A long silence passed by, but Ezekiel did not seem to want to respond. And since it was that way, Alicia waited for him to say 'next', but he did not either. So she assumed that there was a chance that he might answer it if she waited a little longer. But even after waiting, no answer was forthcoming and there was still no 'next' as well. Thus, she decided to ask another question to prompt him.

  "Does this have something to do with your brother, Sebastian?" her question was slow and careful.

  And his eyes slowly drifted closed. His hand on her tensed as well, indicating that Alicia had hit the nail on the head. She had always wondered about Sebastian ever since she had seen him in the dungeon.

  Ezekiel nodded. The muscles in his face and neck were also tensing up.

  Alicia swallowed before she opened her mouth again with difficulty. "If… if you give in and choose me… is he the one who will be –" she hazarded a wild guess. Somehow, with the way that he reacted whenever it came to Sebastian, she had a strong hunch that it might be it.

  He yanked at her and buried her in his embrace. She could hear his heart racing violently as her ears were plastered to his strong chest. And this alone was enough to confirm that her question just now had landed on the jackpot.

  "Sebastian had… suffered greatly in my place." he uttered in a broken voice. "If it was not for him… I wouldn't be who I am right now or even be here. I've been waiting for so long so I could finally free him from that cursed prison. So he can finally live the life that was taken from him long time ago. I've promised myself that I will do anything it takes to free him and now…" his voice died down, turning into a whisper as his grip on her tightened. "… eight more days and it's finally going to happen. I can finally free him then…"

  Alicia embraced him back. Now it was all clearer to her. It hurt her so much that she was right but then a genuine smile was curving on her lips as she caressed his back, giving him as much comfort as she could.

  "Mm… you will free him, Ezekiel. Just eight more days… just hang on there." she whispered to him.

  And both of them just stayed there, half soaking in the now cold water, as the drizzle continued falling on them.

  The scene of them embracing each other in the dark almost looked like one tragic but beautiful painting.

  …
After an immeasurable amount of time, Alicia was the first to pull away and break the silence. "Is there any clothes we can use to change into back in the cabin?" she asked innocently as she blinked at him.

  He stared at her for a moment before he finally lifted her together with him, and they emerged from the water. "Yes, there is."

  "That's great then." And she gave a little laugh.

  Once they were back inside the small house, the two of them silently dried off and put on their clothes. Alicia once again did not have any underwear, but Ezekiel made her wear his boxers.

  "This house is yours?"

  "Yes."

  "Why do you have a house in such a place?"

  "We royals all have a secret place around the world that no one knows about except our caretakers."

  "That's pretty convenient." She nodded in agreement.

  "Sit." Ezekiel pulled her to sit between his legs, causing Alicia to look up and blink at him. "I'll dry your hair." He added and she could only blink again before a flush coloured her face. She did not think that the great prince Ezekiel would lower himself to do a menial job of a maid servant and dry her hair. She did not even think he even knew how to do it!

  She obeyed and turned her back towards him before sitting down. He took her hand and placed it on his bare knees. Both of them were currently wearing boxer shorts at the moment. Ezekiel did not even bother putting on a shirt.

  Alicia could not help but sigh and close her eyes as he started patting her hair gently, drying it with a fluffy towel. Such a blissful thing… and she sighed out in satisfaction.

  "Let me dry your hair too." She said after a long while and before he could say anything she turned and knelt before him. After placing his hand on her waist under her oversized shirt, Alicia took another fluffy towel from beside them and started drying his own damp hair.

  He shut his eyes closed too as she took her time. It was amazing how doing simple things like this felt so good. She could not help but wish she could dry his hair like this forever…
"What are we going to do with our time in the next eight days, Ezekiel?" she asked, breaking the silence once again. She needed to, before the atmosphere turn thicker and dangerous again. "I don't think us staying here by ourselves is a good idea… don't you think so?" she rubbed her nose sheepishly as she said that.

  She knew he understood what she was trying to say. His eyes glinted as it met hers.

  "We will change to a different location tomorrow." He informed her.

  "Why? Because of the pursuers?"

  "Yes. And they might come after you more fiercely the closer we get to the d-day."

  Alicia stilled. Then she looked at the now healing wound caused by poison on his chest. The violet shade was fading to a lighter colour of lavender now. And this man did not even wince the whole time. With him in this state right now, Alicia was afraid that something worse than this might happen in the next few days.

  As if he sensed that fear in her, he looked up at her through his tussled hair. His grey eyes gleamed with ferocity. "I will do everything I can to protect you." he promised her, and he fiddled with the strands of her hair before pressing them to his lips. "I won't let anyone touch even a strand of your hair, Alicia. I swear that to you."

  ___

  A/N: I just want to tell you guys that I am really overwhelmed with the support Hellbound is receiving right now from you guys. I'm really surprised. I wish I can immediately shower you guys too with updates every time you shower me with gifts but there are days when my brain gets exhausted. So i hope you guys don't mind if sometimes i take my time in updating the chapters I owe. Just know that i will definitely give them cause I have a list with me. I list down every supergift I receive so it's not possible for me to forget. ^^

  Again, thank you so very much for the love and support. The comments in chapter 812 really touched and motivated me. Thank you with all my heart guys! Muah!