My Most Precious Human novel Chapter 108

I wished I had never heard Sariel's words. I wished I had never come there and heard the sounds of him and Elora making out. It was nauseating. It was painful. It squeezed a long stream of tears from my eyes. I was hurt and angry, but the worst part of it was that I couldn't even barge in there to make a scene, because legally… Sariel belonged to Elora, not me.

I kept my mouth covered, fearing that my cry would betray my presence. My heart hammered erratically, as if it was trembling, just as my whole body was, yet some masochistic whisper told me to keep standing there, by Sariel's chamber. Perhaps some part of me was waiting for Sariel to say something else…but truthfully, I didn't know what I was expecting him to say, and of course, he said nothing else. Instead of words, I could only hear Elora's soft giggles and moans.

I felt my heart crack.

My feet turned back by themselves, and, in some self-defense mechanism, I returned to my chamber. Just like that. I had never thought that I would be the "suffer in silence" type, but I swallowed my pride, ripped my anger to pieces, and closed the passage door as if nothing had ever happened. I sat on my bed and stayed like that for an hour, maybe two. I was an empty shell.

It took a long time for my mind to reboot and my emotions to stabilize. Once it happened, the painful processing began. My sadistic mind recalled every word and sound I heard. I swayed towards the bathroom to wash my face in cold water. Then I started to stare at my reflection in the mirror. It was time to acknowledge the cruel truth.

"You are an idiot, Lilith," I mumbled, looking into my own eyes. "Sariel is the King and Elora is his Queen. If he wants to keep her in check, he can't push her away… He needs to lie to her… He needs to make her believe that she is valuable to him… He needs to make her believe that he lo-"

I choked at my own words. I was no longer certain if my words concerned Elora. For some extremely painful reason, they sounded like they could just as well concern me. It might have been caused by my aching heart, but Sariel's voice while talking to Elora seemed as sincere as when he had been with me. I knew that I was supposed to trust him. I wanted to trust him. I wished I could rip to shreds all the tiny pieces of doubt gathering inside me. I guessed I was weaker than I thought.

I lied down in my bed and tried to fall asleep. I tossed and turned until I suddenly found myself in the Palace garden. It was early evening. The garlands of magnificent lanterns ennobled the fields of green grass with their warm golden glow. Then I saw three long, set tables, prepared for the guests to dine. I turned around and saw the members of the Moon Hill Pack gathering at those tables. Then the vampires came. I saw at least a few of them at the negotiation meeting. All of them wore official, elegant clothing. The men wore tuxedos and glamorous suits, while the few invited ladies wore fashionable evening gowns. I looked down at my clothing and suddenly found myself in a marvelous bottle-green silk dress. Draven gently grabbed my hand and kissed it.

"You look like every man's dream tonight, Lilith," he smiled charmingly and led me to my seat at the table.

Suddenly, the set changed, and I was talking with a group of vampires, with Mr. Parson among them. They all congratulated me on my contribution to the negotiations, although I had hardly done anything. Everyone seemed pleased with the outcome, as if the peace treaty had already been signed. It felt weird, but I covered my confusion under a courteous smile. My moment of moderate tranquility had been killed by a piercing chuckle from Elora. I turned my head towards the sound and saw Sariel and Elora standing by the lantern-decorated grand hedge wall. Mr. Parson looked at me with a beaming smile.

"Perhaps the concubine should officially greet the King," he winked at me.

I responded with an awkward grimace that wasn't even close to resembling a smile. But I mustered my courage, took a deep breath, and walked towards the royal couple.

"Greetings to the King and Queen," I squeezed out, making a superhuman effort to get my words to sound polite and natural.

I bowed down graciously, but as I raised my head, I saw Sariel's turning his eyes away from me, with most of his body open towards Elora. He ignored me, his body declaring as if he despised my presence, while Elora couldn't be more pleased with his attitude. As a victorious little smirk appeared on her face, she directed her full attention at her King, making sure that I would watch her every move.

She reached out her hand towards his cheek, gently stroking it while looking into his eyes. Then she stood up on her toes, bringing her lips closer to his. She put her arms around his neck, making a wave of excited "whoas" and chuckles spread across the garden. Sariel put a smirk on his face, watching Elora's attempt to kiss him, yet he didn't seem reluctant. As she placed her lips on his, he followed, embracing her and caressing her lips while I stood in front of them, seeing it all happen.

I froze. My heart rushed while every single beat seemed like torture. I started to shiver, as if my body had become sickly feverish. All the sounds of the crowd, cheering and rooting for the King and Queen couple made me break inside. That was all too much. How could I stand there, pretending to hold my dignity, keeping a smile on my face while my heart was being mercilessly stabbed over and over again?

"No!" I burst out, opening my eyes wide and sitting up on the bed.

I panted heavily while my tears fell down my cheeks. This dream felt so vivid it made my emotions crumple. It took me a couple of deep breaths before I could inhale regularly.

"Bad dream?" Sariel's voice came from the corner of my room.

I flinched and slowly turned my head towards the source of the sound. Sariel was sitting in the chair by the table. The chair was turned towards my bed, as if he was sitting there observing me while I slept. He was barefoot, wearing black suit pants and a white, wrongly-buttoned shirt with half-rolled-up sleeves.

"A nightmare… I guess," I muttered, hesitantly looking into his eyes.

"You were outside my door yesterday, weren't you?" He got to the point right away.

I smiled bitterly. I knew that it was the only reason why he showed up in my room. Nonetheless, I hoped that he at least wanted to comfort me, and not only check if I wasn't about to make a scene of jealousy.

"I came to tell you what I found in Elora's notes," I said, looking away from him.

He walked towards my bed and sighed, "Show me."