Ruby slammed the door behind her, fighting to catch her breath.
Somehow, she'd managed to get back alive, on her own. Ruby knew she probably ought to feel proud of herself, but she didn't. All she felt was a large, gaping hole in her chest where fear had once been.
She'd just experienced what was probably the most terrifying night of her life. Despite having been in danger lots of times in the past, Ruby couldn't remember the last time she'd felt so petrified.
Even now, with her adventure having ended, her heartbeat had yet to slow to its normal pace. She felt at though she'd spent several hours out there, when it reality it had probably only been slightly more than an hour.
Ruby sighed, letting the fatigue settle in, and leaned her head back against the door. So Dyrroth had said he would come and visit her once he'd dealt with Selena. Ruby wasn't entirely sure whether she should believe him or not.
But, if he really came to see her, then holy shit, that was bad. What was Ruby supposed to say to him? She'd never known it was possible to sense the awkwardness of a conversation that hadn't even taken place yet.
Holy gods. She'd just returned from an adventure with her heart beating out of her chest, and now she had to prepare to be alone with her crush whom she hadn't spoken to properly for ages. Shit. Shit. Shit.
What was she supposed to...
That was when somebody shoved the door open behind her forcefully, propelling her forwards and making her stumble. Ruby tripped and nearly fell, but fortunately managed to regain her balance on time. She spun around to face the doorway furiously. 'You idiot!' she yelled, scowling at the the man who'd just showed up.
Dyrroth had that infuriating trademark smirk on his face again. 'I have no words to say about what just happened,' he said, standing there with his arms crossed and pinning a mocking gaze on Ruby.
She looked away, irritated. 'The look on your face says otherwise,' she muttered.
'It probably does,' he agreed.
For a moment, neither of them said a word, and silent stretched thin between them, bothering Ruby slightly. She was getting tired of the tension. 'So,' she began, trying to seem casual, 'how'd you deal with Selena back there?'
Dyrroth sighed and ran a hand through his silvery blond hair. 'I dunno, I just gave her an explanation, I guess. It was easier than I thought. Perhaps it was just me, but...it was like she knew it wasn't the first time you'd gone outside.'
Ruby blinked, not exactly knowing how to respond to that. 'And...she's not gonna tell anyone, right?'
'Well, I hope so.'
He didn't sound very sure of himself, but Ruby decided to let it slide. She didn't really care whether Selena would expose her - them - or not. After all, she'd found Dyrroth now, which meant she could settle all the stuff about escaping and finally return to the North-Eastern Lands with her friends. That sounded like a total dream come true, but unfortunately making it actually happen was easier said than done.
Speaking of Selena...
'So, she's your fiancée, huh.' Ruby turned away without meeting his gaze, inspecting her fingernails idly. She'd tried her hardest to feign nonchalance, but knew what she'd said probably still sounded passive-aggressive.
She saw Dyrroth go still from the corner of her eye. For a moment she thought she saw him open his mouth as if about to speak, but he didn't say anything. So she decided to continue.
'Just so you know,' Ruby said, trying to keep her voice devoid of emotion but still sounding slightly vulnerable, 'I haven't forgiven you for what you did. Not yet.'
At last, she spun on her heel to face him, meeting his sharp, purple-eyed gaze. There was something unreadable in his expression which she hadn't seen before. Was it sympathy? she wondered. Or something else? If so, then what was it?
Ruby held his stare, trying to keep her voice from wavering as she spoke. She had to stay strong. She couldn't shrink back under his steely gaze just because he was the demon prince, that was unacceptable. Because what did him being the ruler of the Abyss even mean? Did it even mean anything at all? If anything, during the time she'd known him, what she'd realised the most of all was that there was nothing all that fearsome or princelike about him. He was just an ordinary boy, one with a cocky smirk perpetually plastered across his face, and gleaming magenta eyes that knew much more than he ever let on.
Dyrroth still wasn't saying anything, and Ruby didn't like it. It was making her feel overly self-conscious. Still forcing herself to go on, Ruby stared at him with a look of indifference, trying to keep her gaze steady. 'You do know that, if you'd told me right at the start, then none of this would've happened, right?'
Hardly thinking anymore and involuntarily letting her body take control, she took a step closer to him, a hint of desperation in her green eyes. 'Why did you keep it from me?' she asked, hating the desperation in her voice, hating the fact that she'd spoken in hardly more than a whisper.
That weird, akin-to-sympathy look in Dyrroth's magenta eyes still hadn't faded. His lips parted momentarily as if to speak, the subtle movement nearly imperceptible, but Ruby's eyes caught it all the same. And then she instantly felt embarrassed by the fact she'd noticed something like that.
However, the prince only ended up not saying anything again, hesitating before any words could escape his mouth. Ruby clenched her teeth. What was he trying so hard to hold back? Because whatever it was, it was really beginning to get on her nerves.
She shrunk back from him a little, fighting to keep her composure. She really wanted to act like she was unbothered by the topic at hand, but that would be complete pretense. Because she knew deep down she was immensely bothered, and Dyrroth had probably guessed so too. So...was it really necessary to keep up this act?
'Were you lying to me?' Ruby said sharply.
If Dyrroth was startled by her abrupt change of tone, then he didn't show it. Though, it could've been Ruby's imagination, but she thought she saw the look in his eyes change.
Finally, at last, he spoke. 'No,' he answered quickly. 'I wasn't. I never lied to you.'
Without having the slightest idea what she was doing, Ruby glared at him.
'But, actually, why should I believe you?' she asked, trying to mask her insecurity with coldness. She didn't want to make it obvious, but she was losing control of herself, the situation rapidly spiraling out of her grasp. 'How should I know you're not still keeping more secrets from me? After all, you seem pretty good at that. Why don't you prove you're not hiding anything this time?'
She swallowed, taking an unsteady step back. Her heart was racing so loudly she was sure he could hear it. There were at least a million things racing through her mind as she stared at Dyrroth's perfectly impassive face, jumbling up her thoughts and making her panic. Why was he staying completely silent? Had she said something wrong?
She let her gaze drop to the floor, wrapping her arms around herself quietly. 'You know what?' she asked softly, retreating. 'Maybe I shouldn't expect you to tell m-'
'Ruby,' he said suddenly, jolting her out of her momentary trance. Startled, she looked up, only to feel him gently cup her left cheek with his hand.
And then he leaned in and kissed her.
For a few seconds, Ruby only froze, her limbs going rigid. Then heat instantly suffused her face.
Dyrroth was kissing her. It wasn't a dream, it was real. Dyrroth was...
Her lips parted to welcome his of their own accord, and the slide of his tongue against her bottom lip nearly made her dissolve into a pile of ash at his feet. This was not happening. There was no way this was happening. It was too good to be true.
Her heart thundering in her chest, she felt Dyrroth place his hand on her lower back, and Ruby was hyperaware of how warm it felt even through the thin fabric of her clothes. She could've passed out when he gently but firmly pulled her closer to him, so that their bodies were pressed together. Her pulse was roaring in her ears.
Oh my god. Oh my god.
After what felt like an eternity, they drew apart for breath, and Ruby's chest heaved with heavy gasps, the sensation of air rushing into her aching lungs utterly blissful. Her heart hadn't slowed one bit, and the deafening sound of it pounding in her ears wasn't doing much to help either. She couldn't even think straight, let alone stand on her two feet without getting dizzy.
Unable to control herself, she let out a noise not unlike a splutter, clapping a hand over her mouth instinctively. 'D-Dyrroth!' she protested, sounding embarrassingly breathless.
Dyrroth smiled at her wryly, a look of unmistakable intent in his eyes. 'Why're you so shaken? Was that your first kiss?' he asked teasingly.
Ruby felt her blush increase tenfold just from hearing that question. How had he managed to guess? Actually, scratch that. From the way she was acting, anyone could probably tell after just one glance. She was probably making it really damn obvious.
Before she could defiantly snap no, it wasn't at Dyrroth, however, he spoke with a smirk on his face. 'You know what? It's fine. You don't have to answer that. I'll save you the embarrassment of having to admit my guess is completely right.'
At that, Ruby finally regained her ability to speak. 'You're wrong,' she sort of muttered, still averting her eyes from him with all her might.
The smirk on Dyrroth's face couldn't have been more annoying. 'Totally, yeah.'
She scowled at him, daring to meet his watchful gaze at last. 'Why would you do that?' she said.
His lips turned down ever so slightly at the edges. 'Do what?'
Ruby shot him a scathing glare. 'Kiss me, of course!' she snapped, sounding a bit harsher than she'd intended to.
'Why, didn't you like it?'
Hyperaware of everything around her, she wrapped her arms around herself self-consciously, angling her face away from him. 'It's- it's not that I didn't like it,' she replied a little shyly.
Dyrroth's gaze on her didn't waver one bit. 'Then?'
Ruby swallowed. Her honest answer would be that she'd imagined her first kiss to be slightly more intimate and romantic, not this sudden, but there was no way she would ever tell him that. 'I did like it,' she answered, involuntarily lowering her voice to hardly more than a whisper. She couldn't even remember the last time she'd felt this self-conscious. 'But...you know...it's not exactly what I imagined my first kiss to be like. Besides,' she added quickly after noticing the nearly imperceptible hurt in Dyrroth's expression, 'doesn't this make things a little...complicated?'
He arced an eyebrow gracefully. 'What do you mean?'
Ruby gestured to both of them awkwardly. 'You know...with you being the Prince of the Abyss and me a human, things aren't exactly gonna work out between us, are they?'
Dyrroth's lips curved into a smile, one that was almost gentle. 'What're you talking about?' he asked her teasingly, tenderly combing his fingers through several strands of her golden hair. 'Of course it'll work out. After all, even if you're a human and I'm a demon, none of it matters to me. You're already beautiful the way you are, Ruby.'
Her cheeks abruptly started to burn again. God damn it, he had to stop talking like that, or else Ruby was going to faint before either of them knew it. 'Shut up, idiot, I'm not.' Was it just her imagination, or was the world spinning a little?
'You are,' Dyrroth argued indignantly.
She rolled her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest. 'Don't you think this something pretty weird to be disagreeing about?'
'Yeah, it is.'
Just then, a troubling thought came into Ruby's mind, and she stilled, suddenly feeling immensely self-conscious again. 'Hey, Dyrroth...' she began in a quiet voice.
The prince blinked at her expectantly. 'What is it?' he asked.
She took a deep breath, staring at the ground because she didn't want to meet his gaze. 'When are you and Selena going to get married?' she questioned.
He quietened. 'I don't know. But not very soon.' Sighing, he shifted so that he was leaning against the door of Ruby's cage. 'Damn, the last thing I want is to get married to that girl. She's not as bad as you think she is, but that's not gonna make me start liking her anytime. And, judging from how often I've see her hanging out with Moskov recently, I don't think she likes me anymore either. '
Ruby blinked. 'Um, she seemed kinda obsessed with you in the past though, not gonna lie,' she said uncertainly. 'Are you sure she's not just using Moskov as a stand-in?'
Dyrroth frowned, seemingly considering that possibility. 'Maybe,' he admitted thoughtfully. 'But I don't think so. Moskov isn't really the kind of guy who gets used as a stand-in, is he?'
Ruby bit her bottom lip, giving it a thought. 'Nope,' she said. 'He isn't.'
'Well, there you have it, then. I'm certain Selena's over me. Completely certain.'
She smiled wryly. 'You really do seem pretty determined to assure me that no one's getting in between us.'
He smiled serenely. 'That's right,' he said in a soft voice. 'I'm not going to let anyone stop me from being with you. I'm the prince, after all. I do what I want to do.'
'But, Dyrroth, I still don't understand,' said Ruby, staring at him with a wary look in her eyes. 'Why didn't you tell me right away that you were betrothed to Selena? It's not like you could benefit from keeping something like that from me.'
For the first ever time in Ruby's life, she thought she saw an emotion akin to shyness flicker across Dyrroth's face. It was so uncharacteristic of him, she nearly laughed.
'Ruby, there's a reason why I couldn't help watching you all those nights when you went to hunt wolves,' he finally said, after a long moment of silence.
Ruby folded her arms with a smirk. 'Watching me? You know, I think you should stop pretending you weren't stalking me.'
If Dyrroth had paid any attention to what she'd said, he definitely didn't show it. 'I was drawn to you,' he said. 'I don't know why, but I found something about you just so admirable. You seemed like the kind of person who'd countlessly been broken and suffered the loss of their loved ones, but still kept pushing on. I knew you were different from others the moment I laid eyes on you. You're strong, Ruby. Even after all the events that had happened to you during your childhood, you never stray from the path you want to take. You already know who you are and what you want to do.'
Then he paused, long enough to make Ruby tentatively glance at him to see if he was done talking. Just as it seemed as though her thoughts had been confirmed, however, he spoke again.
'Unlike me,' he said quietly, in a voice so quiet that it was nearly inaudible.
Ruby raised her head to look at him, startled. 'Come again?' she asked uncertainly, although she was fairly sure she'd caught exactly what he'd said.
Dyrroth didn't repeat his words, although he'd probably heard her. Ruby felt a hint of frustration welling inside her. She'd nearly forgotten about his habit of cutting her off or ignoring her. It was annoying, but really, she didn't mind that much.
'To this day, I'm still not sure who I am,' he said softly, his gaze downcast. 'In fact, I get less and less sure each passing day. I know I was born a human, but I can't even imagine myself as one of your kind, let alone actually see the human in me. And...me being a demon is indisputable, of course, because I love the Abyss with all my heart, but then why do I feel like I think more and more differently from the rest of my people every day?'
There was such a lost look in his eyes, Ruby couldn't help but feel sad for him too. As someone who'd always known who she was - or maybe only thought she knew - she couldn't fully understand what the prince felt, but she hoped she did, just a bit. Ever since the moment her grandparents had been taken for her, Ruby had lived with an irreparable bloodlust deep within her chest, and she'd sworn to slaughter every wolf that crossed her path. But, now that she was stuck as a prisoner in the Abyss and forming a strange camaraderie with its prince, she was only beginning to realise she didn't know who she was becoming, either.
'Dyrroth,' she said gently but firmly, placing a hand on his shoulder to get his attention, 'perhaps nothing makes sense right now, but I promise you, one day it all will. Trust me.'
The prince looked at her, his expression carefully shuttered, revealing nothing. 'I think I know when you're saying it'll all make sense,' he said softly, turning his head to gaze elsewhere. 'It's when I turn back into a human, isn't it?'
Ruby couldn't help but stiffen, just a little. 'Honestly, I don't really know when, either,' she told him. 'But you won't doubt yourself anymore if you turn into a human, right?'
'Who knows...' He gazed into the distance, at nowhere in particular, an odd, faraway look in his eyes. 'If it's like that...does it mean that if I hand myself over to the Moniyan Empire, abandon the Abyss and turn back into a human, everything will make sense again?' The prince seemingly hesitated. '...Is it really worth it?'
Ruby had no idea what to say. Luckily, before she could hazard some random reply, Dyrroth spoke again, this time much softer than before. 'Damn. I wish things weren't so hard.'
That, she could understand easily. 'So do I,' she said. 'So does everyone. But don't worry, you'll get through it. Because you're Dyrroth, the best prince your people could ever ask for, and you can deal with pretty much everything.' Besides, you're also smoking hot. 'So I have faith in you.'
Dyrroth quirked an eyebrow. 'It seems you haven't improved one bit at coming up with motivational speeches, Ruby.'
She shot him a look murderous enough to kill. 'Come on! Wasn't that a pretty good one?' she said in protest.
He laughed. 'Fine, perhaps you've improved a tiny little bit.' Then he smirked wryly. 'But, remember, only a tiny little bit.'
Ruby let out a grudging snicker, delivering a swift smack to his arm. Well, even after all that talk about not being sure who they were, she was pretty certain about one thing.
Dyrroth's personality definitely hadn't changed one bit.
Sorry that I didn't update the story for a while, I was actually planning to rewrite it a few times but in the end I just stuck with what I'd written the first time. Hope you enjoyed the chapter lol, although in my opinion it could've been better. XD
Tysm for reading guys!! And HAPPY NEW YEAR YALL <3