My Little Lover

Coming out of Drusilla's bed-chamber, Aradia strolled through the garden of the Duke's Manor. The most beautiful garden in the whole Manor belonged to Drusilla since she loved unique flowers. It was a place of beauty and tranquility, a hidden oasis of greenery and flowers. She walked through the winding pathway of cobblestones that led through the garden, passing by beds of roses and peonies, lavender and rosemary.

Despite the stunning landscape that surrounded her, her gaze was fixed on the clear, blue sky above. The endless expanse of blue seemed to stretch on forever, inviting dreams of infinite possibilities. On this cloudless day, the sky was a canvas of boundless possibilities, beckoning her to reach for the stars and embrace the wonders of the world.

As she was lost in thought, she didn't notice anyone's presence around her. Suddenly, a hand emerged from behind the grand statue around the corner wall and grabbed her wrist, pulling her in.

"Yik!"

Aradia was taken by surprise and let out a sharp yelp. Not just because of being caught off guard but also because of the agonizing pain that shot through her arm from her wrist.

The person who grabbed her wrist was also taken aback by her yelp and hurriedly placed his hand on her mouth to stop her from catching anyone's attention around them. His brows furrowed up tightly as he whispered, "It's me."

Aradia's eyes looked into his chocolate brown ones and she smiled back at him, rather unwillingly.

"Sir Sylvan," she called out.

"How many times I have told you to not call me so formally?" Sylvan expressed his dissatisfaction with the way she addressed him.

Aradia shook her head slightly, "It has become a habit now."

"Are you hurt?" he asked in distress as he tried to hold her wrist again.

Aradia instinctively pulled her hand back and even tugged at her sleeve as she said, "It's nothing like that. I was just surprised when you grabbed my wrist so suddenly."

Sylvan didn't look suspicious and accepted her reasoning. "Why didn't you come to see me? We haven't seen each other for so long. I thought you'd run to my side once you come back. But you actually ran to Drusilla again."

Aradia smiled sweetly seeing him complaining like this, "Lady Drusilla is ill. I had to see her first."

"Don't try to fool me," he said. "I know, you had always placed Drusilla above me. Do you love her or me?"

"You can't be jealous of your own sister," was Aradia's helpless response. "Besides, Lady Drusilla and I's relationship is older than ours. How can you even compete with that?"

Sylvan's face grew grim, "At the end of the day, you'd still choose her over me? You are unabashedly biased."

"Oh? I'm biased?" she repeated. "Then how about you go and look for another lover?" She even turned to leave.

But he grabbed her arm again and pulled her back. Her back slammed against his chest as he nuzzled her fragrant hair and sighed in contentment. "Why should I look for someone else when I have my little lover in my arms right now?"

Although Aradia's lips curled up slightly, she still said begrudgingly, "Sir Sylvan Rosewood seems to have a lot of complaints with this little lover. So, isn't it better to find a new one that can comply with all your wishes?"

Sylvan turned her around and pinched her cheek saying, "My little lover is very heated today." He held her hand and brought it to his lips. As he kissed the back of her hand, his eyes looked at her with a blazing passion surging through them. "I love this fierceness of yours. It'll be hard for me to find another one like you. So, milady, how about you go easy on me? You know I'm carping all the time. I'll try to restrain myself from now on."

"Mhmm..." Aradia didn't respond clearly. She only hummed to acknowledge that she heard it and was considering his words now.

"I have something important to tell you," Sylvan suddenly got serious.

It even made Aradia look at him solemnly as she waited for him to continue. Before he could say anything, both of them heard a voice.

"Have you seen Sir Sylvan? Someone saw him walking towards Lady Drusilla's abode. But the maidservants inside said, he didn't come over."

Sylvan recognized that voice to be of his father's aide and wondered if he should come out of hiding or not.

"Duke is looking for Sir Sylvan but I can't find him anywhere."

Aradia pressed Sylvan's shoulder with her hand and made him lower his figure so she could place her lips beside his ear and whisper, "You should go now. Lord Callen must have something important to discuss with you." Seeing his unwillingness to leave, her heart softened and she added, "We can meet at night."

"You have to give me a word that you'd come to see me at our hiding place or I'm not leaving," said Sylvan acting like a stubborn child. He didn't care about his identity in front of her. He just wanted to see her! They lived in the same Duke's Manor but the number of times they could see each other without disturbance was pitifully few.

"I promise," said Aradia. "Now, go!"

Sylvan reluctantly let go of her soft hands and said, "I'll be waiting. You have to come." With those words, he finally left while Aradia crouched down and weaved her way from behind the shrubs and managed to come out of there without being discovered.

But as she reached her room, she realized that she didn't tell Sylvan about her accompanying Drusilla to the estate tomorrow. Suddenly, she felt a little guilty. It was really as he said, she chose Drusilla over him without a second thought.

Stepping inside her room, she went straight to the drawer beside her bed and took out the medicine box from there. As she rolled up her sleeve, one could see the horrifying bruise that was only getting worse instead of getting better these days. She calmly applied the medicinal paste to the bruise but her eyes clearly reflected her inner fury.