Perhaps Leah would have been able to forget about those memories if she had tried talking to her counselor while in college, but she just couldn't bring herself to do it. What she had experienced was not something she could just talk about easily. Even with her closeness to Ami, she still couldn't confide in her about those things. Maybe it was because she didn't think talking would help her, or maybe it was because she was just too scared to talk.
Amidst her conflicting thoughts, Leah eventually fell asleep without even lying properly on the bed.
The next morning, birds were cheeping happily outside, obviously grateful for the new day that had just begun. Leah stirred in her sleep and turned to face the window, her face scrunching up slightly as the sun's rays reflected onto her face through the open window.
She rolled again, turning away from the window. The frown immediately disappeared from her face as the light no longer disturbed her. She was now slightly awake, but not fully. A frown settled on her face again, and she abruptly sat up, looking fully awake now. She immediately remembered that Lucius had still been in the bathroom when she had fallen asleep the night before.
Leah got down from the bed and went to the bathroom, but it was empty and completely clean.A maid must have cleaned the place that morning, which also explained the opened window and curtains. Her stomach grumbled angrily, reminding her that she had not eaten anything since the previous noon. She quickly freshened up and changed into something appropriate before heading downstairs.
On her way to the dining room, she saw three maids who greeted her respectfully as she walked past them. She had just reached the staircase when she saw something or someone pass through the corner of her eye. Leah moved closer to the area where she had seen the person, but there was no one there.
Though she could not see anyone, she could feel someone's presence. It felt as though someone was standing very close to her. Strangely, the feeling did not give her the goosebumps she normally felt when ghosts were around. Leah slowly exhaled through her mouth.
"You did not see a ghost. You're completely normal..." she continued muttering to herself in a low voice as she walked away and went down the flight of stairs.
Immediately after she left, a yellow bracelet with a butterfly design fell to the ground from thin air. The delicate bracelet had intricate details on each wing, with tiny lines etched in gold that traced the curves of the butterfly's body.
When she arrived at the dining room, she saw Lucius sitting on the head chair at the table with an iPad in his hands and a cup placed next to him.
"Good morning," Leah greeted him as she sat on a chair close to his own.
"It's past twelve," Lucius said, without looking at her as he continued scrolling through the iPad in his hands.
"No, I don't. I'm usually an early bird," Leah replied. "I was just overwhelmed yesterday."
Being overwhelmed yesterday was an understatement, she had been more than overwhelmed.
"Hmm," Lucius nodded as he picked up the cup on the table, taking a sip before placing it back down. "I was waiting for you to wake up so we could have breakfast together," he said, dropping the iPad on the table before finally glancing at Leah.
"You shouldn't have," Leah said.
"I had to. I didn't want you to eat alone," Lucius said, his eyes briefly settling on her hair.
"Thank you for the kind gesture, but I'm used to eating alone," Leah replied.
"Your hair," Lucius started as he glanced at Leah's hair for the second time. "Is it black or brown in color?" he asked.
Leah frowned at his question. "As you can obviously see, it's black," she replied. "Why are you even asking?"
"No reason, just my mere curiosity," Lucius replied with a small smile.
Leah looked away from him, her eyes scanning around the room. At least today there were workers everywhere, but everyone else was still not available. Leah glanced back at Lucius. "Where is everyone else?" She asked.
"They all left to take care of their personal business. Zelia is the only one in the house." Lucius replied as he gave his iPad to a maid who came to clear the table so that the food could be served.
Leah stared at him questioningly because she did not know who Zelia was.
"Whose Zelia?" Leah asked.
"She's Priscilla's adopted daughter. The blonde girl you saw in the garden the other day." Lucius replied and Leah nodded.
Her initial fear of ghosts wandering around the mansion dispersed as she assured herself that Zelia must have been the person she saw in the hallway. Another thought came to her mind, telling her to ask Lucius if Zelia could walk through walls, but she immediately pushed that thought out of her head. The thought of even asking that kind of question sounded silly to her.
Neither Leah nor Lucius said a word to each other again until the maid finished serving their food. Leah dished out her food and began eating. She felt Lucius gaze on her as she ate but she choose to ignore him and focus on her food.
"I will be going out to the city in an hour to check on something, would you like to join me?" Lucius asked as he placed his fork down.
Leah raised up her head to glance at him with a slightly suspicious look. "I thought I was your prisoner here, so why would you suddenly want to take me out?" She asked.
"I did say that you were not allowed to leave this manor, but I didn't say that you couldn't go out with me," Lucius replied with a calm look on his face, but Leah could already see the amusement in his eyes.
"I don't feel like going out today." Leah dabbed her lips and stood up from her chair. "Maybe some other time, or maybe never," she muttered the last part in a low voice and started walking away.
"I thought you would want to buy some hair products for your hair," Lucius said causing Leah to stop on her track.
She spun around to face him with a questioning look. "What do you mean by that," she asked as she felt her hair before unpacking it and examining it.
Finding nothing wrong with her hair, she rolled her eyes at Lucius before beginning to walk away again. She was just a few steps from the door when it suddenly slammed shut with a heavy bang, causing her to flinch.
She took a step away from the door, her heart racing rapidly. As she took another step back, her back hit something or someone hard. She tried turning to look back, but Lucius grabbed her arm, holding her still. One of his hands came to circle around her waist, causing a gasp to escape her lips.
"Let me go," Leah said, her voice weak sounding upset.
Lucius brought his head lower, rubbing his nose on her hair without releasing her. The workers who were in the room quickly lowered their eyes so that they wouldn't see whatever was about to happen.
"Do you always do that on purpose?" Lucius asked in a hushed tone as he pulled away from Leah's hair and used his free hand to push her hair away from her nape before moving his face to her neck to continue what he had been doing to her hair.
"Do what on purpose?" Leah asked him with a slightly confused look in her eyes as she tried to pull away from him, but her struggles were completely useless.
"Challenge me, so that I get excited," Lucius said as he continued to rub his nose on her nape, slowly savouring her scent like it was sweetest scent he had ever perceived.
"I wasn't trying to excite you, I was simply..." Leah gasped, her statement cutting short when she felt Lucius gently nipping her neck.
"W-What are you doing?" Leah asked, her words coming out slightly broken.
"I don't know," Lucius said with an innocent voice like he was truelly ignorant of his actions, as he sucked on her nape earning another gasp from her. "You tell me,"