Nik's POV
Nikolai was curious. He was curious beyond help about the girl who stood before him. From the moment he had met her at St Yvon, bravely standing tall in front of his hounds, he knew that there was something different about her. Something that kept pulling him to her.
He wanted to know why a girl who looked hardly seventeen years of age had a suppression spell on her- and one that was hidden from her aura for protection. It was no surprise that Emilya didn't find it. The spell that he felt when he prodded around her soul was knotted over and over, making it hard to see it, let alone remove it.
Who was she? He wondered, reaching out towards her once again. And what did she have to do with his nephew? Why was she risking her life trying to kill him? Unlike her, Theodore seems to have no reaction to her body or her being. With each passing moment, the curiosity was drawing him towards her.
Just as he was about to touch her, she ducked, sliding under his arms to run towards the door nervously. He couldn't help but smile. Eve was innocent. That much he knew from her reaction to him. He was starting to enjoy the way that her heart quickened at their proximity, the way her cheeks reddened when shy, and the way her bright green eyes widened with the smallest of things.
Yesterday was no different. Her every movement caught his attention and before he knew it, he was already at the frenzy, watching her from afar like a bee drawn to a flower. If Ivan had not stopped him, he would have probably ripped off the heads of the young nobles who were far too naive to approach his slave. But they were only little flies who only managed to irritate the little human.
But when Theodore arrived, he had noticed the way her heartbeat quicken. Maybe it was nervousness, yet he felt disturbed by the notion of her heart beating for someone else. Maybe he was being paranoid. Maybe it was because he had forgotten what love was after Katya.
He had acted out of character when he had barged into his nephew's tent. It was apparent from Theodore's reaction. He had been too careless. He knew that he shouldn't be feeling so confused about her, yet he was. He was confused, curious, and he yearned to feel the warmth of her skin under his palm.
"I think the matron is calling me!" Eve called out as she reached towards the door. "Good day Regent!"
He could see the tilt of her lips, the curve of her long neck, the vein that was pumping blood towards her brain. His heart clenched as a memory flashed in his mind.
"I'll see you in the evening!" A familiar voice echoed in his head, her smile spreading across her face as she shouted, "Good day, Nikolai!"
The regent's fingers clenched into a fist. She looks nothing like her, yet why does she remind me of Katya? He wondered, stepping towards her unconsciously.
"Nikolai!" He shouted the words pushing out of his mouth before he could stop himself.
The girl stopped, her hand on the doorknob dropping as she turned towards him. She looked confused, her eyes searching his face for an explanation. Nikolai took a deep breath, cursing in his mind as he weighed the possibility of sounding stupid, like a lovesick teenager.
"Hmm?" Eve asked, her brows rising in question.
He could hear her heart beat erratically against her chest. For some reason, it made him feel unhinged, free from all the weight that has been pushing down on his shoulders ever since...It made him feel whole. A smile pulled at the corners of his lips as he watched her innocent expression.
"You can call me Nikolai." He said, dropping his guard for the first time in the last century.
Her eyes widened at the statement, the green in them shrinking as her pupils dilated. Blood rushed to her cheeks, bringing color to her pale skin. Eve was beautiful. She looked breathtakingly beautiful to him. Of course, she paled in comparison to Katarina. But she was only human. Beautifully human.
Seeing that she wasn't responding, Nikolai felt nervous. Had he come off as a little bit too much? Was it too soon? The possibility of the girl getting eeked out by his words made him tense.
"Will you?" He asked, looking at her with eyes full of hope.
The girl smiled dashing out of the room with her heart slamming against her chest excitedly. Nikolai flashed to the door and watched her rush down the staircase, her plain white dress billowing around her as she did, hiding her lithe figure inside its folds.
It was only when she disappeared behind the corridor that he allowed himself to look away. Nikolai sighed, looking down at his hands. A pale white scar ran along his right palm, reminding him of the day that it had all gone downhill.
"Katya, why did you leave me alone?" He whispered, his heart growing heavy as the image of a gray-eyed girl filled his head. "If only you had listened to me."
Nikolai sighed, glancing at the hallway one last time before turning towards his room. Just as he was about to step back into his office, he paused, feeling someone's eyes on his back. The regent tilted his head, glancing back with a frown. Who dare stare at him in-
The thought froze as he met a pair of golden eyes. Eyes that reminded him of everything he lost every single day. Theodore stood at the other end of the corridor, staring at him angrily.
"Eyes down, mutt." Nikolai threatened, narrowing his eyes at the king.
Theodore huffed. "The girl, what's her name?" He asked, a smirk pulling up a corner of his lips. "Oh wait! I remember!" He exclaimed, clapping his hands like a lunatic. "It's Eve, isn't it?"
The regent tensed at the mention of her name, again, surprising him by the intensity of his instinctual reaction. Suppressing a growl, he asked, "What do you want?"
The king shrugged. "I want you to die." He said, pointing a long finger towards him.
Nikolai chuckled, shaking his head. "Then try killing me." He said, spreading his arms wide open towards his nephew.
Theodore narrowed his eyes, a silent growl vibrating his chest. This was not new to him. Their relationship was never good to begin with, not even when his mother was alive. Yet the king had no other option than to bend under his command since he was yet to become fully independent, which given the state of his affairs seemed to be far from coming true anytime soon.
"Maybe I will," Theodore said, suddenly breaking out into a rare smile. "Or maybe, just maybe, I might try out your new snack."
The regent nodded. "We'll see." He said, turning away from the boy casually.
"Nikolai!" Theodore's voice thundered across the hall.
"What?" Nikolai asked, raising a brow at his nephew.
"I hate you." He replied, his gaze spitting venom as he stared at him.
The regent smiled. "The feelings are mutual." He said, stepping inside the room, the doors closing behind him with a bang.