"Ouch! Your sharp words make my fragile heart bleed. You don't need to be this sharp with me."
Elias clutched his heart playfully and looked at Rachael with an understanding smirk. It irked Rachael, but she decided to calm down and think.
If this man were going to be a bane of her existence, then Rachael would take full advantage of him.
"Fine, I get it. You want to play with me and will only leave me alone once I agree, right?
Rachael asked, and Elias only grinned back at her. There was not an ounce of distrust on his face, which made Rachael feel bad for taking advantage of him.
"Yup! I just want to play with you. So, are you going to hide now? I promise I will come and find you. I will always find you, no matter where you go."
Elias's eyes had turned dark with promise in the last few seconds. Being the focus of his harsh eyes was something for sure. Rachael was frozen in her place.
And just as quickly as she was caught, Rachael was also let go of. She looked up, only to notice that Elias had turned his back and was not counting numbers. He looked severe about playing this game with Rachael.
Rachael was not proud of what she did next, but her instincts demanded her to run. She quickly reached the tower and slammed the door shut. Once she was alone, she clutched her heart to calm it down.
'It's alright, Rachael. That mad dog will not be able to follow you in here. You are completely safe in here.'
Rachael slowly calmed herself down and looked outside her window. The night sky brought the charm of calmness down on her. Rachael sighed before throwing her body on the bed and going to sleep.
She was sure she would be forgotten once Elias found Adrian or Rose.
The only clock in the tower was inside Rachael's room, and usually, it did not make any noise. But today, All Rachale wanted to do was sleep. So, of course, the clock decided to be extra loud. It woke Rachael right back up, and she gasped in annoyance.
Before she could decide to end the unfortunate clock's life, she felt another presence inside her room.
"So, this is your room? Even my servants have a better room than this. Why do you put up with all this shit?"
Somehow, Elias had found his way into the tower. Rachael was sure that he had not watched her leave. So how had this teen found his way to the tower?
"What's with that look? I told you I would find you no matter where you went, right? But looking at this place is putting me in a bad mood."
Elias looked around the small and shabby-looking room with displeasure in his eyes.
"This room is more than enough for me. It's not like I can expect more than this with what I represent for the Chlorance family. If they are willing to leave me alone, I do not care what they do."
Rachael admitted, and Elias flinched. Then, he took a deep breath and exited Rachael's room.
It would have been in Rachael's best interest to ignore him. But she could not do that for some reason. It was almost as if something was telling her to stop Elias before he made a mess of this situation.
'My rational senses say that I should remain quiet…. I should wash my hands off this topic, right? Ah, fuck it.'
Rachael quickly stood up and ran to catch up with Elias. She needed to stop him right now. If he somehow managed to get back and cause trouble, Rocx Chlorance would ruin Rachael's life.
And that was a risk she refused to take.
"Hey, you! Stop! What are you planning? You need to stop right now. Elias, you are going to do something foolish, right? It would be better if you did not."
Rachael tried to convince the teen to listen to her. But the more she tried, the faster Elias walked. It was like talking to a wall. Usually, Elias bothered Rachael to speak, but now it was the opposite.
'Great! So, he chose to ignore me at the worst possible time? What kind of nonsense is this? This needs to be corrected. What do I do now?'
Rachael was stumped. Only her haste made her words come out desperately when she looked at Elias.
"You! What do you want from me? I will do you one favour if you resolve this issue. In the first place, I cannot even think why you are making such a big deal out of these things."
Rachael scolded Elias, and he looked back at her with empty eyes. He was not willing to listen to her at first. But then he thought over her words, and his eyes shined with mischief.
That was the second Rachael knew that she had messed up. She had offered Elias too much power over her. But it was too late to back out of it now.
"You will grant me one favour? Any favour? Irrespective of how weird it may sound? Or what I make you do?"
Elias asked, and it was clear that he had ideas about his wish. And despite Rachael's best interest, she found herself agreeing with him.
"I promise you that one favour. No matter what it is. So, you can tell me what you want right now."
Rachael asked, and Elias had a thinking face. But Rachael was sure he had already decided what he wanted from her.
"Call me Ely. I want to hear you call me my nickname instead of my normal name. Can you do that for me? If you do, I will also drop all formalities with you. So, what do you say?"
Elias asked, and this was a hard pill for Rachael to swallow.
Calling someone by a nickname was a sign of being close to that person. And this was not an attachment Rachael needed to have in her life.
'But there are times when I need to go back on my word to ensure the peace of my world. This is one of these times.'
"I am waiting for you to call out my name. But if you don't want to, it is also alright. I will not force you to say anything."
Elias started to walk again, and Rachael willed her mouth to make a noise.
Any noise.
"E-Ely, let's stop here and talk over tea. There is no need for you to be behaving like this. Can you sit down and talk things out with me? I promise I do not mean you any harm."
Rachael cursed herself for being too easy on the man before her. And somehow, the name 'Ely' rolled perfectly on her tongue. It sounded familiar when it came out of her mouth.
As soon as Rachael called out his name, Elias's ears perked up and looked happy. His earlier annoyance bleeds out of his eyes, and only relief remains.
"Hmm, since you asked me politely, how can I refuse you? Of course, I will keep my promise to you and not cause trouble. This was what you wanted from me, right?"
Elias asked, and he happily sat down beside Rachael on the grass.
Rachael watched it all happen speechlessly. It was still hard to wrap her head around exactly what had happened.
It was silent for a little while after that. Elias was spending his time well, relaxing and looking at Rachael. But Rachael's senses were nagging her for some reason. It was almost like she had forgotten something important.
"Y-Young master Elias, so here you were! We looked everywhere for you. What are you doing here?"
Adrian had come out to look for Elias, which was Rachael's cue to disappear. Since Adrian was busy yelling out Elias's name, it distracted the elder enough for Rachael to exit.
It was too late when Elias realised his younger companion was no longer there. Rachael was already gone, and Adrian had caught up to him.
'That sneaky little…. sometimes, I just want to clip her wings so she could no longer fly around.'
As soon as those thoughts went through Elias's mind, he shook them away. He was no longer like his past selfish self. He was a better human being now, knowing what he wanted and how to hold back.
There was no need for him to revert to his old self. Even if the temptation was too much sometimes, Elias did not need to give in to it.
"Young master Elias, why did you not look for us? I thought we were playing a game."
Adrian asked, and Rose exploded in anger. Her tiny fists were shaking in rage, and she looked back at Elias with her fists raised.
"You foolish man. You kept us both waiting for you. How dare you ask us to hide and then not even come to find us? I am angry at you."
"And?"
"A-And, I am not going to talk to you. Hump! Let's see how you like that."
Rose was still living in her rainbow-coloured tinted world. That was why she did not even care if she was rude to someone.
In her mind, no one could take Rose's position away from her. She was justified to throw such a tantrum.
"Rose, calm down. What do you think you are doing? I am so sorry, Elias. My younger sister is sometimes a little… willful but does not mean harm. So, you think you can forgive her this once?"
Elias looked at Rose's pouting look, and he instantly hated her. He was sure he would never get along with Rose, of all people.
"I will forgive this …. creature this time. But next time she pisses me off, I will not be as forgiving as I was this time."
Elias warned Adrian, but Rose continued to look put off by him.
"You are a jerk! And the worst as well. I will never forgive you."
Rose threatened, and Elias shook his head. A second life, and he was still not able to shake off being hated like this.