That night, a faint glow of melancholy reflected in Cain's eyes as he gazed at the sky. The beautiful sea of stars covering the darkness seemed to stretch into infinity before him, silent and immutable. Time passed as it always did... but the night did not feel like the others.
For a long while, he tried to sleep.
He lay down, closed his eyes, and tried to empty his mind, but every time exhaustion seemed to pull him toward sleep, Delilah's face inevitably emerged among his memories.
Was she truly a girl with such a vague and difficult-to-describe personality? Or was he simply being dominated by those miserable sensations that awakened every time Layla disordered his memory?
While those questions kept him awake, the night advanced slowly.
In another part of the mansion, Delilah also failed to sleep.
An unexpected insomnia trapped her throughout the early morning. She would fall unconscious for brief moments, only to wake up shortly after, as if something inside her own body refused to allow her to rest. Her body felt restless, strange, as if an invisible cold were freezing her from the inside.
It didn't matter if she remained completely still under the sheets. Or if she moved her feet searching for a more comfortable position.
Nothing seemed to work.
Finally, the faint clarity of dawn began to seep through the windows. The sun did not yet shine brightly, but the light was enough to accept that the night had ended.
Delilah sat up slowly.
She decided to take a bath in hopes of calming her thoughts. After all, she had barely managed to close her eyes for a few minutes, and staying in her room with that storm of emotions was impossible.
Shortly after, she went straight to the garden, letting the fresh morning air clear her mind.
What truly alarmed her was not the exhaustion.
It was realizing something much more unsettling: she had once again felt disturbed by the existence of a single man on the face of the earth. And the worst part was that her desire to see him was as strong as her desire to never see him again.
For a moment, she even considered skipping breakfast. But doing so would only provoke Lucrecia's immediate wrath, so in the end, she had no choice but to show up at the dining room entrance with a hesitant face, trying to feign a normalcy she didn't actually feel.
The candidates had already taken their places at the table. Conversation was sparse, and the atmosphere seemed quieter than usual. And, as if it were a small joke of fate, Cain's seat was empty.
Delilah had only been seated for a few minutes and received her portion when the dining room door opened again. Then Yara appeared, interrupting breakfast. Cain's personal maid gave a slight bow to those present before speaking in her polite and calm tone.
—Young Master Cain sends his apologies. He will be unable to attend breakfast this morning.
Her words caught everyone's attention.
—He has suffered a slight discomfort —she continued—. With a bit of rest, he will be better.
Leroy was the first to react. He rose immediately from his seat, visibly worried.
—If he is ill, we should call a doctor.
He was about to order the butler to send for a physician when Raguel raised a hand with absolute calm, stopping him.
—Leroy, I assure you it is nothing serious.
Raguel was smiling openly. His expression had something shameless... yet curiously charming. Delilah would have ignored him if it weren't for the fact that, while he spoke to Leroy, he was looking directly at her.
—Delilah —he added then naturally—, you should visit Cain when you finish.
As if he had been waiting for exactly that reaction, he finally directed his words to the young woman. But Yara intervened before Delilah could respond.
—That won't be necessary. Young Cain will be absent for a couple of days. You have no reason to worry.
After saying that, she bowed again and withdrew quickly, before anyone could formulate more questions.
Breakfast continued in silence. Each of the candidates seemed to live locked in their own world despite sharing the same house, and thanks to that, no one seemed to notice how interested Raguel looked when it came to Delilah.
That dazzling man did not truly know discretion.
Sitting across from him, Delilah deliberately prolonged her sips of tea, pretending that nothing strange was happening.
Inevitably, classes were about to begin.
Lucrecia and Leroy left the dining room first. The atmosphere remained quiet for a few more minutes... until Delilah decided to get up as well. At that moment, Raguel looked up and observed her with his curious green eyes.
—Isn't he a bit old for you?
Tension ran across the girl's skin. She did not like becoming the center of that direct gaze.
—What? —she asked, confused.
Raguel then extended his right hand with an elegant gesture, inviting her to leave the dining room along with him. Both were heading to the same place, so they could walk together without a problem.
—Won't you say anything? —he insisted with a thin, amused smile.
Delilah didn't have time to worry too much about that. Classes were about to start. She accepted the invitation without saying anything and stepped out into the hallway first.
Then Raguel spoke again.
—I overheard your conversation in the kitchen.
Delilah barely managed to react. Her face paralyzed with embarrassment, and for an instant, she had the urge to stop, but she continued walking as if nothing had happened.
She had committed no crime.
Even so, she felt that it should remain a secret... or perhaps something she should forget entirely.
—So he isn't a man as unattainable as the rumors say —Raguel added with evident amusement.
In that moment, their gazes met, and for the first time, their thoughts seemed to coincide at the same point.
—What are the two of you supposed to be doing?
Lucrecia's voice echoed from the hallway with enough force to destroy any atmosphere that might have formed between them.
The glass doll was excessively loud. And also a woman very easy to irritate. She was probably already imagining things that didn't even exist.
Raguel sighed with evident disappointment before stepping aside.
—How troublesome...
Without bothering to argue, he walked directly toward Lucrecia and took her arm with a quick movement. The gesture was enough to silence her.
—Come with me.
He dragged her toward the entrance of the study hall.
Raguel was a bold man... and dangerous. He did not fear Lucrecia's complicated temperament at all.
She resisted as they moved forward.
—Let go of me! I order you to let go of me!
But he simply applied a bit more force to compel her to walk beside him.
Delilah was left behind in the hallway. For some reason, she felt relieved to be alone, though she didn't understand exactly why.
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