An amused smirk appeared on Demetri's face as he saw the girl's actions through the mirror. In his memory, she was feisty and hot like fire, but now, she has become timid and shy. He never imagined that his blazing ball of fire could ever become so calm. However, he also never imagined he would be able to meet her again, and be with her again, the same way he is looking at her now. "All done." Demetri said softly. "You can go to bed now." He continued, offering her his hand to raise her from her seat.
"What about you, master?" Scarlett spoke as she got up from the chair.
"You want to help dry my hair?" Demetri said, teasingly while he raised one brow.
Rolling her eyes at the man who was teasing her once again, she responded, "I mean, you helped dry my hair. I should at least do the same for you, master."
Demetri stared at her, and when he sensed that she was serious, he sat down on the chair and handed her his towel. "As you wish, bunny."
"You know, I am not one to get sick easily, master." She said as she gently rubbed his hair.
"No?" Demetri responded, looking at Scarlett intensely through the mirror.
"No. I am not as weak as you think I am." Scarlett continued to say as she looked at him through the mirror. Seeing the man's intense gaze, she dropped her head down and focused on continuing to dry his hair. "Before coming to the manor, I used to take ice cold baths in the lake, so I am used to it."
"Because that was the only place you could bathe?" Demetri asked through gritted teeth as his eyes darkened, but still, his gaze never left the girl's reflection in the mirror.
"Yes." Scarlett nodded, before continuing, "It was the only choice I had. In order for me to have some privacy while bathing, I was only able to bathe at night when the temperature was lowest." After she had spoken, Scarlett heard no response from the man. She looked up at the man's reflection in the mirror and saw that he had a serious look on his face. His brows furrowed, and he looked as if he was in deep thought.
Demetri never knew how tough her life had been before Marion had found her. Hearing her words, he grew angry at himself for not finding her sooner and showering her with the love she truly deserved earlier.
"It is done, master." Scarlett said in a soft whisper, as if she were afraid of disturbing his thoughts.
"Thank you, pretty. Now let us get you to bed." Demetri said, swiftly getting up from the chair and clasping his big hand around Scarlett's slim wrist. Leading her toward the bed, he guided her to sit on the edge of the bed before pushing her by the shoulders to lay down. He then covered her with the blanket and placed a quick peck on her forehead before walking around to his side of the bed and laying down.
The man had moved so quickly and naturally, as if this was not his first time displaying these actions. When Scarlett had finally processed what the man had done, she was flustered.
"Master, y-you cannot do that." She said, turning around to look at the man who had already laid on the bed with his eyes closed. The man laid still as a rock and had no intention of responding to her.
"Master, you have wronged me. You cannot do what you did without my permission. I need justice." Scarlett scolded with a pout on her face. She needed to make sure that this man understood. When he kissed her neck in his study, she did not complain. But now, the man has already stolen a kiss twice. If she does not make it clear to him now, he will continue to take advantage of her like that.
"Your permission?" Demetri asked, rolling onto his side to face her with one arm propping up his head. "Are you saying that if I asked for your permission, you would have allowed me to?"
"Of course not!" Scarlett said with annoyance.
"That's why I did not ask for your permission." Demetri responded with a cunning smile as he gazed down at the little lady in front of him.
"You promised not to do anything I did not want you to, master. It is not fair." Scarlett continued to scold the man. He had made her a promise and she will see to it that he kept his promise.
"If you say what I have done is not fair, I will allow you to kiss me back, bunny. Will that make things fair for you?" Demetri tilted his head to position his cheek in front of the girl, before taping his cheek with his free hand, signaling for her to give him a kiss there.
With a defeated sigh, Scarlett rolled her eyes, "I will not entertain you and your nonsense. I am going to sleep." Scarlett said in a displeased tone before rolling over to have her back facing him. This man is insatiable!
Seeing that the girl had dropped the topic, he stared at her back with an amused smile. As he heard her even breathing, he pulled the sleeping girl closer to him, and snuggled his head into the crook of her neck, placing a soft kiss there.
—
In one of the rooms in the Delmonte Manor, Marion sat on her balcony looking out to the garden. Dawn had just broken, and there was not a single soul awoken yet to tend to the garden. Marion sipped on her blood brew as she enjoyed the peace and quiet. She has always had a habit of drinking her tea slowly and savoring the sweet taste of blood.
Lifting her glass to drink the final sip of her tea, Marion halted her movements and squinted her eyes as she looked out to a petite figure in the garden. "Emelia." Marion said in a whisper. The girl stood in the garden with her arms flailing all about. "It looks like this girl is talking to herself again." Shaking her head, Marion downed the rest of her blood brew.
This was not the first time Marion had caught the girl acting in a strange manner. At first, Marion thought it would be a problem having the girl stick around in the manor, as the way she acted was too unusual. When asked, the girl simply said she has an imaginary friend. Although Emelia was too old in age to have an imaginary friend, and Marion was not convinced by her excuse one bit, the girl had never caused any concerning problems for Marion. Therefore, the demoness had decided to drop the topic. Besides, she felt that there was more to the young woman than meets the eye. Afterall, she was the one who had convinced Marion to travel to Blue Moon Village during her search for a new servant.
A knock on the door distracted Marion from her thoughts before she heard the door pushed open. Demetri walked over to the balcony, placing his palm on the railing. "Enjoy your morning?" Demetri asked as he gazed out to the garden. "Looks like Emelia is at it again." He continued with a knowing smile.
"Is she not always?" Marion said with a soft sigh before getting up from her chair and walking over to stand next to Demetri.
"She is not for us to worry about. She is here for what she needs, and in due time, she will leave." Demetri said in a serious tone, as he looked at the girl in the garden who had stopped her arm movements and is now simply walking around the garden.
"Upon your request, I have ordered five dresses to be made for the lady. The dresses will be ready in ten day's time."
"Very well, it is a good thing you brought up this topic. Can you see to it that Scarlett's dresses are to be made with a tie closure from now on? Those stupid buttons are too damn troublesome." Demetri scoffed with annoyance as he remembered helping Scarlett out of her dress last night.
Rolling her eyes at the man, Marion was not sure if she had the heart to ask what the man had done to the girl to be uttering the words he had spoken just now. "Alright, I will see it through." Marion responded.
"Wonderful. Thank you, Marion. I will be off now." Demetri responded before turning towards the door. When he reached the door, Demetri paused for a while and turned back to face Marion, "One more thing, Scarlett is interested in learning to read and write. Can you help me arrange that for her?"
"Worry not, I will take care of that." Marion responded.
Demetri nodded in response before walking away.
Looking at the man who had walked away, Marion returned her attention to the garden. With a small smile, Marion let out a sigh. She sometimes felt that Demetri was a little too forward, maybe more so than Scarlett could handle. However, she had done what she had wanted to, which was to reunite the two. How he delivers his feelings was not something she would interfere with. What is most important, is she knows that he would never hurt Scarlett. And one day, Scarlett will be able to see it too that regardless of any mistakes he may have made in the past, this man does not harbor any other feelings toward her aside from love.