Saving The Villainous Monster From The Male Lead-Chapter 106 - 105: The Pitch Black Sky

"You look dashing." Stella says, as soon as the carriage starts moving away from her shop.

Hael sitting opposite her, feels strange on hearing that. Eleanore had called him handsome and dashing before. Not just that, many women in the kingdom have said those words yet when it comes out of Stella’s mouth it sounds different and less burdensome.

"You— look beautiful too." He smiles.

They were quiet for a while, but Hael mustered up courage and spoke. "The dress truly looks amazing on you." He brings back her attention to him.

Before leaving to pick up Stella, he had promised himself that he would do anything to make this night a happening one for her. It is something she deserves after everything she went through because of his foolish best friend and his lovely little sister.

"When I saw this dress in your winter collection catalogue, it felt like this one resembles you the most. It didn’t take me much long to choose it." Stella’s cheeks flared up on hearing those words.

"To be honest." They made an eye contact. "Eleanore had already told me what she wanted, I only went through that book to look something for you." He smiled.

Stella narrowed her eyes, as her cheeks spreads due to her big smile and it just looked mesmerizing. She was the definition of ocean that day and Hael felt like he was a single but valued crystal in that ocean. Completely sunken in it.

He found out that now there was no way out of this ocean, he had willingly dived into.

"Thank you, duke."

"Hael." He corrects her, but she remains puzzled. "Call me Hael, Stella."

She smiled again, a bit less than before but it was enough to make his heart flutter again. "Yes, Hael." she stroked back a strand of her platinum hair behind her ear.

They arrived at the royal palace sooner than expected, so they remained in the carriage for about half an hour. For that entire time, they talked, or rather only Stella talked, and Hael couldn’t help but listen to her sweet voice.

Throughout their conversation, Stella talked about various things. She narrated some of her annoying customers that bothered her but couldn’t stop coming to her shop every month to grab the best piece.

Hypocrisy!

She mentioned Eleanore here and there, to have him talk a little bit, but he didn’t. He just stayed there, his weight on his toes, his hands formed into a net on his knees as he listened and only listened to her with a smile tugged on his lips.

His knight soon knocked on the door to inform them that it was time and Hael hated it that the time flies by so quickly, every time he is with Stella.

Is this only with her? He wondered, as he got down from the carriage and helped her down as well.

As if an omen had touched them, Caelestis also got down from his carriage, standing just a few meters or so away from them.

Hael immediately sighed on seeing him. For him a new fight was about to be waged again.

When Caelestis’ eyes fell on them, he looked around to see if anyone else was present around them, at that moment. When he confirmed no one else was there, he walked to them.

"Hael and Stella. Are you two partners today?" He asked.

"Yes" Hael answered. His eyes still filled with anger, but Caelestis felt nothing, for he had seen much dangerous eyes of a shade darker than Hael’s.

Caelestis turned to Stella. "Can we— umm— perhaps talk for a while?" He asked calmly.

In the last few days, there was something that Caelestis realised. His rageful and savage behaviour is going to get him nowhere. Instead of doing any good, it was putting more harm on him. His friends were drifting away from him and that made him feel alone, very alone.

"No." Hael refuses on her behalf, as he took a step forward to Caelestis but was stopped.

Stella had tightened her grip on him and stopped him. Her gaze fixed on Caelestis. "Sure." She says and Hael’s eyes widened in surprise.

"But Stella—" Before he could say more, she turned to him and only offered a single charming smile, convincing him that she was okay.

She let go off his arm and walked along with Caelestis just a few steps far from him. Hael could see everything.

They started with a calm conversation, then it heated up and Hael felt like he had to go there but stopped on remembering her faint smile from earlier. She said something and then after that Caelestis’ anger vanished. His face dropped as if he was heartbroken and his heart had shattered into pieces.

Stella left him like that as she made her way back to Hael, her face somewhat dropped. What did she say? That it not only hurt Caelestis but also her.

She stood next to him and grabbed his arm then swallowed in all the pain that had gathered in her throat. She turned to him, with a smile, he immediately recognised it to be fake.

"Shall we?"

Hael’s face melted. He didn’t feel like this was the right time to ask, so he smiled back and they started in.

Caelestis was still standing there. He didn’t turn around. He didn’t want to see his love walking in with another man. His ears were still ringing with the sentence she said at the end.

"I love Hael."

At that moment he asked several questions in his mind. Why? What’s wrong with him? What’s so great about Hael? Why is he better?

"Why— why can’t you look at me?" He murmured under his breath, as he covered his face and his eyes that hadn’t felt this heaviness and tightening feeling in his chest in years.

He couldn’t believe that tears had actually escaped from his huge eyebags and were already rolling down his cheeks. He quickly stopped them, his foggy breath escaping his mouth filled with agony, as he bends his neck to look at the darkness in the sky and wondered, how come the color in his heart and sky is same? 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

Black.