Chapter 30 - 28-Seduction?

Seduction...

Eunice had said it was a way to make men like you, men like the Grand Duke, and if it was done well, they would eventually become obsessed with you.

Neria didn’t need him to be obsessed with her. She only needed him to lower his guard enough that he would take off the stupid collar around her neck.

That shouldn’t be too difficult.

At least, that’s what she hoped.

Now they both sat inside a moving wagon, while Ryver sat outside with the reins in his hands, guiding the horses along the road toward wherever they were going next.

They had been on the road for hours. First, the Grand Duke had made them stop at an inn where they could get an actual carriage, only to change his mind later and trade some of his coins for the simpler wagon they were now riding in.

Neria wasn’t sure why he had changed his mind. Perhaps it was part of his disguise.

Her eyes drifted toward the Duke sitting across from her.

His eyes were closed, his head resting against the cover wall behind him while his arms remained folded across his chest. The steady movement of the wagon occasionally made his body shift with the road, but he didn’t seem bothered by it.

He looked slightly different now.

During their stop, Darian had found a man who had changed his shoulder length hair from its usual brown to black. It made his features look sharper somehow, especially with the dark strands falling loosely around his face.

Neria stared at him for a few seconds, her head tilting slightly as she studied his features. The women had said the Grand Duke was a looker.

They weren’t wrong. He was definitely more eye-catching than most of the men she’d seen, although, to be fair, she hadn’t seen very many.

She leaned closer, steadying herself against the side of the wagon as it rocked beneath them. Her eyes moved over his face, taking in the unfamiliar black hair and the sharper appearance it gave him.

Then she noticed his mole was gone, Neria leaned a little closer, trying to see if it had simply been covered.

Darian’s eyes suddenly opened.

"What the hell?" There wasn’t even a hint of kindness in his tone.

Neria froze.

He stared at her for a moment before shifting away, his brows drawing together. "Why are you so close to my face?"

Neria finally snapped out of it and spoke.

"Um..." Her mind raced as she tried to remember what she was supposed to say. "I... I think I saw one of those buzzy little creatures on your face."

His expression went blank for a moment. "A mosquito?"

"Yes."

"You thought you saw a mosquito on my face?"

Neria nodded.

Darian stared at her as though he were trying to decide whether she was being serious. Then his expression hardened. He reached forward and caught her by the arm.

"I knew bringing you out was a mistake." He said through gritted teeth, his fingers tightened slightly as he looked at her. "What were you doing?"

Neria swallowed.

She couldn’t tell him the truth, he would obviously not take it well. "I was just looking."

"Looking at what?"

"Your face."

His eyes narrowed. "Why?"

Neria opened her mouth, then closed it again.

This was the part where she was supposed to seduce him, but whatever Eunice had said earlier had completely vanished from her head. Neria tried to remember while staring at him, listening to the steady sound of the horses outside and the occasional bump of the wagon as the wheels rolled over the uneven road.

Smile at him.

Yes... She was supposed to smile.

So she smiled.

She smiled at him so widely that all thirty-two of her teeth showed.

He stared at her for a few seconds, and Neria watched the confusion slowly take over his face. His brows pulled together, his lips parted slightly, and he looked at her as if she had suddenly grown another head.

"What are you doing with your face?"

Neria’s smile faltered slightly.

His now brown eyes moved across her face, studying her with an expression that only seemed to become more confused the longer he looked.

"Is there something wrong with you?"

"No..." Neria answered, still smiling because she wasn’t sure if she was supposed to stop yet. "I am smiling."

"Why?"

She hesitated.

Then she remembered something else Eunice had told her. She was supposed to compliment him. Apparently, men liked being told they were handsome.

Neria straightened a little and looked at him again, trying to make herself sound convincing. "Because you’re so handsome."

Silence.

Darian stared at her.

Neria stared back.

The wagon continued moving, its wooden frame creaking softly with every turn of the wheels. Outside, Ryver’s voice could occasionally be heard speaking to the horses, but inside the wagon, the silence between them felt strangely loud.

Darian’s expression had somehow become even more confused.

"What?"

Neria blinked.

She didn’t know what else she was supposed to say.

She had smiled at him. She had complimented him. She had done exactly what Eunice said.

So why did he look like that?

"Is everything okay back there?" Ryver’s voice suddenly called from outside.

Darian’s eyes shifted toward the curtains.

For a moment, he looked back at Neria again, and the look on his face made it very clear that he had absolutely no idea what was going on with her.

"No.... I don’t even know.." He released her arm and shifted away. "Wait. I’m coming to sit beside you."

The wagon came to a stop, and Darian pushed the curtain aside before stepping out. Cold air rushed inside for a moment, brushing against Neria’s face before he let the curtain fall behind him.

She could hear Ryver say something to him, followed by Darian’s lower reply. A few moments later, the horses started moving again, but Darian didn’t return.

Neria sat quietly in the empty wagon, her fingers slowly touching her cheeks.

Her jaw relaxed.

She hadn’t even realized she’d been holding that smile for so long.

She frowned to herself, was this not how to seduce a person?

___

When night came, the carriage had started to slow at his order.

Darian still sat beside Ryver, his arms folded against his chest as the cool night wind rushed past them, sending a few strands of his black hair across his face. The road ahead was mostly swallowed by darkness, with only the lanterns hanging from the front of the carriage casting enough light to show them the path.

For the past few hours, he had been listening to Ryver’s off-key humming of some popular folk song. It had started as nothing more than a minor irritation, but after hearing the same tune repeated for what felt like the hundredth time, it was beginning to grate on his nerves.

Yet Darian still sat there.

Perhaps because complaining would only encourage him.

Neria’s strange behavior that afternoon hadn’t unsettled him so much as it had confused him. When she had suddenly leaned toward him and started grinning like that, he’d genuinely wondered if she was having a seizure. He wasn’t even sure if Calypsos could have those, but considering everything else he’d learned about her, he wasn’t willing to rule it out.

Whatever she had been doing, she had certainly been doing it strangely.

"She’s been quiet," Ryver said casually, breaking through his thoughts.

Darian turned slightly and reached for the curtain. He pulled it aside and took a quick look inside.

Neria was asleep.

Her head rested against the side of the carriage, her body curled slightly beneath the blanket. Her spectacles were still sitting crookedly on her nose, and a few strands of her hair had fallen across her cheek.

"She’s asleep."

He let the curtain fall back into place.

Ryver hummed, his attention returning to the road.

For a while, neither of them spoke. The only sounds were the steady rhythm of the horses’ hooves and the occasional creak of the carriage as it moved along the uneven road.

Then Ryver spoke again. "She’s a pretty one, you know."

Darian took a moment before answering.

Neria was indeed beautiful.

There was something almost delicate about her appearance, especially with those large doe-like eyes and the softness of her features. Yet there was something strangely bold about her at the same time.

"Mm... she is," he said simply, his gaze remaining fixed ahead on the lantern-lit road.

Ryver turned his head toward him.

"Seriously? That’s it?"

Darian glanced at him. "What else?"

Ryver shook his head with a quiet sigh, turning his attention back toward the road.

"Nothing..."

A few moments passed before he spoke again. "So... do you plan to keep her locked up forever when we get back?"

Darian didn’t answer immediately.

His eyes remained on the road ahead as he thought about it.

He wasn’t entirely sure what his plans for Neria were anymore. When she had first arrived at his estate, keeping her confined had seemed like the simplest solution. She was dangerous, unpredictable and had already proven that she could manipulate people when she wanted something.

Things weren’t different from then and now.

She was still dangerous.

"I don’t know," he admitted eventually, releasing a tired sigh. "But I know she needs control."