'Are you completely out of your mind, or have you suddenly developed some terrifying case of amnesia? You really need to get yourself treated immediately!' Lucier snapped, staring at her in absolute, bewildered disbelief.
'You literally just caught that exact rat and securely trapped it inside the glass vase not even five minutes ago! It is sitting right there in front of your eyes... you absolute lunatic.'
'Well... there is absolutely not just one single rat in the entire world, is there?' she babbled frantically, desperately pulling ridiculous excuses out of thin air to stall him.
'There could easily be far more lurking in the shadows! That one in the glass was quite tiny, so obviously, its fiercely protective parents must be hiding in the washroom searching for it!'
'What on earth are you even saying? By that utterly ridiculous logic, its elderly grandparents and its little rat wife must be eagerly waiting in my washroom too!' he mocked, rolling his eyes at her sheer absurdity.
'You were just calling me a lunatic, but clearly you are the one who is completely insane! Who on earth arranges a marriage for such a tiny, innocent baby rat?' she shot back indignantly, her overwhelming panic causing her to completely lose the thread of her own fabricated argument.
'Huh? What in the world are you even talking about?!' Lucier groaned, aggressively rubbing his temples in deep, mounting frustration.
'Does absolutely anything coming out of your mouth tonight actually make any logical sense, or are you just desperately spilling whatever sheer nonsense is currently floating around in your brain? Did the overwhelming joy of our sudden royal wedding cause you to completely lose your mental balance?'
'Fine! If you absolutely refuse to believe me, then go right ahead!' Isla huffed, crossing her arms over her chest and pretending to be deeply, royally offended.
'But let me warn you right now: if a massive, terrifying rat suddenly jumps out of the dark and violently attacks you, do absolutely not come crying to me, because I will absolutely not save you!'
'Fine, do not save me then! But I simply cannot stand sitting in these terribly stained, sticky clothes for another second, so I absolutely must go clean myself up,' he declared stubbornly, reaching for the brass handle once again.
On the outside, Isla masterfully maintained a flawlessly calm, slightly annoyed facade, but on the inside, she was completely, utterly paralyzed by terror.
The lingering, suffocating horror of her recent, hyper-realistic nightmare, violently combined with the terrifying reality of Dorian's imminent discovery, pushed her into a state of absolute, blind desperation.
Just as Lucier's heavy hand firmly gripped the washroom door handle, Isla lunged forward and delicately but firmly grabbed his wrist.
'Lucier...' she murmured, suddenly dropping her frantic tone and replacing it with an incredibly sweet, breathy, and highly seductive whisper that instantly made the heavy air in the room stand entirely still.
'Today is our glorious, highly anticipated first night together... if you foolishly waste all of our precious time worrying about stained nightclothes and imaginary rats in the dark, how exactly are we going to properly celebrate our union?'
Lucier completely froze in his tracks.
His dark eyes widened in absolute, unadulterated shock, his jaw practically dropping as he slowly turned his head away from the wooden door to stare down at his beautiful, suddenly willing bride. He looked at her as if she had just miraculously transformed into an entirely different person before his very eyes.
Cautiously, as if he were approaching a dangerous, unpredictable beast, he slowly raised his free hand and gently pressed the back of his knuckles directly against her pale forehead.
'Are... are you feeling entirely well, Isla?' he asked, his voice laced with profound, genuine bewilderment.
'Do you happen to have a terrifyingly high fever?'
'No, my dear.
That is absolutely not the case,' she purred smoothly, desperately turning up her false charm to maximum capacity.
Lucier blinked, completely and utterly stunned. 'Did you... did you just call me "dear"?' he asked, pointing a hesitant, confused finger directly at his own chest.
'Me?'
'Of course I am calling you dear!' Isla giggled softly, batting her eyelashes with exaggerated, flawless innocence. 'Is there absolutely anyone else hiding in this room? And even if there were, why on earth would I ever look at another man when I have such an incredibly handsome husband standing right in front of me?' She tilted her head, jutting out her lower lip in a soft pout.
'Why? Do you not feel the exact same way when you look at me? Do you not find me beautiful?'
'Isla, you are a magnificent princess.
Of course, I find you incredibly beautiful,' Lucier replied breathlessly, his massive royal ego instantly inflating to the size of the room.
'I have been desperately waiting for so long.
I want tonight to be the most beautiful, unforgettable night of our entire lives. It is our first night, after all...'
'Yes, it is,' she whispered softly, slowly taking a seductive, deliberate step closer to him.
Lucier smiled warmly, completely captivated by her sudden affection. 'But before we properly begin, I truly must go and clean this awful stain off my clothes.'
Isla's seductive smile instantly froze.
"If you had shown even a fraction of this much stubborn dedication to cleaning the absolute filth from your own dark soul, you pathetic excuse for a prince, you would not be such a miserable bastard today, you absolute idiot," she thought furiously.
Unfortunately, in the chaotic, panicked heat of the moment, her angry inner thoughts violently slipped right past her lips.
'Hey, you absolute idiot...'
Lucier, whose hand was just a mere fraction of an inch away from the brass washroom door handle, instantly froze.
He slowly turned his head back toward her, his dark eyes wide. 'What? What did you just say?' he asked, his eyebrows knitting together in deep confusion.
'Did you just call me an idiot?!'
Isla's heart violently dropped directly into her stomach.
She completely panicked.
"Oh heavens, my inner voice literally just jumped right out of my mouth!" she thought frantically.
She immediately began to nervously stammer, waving her trembling hands in the air.
'N-no! Absolutely not! How on earth could I possibly ever call you something like that?!'
'No, Isla.
I heard you perfectly clearly,' Lucier said, narrowing his eyes with sharp suspicion. 'You definitely just called me an idiot.'
'Your... your ears must be ringing again!' she blurted out desperately.
Lucier paused, genuinely bewildered by the sudden accusation. He pulled his hand completely away from the bathroom door handle and began aggressively digging his pinky finger into his ear.
'My ears are ringing again? Are my ears actually going bad? They have literally been ringing non-stop since this morning!'
He frowned, looking deeply concerned about his own physical health.
'Yes... perhaps it actually is just my ears ringing.'
'Yes! Exactly! That is exactly what I have been trying to tell you this entire time!' Isla agreed frantically, her voice pitching slightly higher as she hopelessly stammered.
'You should definitely go see the royal doctor and get some heavy medicine first thing tomorrow morning! Otherwise... otherwise, you will just keep hearing crazy things and spouting complete nonsense all day!'