Darkness' Touch

Chapter 52: A Plethora Of Feelings

The pure look of devastation and horror displayed on the prince's face as he tried to process the situation. He was panicking and almost not breathing. Of course, Avy was privy as to why he reacted so much to such a simple physical contact. She felt him tremble as he hysterically pulled away his hand. 

Avy's eyelids started to feel heavy as the mana that came from Lucifer tried to lull her to rest. Even so, she was able to see how this move made the prince visibly worse. His body began to shake uncontrollably, the mix of fear and frustration could be seen in his demeanor as he completely lost his composure—his surroundings now a sure blur of varying colors and swimming images of the garden. 

A subtle pang of guilt crept into the lady's mind, knowing she was partly at fault for touching the white-haired mage without permission. Well, in her defense, he could have suffered a serious injury had she pnot pulled him out of the way. However, whether she had a good reason or not, it still evidently made an impact on the prince. She felt the need to make it up for him. 

With the little strength she could muster as her legs became rather weak, she crawled her way next to her fiancé in hopes of calming him down, not minding the itchy grass beneath her hands in favor of focusing all of her attention to the prince. She did not know exactly why he seemed to be traumatized, but she could guess that a similar incident had happened to him in the past. There is a big possibility that he also accidentally sent someone to their grave and thought, this time, it will be her who will fall into the same fate. 

"Your Highness, calm down. No one died," she tried to reassure him, but it fell on deaf ears. Lucifer kept trembling, eyes dazed into nothingness. Her brows furrowed in vexation when she got no response whatsoever.

"Hey. Are you even breathing?" She tried tapping the prince's shoulder but that also did not work. She could not hear him breathe or say anything as he continued to shake incessantly. It was as if he could no longer command his own body to function normally. 

"Breathe, Your Highness!" Avy commanded sharply as she held the taut shoulders of the rigid man before her. Even in the novel, Lucifer was never shown having a panic attack. He was never vulnerable. It was always Zach who would break down and receive the care of the female lead while the prince's role was to support the girl whenever she was hurt. He would find solace in her presence even though he would always get abandoned once she becomes better. 

Not once did he show his weakness to the main protagonist as he found it too personal, something that he could not do to a person he did not even swear his life to. If anything, it has to be Avy, his fiancé, who he should be displaying any and all of his weaknesses to. However, he also could not bring himself to burden the lady with his problems. He always kept it to himself. He was always alone during those sleepless nights. 

"I said, breathe! Damn it!" She violently shook the prince's shoulders, trying to catch his terrified eyes with her own. At last, it worked. 

The fearful eyes slowly regained its life once more. A pair of shaky, lustrous yellow pools stared into firm, luminous crimson ones with a mix of confusion and surprise. 

"Everything is fine. See? Nothing happened, so get a hold of yourself." Avy's grip on Lucifer's shoulders weakened as her body protested to succumb to sleep. 

The sensation was different from when she was tired. It felt too comfortable and warm, as if she was being cradled gently. 

"How..." she heard Lucifer's voice, his tone sounded uncertain. He must have been wondering how she escaped his touch of death, or more specifically, how she managed to nullify his spiteful ability. Avy felt the blowing wind of the frigid night, yet paid it no mind in favor of answering him.