Once upon a time-5

(POV of Eliza Claire Gold when she was still 19 years old)

The sparkling stars filled the dark sky of the night. The full moon looked like a graceful queen, ruling over those diamond-like stars as its silvery light wrapped everything like a thin blanket.

While walking through our porch, I headed to our flower fields which was my favourite spot to calm myself down. After meeting Aldus, I was feeling so restless that I needed some time to calm down before I could go back to the party.

Eden allowed me to take a walk on our porch for only 10 minutes and he returned to the hall. Flowers carpeted the field below me, blooming as far as the eyes could see. My eyes searched for a spot where the flowers were thin and I sat down there, looking at the sky. It was like sinking into a fantasy world. I always felt that the flowers were so large and much more beautiful when sitting among them.

Numerous fireflies began to approach me while flying around me as if I were their sole purpose of living. Suddenly, my senses became aware, feeling another presence near me. I heard a faint sound of movements, only a few hands away from me.

Crawling quietly when I approached the source of the sound, the shock of discovery hit me full force. My curiosity, as well as my doubt,, was aroused as I kept on moving forward. On the delicate flower bed, a tall, handsome silhouette with a beautifully proportioned body was deep asleep.

Even in the dim light of the moon, his beauty felt ethereal and bewitching. His midnight black, messy hair was ruffled by the soft breezes. He had a stubborn, arrogant face with a commanding manner. His appearance was so perfect and devastatingly handsome that he could be easily mistaken as a stone sculpture.

My heartbeats throbbed in my ears and there was a tingling in the pit of my stomach. Still, avoiding all those weird sensations, I leaned closer to his sleeping face to get a better view of him. 

Along with me, all those fireflies who pledged to be my silent followers that night also approached him. They began to fly, circling him and some even landed all over his body and messy hair to help me in investigating.

His fair skin magnified the inky blackness of his hair. Suddenly, one of the fireflies landed on his cheek and began to walk on his face. His sculpted face wrinkled in annoyance as he groaned sleepily, moving a bit.

Instinctively, I raised my hand to gently chase away that firefly without bothering his peaceful sleep as if I was suddenly extremely concerned for that stranger and his peaceful rest. However, before I could do that his strong hand grabbed my wrist firmly and pulled me harshly to him.

I wanted to escape. But, due to that sudden attack, I lost my balance and fell on his chest, only an inch away from his face. He opened his eyes with an unpredictable expression as his emerald eyes clung to mine, analysing my reaction.

Softly, his breath fanned my face, and my body tingled. It felt like his eyes were probing to my very soul. I tried to get up, moving a bit away from his face. But, startling me, he wrapped one of his strong arms around my waist and pulled me closer to his chest. His grip on my wrist became gentle.

Burying his face in my hair, he sniffed for a few seconds. 

My heart took a perilous leap as a hot ache grew in my throat. I sharply tried to push him away as I growled helplessly, “What are you doing? Let me go.”

His husky voice whispered near my ear, making my whole body shiver with an unknown feeling, “Weren’t you the one who approached me? Didn’t you enjoy staring at me?”

Stains of scarlet appeared on my cheeks and I was filled with humiliation. 

I mumbled in a breathy tone, “Firefly!”

“Firefly?”

The stranger was still staring at me with his compelling eyes as if he were photographing me with his eyes. The very air around me seemed electrified. 

He asked again in his low, magnetic voice, “What is your name, Miss?”

I managed to whisper a few broken words in my breathy voice, “Firefly! I- I wasn’t staring- was Firefly!”

My heart was still pounding erratically. His nearness was overwhelming. I cleared my throat while trying to finish my sentence. His arms were still around me, stopping me from escaping that embarrassing situation.

He suddenly laughed in a deep, jovial way as he asked in a teasing tone, raising his brows, “So, your name is Miss Firefly.”

That was the most refreshing and delightful laugh I heard in a long time.

“No? When I said that?”

I pushed my hands against his chest as I protested shyly, “Let me go. I wasn’t staring at you. I was just trying to chase away the firefly-”

“Why? Why were you trying to bother that innocent little creature?” Mischievousness gleamed in his bright, emerald eyes. 

I replied in a low voice, taut with anger, “Who are you? Why must I answer to a stranger like you? Most importantly, what are you doing in my garden?”

The stranger released my wrist suddenly as his fingers gently brushed away the strands of my hair that were hiding half of my face as if to get a proper view of my face. His fingers burned into my tingling skin as he whispered in my ear, “What if I say that I am here in search of you, Miss Firefly. Will you believe it?”

“Are you a stalker?”

I glared at him, “You must be very brave to enter our territory. I don’t think that you can escape-”

I was interrupted by Eden’s voice nearby, “Eli! Eli! Where are you?”