"Your Highness—" Rosie curtsied but was immediately interrupted by Azrael.
"Leave us," he said, dismissing her with a wave of his hand.
Rosie could only offer Lareina a quiet look before leaving.
Seeing her gone, Azrael spoke again. "Are you quite done?"
His words surprised Lareina, causing her to raise her gaze. "Pardon, Your Highness?" she asked.
Once she looked up, she was immediately startled. Lareina hadn't expected to come face to face with the man's chest, her face mere inches away from his robes. She looked up, surprised to see his intense glare, and she swallowed in fear.
"Still at it?"
"I don't understand what you are hinting at," Lareina said. She turned around, ready to walk away, but slim fingers quickly wrapped around her wrist before she could.
In the next moment, her back crashed against his rigid body. The unusual coolness of a demon's body seeped onto her skin.
"Four years," he said, scoffing right by her ear. "It has been four years since we last met. Four years later, all you have for me is disgust?" His other hand gently rested around her waist as he bent down, his eyes seemingly burning a hole right through to her soul. "Don't you think it is a slap to my face?"
Lareina stiffened. The proximity had her mind freezing.
"It's humiliating," Azrael continued, poison coating every word that left his tongue.
His hand left her wrist, the back of it stroking Lareina's cheek. What would've been comforting four years ago merely made her skin crawl now. She shivered, an action which merely made Azrael coldly laugh.
He took a step back and away from her.
"What is the point of being a war hero when my return is despised by my own wife?" Azrael said in a mocking tone. "Back then, you seemed rather fine with marrying me, so much so that even I was bought by your act. But you have finally shown your true colors, haven't you?"
"I…" Her words were caught in her throat. "That is not true."
"Not true?" Azrael laughed sarcastically. "You were a mere pawn. Your people sent you into the demons' den all in hopes of distracting the army enough to gain an upper hand. What a shame. They've severely miscalculated."
"I was fine with marrying you," Lareina insisted. "Not because of the war. I knew nothing about it—"
"Were you?" Azrael taunted. "Or were you biding your time, waiting for a chance to leave? Perhaps you would be wearing a pretty smile on your face if I returned tonight in a coffin, rather than on my own two legs."
"Or perhaps," he said after a moment of silence. This time, he cupped her cheeks, bending down so that the tips of their nose were nearly touching. "You are still harboring hopes of leaving this place?"
His question caused her to stiffen. She did hope to leave when she first arrived, but those plans had gone up in flames in the short span of time they spent together. There was no reason to leave the kindness her new husband had shown her, especially when there was nothing for her to return to in her original clan.
Unknowingly, tears had begun to stream down her cheeks. The sight of her crying caused Azrael to draw back in surprise.
"Why… Why are you—" His Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed, his confusion quickly turning into annoyance. "Stop crying!" Azrael's voice lowered, a tinge of helplessness hidden in the anger. "Is being married to me that terrible for you?"
"What do you know about humiliation?" she asked. If demons didn't have such heightened hearing, he would've missed her words for it was spoken so softly. "Have you considered how I would feel when you returned with another woman?"
Azrael stiffened, his brows knitting together in confusion. "Another woman?" he repeated, his voice sharp and tinged with disbelief.
"Yes!" Lareina cried, her emotions boiling over. "Do you think I'm blind? You say I welcomed you improperly when I am seeing you after four years. What about you who is greeting me with another woman? How am I supposed to feel when you parade her around with you, treating her like she's—"
"Like she's what?" Azrael cut her off, his voice rising in frustration. "Do you hear yourself right now? You're making baseless accusations—"
"Am I?" she snapped, her hands clenched into fists. "Then explain it to me! Explain why she's here, why she's always by your side, why she—"
"She's none of your concern," Azrael interrupted coldly. "Her presence has nothing to do with you, Lareina."
Lareina's voice trembled, "I'm your wife. How does it have nothing to do with me?"
Azrael's patience snapped, his eyes flashing with a dangerous light. "You are so pretentious that I would have been brought in by your act had I not known better," he hissed. "You dare question me when you've spent the last four years pretending I don't exist?"
"You don't get to twist this on me!" Lareina shouted. The hesitation and restraint had long snapped and the grievances in her heart could no longer be contained. "You're the one who brought her here, not me! You're the one who—"
"Enough!" Azrael's voice boomed, the air around them crackling with his barely contained power. "It is far from what you think it is."
"Then why is she here?" Lareina demanded, tears streaming down her face. "Why won't you tell me the truth?"
Azrael hesitated, the anger in his expression faltering for just a moment. "It's… complicated," he muttered, looking away.
Lareina let out a hollow laugh, the sound raw and broken. "Of course, it is complicated. You would say that, wouldn't you? You can face an entire army without flinching, but when it comes to telling me the truth, you are just this. A coward."
Azrael's jaw tightened, his fists clenching at his sides. "Watch your words, Lareina," he warned, his voice low and dangerous.
"Or what?" she challenged, stepping closer. "Will you put me in my place, as your father demands? Or will you shame me, as your clan so desperately desires? If it eases your pride, do whatever you wish with me."
Her voice faltered briefly, but she pressed on, unwavering. "And you… How much more can you fail me than you already have?"