"..." Lucian covered his ears and pretended to not hear her calling out to him.

'That's what happens when you don't set your boundaries from the beginning. If she won't act on my requests, then only actions are left.'

The fear of being given a cold shoulder was still in his heart, making him wary of his actions.

She had a high level of tolerance and understanding (not the gentle kind) for him, but he didn't want to find out the limit.

"Lucian...it has been an hour. Come out now," she called out from the other side of the door, her voice sounding slightly sad. "You are worrying me, are you okay?"

Lucian covered his ears harder, "I'm fine. Can't I have some privacy in the bathroom? You haven't left me alone for a second since I returned. I just want a moment of peace, without you bossing me around. Please."

She went quiet.

'She is going to leave me. She is going to leave me,' he panicked, hearing her footsteps move away, 'So what if she does? Stop thinking about yourself, Lucian, and think about her. Be a man.'

'It's for her sake. If she starts thinking that she can't do wrong, what will she become? The world is not a forgiving place and it will not bend to her will, even if she wants it to.'

The thoughts in his head were spinning and spinning.

He wanted to run after her, apologize and make up, but he forced himself to sit inside the bathroom and not budge. To be stubborn and firm in his beliefs. That it was the right thing to do.

'So what if I make her a bit upset and she ignores me for a while? It won't be the end of the world. It's alright. My parents would always make up after an argument, and we will too.'

He stayed in the bathtub until his fingers started to look like raisins. Then he got out, dried his body, put on a new shirt and pants.

He carefully opened the door, finding Celine sitting on his pillow and holding her legs close to her chest.

She lifted her head when she heard the door open, her expression blank, no emotions visible on her face. She didn't look angry, or sad, or even annoyed. Just neutral.

Lucian was trying to kick the regret out of his mind, but it kept crawling back in.

He walked to the bed with a heavy heart, hearing a click as the bathroom door closed behind him, "..."

He stood there like an idiot for a moment, then went to his bed and laid down with his arms crossed under his head.

He hated it when his parents fought, and the atmosphere in the house was tense. He hated it even more that he had caused the same tension with Celine now. Intentionally even.

'It's just another hardship I have to overcome, isn't it? I have survived far worse than this. And so can she.'

He could have avoided it all if he had just indulged her, and let himself be happy with her. Instead of choosing the hard path.

He thought Celine would remain locked in the bathroom and give him a cold shoulder, but she came out after a while as if she just needed to use the toilet and wash her hands.

He closed his eyes, pretending to be asleep. He used his external eyes to watch her instead.

She laid down a bit further away from him. She gave him the space that he so much 'wanted', didn't talk to him, or bother him in any other way... just like he demanded of her.

'This feels different than mom's cold shoulder toward dad.'

Celine's dress was light with not many petticoats underneath. She was not wearing her usual corset either, just a simple chemise, which made her look soft. She somehow looked more gentle in his external eyes than his physical ones.

Unguarded might have been the better word for it. She hugged his pillow and gave it a goofy smile, looking like she was having the time of her life. She was not even bothered by him ignoring her like that, which was even worse.

Celine was definitely not like his mother at all, who was an expert at giving cold shoulder treatment. Lucian could only wish to have such thick skin like Celine had.

Somehow he felt that she just followed the: This is not how loving couples act towards each other. They respect each other and take care of one another, example he gave her.

It was like the image of a loving couple he had in his head and the one in hers were two completely different ones.

After she got enough rest on the bed, she went to search his cabinet for snacks, picking out a jar of dried apple chips.

She ate them one at a time as she sat on the chair behind his desk. She made no sound as she chewed, not wanting to disturb him, enjoying her quiet time.

Lucian found her pleasant expression infuriating. She looked happier eating snacks than being with him.

He had his eyes closed so she shouldn't be putting on a performance for him. She was genuinely enjoying her snacks, and not paying him any mind.

'She can't possibly be happy like this. She should feel hurt and dejected and... and... she should have an epiphany moment and come to the realization that she was in the wrong. That she was being disrespectful, and come apologize to me.'

He could wait. He was a patient man after all. He continued pretending he was sleeping, waiting for her to approach him.

But after she was done eating, she pulled out his notepad, took his pencil like it was her own, and started drawing something on the paper.

She was not planning to come to apologize. She was perfectly content just drawing stuff.

'This is ridiculous.' Lucian could almost see a tail swishing from side to side behind her back. He was about to jump up and confront her, but decided to stretch lazily instead.

Her gaze landed on his stomach that he slightly exposed when he stretched, and she gulped, swallowing the last piece of the snack she had in her mouth.

Her lips parted ever so slightly, her hand holding the pencil began to fan her face.

She eventually covered her eyes with her hands, but kept her fingers apart, still peeking through the gaps.

She then squeezed her legs together, shifting uncomfortably in his chair.

The pencil became her new chewing toy, which she nibbled on to calm herself down, but not before glancing at him a few more times.

The sketching sounds resumed, her attention focused on the obscene artwork she was creating.

'Is she using me as a reference?' Lucian could only guess by the way she was blushing.

She definitely got a bit too inspired by his exposed stomach, and her imagination ran wild.

A silhouette of a naked woman and a man appeared on the paper, entangled in a rather inappropriate way. She was kneeling in between his legs, her head resting on his lower stomach.

'Don't react. Don't react...' he chanted to himself, closing his external eyes, trying to engage in a conversation with Voice to kill the mood and to keep the blood from rushing to his lower half which was yet to be drawn.

Voice, of course, abandoned him, not wanting to deal with his nonsense. He was on his own.

Celine took the drawing and compared it with him. She stretched her neck, nodded cutely in approval, then continued drawing.

She even used herself as a reference, twisting and bending her body to get the angles and shading right.

Lucian covered his face with his right arm; he was supposed to go through hardship that was to come from their silent war.

Not to be seduced to the point of his body betraying his own mind.

'I need to focus on her flaws, and not on her...her...'

Lucian's thoughts trailed off to her hand sliding across the paper, the way she held the pencil, the way her fingers curled around it, and the way her nails dug into it once in a while.

'Focus on her bad character...her arrogance, her selfishness, her... her... Ugh... I can't leave it for next time...I've delayed it too much already...'

His neck was aching, not because it got squeezed, but because it was parched.

It was craving her lips to touch it.

Her teeth biting into it.

Her tongue sliding against it.

'You can't love her more than you already do, idiot...' he tried to knock some sense into his head, but the damage was already done.

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╔═══ Author's note ════╗

Sorry for the long chapter, didn't want to leave it incomplete.

As you could see, this arc will push their obsession to new heights.😆

Thank you for reading so far! If you like the series, consider leaving a review or vote for your fave characters.

Q: Should I add more to characters to the front page? If yes, who? Let me know.

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