The Demon And The Siren [Completed]

|Chapter Thirty-two: The Curse Of The Crown|

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M A R I L L A
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Dilin and I have been strolling the gardens for the last half hour.

I tried my best to fish information out of him since he's Mr. Know-it-all but he shuts me up by holding out his index finger and telling me to brisk in the nature's beauty, no matter however dead the nature here seemed.

On our third round around the castle's front yard, he starts humming a song I've never heard before and rapping his head side to side absent-mindedly.

I watch him from the corner of my eyes. Dude can sing.

His voice is so melodic that I could picture imaginary birds circling over his head singing in chorus to his song. It almost reminded me of Snow white singing with her animal friends and the mental image of Dilin as Snow white in a yellow and dark blue dress and a red headband was too hilarious for me to not be able to conceal the chortle erupting out of my mouth on time.

Dilin's humming stops immediately and he gives me a questioning look, "What's funny?"

"You as Snow white." I say matter-of-factly.

"Snow who now?" He asks, his face resembling a confused Bambi.

"You don't know Sn-"

"You both seem to be having a great time together," A familiar feminine voice comments cutting my sentence midway.

I turn to the source of the sound to find Layla dressed in an ash coloured shiffon dress with a plunging neckline. The gown seemed to be flowing down like waterfalls down her body and dragged along the dead grassland as she approached us.  

"Dilin, could you give us a moment?" Layla asks not diverting her attention of off me.

I hold her gaze as Dilin—ever the gentleman he is—nods his head before walking back inside the castle leaving Layla and me to the dead silence of the garden.

"What do you want to talk ab-" I begin only to be abruptly cut off as she grabs my elbow harshly,

"Was Zander with you last night?" There's a crazed panic in her eyes as she stares at me.

I feel my tongue go slack at the question and my heartbeat stop for a fraction of a second before I conceal it with a shake of my head, "What's wrong with you?"

Layla doesn't speak for a long minute. Frozen on spot, she just stares at me, silver eyes trained on my face before her grip on my elbows tighten.

I almost yelp at the shooting pain of her nails digging into my skin but hold myself back the moment I see Layla's eyes start welling up.

Her lips quiver and her voice breaks as she says, "Why do you always do this to me?"

My entire form stills at the agony on her face making my heart clench at the sight, "Ly-"

"Everytime I want something, you come along and take it away from me!" Her voice pitches higher as more tears stream down her cheek and her nails dig deeper into my skin possibly leaving half-moon marks behind.

"My parent's love. My friends. My birthright. My throne. My kingdom. My people. My deserved respect. And now you also want to take away the man I love! Because of you, I ended up with nothing!" She lets go of my hand and rubs at the tears on her cheeks but fresh droplets trickle down.

"I really want him," she sniffles, her silver eyes begging me as she takes my hands in hers, "Can't you just let me have this one thing I truly want after taking away every single thing from me?"