Third Arc (Fallen Heart) - 40. Scars of The Past II

He turned to her. His sight could capture the clear fear in her expression.

"I already said I don't know," he said in a calm tone, hoping she was calmer.

Despite his answer, Rose retreated slowly with her eyes fixed on him. Her body trembled in fear. She never thought he was more terrifying than she had anticipated.

"Are you an undead? An evil spirit? A vengeful ghoul?" she said all the undead creatures she had in her mind in a stammering voice. Her heart was pounding in fear and bitterness. Her mind was confused and so were her feelings.

"I'm not undead or any of those evil creatures. If you don't believe me, you can check me out." Again, he said it in a calm tone. His hand reached out to her with his palm facing up.

Instead, his polite gesture shocked her and made her retreat further out of fear. She shook her head from side to side, signifying her rejection. Her legs felt weak even though his cold and eerie atmosphere were not as scary as when they reunited a few months ago.

"Rose," he called her name. His feet moved to approach her carefully. He could understand why Rose was shocked and afraid of him. Still, it hurt him. This was why he never let anyone see his scars. He even never took off his clothes when the doctor examined him.

Again, she shook her head from side to side. Her eyes that fixed on him, trembled in fear. Her feet kept moving backwards. Her head was filled with terrifying guesses. From the reasons of this agreement and his true intention.

Realizing whatever he did would only scare Rose, Angel decided to take a desperate act. Without warning, he ran towards her. His hand dropped his schedule. Rose was about to turn around to run out of fear, but it was too late. Angel caught her wrist and pulled her into his arms.

Rose struggled to free herself in panic and almost screamed. Angel knew he should bind her with his dark aura or use his Devil Puppet spell to make her obey him. But that would only scare her even more. So he bumped his lips on her and made her swallow her own voice.

His kiss made her even more shocked. She tried to push him away using all of her strength to break away from him. Her mind was filled with other terrifying guesses. Was he flowing his dark power through that kiss? Was he using his spell to take over her body?

Alas, he hugged her tighter, pressed his bare chest on her body which was only covered by a thin dress. He even placed his hand behind her head and tilted his head to deepen their kiss, ensuring that her voice did not escape from her mouth. He knew this was an improper thing since their husband and wife status was only based on the agreement. But he had no other way either. One for sure, despite their intimacy, this was the most bitter kiss he had ever felt.

Rose's heart was beating faster and faster. Her mind went blank. She wanted to scream with all her might, but no sound came out of her mouth. Meanwhile, her struggle was useless due to their strength differences.

But as the times went by, she stopped her struggle after she realized... She didn't feel anything from the kiss other than his lips. That kiss was just a kiss, nothing more. There were no tricks, evil spells or dark forces behind it.

Feeling she was calmer, he broke his kiss and pressed her ear to his chest. His hand tightly wrapped around her head. His other hand was on her waist. He could feel her trembling body.

"Now tell me, am I undead? Does an undead have a heartbeat and a warm body like mine?" he asked. His bitterness and annoyance were evident in his tone. But who wasn't afraid of the undead?

Rose didn't answer, but from the sound of his heart beating fast in her ears and his warm body, the answer was clear.

"You aren't one of them..." she finally admitted it in a much calmer tone even though her confusion still filled her head.

Her answer made him a little calmer.

"Then you shouldn't be afraid of me," he whispered.

"I can't... At least until I know what are you..." she replied. It was a bold answer despite her fear.

Although it made him sad, it was a fair one. His power, body and regeneration were too unusual for a human. Maybe with Rose's help, he could find out about himself. After all, he realized that his mysterious past was too absurd and their relationship was too shallow.