Hellbound Heart

Elle could not quite explain this floating sensation.

It was just weird. Did someone manage to slip past the tight security around her and drug her drink or something? But that should not be possible! She was with Sebastian the entire time and she knew he had been paying close attention to every single food item she had eaten or drink that she had consumed. So if it was not the food or drinks, then it might be herself. Then she really needed to get this condition of hers checked by a specialized doctor soon. There was no way that this was not a big deal. She had totally forgotten about it due to all the recent happenings that had kept them all so hectic. But now that it happened again, she could not possibly keep ignoring it. She must get this checked to know what was going on with her own body!

Though she was glad that the pain was no longer that severe and that she did not faint this time around, this cannot keep happening anymore.

Planning to finally signal Sebastian so she could go and compose herself until this strange condition or whatever this feeling or sensation was gone, Elle lifted her face to look at him. Only to see Jules' face, blocking her view.

Leaning closer, Jules whispered. "Princess... Lady Kana wants me to tell you these words... 'Prince Sebastian is mine. He has been for countless years before you even existed. Just because you're now married to him, it makes a difference? Do you think you even stand a chance against me? Dream on little human princess.'"

Before Elle could react, a ferocious voice rang out above them. "Move."

Jules was about to turn when she was brushed aside rather rudely and she tumbled a little. Just as Jules wanted to scold the person who did that, she looked up and froze. Her mouth still hanging open, the words remained stuck in her throat. It was Prince Sebastian who did that.

Sebastian seized Elle's shoulders. His face was shadowed and his aura was heavy and deadly. She could see from the corner of her eyes how everyone had turned to look at the commotion they had caused.

The look in his eyes immediately told Elle he was in a dangerous mood. Despite the still lingering weird feeling... despite the whirlwind of emotions starting to turn violent within her because of the words she just received from Lady Kana, her mind told her that she needed to do something to calm Sebastian down first and foremost. She must not let him erupt right in front of everyone's eyes. No matter the reason, they were still halfway through the party, with everyone's eyes on them. On him. The Crown Prince.

Elle had been trained since young to react positively, at least outwardly, no matter what the situation was whenever she was in front of everyone's eyes. She was not allowed to show or do anything negative, anything that could spark rumors or create tension. And not just that, she was trained to lighten up complicated situations if she could or to step in to disrupt the tension that could potentially be fatal for the royal family's reputation.

So, she did what she thought would be enough to distract Sebastian, even if it was only for a little.

She called him 'Honey', and somehow, it seemed to work. He had blinked and the tight pressure that was building eased off a lot that it became easier to breathe. It was a surprise! She had thought she might even need to say more to at least make him calm down a little.

When he scooped her up and held her high and close to his chest, Elle did not protest in the least. Not only that protesting was the last thing she had on her mind at the moment, but also because she was busy sighing in relief that somehow she had managed to evade yet might be another big scene in public - this time among the vampire high society!

Pressing her hand over her chest as Sebastian carried her, Elle glanced over the crowd and thought to herself at what bad luck she had, because the very first person she had locked eyes with was Kana.

A haughty smile flashed across the lady's face. Elle did not know why she was smiling like that, but she hated it. Though she knew she must be just playing mind games and was trying to piss her off, Elle still could not help but get affected at how confident and knowing that smile directed at her was. It was as if she knew of something that Elle herself did not. It was as though it was already confirmed that she had the upper hand. The words Jules whispered earlier echoed loudly in her ears.

Quickly, whatever lingering strange feeling that was left within her was quickly forgotten. All Elle could think about now was that smile of Kana's flashing tauntingly in her mind.

And then everything she had heard from those ladies, from Kana herself through Almira's and her eye-to-eye communication, and most especially those last words Jules had whispered, echoed in her ears over and over.

When Sebastian finally put her down inside their room, she reached out and grabbed his collar with more enthusiasm and boldness than she had ever shown to him before this. Her mind could no longer think of anything else but the desire to corner this man and... make him hers. To prove them completely wrong. To have it irrefutable and set in stone. That Sebastian would never be Kana's. That this man was hers. Alone.

She was angry. Upset. Hurt. But she refused to be the one backing down. She refused to just stay still and silently suffer on her own any longer. She would not step aside and just watch silently from the sidelines anymore. She refused to concede defeat. She refused to let Kana keep smiling mockingly at her like that. This man... Sebastian was her husband. She was his wife, the Crown Princess of this nation, not Kana. She refused to let Kana keep smiling at her like that. She would erase that mocking smile on her face. She swore on herself that she would.

"You are mine, Sebastian!" She declared in a possessive growl. Any fear and worry relating to the consequences of their past agreements was now brushed aside, cast into the wind and completely forgotten.