Hellbound Heart

A jarring voice jolted Elle awake. Ava? After blinking blearily, as she tried to clear the haze of just waking up, her eyes flew wide open at the very first face welcoming her. Sebastian? Was she dreaming?

He was standing there, looking down at her, wearing the same neutral expression that he had on the last time they had seen each other. Finally realizing the presence of cold water surrounding her entire body, Elle moved, only to realize that her limbs felt numb and stiff. She slipped but her face did not sink into the tub as she had expected to.

A large hand had shot out, caught and was already cradling her jaw. Her eyes widened even more as she rolled her eyes up to look at him from that awkward angle. How… how did he move so fast? Was her mind playing tricks on her? It must be… right? It must have been the wine and the warm water…

"Towel, Ava." Sebastian's deep voice cut through her musings as he pulled her up and then out of the tub.

Pressing her against his solid and warm body, he took the towel from Ava and wrapped it around her. It was then that Elle realized her teeth had started chattering. She was cold. So cold.

"Do I need to call for an ambulance, Your Highness?" Ava asked worriedly from the side.

"No need." Was all Sebastian said before lifting her up into his arms effortlessly. Even with his suit on, Elle felt his body radiating so much heat that she was craving badly. It almost felt like he himself was running a fever. She wanted to think that this must be due to the fact that she just felt too cold, thus the contrast in temperature. But… she remembered that he felt like this too, back then when she was in his bed that night. But then again, it could also be just her feeling his temperature hotter than normal because she was in such a desperate situation back then.

Once they reached the bedroom, he dried her down quickly with the towel before he grabbed a fluffy fleece blanket and wrapped her up in it. Her teeth's chattering and body's shivering slowly subside as warmth seeped into her.

Stealing sideway glances at him when she thought that he was not looking, Elle could not help but notice how careful he had handled her. It was as if he thinks that she might break a bone if he accidentally made even a single careless move.

He sat on the edge of the bed with her still cradled in his arms and he did not let go until her shivering completely stopped. Elle looked up at him, curious and confused yet touched at the same time. She had never expected this man to do all this for her. And why was he here at all? Was he not on his date with that beautiful woman? She was puzzled but kept all her questions to herself.

When he looked down at her, his face turned a little dark. "You could've drowned in there. Don't you know you shouldn't drink when you planned to soak in warm water in the tub?" his voice was not particularly loud or angry, but the faint displeasure in his eyes had Elle's slightly warmed-up heart turning a little colder again.

However, she knew that he was right. Sleeping in a tub was a dangerous thing. She could have easily drowned or even if she had woken up when her face was below the water's surface, she could have still gotten water into her lungs. She could have also suffered severe hypothermia as the water had already cooled and the room's air conditioning was on due to the centralized control in the hotel. She also could not blame him if he was mad, since he, the crown prince, needed to safeguard his reputation as well. If his fiancée were to be found dead in a random hotel room in Viscarria, it would definitely be a huge scandal that could ruin his and his family's reputation forever. This situation must have worried him. She knew exactly how people like them treat possibilities of destructive scandals. "I made sure to drink just enough so I won't get intoxicated. But it seems…" Elle trailed off, stopping herself from explaining any further, knowing that it made no difference even if she did. Then she moved and slid off his lap, holding the blanket tightly around her body. She wobbled a little but quickly regained her composure.

Facing him, Elle gave him a genuine apology. "I'm sorry… that will never happen again," she promised solemnly.

As their gazes met, Elle felt the urge to ask him what happened to that stunning woman that was with him earlier in the night. She wanted to ask why he was even here. But she did not open her mouth to ask those questions that were just at the tip of her tongue. Sebastian could do whatever that he wanted according to their agreement, and she must not pry into his personal business. At all.

"Thank you for coming to my aid. I really appreciate it." she looked at him with gratitude. "I feel alright now. You can…" she wanted to tell him he could leave now and go back to his date, but she did not want to sound as though she was kicking him away nor giving him an order when he came all the way here to prevent the possible big trouble from happening to her. She could just ask Ava her questions later. She would need to ask who was it that set up that bath and especially that wine. It just did not make sense to her that she would pass out when she had just drunk literally only a few gulps. This matter needed looking into.

"Your Highness, your clothes are here." Ava's voice echoed from the slightly opened door. Clothes? Elle's eyes flew to the door. Wait… he intends to sleep here?!

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