Was it even a question? Evangeline thought in her head.
If Hades felt shocked, Evangeline sitting in front of him who had peered to his face so intently that it could have bore a hole on his handso face, was still holding a wide smile, unable to see that he was stunned by her words.
She continued softly, almost as if afraid the words might shatter if spoken too loudly, "I think... I would be able to do anything for you."
"Anything?" Hades echoed, his tone deceptively calm.
Her gaze dropped at once, lashes fluttering as heat rushed to her cheeks, the pink deepening with every second she lingered in her confession. "Anything," she repeated, earnest to the point of foolishness. "If you need my help— washing your feet, climbing trees, whatever it is— I wouldn’t hesitate."
"Do you have any idea how dangerous a promise like that is, girl?" he asked.
Sothing in the air shifted then. The tension thickened, pressing against the room as though it were on the verge of snapping, the kind of threat that should have sent fear crawling up her spine. But Evangeline had always felt a strange pressure around Hades, sothing heavy and intoxicating, and she failed to recognize this mont as different.
She didn’t see how his expression darkened, how the warmth drained from his violet eyes as sothing far colder took its place.
Neither did she notice how the room seed to respond to him, how the painted eyes along the portraits slowly turned red and fixed themselves upon her, as though weighing her words and daring her to repeat them.
Fueled by her own eagerness, she went on, unaware of the danger she was feeding. "I always keep my promises," she said quickly, almost desperately. "Especially if it’s for you. I can’t imagine a situation where I would deny you of anything."
Hades felt an uncomfortable itch curl at the corner of his mouth.
For a fleeting, vicious mont, he nearly told her to jump from the third floor of his castle, just to see if she would do it. He knew better than anyone that promises made in monts like this were fragile things, spun from emotion rather than resolve, and it was precisely that blind sincerity that made them so tempting to break.
And so dangerously easy to exploit.
Utterly used to this, he shouldn’t even feel bothered by her promise or turn agitated. Yet he did. It’s as if for the very first ti he was going to prey on her if she had lied to him.
"But I wonder if there is truly anything I could do for you," Evangeline stubbornly repeated with a fiddling nervousness, "You have so many servants in the castle. I have seen how all of them are tasked to do different thing and surely they must be good at it. I’m good at chores... but as you said... there are too many servants and if I help, I would only bother them."
"You don’t bother them," Hades whispered without even realizing it until his words slipped first out of his mouth.
"But still-" a small sigh escaped her lips and only then did Hades realized he had been staring at her face far too long than he intended. "Do you have anything you like... Lord Hades?"
Hades was still watching over her with the eye of a predator, clearly doubting her promise from earlier and wasn’t going to simply forget it. Wariness settled on his eyes as he answered her, "I don’t think I do."
"You don’t?"
Evangeline was even more shocked.
There were so many things that Hades could do as the Lord of Salestas. If he wanted to, he could obtain whatever he wanted but for that man who have all the resources... he didn’t have anything he truly liked?
"Maybe the crow over there?" She questioned.
"No."
It was a rather quick answer.
One guesses out so she continued with the other, "Reading?"
"I’ve grown bored of reading all the books there is in Salestas."
"Oh.."
Even now Evangeline was the one losing the guesses in her head, running out of ideas as she wasn’t one to have hobbies either.
Feeling a little disappointed, she couldn’t help but mutter under her breath, "Then it seems that I don’t have any use..."
"You will do for what I like?" Hades inquired and she lifted her eyes, eting his gaze. For a mont those violet gaze glead but surely she hadn’t see it right. His eyes were so ethereal when it caught the shine of the sun, turning translucent and sparkling. She brushed the idea of his eyes glowing and smiled back naively.
So painfully naive that Hades even felt bad for her.
But he couldn’t help it.
Leaning forward he smiled, "There is not much that I need."
She could see that.
"I have everything the world can offer," Hades repeated and this should make her feel small for his confidence but she didn’t, she only thought that he was right. After all who could resists giving everything up for Hades?
No one.
"But there is one thing I could never have."
Hades let his words hung.
Evangeline’s green eyes were full of hope as she looked at him, her eyes sparkling as if fireworks had exploded in her ears. It’s a sight that made Hades to smile as he could see the word "eagerness" itself etched to her face.
"I want soone who would never leave ."
At that, Evangeline paused.
She blinked her golden lashes at him, "You have your servants."
"Oh dear, you know it better than don’t you, Angel?" Hades humd as he looked aside, "Like your own family who readily abandon you when things weren’t on their side. The people around would eventually do the sa."
"That can’t be..." unlike her, he had more people surrounding him. So of them would surely stay. She wanted to argue as she felt as if he had just degraded himself, as if saying that he wasn’t soone who others would serve wholeheartedly.
But her words failed to muster as Hades smiled.
"It is the truth. But if you can promise that you won’t leave ... that will change," Hades’s violet eyes glead again, his smile curling as he watched her face so eager to fulfill what he asks.
But behind them, the portraits watching Evangeline seed to cry out for her, trying to stop her.
As if they were telling that all devils wear the face of an angel.
And that she was about to give out herself to a devil.
Reviews
All reviews (0)