Hellbound Heart

While most of the guests were entranced by the night's main event which was the Crown Prince and Crown Princess' dance, a group of ladies in the far corner near the veranda were quiet and kept to their own small group. Glancing at each other and talking in secret, they gave off a slight feeling of dissatisfaction.

'God, Prince Sebastian looks so different tonight!'

'What do you mean? I don't think he's any different. Did you see how he had glared at us earlier on to back off before we could even approach them to greet his wife?'

'Right. He's still the same. The same gorgeous brooding, unapproachable and unreachable prince of ours!'

'I am not talking about that. I'm talking about his attitude right now towards the princess. Can't you guys see the difference? I never dreamt that Prince Sebastian could actually smile like that to another person, and a woman no less!'

Apparently, everyone could see it. They were just too jealous to be able to admit it at first. They could not believe that another human had charmed another vampire prince! In fact, many ladies had been gossiping about the fact that two of the Reign princes had ended up marrying humans.

Everyone had honestly thought that Prince Sebastian was going to end up marrying Lady Kana. Because Lady Kana was the woman he had chosen and Lady Kana had been serving him for a long time now. But out of the blue, they suddenly received news that the Crown Prince was already married and what more, it was to a human!

'I can't believe what I am seeing. It seems that the Prince has truly fallen in love with that human princess.'

'I don't hate her personally, but... that should be Lady Kana's place beside Prince Sebastian. At least, Lady Kana's a noble pure-blooded vampire. Not just some lowly and weak human.'

'Right... where is Lady Kana anyway?'

'I saw her with her father just a while ago.'

...

Utterly flustered, Elle quickly glanced to her left and right surreptitiously. Her face was burning red and her heartbeats were racing up a storm behind her ribcage.

"Oh Lord... no one managed to hear what you just said, right?" she muttered to him, panicking a little as her eyes were stretched wide in shock. How on earth does this man be so daring to speak of such private matters out in public where anyone could hear?! Elle felt scandalized just thinking of what he had said.

"Hmm... if someone's focusing their hearing on me, then they could actually hear my whisper –"

"Oh Lord...!!" her eyes stretched even wider. And she even stumbled. Thankfully, it was as though Sebastian had seen that coming and he gracefully saved her from any possibilities of tumbling over and ruining their dance.

A tantalizing chuckle echoed just by her ear, followed by another low and magnetic whisper. "So, what if they hear? We're married, Iza –"

"Still." She cut him off, still recovering from her embarrassment. "It's not... I mean, there's no need for anyone to hear that..." Ellen's words got cut off as her face blazed and she could only look at Sebastian helplessly.

"That I loved to hear your seductive moans?" Sebastian mischievously helped her finish her incomplete sentence, knowing that he was deliberately teasing his already embarrassed-to-death wife. However, he could not help himself because he liked seeing all these reactions of hers.

Her lips parted at his words and she would have tripped again if not for him saving her so effortlessly once more. He was handling her like she weighed absolutely nothing!

When she heard him chuckle again, Elle nearly glared frustratedly at him. The only reason she held back was because they were currently the center of attraction. She had never expected this man to actually tease her in this situation. Fortunately, she managed to remind herself that they were literally right before everyone's eyes at the moment and she could not possibly be showing that she was glaring at their beloved Crown Prince! "Please stop bullying me, Sebastian. This is my birthday." She complained to him softly, but a small smile decorated her face on the outside instead.

As though her smile did not fool him at all, Sebastian pressed his lips on her temples as he pulled her close to lean against him. "Just kidding, baby girl." He whispered in a low tone. "And I'm not bullying you... I just love seeing your flushed and flustered face."

She jerked her head back and locked her eyes with his. "You mean, they can't hear us?"

"Nope."

"Are you sure?" her brows creased, trying to ascertain if he was still teasing her. "Even though the vampires have such superior hearing? You're not fooling around with me again, are you, my prince?" After saying that, she pursed her lips a little.

"You're not wrong, but we do have rules not to eavesdrop. And most vampires have long adapted and now we've learned not to use our senses' full potential. Or else, most of us would've gone mad from the world's everyday noises. So now vampires aside from the royals, needed more time and intense concentration to activate their supernatural hearing as you called it."

"Oh... that's a real relief." Elle breathed in utter relief, her color going back to normal. A bright smile appeared on her beautiful face, like the rays of the sun piercing through the clouds.

"So, I can keep talking dirty with you now, right? Izabelle?"

"No! Good lord... Sebastian! What's with you tonight?" she then discreetly pinched his arm as she showed him a sweet and gentle smile that was obviously tinged with warning. There was no way she would let that happen. Someone might still want to eavesdrop on what Sebastian was whispering!

His brow lifted ever so slightly. "I'm not sure why you're asking that, but I don't think there's anything wrong with me tonight, baby."

"I don't think so, Prince Sebastian, dear husband-of-mine." She continued keeping her sweet saccharine smile, that was somehow slowly turning genuine. Because now that she had mentioned it, she had finally realized how relaxed he looked tonight. His eyes were gleaming brighter than usual, something she had not seen that much, especially when he was in public. "You're being too mischievous tonight. It's not very like you to act like this in public. Be careful that the guests also notice something strange about you."

"Hmm... is that so? Forget the guests, what do they have to do with matters concerning us husband and wife? Then let's just say that I have only recently discovered that I like teasing you in public? I think you're going to like it too, Iza... me being 'mischievous' as you called it with you in public."

"No way... I'd rather you stay behaved and quiet as you used to, Sebastian." Elle denied it with her words but there were two red spots high on her cheeks.

"Are you sure?" he leaned again and whispered. "Even though you loved it so much when I was f**king rough and talking dirty?"

Her face blazed once again as she secretly pinched him hard. "Quit it, Prince Sebastian... or else..." she threatened with a sweet smile on her face.

"Or else... Princess Izabelle?" Sebastian smiled back, a brow arched in silent question.

Biting on her lip, she flashed him a serious look and then feigned another loving and sweet smile. "You're going to sleep on the couch tonight as well."

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A/N: there's a pic of Sebby and Elle in the comic box.