Shane winced.
“Is she even asking you for help?”
“I saw what a spoiled little bastard we have.” - Lloyd answered with a grin. “You have to open your mouth and immediately: “Do this, do that, I can’t live without you...”
"..."
Lloyd curled his lips into a smirk.
“But she won’t tell you that.”
"Arrogant bastard."
“If looks could kill, you would have killed me the day my mistress first brought me here.”
For the first time in a long time, Lloyd laughed openly, sincerely. [If Adaline had seen this, she would have clapped her hands and declared a holiday.]
[When Adaline compassionately sheltered a street ragamuffin, Shane immediately realized that he was not what he seemed. At first glance, he saw right through Lloyd, his origins, his essence, his hidden facets. More than once I tried to distance him from Adaline: after all, who in their right mind would allow someone who was taught to kill from childhood to approach a dear person?]
[But he did not go against her will.]
[Lloyd was the same. He told Adaline more than once that Shane was crazy, as long as she stayed away from him.]
“Don't make me laugh. You know very well that I cannot touch you. That’s why you’re behaving so defiantly.”
“Get used to it. If you’re torturing the owner, put up with me too.”
[He would never say that in front of Adaline. She hated it when he called her mistress.]
“Are you not going to bed? Maybe bring some night clothes?”
“I’m already sick of the thought that you will look after me... Just stand guard.”
Shane, who hated everyone except Adaline, always had something to say.
[From Lloyd's point of view, his behavior bordered on misanthropy. He showed no interest in anyone other than her, and at the same time became furiously irritated with anyone who tried to attract his attention. To some extent this was understandable; the intrusiveness is annoying.]
Lloyd watched Shane walk away irritably, and then turned his eyes to Adaline, who was fast asleep.
[How did she even manage to tame such a person?]
[Why did she even do this?]
When Lloyd first met her, Shane was already like this.
[Lucian might have called him a demon, but in Lloyd's opinion, Shane was worse.]
[If it weren’t for him, Adaline’s life could have turned out differently - calmer, freer.]
[I wouldn’t have to give up everything and hide in a miserable shack.]
[I wouldn’t have to suffer...to be in captivity.]
He was sure that Shane was looking at him with the same thoughts: [Why did I tame this creature? Surely there were better ones...]
Only, unlike Shane, Lloyd received a promise from Adaline.
[Come with me. I will become your home. I will never leave you.]
[Why did these trivial words hurt him so much?]
[He himself did not believe that she could keep this promise. But then...he stretched out his hand to her as if enchanted. At that moment she seemed like a goddess to him. And if he breaks it, he can kill her. That's what he thought.]
[But now eight years have passed. And all this time, Adaline never truly left him.]
[Even when she fled the capital, she took him with her.]
She often complained that without him she would have died long ago, but Lloyd knew that [she could have done just fine on her own.]
[Adaline could live without anyone's help. If I had been left alone, I would have survived.]
[When she ran, she didn't have to take him with her.]
[I didn't have to share the next five years with him.]
When he asked why she did it, she looked at him as if he had asked the stupidest question in the world:
[Because I promised.]
Lloyd sighed as he looked at her. Adaline's eyes were red, inflamed from crying. Tomorrow they will swell. [We'll have to bring ice.]
[To Lloyd, Adaline was everything.]
[The only one in the world. His lady, his parent, his sister.]
[Every form of love that could possibly exist.]
[He believed that he was born to be useful to her.]
[He didn't know what she was thinking or why she was doing what she was doing. Yes, and did not require an explanation.]
[The main thing is that she keeps her word.]
[So as not to leave him. Never.]