Third Person's POV
"Control yourself… You already have a lover, yet here you are trying to hit on another woman just after… sharing such intimate monts with her."
Her voice picked up pace and was laced with mock sternness as she narrowed her eyes at him though her eyes were filled with more fluster than fury.
It was a well-practiced mask and a high-handed expression of indignation she wielded like a shield to hide the truth of her flustered heart.
For a brief mont, Ethan looked genuinely shocked at her outburst but then he chuckled softly in a sound filled with amusent and delight.
He found her fluster so utterly disarming and so endearing that he could hardly resist teasing her further.
Shaking his head slowly, he donned a face of mock lantation and tinged his voice with theatrical disappointnt as he replied,
"Why bla so harshly, Miss Aurae for sothing that exists only in your assumption?
Let's not forget that you were the one secretly spying on an intimate mont between and my woman.
And now, you use what you saw to question my conduct?"
Her expression faltered instantly.
A flicker of panic crossed her face and was followed by an array of conflicting emotions of sha, self-reproach, and a hint of anger which she clearly directed at herself.
But what was surprising to him was that all of them seed to twist together behind her stormy bluish-purple eyes.
Before she could mount a defense, Ethan leaned in just a little closer and his tone softened with gentle gravity.
"As for 'hitting on you'… I truly apologize, if you perceived it that way.
That was not my intention.
I rely expressed what I honestly felt as your beauty, your presence is exactly as I said and my words contained no embellishnt and no false charm.
If my admiration felt like flirtation, I'm sorry… but there was no motive beyond that."
Even though Ethan was lying flawlessly through his calm facade about his so-called admiration, the solemnity in his expression and the lancholic sighs he let out while gazing at the Blood Moon gave his words a bitter flavor of truth.
He wore the face of a disheartened man as though he had lost faith in the woman beside him.
This thod of veiling his true intentions behind such a convincing act and of appearing earnest while hiding deeper motives was one of the skills he had painstakingly mastered during the last two years spent under the comapny of his Master Nyx and Virelle.
He had honed his ability to control his expressions and lie convincingly under the most intense of gazes.
For her part, Aurae could see that his eyes held a sincerity that conflicted with her earlier assumptions.
Her cheeks flushed faintly once more and now were tinged with the heat of guilt.
She had truly misread this composed yet quietly mischievous man and now found herself at a loss for words.
Should she apologize for her secret spying? Or ask forgiveness for how rudely she had confronted him just now?
Before she could beco paralyzed by indecision, an idea flickered in her mind and offered her a way to pivot the conversation.
Trying to reassert her calm and dignity, she began to explain as her tone returned to the composed confidence she often displayed during the day.
"Would you like to know the real reason I ca to your room in secret tonight, young master?"
Seeing her return to her composed deanor, Ethan relaxed slightly and raised an intrigued brow.
The curiosity in his eyes was evident and he didn't interrupt with teasing remarks.
Mischief wasn't truly in his nature and he especially disliked childish gas and never sought to make others uncomfortable.
He also didn't want Aurae to think of him as a sadistic or arrogant guy which he was really not.
So, with a faint smile and an attentive and serious gaze, he replied softly,
"What was it?"
"Do you know the actual identity of that arrogant young man you beat to a pulp in the Imperial Blade Hall?"
Instead of answering his question, she asked another question with a knowing and composed smile.
Ethan shook his head slightly to indicate ignorance though inwardly, he already held a few guesses.
Just as she parted her lips to respond—
A sudden shift in atmosphere silenced them both. Their eyes widened at the sa ti.
Without hesitation, Ethan's hand lashed out like a viper and seized Aurae's arm with firm urgency.
Before she could even react, he pulled her against his chest with a swift tug and twisted their bodies into the narrow wedge between the stone window arch and the wall.
She didn't even have the opportunity to voice even the slightest bit of protest when Ethan activated his spatial ring and retrieved a tattered black cloth which looked like it was sothing that belonged to a destitute beggar.
In one fluid motion that seed practiced and instinctive, he spread the cloth over them.
Its surface shimred with subtle dark and invisible runes as their figures dissolved into the shadows.
Where they had been, now only a patch of darkness remained.
It was an illusion that lted seamlessly into the surrounding night and hid them perfectly with their previous whispers tucked into silence.
Their bodies were pressed tightly together beneath the concealnt of the tattered cloth.
Her modest yet supple breasts pressed against his chest and though usually mature and composed, Aurae's current face turned such a deep crimson that it looked as if it might start bleeding from sheer embarrassnt.
She tried her best to suppress the unintentional intimacy of their position but her chest rose and fell more rapidly and betrayed her flustered state.
Noticing her tension, Ethan gently rubbed her back and whispered through a calm sound transmission.
'Shhh, Miss Aurae… You have to stay calm'
Even as he said this, his arm subtly wrapped around her waist and drew her even closer under the cloak's limited space.
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