Conquering His Cold Heart

“Okay. Tell me what’s been bothering you. And I promise that I won’t…” He lifted his hand in front of his face and pointed his index finger at Tilla’s back.

Tilla quickly slid away from the edge of the chair and pushed herself back until her back rested well against the cold backrest of the chair. She had no intention of letting Vincent touch her bare back in the name of applying the medicine.

However, she was also unwilling to share what was really bothering her. At least right now, she didn’t think that letting Vincent take care of the unnecessary rumors about them would be a good choice. She could see it potentially backfiring at her in the future.

Thus, Tilla took a deep breath and turned her head to the side to peek at the open door of the bedchamber.

She didn’t want Anastasia to hear her. Thus, she spoke in a very soft voice, in case Anastasia was unintentionally eavesdropping on them from the outside.

“Lord Vincent, I hadn’t given much thought about… us until today. And now that I did…” When she began saying things that she didn’t really mean, she lowered her head as she couldn’t keep on making eye-to-eye contact with Vincent. “I don’t think we should keep on getting closer to each other. However, I see it, it doesn’t seem right to me.”

Vincent instantly got ticked when he heard Tilla saying that even when he had already made his intentions clear regarding how he wasn’t going to let Tilla act like before.

Even though he immediately wanted to call her out and scold her for wanting to distance herself away from him, he controlled his rage and asked in a calculative manner, “Okay… Tell me why you feel that it doesn’t seem right.”

.....

Tilla lifted her head to look at Vincent when he didn’t get angry as she had expected. However, when she looked at the piercing glare that Vincent was giving her, she instantly knew how offended he was by her words.

She immediately lowered her gaze again and replied while fixating her eyes on her palms, “First of all, the obvious reason is that we aren’t even the same species.”

Tilla took a peek at Vincent because she thought that he would counter her reasoning at once. However, when she saw him crossing his arms in front of his chest and looking at her without any intention to speak, she continued.

“And even if we were to forget for a while that we are of different species, our status also doesn’t match at all. You are one of the most influential Lords of this Kingdom while I am just a handmaid who is bound to serve Her Majesty for my whole life. I don’t think I should keep on giving in to my false hopes and–”

“Firstly,” Vincent couldn’t keep on listening to Tilla anymore so he interjected even though Tilla wasn’t done speaking. “I don’t think Queen Anastasia is someone who would keep you bound to the position if you were to say that you wanted to start a family. I think she would be the happiest to hear that.”

“Secondly, does it matter if we are of different species?” Vincent’s brows darkened when he knitted them together and questioned Tilla in a reprimanding manner.

Tilla looked at Vincent in a dumbfounded manner when Vincent seriously began to question Tilla as if he was way too serious regarding her.

Vincent pointed his brows toward the door and said, “The King and the Queen are making their relationship work just fine even though they are different, aren’t they?”

Tilla let out a brief sigh and turned her head away from Vincent. Yes, the relationship between the King and the Queen was fine right now. But what about the future? She couldn’t help but think that way as she was aware of things that Vincent wasn’t aware of.

And she also couldn’t help but think, ‘I don’t know what the future holds for me… I know I won’t be spared if anything bad happens to the Queen and the King finds out that I knew everything all along. That’s even more of a reason to not take this relationship any forward, isn’t it? I don’t want to come in between the two good friends if that day ever comes.’

While Tilla was lost in her thoughts about how it was inappropriate to keep on opening her heart to Vincent. He, on the other hand, had already decided that he wasn’t going to let go of Tilla no matter what she said.

For some reason, he had felt as if Tilla was someone worth fighting for, even if it was her who he had to fight.

Ever since the day that he shared a kiss with Tilla, his heart would create these little beating sounds whenever he was around her. He had never felt that way before. He would also get this strange sensation in his chest whenever she would look at him and smile.

And he was in no way in hell ready to let go of all these strange sensations that he felt when he was near Tilla.

Just when Tilla took a deep breath to argue with Vincent, he pressed his index finger on top of her lips and leaned closer to her once more. This time, he placed his other arm on the backrest of the chair while successfully trapping Tilla in between his arms again.

Tilla helplessly looked Vincent in the eyes, already guessing what he was going to say.

And as expected, Vincent simply repeated what he had said earlier, “Tilla, I already told you that you can’t come close to me when you want and ignore me when you don’t feel like it. The species and status don’t mean anything when I truly feel for you. And from our interactions lately, I know that you share the same feelings as I do.”

He lifted his finger away from her lips and slowly caressed her soft cheek with the back of his palm.

Tilla’s instant reaction was to close her eyes when that gentle touch from him sent shivers down her spine.

That reaction from her made Vincent curl up his lips in pleasure. He could see what kind of effect he had on her.

Thus, he leaned even further and whispered next to her ear, “You don’t have to worry about any of those things. Allow yourself to be happy rather than making yourself miserable, Tilla. And by pushing me away, you will make me miserable too. So…”

Vincent himself didn’t know what came into his mind but he suddenly nipped Tilla’s earlobe. And when she tilted her head in shock, he looked at her face in amusement. Her heartbeat had escalated rapidly.

He smirked and finished whispering, “So, let’s not be miserable. Just embrace me with all your heart. And I will do the same.”

Tilla was still in a state of shock when Vincent did and said all those unexpected things. She even felt extremely delighted as no man had ever said such things to her before.

In her dazed state, she kept on looking at that beautiful face that was looking at her and wondered, ‘Is someone like me even allowed to embrace someone like him with all my heart?’