The Devil's Temptation!

The howling wind swayed the flames on the candles left and right. He had lit the room with candles, just in case she woke up so it’d enable her to see, or so Anna thought.

“Where did he go?” Rubbing off the blurriness in her eyes, Annalise propped one hand on the bed, gently proceeding to get herself into a sitting position and a wave of unprepared dizziness followed, leaving her to stop and wait until the annoying dizziness swept by like one of those dark hours.

Balancing her visuals, Anna moved her feet from the bed to the ground and took a deep breath before rising to her feet.

She felt light-headed after standing up, but it didn’t matter at the moment as she was more concerned about Roshan’s whereabouts.

“What’s the_” she wanted to ask what time it was, but stopped mid_sentence after looking out the window to see it was already late at night. Her eyes widened in disbelief because if she wasn’t dreaming, she passed out during morning time but...the sky was already darkish-blue, and the stars...

“It’s NIGHT?!!”

How long was she out?? Her fingers buried themselves in her scalp as she forced her brain to reboot. And where was Roshan??

Afraid something must have happened to him while she was out, she was already running to the door, wanting to open it and go look for him when someone caught her arm before she could reach for the door knob, stopping her from going anywhere.

.....

Alarmed, she quickly turned around to see who it was, but was half stunned and relieved to see it was no one other than Roshan.

“Where are you going?” He questioned with a raised brow, but what he got instead made him go stiff as she hugged him out of the blue, wrapping her arms around him and burying her head in his chest, feeling happy to see he was alright but she was still angry that he disappeared like that.

“Where did you go?” She asked, “I didn’t see you around when I woke up and wanted to come look for you.” She worriedly blurted out, still hugging him but the glacier remained stiff like a statuesque object.

He couldn’t remember the last time he received a hug, and most of all, a hug as genuinely comforting as this.

Anna, who finally regained her senses at the last minute and realized she was hugging the glacier himself, made her face pale slowly.

‘What am I doing??’ Her eyes widened at her own act and the fact she felt him freeze against her hold made an embarrassing feeling wash through her.

She wanted to move away, but he stopped her and pulled her into his arms again, hugging her back this time and surprising Annalise in particular.

“You’re a stubborn woman, you aren’t well, but you wanted to go look for me. I don’t remember recruiting you as my bodyguard.” He said, but he didn’t sound scolding, his tone was appealingly soft and his hug was ever so warm that Anna couldn’t resist succumbing to it.

“I just got worried.”

“Don’t get worried over someone like me, it’s not advisable,” he told her in a strange sad tone and before she could ask what he meant, he pulled back from the hug and met her stare, giving the side of her head a little pat.

“It’s good to see you awake.”

She returned his smile and he made her sit on her bed. “How are you feeling? Are you hungry?”

She shook her head lightly, “a little weak, but I’m fine.”

“And you still wanted to step out?”

She nodded before a look of realization dawned on her and she met Roshan’s stare, “I must have left everyone worried, did I? Especially Nicholas since I passed out right in front of him.”

‘You left me worried’ he wanted to say, but just silently nodded to her words instead, “don’t think about it, tomorrow they’ll know, for now, get some rest.”

“No.” She shook her head in disapproval, leaving the glacier surprised.

“Why not?”

“I’ve rested enough.” She reached for the duvet instead and just wrapped her body with it, “I want to see more of your past Roshan.”

“My past is not something you can handle witnessing, I’ve done things.”

“I know.” She agreed and she wasn’t going to judge him for it, “but I want to see it regardless, I want to know what happened to you, did you kill the rabbit?”

He shook his head at her question, signifying he didn’t, but Anna wasn’t completely relieved at the thought like she expected herself to be. The fact he didn’t somehow sounded even more terrifying to Anna’s ears.

“What did you kill?”

“My father.” He admitted and those words made the air in Anna’s lungs feel knocked out, he what?!!!

She wanted to ask if he was lying to her or not, but he didn’t look like someone who was joking around at all.

“I told you.” He lowered his gaze, “I’m not called a half-devil for nothing Anna, I’ve done unthinkable things in the past, why do you think the people of Euphrasia are afraid to utter my name? Even my family wasn’t spared from it, except you.”

Roshan didn’t prefer going into details about that day, he had sent his father to the netherworld when he lost control of his Demons and killed him unintentionally. That moment everyone knew the prophecy was true because it was impossible for a fifteen-year-old to kill someone, but he did and it was no other than the Demon King, his own father.

Anna, who was speechless at the thought, finally found her voice again. That explains the fear in Euphrasia and she understood why he got sealed in the forbidden temple.

Another range of torture, one that could kill him as it gradually takes away his energy.

“It was never my intention to hurt him, but...” his voice trailed again, he really wanted to explain it to her, he didn’t want her to fear him just like everyone else. Everything he did back then wasn’t him, he was triggered and whenever that happens, he can kill a whole civilization before gaining his actual self back.

“It_It couldn’t have been you,” Anna finally said something to his relief, “you can’t control your demons and that’s what led to it, right?”

He nodded. Anna really felt bad for him as a sad realization creeped in, he was nothing more than a deadly weapon made by his father, a weapon that could kill and only derive joy in causing bloodshed, but it was obvious he wanted nothing like that, yet is forced to do it.

She held his hand and met his stare, “I want to help you carry some of your pain, let me see your past.” She asked again with a determined gaze, despite hearing all he just said to her.

“What?” Roshan blinked at the woman who ended up surprising him yet again. He was the type who found comfort in the dark so he could dwell on his emotions with no one around to pity him, but this human...

Is she even human??

“Answer me.” Her gaze looked pleading, “I want to see it for myself.”

“You really are crazy, just like the first time I saw you.”

She just smiled but said nothing, it only made a feeling in his chest beat at her reaction, except he was scared to touch it, scared to believe his heart would beat for not just anyone, but a woman he knew he couldn’t keep.

“Fine.”

When Anna held his hand and closed her eyes, just like last time, she found herself in the Viscarrian palace, striding through the lonely wide corridor.

Except this time, she heard a continuous whiplashing sound that startled her to her wits, like someone was being mercilessly flogged.

“Harder!” She heard the deep angry yell of another man. When she rushed towards where the sound of the familiar angry voice was coming from, nothing prepared her for what she was about to witness and she stood frozen at the spot.