Corvan could not comprehend how in the world she got such a ridiculous idea. He was careful about what words he spoke and did not remember hinting something or anything about marriage, however, the girl seems to be absolutely delusional to think that he, Lord Corvan von Vaushna de la Wylden, successor of his father, would ever stoop down to marry someone of her caliber.
Hell, he would even choose a certain foul-mouthed, aggravating, blue-eyed, honey golden blonde over someone like her.
He grimaced. Corvan did not know why he was troubling himself about petty thoughts that involved marriage, and how was Valeriana even related to the matter? He mentally punched himself, trying to knock some sense into his head.
"And what made you think I had the thought of marrying you?" His lips twisted in displeasure as he averted his eyes from the sight of her, feeling disgusted. "In case you don't know, it never even crossed my mind."
"Surely if you say that I'm unworthy of holding the position of ruler for this city, then you must mean that you wish to takeover, yes?" She beamed at him. "What else to do than marry me in order to get the position for yourself?"
"You . . ." He never even thought he would say this once more. "Such insolence." He spat.
He could not even find the proper words to describe her. What would be the proper word to describe that . . . way of thinking? Stupidity? Naivety?
"I would never want such a small piece of land to rule over." He stood up, the chair screeching as it was pushed back. "In case you do not know, I am the sole heir of the de la Wylden family. After I accomplish my studies in the academy, I will be responsible in running the whole continent of Arlandia, which is the second biggest continent next to Denovegasia." His forehead creased even further as he clenched his fists in irritation. "This city is not even half of what I have, so do not even assume I would want it at all."
"But—"
"Listen, you impertinent, cheeky brat." He stared her down, feeling the current expression of fright, pain, and embarrassment insufficient. "I have quite enough of your audacity and that measly pebble you call your brain."
Now those words were his new favorite.
"If I ever said that you were not fit to become the ruler of this city, I meant it as a criticism. I simply chose to express my thoughts and judgment towards your horrible job of handling your position, and I did not, by any means, imply any sort of desire to become your husband, much less become this city's lord." He emphasized each word to her, wanting to shove each one into her brain.
He saw the tears welling up from her eyes as he scolded her, her bottom lip quivering.
"I will be spelling it out to you." He added. "Firstly, I do not desire to take your position. If I were to want to take it from you, I'll leave it to the Evereeshan family to do something about it. Secondly, you have to understand that a brat and insolent child such as yourself is not at all worthy of being the Lady of this city. To associate yourself with a demon and constantly change the seasons based on what I assume are your whims, is not something a proper ruler would do. A ruler would first mind the welfare of her people and put their happiness above her own."
She cowered into her seat, her back slouching as she attempted to hide herself from his scorching gaze.
"Thirdly, I absolutely, positively, definitely," She flinched with every word he said that he swore he felt a rush of pleasure seeing her act that way. It served her right. "Do not want to be your husband. If ever given the choice, I would rather have myself jump into the deepest pits where millions of demons are rather than be forced to be your husband. Do you understand?"
It wasn't even a second later that she started sobbing. The poor Asthore buried her face in her hands, wailing loudly as Corvan allowed a smirk to grace his lips for a brief moment. He did not know he had such a sadistic side to him, but seeing this girl cry made him satisfied. He disapproved of her attitude as it grated his nerves. To think she could even go so far as to think that he would ever marry her, then she was wrong.
How annoying.
The doors cracked open and Keelan and Brindon entered, Faolan behind them. Keelan almost fainted—squealed like a girl, rather—as he saw the grand feast laid out on the table. His eyes sparkled as he practically leaped forward to stuff himself. Brindon, however, was uncaring.
"Milady?" Faolan called out.
She continued to sob.
"Milady!" He rushed forward, worried. "Why are you crying, milady?"
Asthore wailed.
Corvan raised a brow as he watched the demon trying to console the girl. The distraught look in his eyes as he knelt by her side to soothe her made him suspicious. He must care for the girl to a great extent if he acted that way. Right from the start, he did not seem as though he was after something else—anything material to satisfy himself. It almost seemed as though he was doing this. For her sake.
Perhaps Asthore was not actually the victim in this situation.
It was the demon.
Asthore's face snapped forward as Keelan lunged for a chicken leg. Mouth watering, he brought it to his face and opened his mouth wide when Asthore screamed at him to stop, her voice ringing throughout the whole room.
"Do not even dare take a bite out of that!" She yelled, pointing a finger at him with a flushed face.
"W-what . . ." Keelan looked shocked, saddened, and disappointed. The emotions mixed and swirled within his eyes and sparkled as a drool dripped from the corner of his mouth. "Why?" His voice was on the verge of whining. It even trembled.
"No one will eat! I said no one!"
"But after I finally got to see food . . ." His eyes started to tear up and his lips quivering as he reluctantly lowered the chicken leg. "All I get to do is stare at it!" He sobbed.
Brindon came forward and patted him on the back, offering his silent comfort.
Corvan felt his aggravation worsening. "You think the world revolves around you only?"
"Do not say anymore." Faolan growled at him. "If you dare hurt her—"
The first ranker cut him off. "You think keeping her from pain will let her learn?" He hissed back. "A child whose life is a bed of roses will only feel it with greater magnitude than others. If I saying these words made her cry, then I wonder what would happen to her if she experienced life outside these walls? A ruler would have to shoulder thousands of suffering souls, solve millions of problems, protect hundreds of lives, endure the pain—all without shedding one tear. For his people, he must stand strong. A life of a leader is a life of a selfless sacrifice. Your life is not your own."
He eyed the crying girl as Faolan, who stood frozen while gaping and seething at him like a cat, was unable to say anything to counter his words.
"She—"
"You think the life she's living right now can even be considered one?" He turned his nose up and stared the two of them down as he did many times before. "A life is not without pain. To live a purely happy life is nothing but a blissful dream. For to experience pain is to live. For to live is to experience pain. To suffer is to be free. To be free is to suffer."
Keelan seemed to have stopped for a moment and forgot about his woes for food. Brindon's mouth, for once, was hanging open and his eyes were somewhat wide. His shock was shown on his face, something which was very rare since he hardly allowed his expression to stray from something other than neutral.
"Spoken like a true leader." Brindon said.
Keelan unknowingly dropped the chicken leg he was crying over a while ago, his pose the same and his form unmoving.
"I hate you!" Asthore screamed. "Jerk! Forget about anything! No one's ever going to marry you!"
With that, she stormed out of the room and ran away.
Should he say he was hurt about that?
No. He shouldn't. He didn't. He wasn't.
Because, if he wanted, he could have all the ladies lining up on his doorstep just to get that one chance of being chosen as the next Lady of Arlandia. He was, after all, still a lord. Who would not want to stand by him as he ruled his continent? Be primped while adorned with priceless jewels.
But there was no way. Not even a chance.
There was a loud bang as the doors flew in place. Faolan, although clearly wanting to go after the girl, stayed instead and decided to escort Corvan back to their room where they were to be 'contained' until such time that Asthore decided what she wanted to do with them.
With the others unaware, Keelan slipped a variety of food under his shirt and brought enough to feed an army—somehow without the demon actually noticing. Nothing seemed to have been impossible for the guy if it came to eating.
Even so, Corvan was more than satisfied of his previous actions that he didn't mind being locked up once again. It would give that girl something to think over other rather than being carelessly off somewhere doing whatever in the world she wanted. He did not know what urged Courtney to befriend such a selfish girl. No one would ever last long with her—perhaps not even that demon.
Heck, he was sure he didn't even have to wait.
For sure, Charles already came up with a good plan.
Corvan watched the lock click in place. It was followed by a surge of raw power that startled him slightly. He then narrowed his eyes as it occurred to him.
That damn demon had sealed the door with an enchantment.
"Wey, Cowvan."
Corvan turned and gazed at Keelan questioningly. He had merely taken his eyes off of him for a brief second, and the next thing he did was eat. No questions asked. His face was already stuffed with that chicken leg.
For god's sake! Didn't he drop that?
"That lady was mean."
"She is no lady." He answered. "She is a child."
"Mmm." Keelan nodded in agreement. "Want some?" He held out the chicken leg he was nibbling on.
Corvan shook his head.
"How about you?" He asked Brindon.
"No." Was his simple answer.
"You seem deep in thought, though." Keelan stated simply.
Corvan gave him a questioning gaze, but that statement seemed to have been directed to him. Although he might've not looked like it, he was pretty sharp. There were just some things that wouldn't go unnoticed from Keelan's eyes. Although only the eleventh among the twelve, he was still a ranker. He did not hold that position for nothing.
Despite his gluttony.
"Was it because of what she said about no one ever wanting to marry you?"
"Was it?" Brindon asked as well.
Keelan then beamed at him. "Don't worry, Corvan! If I were a girl, I'll marry you!"
Corvan growled at strawberry-blonde. "Don't even think about going there. You're not even helping at all."
"Not comforting."
"Ah, but I just remembered." He then scratched his head with his greased hands. "You don't have to worry about that because you already have someone right?"
The first ranker's eyes narrowed. "I told you—"
"You're already betrothed."