Hellbound Heart

The word 'gorgeous' did not seem to be enough to describe how Sebastian looked at the moment. Even though she had seen him always dressed so impeccably in dark suits, Elle had declared to herself that his get-up right now topped all the other outfits she had seen on him thus far. That tailcoat… Lord… it was like tailcoats were actually invented for this man!

Right now, even if she still did not have any idea that he was a real vampire, she would definitely describe his beauty with just two words. Unreal. Inhuman.

He very much looked the part of a real vampire prince now with that get up! Not that he was not actually one already.

Elle was so busy ogling her husband's dashing looks that she failed to notice Sebastian had even yet to blink since the moment he saw her. His grey orbs gleamed so bright as he stared at her unmoving, as though transfixed at the sight that greeted his eyes. And when he finally pushed himself off the wall and approached her, his eyes never once strayed.

"Blue…" he uttered as he took her hand, "… you really own that color, Izabelle."

She smiled. "Thank you… the stylist mentioned that it was you who chose the dress."

"Do you like it?" Though his tone was light and seemingly unconcerned, Elle detected from his eyes that her answer truly mattered to him.

"I love it." She answered sincerely with a pleased but shy smile.

A satisfied smile flashed across his features and the two of them finally walked off together, hand in hand.

"Don't be nervous." Sebastian then changed the topic when he noticed how her grip on his hand kept tightening the closer they got to the ballroom. "Treat everyone like how you used to."

She halted and looked at him. "I'm not sure if I can do that." She admitted. "Knowing that everyone isn't actually human like me, but… supernatural beings… I'm not sure if I can keep my usual composure." The smile on her face wavered a little.

"Those… supernatural beings as you put it, are now your people, Izabelle."

"I… that's… that's…"

"Don't feel overwhelmed, Iza." He made sure his voice was pitched low and filled with reassurance. "I know you'd need some time to get used to our society's reality so tonight, there's no need to entertain everyone like you used to do tonight."

Her brows knitted. "But it's my birthday party, Sebastian. They're the guests they've been invited over, so I must –"

"Nope." He cut her off. "Your throat has just healed. I am not going to let you speak to every single guest and strain your throat, only to have it relapsed. In fact, I've arranged things in a way so you'd speak less."

Elle fell speechless for a few moments before she shook her head.

"You should've told me about that sooner, Sebastian." Her face dimmed as she said that. "I can't possibly go in there and not talk to the guests! People will… everyone will… they will think bad of me if I do that. Though it is my birthday celebration, it's still not proper of me to do that, Sebastian. I don't want your people… anyone else in fact,… to think that their prince's wife is a… is a –"

"Hush, Izabelle..." his hand was below her ear, cupping her head gently. "Listen, baby…" he whispered in a comforting calm voice and Elle belatedly realized that she had responded to him and her breathing had started to rise. "I won't entirely forbid you from talking to them. I'm just going to limit it. And stop getting worried about the people and what they will think about whatever attitude you'd display tonight. Whatever their opinion of you doesn't matter –"

"Sebastian." She cut him off this time. Her gaze turned a little fierce. "Their opinion of me matters. Because whatever I do could cause a controversy and even a scandal that will not only ruin my reputation but more importantly, yours as well! Not forgetting the royal family's too. I can't… I can't let even the slightest possibility of that happening."

Silence reigned between them for a while until Sebastian let out a quiet breath. He did not see this coming at all. That Izabelle was going to be aggravated by this matter. The reason why he had decided to talk her into having a celebration was because of the issue about her that was spreading outside Viscarria. Tabloids were writing about the whereabouts of Princess of Dalenn who now was the Crown Princess of Viscarria. Some were even spreading gossip that she had disappeared and was still missing.

Many people were taking the rumor seriously since it was actually true that Izabelle who was usually active since she had married him suddenly disappeared from the public eye and had not been spotted for a long while.

And so, he had no choice but to plan out this celebration even though he personally would rather celebrate the night with just the two of them. He had decided to hide this information about the rumor from her at least until tomorrow as he did not want her to stress herself out. He had wanted her to focus on healing completely and also at least enjoy this night.

But it seemed that everything was not going along as he had planned. He had not expected that the people's opinion of her was such a big deal to her.

"I've… experienced people's hatred since I was young, Sebastian…" she continued with conviction. "I don't want to go through that again. I don't want the people of Viscarria to… to think bad of me and end up hating me like how the people back home did."

Sebastian was silent. He wanted to tell her not to even worry about that because he would destroy anyone who would dare treat her with hatred or disrespect. But he managed to hold back and yield. He would yield if that would make her happy.

"Fine, Izabelle." He gave in, pressing on her hand gently, "alright… I won't forbid you. You can do what you want tonight."