"You see, the canvas may not just hold a mere image, but the very essence of our existence, our past, and our future," he continued, his voice hushed with a conspiratorial undertone that seemed to draw Lilith closer, despite her apprehension. "Within its very fibers, lies a truth, one that could unravel everything you thought you knew about yourself and the world around you." He added.
In his last explanation, Lilith who was once stunned, began to relax. She could see that he was a lover of art and hearing him try to dispatch the meaning behind the oil painting made Lilith start having second thoughts about him.
'He might not be a bad guy.' She thought within.
"You seem cute when you talk about art." Lilith spurred out of her mouth, having no control of her lips.
Her unexpected statement causes the young man to divert his gaze from the oil painting as he stares at her. "Do you just call me cute?"
"Aren't you cute?" Lilith responded to his question with a question, and her statement irritated the young guy to the core.
"Do you know who I am?" He inquired, his brow arched as he awaited Lilith's response.
She hissed, finding his words quite offensive. "Why do you keep asking me if I'm aware of who you are?" Lilith interrogates, her voice full of disgust. "Do you even know who I am?" She questioned, snarling at him with a harsh voice.
For the first time in a long time, the young man felt strange seeing someone who didn't recognise him.
'What does she mean by asking me if I know who she was? She isn't a person from a high class so why do those she possesses to be so brave?' He pondered, his thoughts filled with unanswered questions.
Despite the uneasy feeling that crunched beneath his gut, he went ahead and introduced himself, hoping that Lilith recognised his name. "I'm Beelzebub." He whispered, his own words sounded foreign to his ears because it was his first time introducing himself to someone who had no idea who he was.
Lilith turned to face the young man and extended her hands to him after hearing his introduction. "I'm Lilith Raziel." She spoke, thinking he would accept her hands for a handshake.
Beelzebub became stunned. He expected Lilith to recognise that she was standing next to a powerful man when he mentioned his name, but to his dismay, Lilith introduced herself while ignoring the presence of his name alone.
His hands were placed on his chin, and he gently caressed it. "I don't know if you have a hearing problem but did you hear the name I presented to you?"
Lilith nodded. "What's special about an ancient name called Beelzebub?" She asked rudely.
He became tongue-tied. "Haven't you heard of Dracula Beelzebub?"
"Haven't you heard of Lilith Raziel?" She inquired, quickly answering his question with a question because she saw nothing special about his name.
Silence followed as Dracula ignored Lilith's extended hand that was still hanging in the air for a handshake.
He sighed as he began to enjoy the magnificence of the oil painting.
As Lilith took a deep breath, she prompted herself to break the awkward silence.
"I…"
Her words trailed off as she swallowed her saliva, pondering on how she could explain what she harbors in her heart to the young man.
"I was born blind." She spurred out like someone who had hot soup inside her mouth. "I was raised by my aunt and uncle who ended up selling me to an old man when I was just sixteen years old."
Dracula said nothing and didn't even bother to gaze at Lilith. His full attention was on the oil painting that lies in front of him.
Nevertheless, Lilith went on to complete her statement. "The old man my guardian sold me to tried raping me but I escaped and after that, I landed in a dark room where I felt something like a skull kissing me." She uttered.
As she paused for a while, she chuckled while dwelling on her final phrase. "People think I made up the story of being kissed by a human skull but the trust is that I didn't." She whispered this uncomfortably, wiping her hands on her gown.
"After that, I awoke to see myself in a hospital but the surprising thing was that I couldn't speak but I could see. I was born blind so it was all so strange to me. I tried repor…"
"Silence!" Dracula hissed, his icy glare silencing her mid-sentence, his voice commanding the chill of the midnight air.
The deadened expression on his face seemed to suggest that Lilith's words were as meaningless as snowflakes in a blizzard, melting into nothingness beneath his icy regard.
"Why would you think I care about your life story?" he sneered, his golden eyes piercing into the depths of her soul.
'He can't even sympathize with me. Pfft! He's a total jerk.' She thought within.
Lilith exhaled and folded her hands around her chest. "You are the first person that I have ever explained this story to with words from my mouth."
"So you want me to feel special?" He asked his gaze as cold and impenetrable as the depths of the frozen winter.
He was staring at Lilith with a look that said he didn't care about her ridiculous life tale.
"Nope. I am not telling you this to make you feel special." She muttered, then forced a smile on her lips. "I'm telling you this because whenever I stand beside you, my voice doesn't betray me and at first I thought that hearing my voice was all an illusion but it's real." She whispered before walking towards the front of Dracula.
She fluttered her long lashes as her huge eyes met his. "I have pondered about this for some minutes and I…" She hesitated, waiting for Dracula to look down at her.
He immediately stares at her, and Lilith smiles pleasantly. "I want you Dracula Beelzebub to be my boyfriend." She spoke abruptly, her lovely blue eyes never leaving Dracula's as they bore into each other.
Then, time stopped still.