Chapter 25: Guilty Conscience

Orville’s POV:

‘KNOCK! KNOCK!’

Before leaning my head further down to kiss her soft quivering lips, the loud knocking sound on my room door flinched both of us, interrupting the burning flames of desire in my heart. With the sudden noise, Kara looked a little scared as she quickly turned her gaze towards the door, swirling her pupils. It seemed as if she might be contemplating whether it was Tilin at this hour since her first encounter with her before wasn’t entirely a pleasant one.

I parted a few steps away from her and even lifted my hand down which was cupping her small round face. Feeling agitated from that disturbance, I growled at the one waiting outside the door, “Who’s here?”

“Master, it’s me, Bethem. I wanted to check if you have arrived at the manor, so shall I bring your fruit juice?” My butler Bethem politely urged me from outside, making me feel a bit calm since my hunch didn’t come true.

“You can leave now. I will summon you later.” With a deep sigh, I exhaled those words and lifted my gaze towards Kara once again who seemed a bit unsettled. Retreating a few steps back from me with her flustered but anxious face, she mumbled, “I should leave now as well, Master. I…I am sorry for intruding.”

Just a moment ago I felt such a magnetic attraction that I couldn’t resist myself from almost kissing her. But now moving a little apart from me, her nervous actions made me feel guilty again.

Indeed the only relation we have between us now is of Master and Slave, but since the first time I laid my eyes on her, I couldn’t understand…what was something about this young, petite black-slave that has left me so enchanted?

In fact, why did I sense an atypical scent similar to my pheromones emitting from her a while ago?

“You can keep this book along with you. If you need something else to study, just let me know.” I handed her the Spanish literature book she was reading and it curved a small smile on her face. With a bow, she left my room and all I could do again was watch her leave…

But it is shameful to realize my carnal instincts as an Alpha are getting hard to control now just from having Kara nearby! What am I acting like a teenager in puberty…at this age? How am I supposed to meet my eyes in the mirror?

By then I heard the sound of the door opening again, which made a glimmer of hope rise in my heart what if Kara had come back again?

When I turned around with my keen gaze, the small arc of a smile lingering on my lips slowly vanished when I saw it was Tilin, standing at the doorstep with a glass of fresh fruit juice.

She flashed a gentle smile at me while walking inside closing the door behind her, but I didn’t feel the slightest gush of excitement that I felt in my heart every time I would even sense a whiff of Kara’s sweet scent.

“It has been over 5 days since I have seen your face, Grand Duke. As I had expected, you seem a little worn out. Here, have some fruit juice, I have freshly prepared it to suit your liking.” She handed me the glass while sounding very keen from her tone.

Already bothered by my inner thoughts, I didn’t feel the urge to return her gentle greeting.

Turning my face away from her, I rather answered coldly, “Tilin, I am feeling a bit tired. Leave the glass here on the table, I will drink it whenever I feel like it.”

“I knew you would say something like this…” But suddenly she yanked my hand and made me forcibly sit on the couch before she sat next to me.

Handing the glass to me, she sounded quite rigid from her tone, “I am not asking you to return my feelings, Grand Duke…but at least let me take care of the person I have sincerely cherished deep in my heart, since all these years. I know if I am with you now, at least my sister Dilin would feel a little relieved from heaven to see she hasn’t left you all alone. Until the day of her death, she has always only worried for you…and now as her sister, I am doing so.”

When Tilin mentioned Dilin, my heart felt contorted with remorse, as I couldn’t meet her gaze. While my heart was magnetically drawn towards the young, petite Kara, somehow I had forgotten about the burden of guilt that had weighed over my chest for all these years.

Indeed I must have made her feel too lonely to succumb to death, but after staying faithful to her for all these years, now that I have embraced a girl of around my son’s age…how am I supposed to beg for Dilin’s forgiveness now?

A sharp ache stirred at the back of my head when those guilty consciences hit my head deeply. I grabbed the glass from her hand but before I was about to take the sip, I saw the door of my room open after a faint knocking sound.

Averting my gaze, I saw Raphael was standing at the door, with a cold, scowl fixated on me.

“Father, I have something important to discuss with you, right now.” His voice sounded very stiff, making me wince as it was the first time I had heard my son addressing me in such a hoarse tone.