Hades' Cursed Luna Chapter 52 As It Should Be

Eve~

Dinner the next day was less tense, especially with the Beta, Kael, conversing with . Felicia was scowling as usual, but she did not speak. Elliot, on the other hand, was simply watching. Each ti my eyes went to him, he would look away. I hoped he didn't believe I was mad at him.

"How much to commission a painting?" Kael asked. "I need one that can capture my prowess."

I had co to like the blond man with the infectious laugh.

"Of course, but it's gonna cost ya," I replied.

Kael grinned, leaning back in his chair with a smug look. "Na your price, princess."

I chuckled. "I'll need so supplies, and your full cooperation for those long, grueling hours of posing."

Felicia scoffed from her seat. "You an you're going to spend hours staring at him?"

Kael shot her a look, unfazed. "Can't bla her for wanting to capture this perfection." He gestured to himself dramatically, making laugh again.

"Don't flatter yourself," I said, but my smile lingered. "I'll do it on one condition though."

"And what's that?" Kael asked, leaning forward now, intrigued.

I glanced at Hades. He was silent, as always, but his gaze was fixed on , piercing and unreadable.

"I want to paint the king too," I said, my voice steady as I attempted to bring him into the conversation.

Kael's brows shot up, and Felicia's scowl deepened, but I ignored them. Hades hadn't moved, hadn't reacted, but I could feel the shift in the air between us.

He tilted his head slightly, as if considering my offer. His cold, calculating eyes locked onto mine. "I am not interested," his tone was curt.

Sothing sharp pierced my chest, and my face burned with embarrassnt as Felicia burst out laughing.

Each ti Felicia laughed, Hades would tense up further. After greeting , he hadn't spoken to at all or even looked at . I bit my lip, guilt and sha washing over . It must have been my abrupt kiss that had caused this distance between us.

When he began being civil, I hadn't trusted it. I believed he was playing gas with because I could easily imagine soone like him doing just that. But his actions... Was it possible that soone could fake it to this extent? Hiring a therapist for , the night of my heat, trying to make ands for not believing , taking out to my favorite place, and gifting the art supplies. Along the way, I had let myself get carried away. I needed to apologize.

Hades stood abruptly, the scrape of his chair against the floor startling . His face was a blank mask, the cold, distant persona slipping back into place effortlessly. Without a word, he turned and left the dining hall, his long strides carrying him away as if he couldn't bear to be in the sa room any longer.

I froze, sha and frustration bubbling up inside . I glanced at the others—Kael was frowning, confused by the sudden shift, while Felicia wore a smug smile. She seed to enjoy the sight of wilting under Hades' rejection.

I couldn't just sit there. I needed to make things right, even if it ant facing more of his cold wrath.

Excusing myself hastily, I hurried after him. My heart pounded in my chest as I followed him down the corridor, the distance between us seeming to grow with each step.

"Hades!" I called out, my voice trembling slightly.

He paused at the end of the hall but didn't turn to face . His back was rigid, shoulders tense. I took a deep breath and gathered my courage before approaching him.

"I... I'm sorry," I said softly. "About the kiss. It was wrong of ."

He still didn't turn around. His silence was like a wall, impenetrable and heavy. I waited, hoping for any kind of response, but none ca.

"I didn't an to make things uncomfortable between us," I continued, my voice barely above a whisper now. "I just... I don't know what I was thinking."

Finally, Hades spoke, but his voice was ice. "You weren't thinking. You were reckless, as always."

The sting of his words hit hard, and I bit my lip to keep the hurt from showing. "Hades, I—"

"Don't." He finally turned to face , his eyes colder than I'd ever seen them. "Don't misunderstand this arrangent between us, Ellen."

Him not using my nickna hurt more than I expected. I didn't want to hear my sister's na coming out of his mouth. "Red" had started to grow on , I realized.

His words cut deeper than I could have imagined, and I flinched at his cruelty. It was like we had returned to the beginning—to that cold, distant place where he saw as nothing more than a tool.

"I thought..." My voice faltered as I tried to find the right words. "I thought we were starting to understand each other."

Hades' lips curled into a bitter smile. "Understand each other?" He let out a sharp laugh, devoid of warmth. "I am trying to be civil because I don't like us being at loggerheads every mont. It is not appropriate. And it seed to have worked," his eyes darkened. "A little too well."

I blinked back the sudden rush of tears, hating how vulnerable I felt in front of him. "But... the things you did—"

"Were nothing," he interrupted, his tone final. "They were ant to make you feel better. Not make you feel anything else."

I stepped back as if he had physically struck , the weight of his dismissal sinking into my bones. He wasn't just rejecting —he was erasing everything I thought we'd started to build. What was I thinking we were building? What was wrong with ? Was I so starved for care and attention that the mont a man I was supposed to hate offered so, I tossed my common sense out? It seed that was so.

"I see," I whispered, my voice barely audible.

Hades didn't give another glance before turning away again. This ti, I didn't follow. I stood frozen in the hallway, feeling the crushing weight of defeat. The walls I thought were starting to co down between us had just grown taller, thicker, and more impenetrable. Like they should have been.

It was like everything I had believed, every glimpse of warmth or understanding, had been an illusion. And now, the distance between us was unsurmountable. Like it should be.