Chapter Twenty-nine
Lukas was once again surprised by Claire’s behavior, even his aunt couldn't stop him from drinking. He stopped pouring the contents of the glass in his hand into his mouth, the cup touching the table with a decisive thud.
Claire’s heart slowed down at this, she hadn't really meant to say that out loud. She knew well enough that there were boundaries between them that she couldn't push. "I-I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that."
Lukas' amused smile returned. "Oh? Are you worried about me?" He asked, moving right into her personal space. "Would you prefer it if I drank something else, hmm?" He murmured, staring intently at her lips.
Claire blushed hotly, unable to hold Lukas' gaze. "I just blurted that out without thinking I-" She started to make excuses trailing off when Lukas brushed his thumb over her lower lip.
"I have to admit, I'm rather dependent on alcohol," Lukas went right on, ignoring her attempts to fix the situation. "Do you think you could find me a suitable substitute?" His voice dropped lower even as he closed the space between their faces.
Claire struggled to regain control of the situation. "I-I don’t…" Even if she said she despised him, whenever he turned his charms on her like this, she always fell for them.
"You don't mind if I give it a taste test, it has to be worth giving up my drink for, after all." Lukas half whispered, his eyes a midnight blue as his lips brushed against Claire’s.
"I don't care if you drink or not." Claire finally exclaimed, pushing at Lukas chest. She wasn't going to get distracted from what she planned to do, she couldn't afford to.
And even though she couldn’t hope to budge Lukas even if she used all of her strength, he relented, stepping back and returning to his seat.
"So about what you wanted to tell me?" Lukas asked casually, picking up his glass of whiskey once more.
Claire had to take a few seconds to catch her breath, she couldn't believe that Lukas could just go right back to normal after wrecking her. She struggled to put herself back together, fiddling with her hands as she summoned the courage to speak.
"I- I have…" She started shakily, pausing to clear her throat. "I have college and I intend to return to complete my degree." She said boldly, looking straight at Lukas.
Lukas paused and looked at her. "I see." He mused. "How many years of college do you have left?"
Claire got a boost of confidence from this, she could actually escape from Lukas with this. "Two and my holiday ends in two weeks…"
Claire faltered towards the end of hee sentence because just then Lukas smiled deviously. "Wha-What…"
"You must have had it all planned out, haven't you?" He smiled wider, a sharp fang flashing. "You'll return to college and remain there for two years and in that space of time, I would have gotten bored of my favorite toy."
Claire’s blood ran cold, she had underestimated Lukas, again. "I-I…"
"I figured that you'd be busy with the engagement preparations so I intended to tell you after it was over but you seem to be impatient." He said, filling his now empty glass and swirling the gold liquid within it around.
Claire felt nauseous, and she hadn't eaten yet. Whenever Lukas got like this, she became a little terrified of him.
"I already had a conversation with the Chancellor of your college, such a nice guy. He agreed to have your classes be compressed and moved to an online format so you don't have to worry about forfeiting your degree because you'll be getting it," He flicked his gaze at her. "... right here, with me."
Claire gulped, was that even possible? She was so quick to forget that Lukas was literally royalty and that the rules of the world could be bent by him if he wanted it. She was unable to say anything to him after that, her head hanging low.
After a few moments of tense silence, Claire finally raised her head. "Let's eat." She said quietly.
Lukas didn’t argue, ringing a bell fixed to the table to alert the servants that they were ready to be served.
Dinner was painfully silent and as expected, Lukas didn't seem to notice it. He totally ignored Claire and spent the entire time scrolling through his phone.
Claire felt a little broken at that moment, her appetite was gone, and all she could do was push her food around on her plate. After roughly ten minutes of doing this, she reached her limit, shooting to her feet.
"I-I don't feel too well, I'll retire early." She said shakily, walking off.
Lukas got up as well, going to hold the dining door open for her. "You don't feel too well? Then I'll finish up early today, wait for me a little while." He said softly, taking her hand to help her out the door.
Claire’s eyes filled with tears but she couldn't even work up the energy to give a rebuttal, much less glare at him. Not to mention, there were servants around and airing their dirty laundry out in public was out of the question.
So she let Lukas fuss over her and direct servants to take her to their shared bedroom, unable to even voice a single protest.
Claire dismissed all the servants, she was only able to do so after reassuring them several times that she was perfectly fine, just a little tired, nothing that some sleep wouldn't fix…
*'Please…'* She scoffed, undressing to take a shower. There was no amount of sleep that could possibly fix her.
She found a comfortable nightdress in the closet and slipped it on, knowing that Lukas would definitely stay out late working. After all, he had been ignoring her throughout their poor excuse for dinner. All he had said was for the benefit of the servants.
Claire curled up on the bed, the temperature was cool and she was underneath the blankets but she still felt a chill. The chilly sensation settled under her skin and refused to budge no matter how much she snuggled into the blankets.
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