-1st person-

3 days later,

"I love you." Said Lorence, holding flowers up to me as his face blushed.

"... What?" I asked, tilting my head with a grin.

"I love you." He repeated firmly, as if there was no other possibility.

"But we haven't known each other for long?" I asked, taking the bouquet from his grasp lightly and gazing at the flowers, like inspecting a tribute.

"You may not have, but I have been watching you for a long time." Lorence said cryptically.

"A long time?" I asked, probing as I felt a slight suspicion.

"I have admired you for a long time, I know every aspect about you, every little habit, your likes, your dislikes, how you hate my hair cause it's ugly, everything." He said, looking me in the eyes determinedly. It was as if he was crazy, crazier than I. It was as if I had done something to deserve this. It was as if he was infatuated. He wasn't normal, not in my eyes.

He was just like me.

Just.

Like.

Me.

---

-Lilith Ardes' POV-

I stared at the scene before me.

It sent chills down my spine.

It was scary.

It was-

It was...

They were standing there in silence. It was as if there was a conversation going on without me. Something too private for my ears and eyes. Something I shouldn't see, nor hear. It felt like taboo to simply stand there.

Crudelis stared at Lorence, with those piercing, chilling eyes. The ones that you would get nightmares off. The beautiful ones. The beautiful ones were always the most dangerous.

I held my breath as they just looked at each other and suddenly-

Crudelis spoke, smiling as if there wasn't a silence. Well, for them, there wasn't.

"Oh, really?" He spoke, and walked closer to Lorence as each step he took was heard vividly in my ears. His steps louder than my thumping heart, louder than the distant sounds, louder than anything except that godforsaken voice of his.

He scared me, Crudelis.

The saviour.

He held no regard for human life, he didn't care for himself, even. I couldn't hate him. I couldn't.

But it was like there was an instinctive fear built in me. Like a prey infront of their predator. I couldn't fight, only run. And only when the predator was content, could I relax.

Right now, he was unpredictable. Nothing could tell what would happen. No one.

"I love you." Repeated Lorence for the third time, or whatever. I didn't bother to count, his voice was barely heard over anything else.

"Then-" Crudelis said, grabbing Lorence's chin gently and making Lorence look up at him.

I blinked, listening carefully to the next words.

I was fearful, yes. But, I was also curious nonetheless.

After all, curiosity did kill the cat. But, I'm not a cat. I'm an observer.

"Be my slave." Said Crudelis, his words resounding within my ears and echoing in my head.

No, there wasn't an I love you too. There wasn't. It was simply a bondage. A pledge.

I will love you back, if you follow my every order.

It was pure toxicity.

---

A few minutes later, and I'd calmed down, finally. I noticed that Crudelis and Lorence had kissed briefly and I calmed down my trembling fingertips. I finally took a much needed breath and calmed down slowly yet surely.

I wish Devron was here...

My thoughts still managed to drift off to Devron, even in intense fear and suffocation.

I let out a slight sigh as I heard Crudelis step away, walking as if nothing had happened, and I finally stopped leaning on the wall.

I took a deeper sigh of relief, thanking whatever existence above for my continued survival, and for Devron, of course.

It was something I'd began doing shortly after my encounter with Crudelis. I began to appreciate life, I guess. Though, it was more of a realisation that I could've died. A realisation that I didn't matter to Crudelis, nor did I matter in the world. I was merely a bystander to the chaos, someone who could be used as cannon fodder at any moment.

I slowly stepped towards the lone Lorence who seemed to be in a half daze.

I feigned ignorance, carefreeness. I pretended to be stupid.

"So it seems the potions prodigy has fallen!" I exclaimed as I walked closer to Lorence and pet his shoulder. "And for someone who values appearance, too." I cast a pitiful glance at his greasy hair.

"Haha..." Lorence gave a nervous laugh, and it was as if we'd already known each other.

"How about I help you?" I suggest, expecting a rejection as I stare at his hair rather than his eyes. His hair just caught my eyes, I think it's the fact that my standards for hair had risen since meeting Devron, but his hair just put me off.

"Uhm- Sure." He accepted easily and I widened my eyes.

Plan failed. He was supposed to refuse!

"Uh. Sure then, why don't we get that hair washed first?" I asked as I raised my hand to touch his hair, recoiling at the... Greasiness.

Like, seriously, his hair was almost as scary as Crudelis.

But then again, nothing would scare me as much as that... Monster.

"Really? Is my hair that bad?" Lorence asked, staring at his own greasy locks.

"Have you even washed it?" I asked, forcing myself to touch it without recoiling.

"We were supposed to wash our hair?" Lorence asked, and I held back my vomit, as well as my nausea.

"Of course you are! What are we, cavemen?" I almost forgot about Crudelis, and the earlier scene at his apparent normalcy. Excluding his extremely disgusting lack of hygiene.

Keyword: Almost. Crudelis never left my mind, he was always in the back, waiting to resurface whenever my thoughts drifted off.

"I just got too busy to care about it. No one around me seemed to mind anyways." He replied in an unfair tone as he inspected his own hair familiarly.

"What about bugs, or something?" I asked.

"Nope, nothing." He answered.

"Also, I bet your friends did care." I said, "That hair can annoy even the most disgusting of people, excluding you, by the way."

"I'm flattered." Replied Lorence as he rolled his eyes.

"You should be. It's surprising how healthy your hair is despite never washing it. I'm surprised you still have hair, actually." I said seriously.

"Aha."

"Seriously." I said, taking his hand. "Just- Let me take you to my dorm so we can fix that mess of yours up there."

"Okay then." He said obediently and began following as I dragged him off to my dorm.

I quickly contacted Devron and called him over to help.

"Lilith? What was so urgent that I needed to be called over?" Devron asked worriedly and I showed him Lorence. "Is this... A plaything of yours?"

Devron seemed slightly irritated and I shook my head.

"Somehow- He's Crudelis'." I say and open the door to my dorm, directly taking Lorence to my bathroom with Devron following close behind.

"So why was I needed?" He asked again.

"We need to wash his hair." I said, "And I'm honestly scared of it... Oh, by the way, he's never washed it before."

"Oh... I'm sorry, Lilith." Devron said, immediately understanding my sadness. "I'll wash the hair for you."

"You really are my saviour." I grinned at him and watched as Devron helped Lorence was his hair.

Devron was gentle, yet somehow managed to clean it with his gentleness. He wasn't disgusted and soon I was surprised to the point my eyes almost popped out of my sockets.

"Wait- Your hair. Why is it...?"

His hair.

It was light green, not dark.

 

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