The Devil's Temptation!

Going into her chamber to clean up for the day, Anna’s gaze landed on Roshan who was slouching on the couch with his eyes closed. Feeling happy to see he had woken up, she closed the door and hurried to the couch he was sitting on, going on her knees before him as she tapped his knee.

“Roshan.”

“How was training?” His eyes opened to look at the woman sitting on the ground, and she was currently sweating since Levi chose to start another training session with her.

“It was good.” She brightly responded, “Levi reminded me of the basic techniques and he told me I learnt fast—” she began her chattering, talking non-stop about how the training went, her first few failures and then how she succeeded in the end.

Roshan listened to the young lady’s chattering with a faint smile, hearing her speak about the in’s and out’s of the training like a little girl who just won a trophy. He’s never seen her talk this fast and this long too, she was carrying a big smile on her lips as she explained it all to him, to the point she made a few gestures of some of her training that she learnt.

“I see, so you did well on your first day.” He summarized it all in one sentence, and Anna let out an embarrassing chuckle before dipping her head.

“I must have spoken too much but I got excited.”

“It’s not a crime to feel excited, if you did well then you should feel proud about it. And by that I mean you should get up from the floor, sit.” Roshan gave the empty space beside him a pat. Anna got to her feet and sat beside Roshan. He wanted to pull her close to him but the silly woman resisted, shaking her head in refusal.

.....

“I’m a mess, I’m sweaty, I don’t want to–wait!” She wasn’t even given a chance to complete her words before he pulled her into his arms, trapping her against him as his hand snaked around her slender waist.

“And what makes you think something so trivial is worth my bother?” He arched an eyebrow, but despite getting flustered, Anna still found it uncomfortable to cling on him like this when she’s in a morning mess.

He smelled fresh with his Woody spicy scent while she was the opposite.

“Roshan.”

“I’ll be going out tonight.” He finally informed her, and that made Anna’s brows knit into a curious frown as she looked at him.

“Going where?”

He noticed her displeased reaction the moment told her, but he made her adjust in the same position they were before, wrapping his arms around her waist and resting his chin on her shoulder.

“I have something important that I need to work on, so I’ll be leaving tonight.”

“When will you return?”

“Tomorrow morning, if I’m able to wrap it up on time.” He was going to check on Blake’s and make sure the coffin was safe. The owner can’t go a whole week without resting in that coffin, and four days have gone by since they got hold of it. It’s possible that within these three days, the owner has to come find that coffin if it doesn’t want its skin to shed.

“But–” Anna didn’t fancy the idea of him leaving tonight, she knew it had to be about some royal meeting but if he keeps going out like this, won’t he run into Luderick??

He’s still out there and Anna wasn’t peaceful with letting him leave.

“Can I come with?” She asked, moving away and turning to look at Roshan, “I promise I won’t be of any disturbance, I just want to be around you and make sure you’re safe.”

This was the reason why Roshan doesn’t want her to get involved, she’s not even aware of his reasons for going out tonight, but wants to come with.

“You’re talking like I haven’t been out late before,” he kissed her knuckles, “or are you scared you’re going to miss my presence? You don’t want me to leave?”

She nodded her head, hoping he’d stay back for her sake, but that thought died when Roshan shook his head.

“I can’t fulfill that wish of yours today, stay with Gemma so you won’t miss my presence too much, and if you need anything, you can ask Agnes to help you sort it out.”

“The Chamberlain?”

He nodded, “that reminds me, I accepted her to come work here.” He had forgotten to relay the news to Anna, but felt thankful he remembered at the last minute, and Anna’s eyes widened in surprise.

“You did?”

“Yes, sorry I didn’t ask for your opinion before making such an abrupt decision, the situation–”

She placed a finger to his lips, silencing him, “I understand, I don’t mind at all that you accepted her to work here, I think she’s nice and I’m sure you had your reasons for coming up with this decision, so your apology isn’t necessary.”

She assured him. Him accepting Agnes wasn’t the reason her heart was fluttering at the moment. The fact he considers her decision and opinions to whatever situation they were in really warmed her heart. It showed that her own opinion mattered to him, and she couldn’t be any grateful for that.

After her return, her relationship with Roshan has grown stronger, and their bond felt unbreakable. Her arguments with Roshan were always endless in the past, but now, they seem to understand each other better than before, and would rather talk things out rather than argue over it. He hasn’t even marked her yet, but the thought of how much their bond will be when he finally does made her face bloom uncontrollably.

“What are you thinking?” Roshan asked, tilting his head to get a better view of Ana’s face that had turned red all of a sudden, and a mischievous glint danced in his eyes after realizing what was going through her head.

“N_Nothing.” She stood up from her seat, looking away from him.

“I need to get dressed for the day, if you’ll excuse me.”

“When you’re done, we still have something to talk about?”

“What?”

.

“Our wedding invitation cards.” He told her, “Levi and Becca brought many suggestions on how the wedding cards should be printed, so I need you to take a look and pick one.”

The butterflies in her stomach hadn’t stopped flapping due to her earlier thoughts, and Roshan decided to make it worse.

“Why don’t you pick?”

He shrugged, “I’m not good in those aspects. I’ll gladly go with whichever one you find suitable, remember I want you to feel comfortable with the arrangements, and if you’re okay with it, then I have no issues with it either.”

Anna just stared as awe transformed her face, he was really putting her first above everything, did he love her that much??

“I’ll_I’ll look at it then.” She smiled.