"Little Miss be careful!" Ang screamed when he saw how Xhemin unintentionally pushed off some logs away from pile.
Suddenly the place was filled will rolls and thuds!
The logs scattered into different directions making Xhemin almost lost her stance. Luckily, she was able to take hold of her balance before she stumbled.
"Ang you scared me to death!" She exclaimed as soon her knees steadied.
"I'm sorry Little Miss, I was just wondering what you were doing behind the logs," Ang explained apologetically. "Did you hurt yourself? Good thing you didn't stumble into the mud." He added, referring to the pool of mud few inches from where she was.
"I'm okay, I just lost a lit bit of my balance" She said while holding on to her knees. Truth was her knees trembled more of the idea that her grandfather was close to knowing their scrape yesterday than the fact that she almost stumble brought by Ang's sudden call.
While she was still gasping for breath due to what happened, she noticed a silhouette beside her.
"Let me see if you are hurt somewhere" Darryl said reaching out a hand to her.
"No, I'm fine!" Xhem panicked and stepped back away from the beast. "I'm okay Young Master, I'm okay…ahhh… awwww!"
Thud! Splash!
"Little Miss!"
Everyone gasped upon the view of the girl's fall into the pool of mud. The next thing they knew, the Little Miss was swimming pitifully together with the ducks.
Xhemin thought of how unlucky she was today. She blamed it again to the fact that her encounters with the beast were all doomed. So, it was not surprising how she embarrassed herself in front of him all the time. If they end up together in the future, maybe she better get used to it.
"Young Master, are you alright?" Mr. Song rushed to Darryl's side. Apart from the girl falling into the mud, what concerned him more was the view of how the incident ruined the young masters clothes.
"I'm sorry Young Master" Xhemin apologized when she realized that her fall sent splashes of mud to his expensive clothes. She lowered her head, ashamed.
"What did you just call me?" He asked in an unpleasant tone. It sent tremors to everyone in yard. Was he mad because of his ruined clothes?
"I didn't mea-"
"What did you just call me?" He asked again cutting her off.
Xhemin's head formed lines. Why was beast suddenly asking weird questions?
"Young Master…am I supposed to call you with something else?" She hesitated a bit and settled with another word "…. Coach perhaps?"
She saw how his face dimmed. He dug through her eyes with intensity. Xhemin bit her lips, apart from ruining his clothes, she quiet didn't understand what drove him soo freaking mad.
She was still lost in her thoughts trying to understand the beast temperament when she felt Darryl's hands to her body. Her body reacted and her heart started beating wildly.
Dug.dug.dug.dug.dug.dug
Darryl's hands made its way through her back and to the back of her knees. He lifted her from the mud and started heading out to the cottage's front door.
Everyone in the yard gaped open in shock. The future emperor of L Empire was carrying a girl in his arms, who would not be thrilled in such a rare view?
"Young Master your clothes…." Mr. Song who was still astonished managed to utter few words, but the beast did not spare him any glance at all.
They were few meters away from everyone when Xhemin had the courage to speak. The beast's body carrying hers made her lost for words earlier.
"You don't really have to carry me, I'm not hurt" She said keeping her eyes low- away from his gaze.
"Just pretend that you are hurt because I want to carry you"
His voice was stern and cold. His temper has not abased yet. "Just few weeks away and you forgot my name? Since when did you learn to call me with another name? Who taught you the word young master?"
Xhemin was not able to respond. Her emotions were all mixed up she cannot straightened her thoughts. For the first time, the beast flooded her with so many questions of resentment.
"and yesterday... well that was a nice welcome milady" He added, still resenting.
"I was in a middle of a bet. It was a serious one… I can't lose with that" She tried explaining though she knows it was useless provided the situation she was in.
"Did I not tell you not to make bets with your boys again?" He chided out on her.
"How am I supposed to welcome you after weeks of ignoring me?" She lashed back at him, lifting her eyes to his. The bitterness she tried to hide from him grew pronounced in her eyes. "You didn't even bother to call…"
Her answered silenced him.
Xhemin couldn't believe the words that she uttered. When she realized what she had done, she withdraw her eyes instantly away from his.
She wanted to bite her nails, feeling regretful of the words she said. Too bad they are full of mud. She was upset of him. Not because he was a Lagdameo nor because he was with Collet during the memorial, but for the fact that he did not made a way to contact her. Would not the famous Lagdameo heir have all the resources to know her details like a phone number?
And here he was resenting her for being so hostile with him when in fact, it was him who abandoned her.What does he expect? For her so seek him first? Is that how the world works now? Girls chasing men?
Darryl pushed the door open when they reached the doorway. Good thing it was not locked from the inside.
"Where's your room?" He asked as soon as they were inside.
"First door, upstairs" She answered coldly.
Both were silent after that. For the first time in his life, Darryl didn't know what to do. He regretted all those phone calls he did not push through. The unsent emails in his mailbox and all the urges he had tried to suppress all these weeks to contact her. He thought it was for her own good, but knowing how upset she had been made him so remorseful.
It was the first time he cared for a woman, and he didn't know it would be this frustrating to make a woman upset.
He was still carrying her when they reached her room. The door was wide open, so he easily slid in and went straight to the bathroom door. It was a big cottage, so he suspected a Little Missus room would have a bathroom inside and his suspicion did not fail him.
As soon as they entered the bathroom, he carefully put her in the vintage tub and turned the water on.
"I can wash myself… leave me now" She said slowly, trying to hold back her emotions.
She thought of nothing but the days she waited for his calls and messages. Until now, he didn't bother to explain to her why he did not dare to send one. It makes her sad. She was so upset but she also felt that she had no right to be upset at all. He didn't promise her anything when she left the Capital. But still, she did hope he would send her even at least one email or so.
"Just a minute" He said and seated himself in one corner of the tub. For some reasons, he didn't want to leave her yet.
Darryl caressed Xhemin's hair for few minutes. The bathroom was filled with nothing but just the sound of the water flowing in. If emotions can only be visible, then that too was filling in the bathroom evident by the heartbeats that they were both sharing.
Looking at the woman he cared the most, Darryl closed his eyes and sighed. He knew he can't stay in a woman's bathroom for long, so he composed himself and brushed the feelings that was drowning him aside.
He washed her hair for few minutes, feeling the smoothness of every strand of it. He had washed his sister's hair before, so the task was not new for him at all. However, seeing how silent she was all throughout made his heart ache.
He stood up when he was finished and headed straight to the door.
Xhemin relaxed when he saw him leave. She caressed the hair that he just washed.
Darryl halted in front of her bathroom door, it made her stop stroking her hair.
He was still facing the door when she heard him.
"I'm sorry" He said before he pushed the door open and left the bathroom.