Chapter 26

Chapter 26: A Noble Suitor

“This scar.... It looks recent.” She thoughtfully conversed after noticing some areas of his wound had a lighter shade of pink and some darker, apparently showing the scar had healed but lighter parts were still healing. It looked like a continuous healing process that could never fade completely and it only, strangely, surrounded his heart area, did it mean his heart was also wounded?

Truth be told, his heart medically has to be affected by this, she wondered if he was in any sort of pain right now or if he has even felt the word pain before.

She knew Roshan to be very strange and unpredictable, for someone who had the courage to fight a storm Demon that killed almost hundreds of people on a ship without any ounce of fear and unscathed, who knows what else he’s capable of doing.

Noticing how hesitant his deep scar made her feel, she could only lie to herself that her worries were based on nothing else but pure curiosity.

Acting without enough conscious control and oblivious to the burning eyes fixed on her, her dainty fingers slowly reached to touch the scar on his smooth chest, softly grazing her fingers over it.

It felt rough like a kitten’s sandpaper against her touch, the only error he seemed to have on his flawless body.

It made her heart sad for some unidentified reasons and unbeknownst to her, that sympathetic expression was visible on her face.

.....

What type of a non-healing scar is this? In her nineteen years of living she has never seen anything like it and to top it off, it was directly at his heart region. The thought made her purse her lips in cogitation.

What could he possibly have done to get such a painful affliction??

“Are you done now?” Roshan’s deep hypnotic voice jolted her out of her thinking, leading her to accidentally look up and for a few heart stopping seconds, their eyes clashed.

Hazel-green eyes against chestnut brown.

She soon regretted taking that action because his eyes became closer and clearer to her view, with their faces only centimeters apart. It felt like she was staring into a deep impenetrable sea that glistened with only her reflection. She couldn’t help but gulp in restraint.

Why did they have to look so spellbinding?

Roshan, on the other hand found her tactics to be a little too innocent despite knowing already how strong-headed the young lady was. She wanted to see his scar.... If she wanted to touch him she could have outrightly said it without pretending to show care.

Besides, she was nothing more than a stranger and why would a stranger suddenly care about his scar? Most especially when they’re secretly planning to get physical with one another someday and just tolerating each other’s presence.

The pain in his chest had stopped, but it left a very unusual feeling the moment she touched his scar, which didn’t sit right with him and having her face this close, only made it worse.

“Move.”

His ordering tone startled her to her wits and she quickly took a step back like someone who was being controlled, but she already planned on moving away before he even uttered those laced words of his.

Her eyes evidently displayed a look of discombobulation as she didn’t sense it before, but standing so close to him made her feel as though she would be clouded by the fog, darkness and forbidden air he emanated. It was somewhat inhuman and dangerously mystifying.

How can one be filled with such dread and severity at the same time??

Swallowing that question like she already knew remaining clueless was the safer choice, she finally met his gaze.

“H_how did you get so seriously hurt?” She finally found the voice to ask clearly, but he indolently avoided her stare and turned to the window, shoving both hands in the pocket of his pants.

“I don’t need to tell you,” he frankly responded, “same way you don’t need to tell me about the jewelry headband on your forehead.”

He indirectly clarified, causing Anna’s already big eyes to widen a bit in utter shock and he turned his gaze to her direction, which clearly had the ‘I know’ expression written all over it.

“You’re hiding it,” he enunciated before making his pretty brows knit in half puzzlement, “I had my suspicions at first but now it makes perfect sense as to the reasons why you haven’t taken off that headband ever since we arrived here.” Despite sounding so calm and composed, every word of his felt like a wound trying to tear at her flesh.

“Or could it be...”

“You said you wouldn’t pry!” Annalise immediately caught him off with a look of seriousness and when he slightly lowered his gaze, he could see her fist clench, but she was unaware that her antagonizing look only gave him satisfaction.

“It hurts?” He scoffed silently before the dark look in his eyes dismissed itself and was instantly replaced with a teasing gaze as both his hands went up the air in surrender.

“Okay, my apologies.” His mood immediately changed to one of contempt, meanwhile Annalise was expecting a lot more only to end up receiving his capricious attitude.

“Huh?”

“But at least try to be more genuine, you go around chastising me for acting ‘improper’ but here you are touching me for the same reason which you reprimand me off.” He outwardly vented, finally drawing Anna’s attention to the fact that she had forced a man’s shirt apart.

Recalling another embarrassing action of hers made both her hands fly to her mouth like she had committed some sort of terrible misdeed, she looked like a ghost caught under the moonlight that it took Roshan a lot of constraint to avoid chuckling.

Feeling even worse by Roshan’s demeanor, she immediately turned around to avoid him noticing the blush colors she was sure had displayed on her cheeks already.

“It wasn’t intentional.” She defended herself regardless, knowing she carried no scandalous thoughts in her head before reaching towards him but soon enough, she felt a familiar presence behind her which made her heart rise in response.

“Then why did you look away?” He sexily whispered into her ears, like an enticing manipulation which she was oddly starting to find difficult to resist, despite sensing the incoming danger that would follow if she dared to turn around.

She shook that thought away, letting her sweaty hands swiftly grab the length of her ocean blue dress. She felt his close presence behind her and yet, she was unable to run from it and remained rooted like a tree to her spot.

It couldn’t be she was starting to get fond of his presence, could it??

“You asked if I had fallen in love with you.” His alluring tone brought her back to the present, “but apparently, you’re the one who has fallen.” He clarified, feeling the thundering sound of her heart beat in his ears and that only amused him further.

He was enjoying this, but what he enjoyed more was how the repulsive look on her face right now was a complete contrast to her heartbeat.

“In case you haven’t realized,” she unwaveringly forced herself to speak, “I already found myself a noble suitor who I’m going to get married to so falling in love with you is unquestionably out of the question.”

Her lips suddenly curled into a thin line as a thought crossed her mind, “come to think of it, I possibly can’t fall for my brother now, can I?”

He didn’t utter a single word behind her anymore, not even a response and it was a silence so intense, it made the atmosphere feel like there was a third person in the room.

Ignoring his ambient silence, Anna felt she had won the battle this time around which caused him to go mute. With victory eyes, she glanced at the tray of food she had left on the bed and instantly remembered what had actually made her step into the room in the first place, causing her pupils to dilate in reaction.

“Ahh, it slipped my mind, I actually came here to...”

She hadn’t even uttered her words completely when a hand unceremoniously grabbed hers, swirling her around to look at him and causing a quick gasp to escape from her lips.

Stunned by his actions, there was a little bit of dread in those eyes she was currently staring into, causing her to shiver at the weight it carried on her and they no longer looked teasing.

“Who is this... noble suitor?”

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The Baroness Misbehaves