Ludus

vii

VII

"Deception"

THE PLAN WAS SIMPLE.

During the night of Kishiek, Aria had to make the prince fall for her, weaken his strength, and kill his mother. She didn't realize how difficult it was going to be considering the prince was a misogynistic spoiled brat who couldn't even change by himself.

Falling on the fluff of her white duvet, Aria unclasped her thigh holster and set it on her mahogany nightstand —the knives made a slight sound at the clamor. Her face, glowing with night cream, held a frustrated expression (something that normally happened whenever she made contact with that stupid Kutsthorn).

"Halvek," she muttered under her breath, suddenly forgetting that the royal pain in the ass was the first reason her day had gone terrible. Grey always managed to pierce into her nerves, and she would enjoy nothing more than to pierce her knife into his chest.

To say Aria hated Grey was an understatement.

That boy —that deceiving boy knew more than she did and used it against her two years ago. Was she still mad? No, she was infuriated. His mischief tarnished her pride and she ended up tarnishing him with her blade —which only caused double the hate between the two.

Deepdown, Aria acknowledged that she was at fault for losing her own rules, but he made the game his to play, and she would never stand by that again.

"Aria?" Kavias knocked on the door, opening it slightly while stepping in with a towel resting around his neck, on top of his white shirt. "You okay?"

"I want to murder him." Normally, Aria would've lied and acted like she has recollected herself because that's what a leader would do. But with Kavias, she couldn't lie because he would catch it. She frustratingly put a pillow over her face and groaned.

"Something tells me that we aren't talking about that brat of a prince." Kavias chuckled, he took a seat on her bed, making it dip near the end. His light brown hair was starting to dry, but Aria could tell he hasn't tamed his hair yet. His green eyes darted to Aria's disheveled sheets, pulling the pillow away from her with amusement clear in his features. "You know, for the leader of a damn gang, you sure are acting more like a hormonal teenager."

"That's because I am a teenager." Aria couldn't help but to act childish at times. She was still only seventeen, and her impulses weren't exactly mature in some cases. "And plus, the rest of Fiare would never see me acting like this. Only you since you are only good at giving advice."

"Wow I'm so honored," Kavias rolled his eyes, he threw the pillow at her face, but she caught it and shoved it towards him with twice the speed. "Dammit Aria."

"You asked for it." She huffed, but she still couldn't stop thinking about that asshole who she just argued with an hour ago. Kavias noticed her slight change in expression and wrapped an arm around her. Aria leaned on his shoulder, suddenly feeling a sense of comfort wash over her. "He makes me so fucking angry."

"That's because you still care, Ri." Kavias drew circles on her shoulder with his thumb —a habit he always did when she felt down.

"No I don't," she stubbornly stated, she could smell the freshness of his bodywash adhering to his shirt. "I could care less about him."

"I'm not saying that you care for him. I'm saying that you still care about what he did to you." Kavias pressed his cheek onto the top of her head. She wore a dark silk nightgown that only reached to a few inches above her knees, something that she always wore to pamper herself. "It traumatized you and now that he's back, it's like you want to take back the pride he stole."