Page 105 of A Requiem of Fire and Ice

“Why do you keep wearing my shirts?” I ask casually as we head down the ramp and exit the ship.

She touches the fabric and says, “They’re comfortable. Alad bought me shirts that feel stiff, awkward, and thin. Yours, though, are warm and used. It’s nice.”

I eye her and then look away. She looks good wearing it. “Did you often wear Xavier’s clothes?”

“Huh?” She stumbles a step when we reach Tumul Hall Entrance. “Uh…never.”

I grimace. “If you were to kill me, would you go back to him?”

Pandora blurts a laugh. “I seriously doubt we’re together. He’s likely fucking his marked one, right?”

“He’s actually locked up in the cells with your friends,” I say. “I didn’t want them contacting you.”

Her arms wrap around her body, and there’s a wavering of disgust as her lip contorts, cringing when she’s in her thoughts. “No. I would never go back to him. Not after…”

Pandora hates Xavier, but not in the way most elemny hate someone. Behind the lack of emotional connection someone may have if they’re in a relationship with another, she holds repulsion toward him.

It seems Pandora is becoming easier for me to understand, but I also feel disgusted by the answers coming to me.

Pandora has no emotional connection to Xavier, but she feels a sense of hate, betrayal, and loathing toward him. He took something from her that he shouldn’t have.

He was the one who raped her. It makes sense. The way he spoke to his friends, objectifying her purity and how she felt, and when he took it. But the way she’s holding herself, protectively cradling her body, tells me it wasn’t a moment she wants to remember.

“I can kill him for you,” I say. “It will be as easy as breathing.”

She shakes her head and sighs. “No. All I want is to make sure he can’t fuck anyone else again.”

I twitch a smile. She’s psycho, but also, the thought excites me.

“Prince Reen,” she says as we leave Tumul Entrance and head toward the carpark. “Why did you ask me out tonight?”

“Bored. Irritated with everyone else around me. Curious.” My eyes narrow. “You make me curious to understand you, but I know you’re a creature of habit. You won’t tell me your secrets on your own… I have to earn them.”

Pandora skips ahead, turns to face me, and walks backward. “And how are you going to get them?”

A cruel smirk settles on my face. “I will tell you when we get there.”

“Ugh. You’re such a fucking clit-tease.”

What the fuck are these words, and why does she speak with such vulgarity?

The car lights flash as we get near it. A metallic crimson Bugatti Chiron comes into focus, and Pandora, like last night, swoons over it before she enters.

When I enter, the car hums to life, purring beneath the red leather seat. Driving away from the parking lot, I head towards the back of the Kingdom of Cloud to visit a place I’ve always wanted to go, but couldn’t because of my schedule.

Pandora gawks at her surroundings, which is one reason I can ease into my seat and get more comfortable. She’s the enemy, but I’m more relaxed around her than when I’m around anyone else. Despite knowing she will die, the woman seems unbothered.

It’s frustratingly fascinating.

Someone in her situation would cry, whining like a fucking mess, begging for a way out of it. But this woman lives for it and has had no qualms about being near me.

I eye her and then look away.

Also, she’s the only one who’s not afraid of me.

I turn left behind the Toshiharu estate. There’s a drive-in cinema. It’s one of the most common places Emmerton comes to whenever he enters the Kingdom of Cloud. He brings a woman, maybe two, or even a woman and a man, fucking them in the sunset.

No, that’s not the reason I brought Pandora here. I don’t fuck for pleasure. Never fucking have, so I doubt I know how to without breaking her. And I don’t want to break her yet. She’s my only form of entertainment.