The Bride He Hates-Chapter 113: Honeymoon-2

Lyanna woke to the smell of something burning. She quickly climbed down from the loft and saw Azrael standing over the stove, looking upset as he stared at a pan of blackened eggs.

"I was trying to surprise you." He said without turning around.

"You succeeded." Lyanna replied. "Who did you murder?"

"Eggs."

Lyanna gently pushed him aside and looked at the pan. It was beyond saving.

"How did you even do this?"

"I got distracted."

"By what? There’s nothing here but trees and silence."

"I was thinking."

"About what?"

"About whether we could stay an extra day. Make it eight days instead of seven."

Lyanna looked up at him.

"You want more time?"

"Don’t you?"

She scraped the eggs into the bin.

"I do. But you’re a king. You can’t just extend vacations." 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

"Adrian and Victor are there to manage things." Azrael replied. "I’d rather burn breakfast with you than eat perfect meals alone in my study."

Lyanna smiled.

"That’s surprisingly romantic for someone who just cremated our eggs."

"I have my moments."

They made toast instead and ate it standing at the kitchen counter.

"What do you want to do today?" Azrael asked.

"Something I’ve never done before."

"Like what?"

"I don’t know. That’s your job. Surprise me."

"You’re asking me to plan our day?"

"Is that terrifying?"

"A little." He confessed. "I’ve never planned anything fun in my life."

"There’s always a first time for everything, Azrael. So don’t worry. Just pick something and we’ll do it."

Azrael chose an abandoned village. He had seen it on the map the caretaker had left I’m the cottage. It was half a mile east, abandoned fifty years ago when the mountain pass shifted. Nobody lived there anymore.

"This is your idea of fun?" Lyanna asked as they walked through the mountains.

"You said something you’ve never done before." Azrael replied. "Have you ever explored an abandoned village?"

Lyanna wanted to smack his head.

"No." Lyanna replied but then suddenly started looking around with growing interest. "Actually, this is kind of fascinating."

It indeed was. The buildings had roofs that were half caved in, and there was a well in the centre of the village square.

"People just... left." Lyanna said, standing in what had once been a kitchen.

"The pass closed in winter. There was no way in or out for months. People died slowly."

They walked through the rest of the village, chatting and occasionally laughing together. Azrael kept the whole tour interesting by telling her stories about the village.

On their way back, it started raining heavily. They had no cloaks with them.

"We should run." Azrael said.

"We’re already wet." Lyanna replied.

So they walked in the rain at a normal pace and got completely soaked within minutes.

"My boots are ruined." Azrael said.

"You have forty other pairs."

"That’s not the point."

"Then what is?"

"I just feel I should be upset about the boots."

Lyanna laughed.

"You’re very attached to your footwear for someone who’s supposedly indifferent to luxury."

"I’m indeed indifferent to most luxuries, but I have soft spot for boots."

"That’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever told me."

"I’ve told you far weirder things."

"Name one."

"I’m terrified of spiders." Azrael said. "Since I was human. I still can’t look at them without wanting to burn the room."

Lyanna stopped walking.

"You, a vampire king who commands armies and executes enemies without hesitation, are afraid of spiders?"

"Very much."

Lyanna stared at him for a moment and then burst out laughing. She laughed so hard that she had to stop walking and put her hand on his arm for support.

"It’s not funny."

"It’s very funny." Lyanna said, still laughing.

"I’m regretting telling you." He said, but the corner of his mouth was twitching.

"No you’re not. You told me because you wanted me to know. Anyway, I’m scared of drowning." Lyanna said. "Ever since I nearly drowned at ten in the river near our castle. I was afraid yesterday as well, but with you I felt safe."

"I’m sorry. I didn’t know that. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have asked you to swim."

"It’s okay. I guess, we are still learning about each other." She smiled.

They reached the cottage completely wet. Azrael lit the fire while Lyanna grabbed dry clothes for both of them. They changed, wrapped in blankets, and sat close by the fire while rain poured outside.

Soon, Lyanna’s legs were on Azrael’s lap as she read an old book she had found in the cottage. He was looking at the fire with his one hand on her ankle.

She turned a page and he moved slightly, his thumb drawing a small circle on her ankle. She moved and closed the book. She then rested her head on his shoulder and he wrapped his arms around her. They stayed like that for a while before Lyanna broke the silence.

"This isn’t real, you know." She said.

"What do you mean?"

"This." Lyanna said, gesturing around the cottage. "This version of us. It’s a bubble. When we go back to Thornfield, it’s going to burst."

"You think we’ll go back to how things were?"

"I think it’s inevitable." Lyanna replied."Here, you can burn breakfast and admit you’re afraid of spiders. But at Thornfield, you’re the king burdened with hundreds of responsibilities. We won’t have time like this again."

Azrael sat up, turning to look at her.

"You sound like you’ve already given up."

"I’m just being realistic."

"So what do you want to do?" Azrael asked. "Stay here forever? Never go back?"

"Of course not. We have responsibilities. But I also can’t pretend that going back won’t change everything."

"The bubble doesn’t have to burst!" Azrael said. "We have to try."

"Of course we will. It has taken so much to being this far. I’m not going to break it again. Its just...we need to prepare ourselves."

"I know. But I’m sure together we can survive everything."

They sat together as the fire slowly died, both thinking about what waited for them back at Thornfield.

They hugged each other, both desperately hoping that what they were building this week would survive Thornfield’s reality as well.