Once done, he joined her, taking a seat beside her and rested his arm along the back of the sofa in a relaxed manner.
When he looked at her, he noticed how she sat holding her breath, her back perfectly straight, as though she was preparing to attend an important lecture, the same way she did in the classroom. His lips twitched slightly, and he said, "Relax, Eve. This isn’t a classroom, and you’re not about to give an exam."
"Oh.." she let out a nervous chuckle. "I can’t help but feel like that," she admitted with an awkward smile.
Suddenly, he reached out, grabbed her hand, and pulled her lightly towards him until she found herself sitting on his lap. She gasped as the heat rushed to her face, "Ivan! What are yo-"
"You looked far too nervous sitting over there," he cut her off coolly, as he wrapped his firm arms around her waist, pressing her closer until she straddled him.
She flustered and blurted, "And what makes you think this will help?"
"It will," he said, his hand moving gently along her back in a soothing touch.
Eve, who felt like she was about to combust, let out a soft sigh. "You’re impossible," she murmured, before burying her face against his shoulder to hide it from him.
Ivan’s lips curled up in satisfaction as he continued to rub her back gently until he heard her heartbeat slowly calm down.
Then, in a calm voice, he said, "I know who is responsible for drugging you during the ball."
This made her open her eyes, and she slowly lifted her head to look at him in question.
He continued, "It’s...Drake Viremont, Marquess Lester Viremont’s son. The same man who approached you yesterday as well."
Evelyn’s eyes widened as she silently tried to process the new revelation. After a moment, she asked, "Is he...also responsible for yesterday’s incident?"
Ivan’s eyes hardened as he replied, "We don’t have any evidence yet to prove it, but my gut is telling me that he is involved in yesterday’s incident as well."
Evelyn’s brows set in a deep line as she questioned, "How did you find out.... and how long have you known?"
"After the drugging incident, I told you that I’ll find out who’s responsible, so I continued my investigation very discreetly so as not to alert the perpetrator. On that day of Crimson Hollow fair, I tracked down the shopkeeper who had sold the banned potion in the market to the man behind your drugging."
"The shopper gave a brief description, and upon further investigation, we discovered that the man named Gabe who had approached you with the drink at the ball was the one who had purchased the potion. We knew he wasn’t acting alone, so my men captured him for interrogation, during which he confessed that the one who had planned it all was Drake Viremont."
While he spoke, she recollected the man who tried to make her drink more under the pretext of costumes. She then asked, "What happened to Gabe? You said you captured him, but then wouldn’t that have alerted Drake?"
"No, we took the help of Headmaster Charles to inform Gabe that there was a family emergency, granting him special leave to attend to it. Drake must still be under the impression that he left for that reason. As for where he is currently...he’s rotting in the palace dungeon."
His eyebrows knit together as he continued, "He revealed that Drake has been obsessed with you and involved two other women, Kayla and Elana, in distracting Damien and Cece that day, so that they could carry out the plan. They even tried to keep me away by enlisting Marquees Lester to gather all the nobles for an impromptu meeting about national security."
Eve’s eyes widened in shock at his words, and she murmured, "That’s where you were during the ball?"
"Yes, but my father stepped in and ended the mindless meeting, which allowed me to come back to the academy, and the rest of the night unfolded from there."
Evelyn pressed her lips together in distaste at someone stooping so low. The more she thought about it, the more rage bubbled in her chest. Her eyes flickered gold as she murmured in a chilling, low voice, "Then why is Drake still roaming free?"
Ivan, who noticed the sudden shift in her demeanour, was reminded exactly why he hadn’t wanted to tell her any of this before. He rubbed her back in a gentle, calming motion, as he replied...
