Ashes and Stardust

Music Recommendation: Andrea Vanzo - Windy Day

Ivan was staring out of the window, as Eve sat gracefully next to him. He didn't need to look to know it was her. By now he recognized her sweet, floral scent, one that uniquely belonged to her alone. 

Eve didn't say a word to him, she took a notebook and a pencil which was kept on every table provided by the academy. She opened the notebook and started writing her name in elegant handwriting. 

Ivan turned his head to take a quick glance at what she was writing, curious since the class hadn't even started yet. His gaze fell on her elegant handwriting. 'Evelyn' He repeated her name in his mind. 'What a beautiful name…fitting' he thought to himself. 

He noticed as her delicate fingers moved across the page, fluid and graceful, like flowing water. His gaze drifted up, following the gentle curve of her hands to her arm, wrapped in a simple yet beautiful pastel pink fabric that stretched from her wrist to her shoulder, leaving her smooth neck exposed where he could hear the erratic flutter of her pulse because of his keen hearing. 

'Was it the nerves of a new class? Or something else entirely?' he wondered.

Then his gaze fell on her plump lips that parted slightly to exhale softly.

Just when the moment stretched, Eve suddenly moved her head to look at him. But Ivan had already turned away, his expressions unreadable, as though he hadn't been watching her all this time.

Eve had been focused on her name, looping the final letter with careful precision, trying to calm her nerves with the familiarity of pencil on paper. 

But something made her glance up. A tingle on the back of her neck. A shift in the air. 

He wasn't looking at her. Or at least, he wasn't anymore.

His gaze was fixed outside just like how she found him when she had come to sit beside him.

A strange warmth crept up her neck. She was sure she felt his gaze or was she just imagining things now?

Still, out of the corner of her eye, she couldn't help but notice how still he was beside her, silent and mysterious.

Oblivious to his gaze earlier she cleared her throat slightly, as if getting ready to say something to him. He could tell, her heart beat had picked up, fluttering like that of a little bird. 

When she hesitated, opening her mouth a couple of times only to close it again. Ivan finally decided to give her some saving grace. With a soft sigh leaving his lips, he turned his head, met her gaze directly and said it in a quiet voice "If you have something to say, just say it already." 

Eve finally mustered the courage she had been struggling to find. In a soft voice she began "I.. I just wanted to say that I didn't really bad mouth you that much..ahem, I mean, I just found you a little rude last night. I also wanted to apologize if I have offended you in any way." 

She paused for a few seconds, letting out a shaky breath, then continued, her eyes fixed on her hands "As we'll need to study together, I can only hope to receive your help so that I can catch up on those missed six months. So... if we can put everything that happened behind us and at least be on cordial terms."

Then she looked him in the eyes with her big, beautiful, innocent eyes.

"For the sake of both of us." she gulped softly and that small movement didn't miss his keen eyes that continued to watch her in silence. 

She went on, "I am a fast learner, so I am sure I'll be able to pick things up much faster, provided you help."

Her gaze shifted from his one eye to another, expecting an answer. 

'For the sake of both of us.'

Her words echoed in his mind, but it wasn't the words themselves that held his attention, it was very little thing that she did while speaking.

All the while she spoke, Ivan found himself oddly captivated by her every subtle movement. How her slightly trembling lips parted as she tried to find the right words to speak, how her delicate fingers fidgeted and squeezed each other. The soft rise and fall of her chest in an effort to keep her breathing steady. He noticed it all.

She was trying. Hard. Not to impress him, but to bridge the icy distance he kept between himself and everyone else.

And then there were her eyes, those clear, pleading blue eyes, silently begging him to say something. 

He finally moved his sinful lips and said "Hm, I'll help you catch up with your studies" he said, pausing for a moment before continuing "I don't usually do this.. help, I mean. But since your progress also affects me, that's the only reason I'll help you this time."

"Though, Princess, there are a couple of things I need you to keep in mind, before we move forward."

When she nodded he continued, "I don't like wasting time. So when I call, you come. I don't appreciate anyone being intrusive about my matters, so I'd prefer if you keep any curious thoughts to yourself."

"And lastly..,"

He leaned in slightly, maintaining steady eye contact with her. His voice dropped to a low, almost warning tone. "Don't fall in love with me. I don't do love. And the minute I find you show any signs of clinginess… that's when you'll pay the price."

Eve frowned a little in the last condition and replied back in confidence, "Prince Ivan, I know you might have a swarm of women buzzing around you, but rest assured, I, Princess Evelyn Lumaeth Starforged, would never be one of them." Her words were firm this time with no trace of nervousness. No fear. No doubt.

And then for the very first time she saw it, the most devastating smile she has ever seen on a man. This man was like a walking sin.

In a slight husky voice, he asked "Are you sure Princess?"

'Oh lord is he seducing me?' Eve screamed in her mind.

"I am." she said firmly. "I believe if I ever have to beg for some man's love, then that love is not worth having in the first place."

Eve then continued unabashedly "I do find you good-looking, but for me, that would never be enough to fall in love with a man. I am looking for something.. deeper, something I know His Highness would never be able to give me. So, there's nothing for you to worry about."

For a moment he said nothing.

Then he let out a low, sexy chuckle, one with genuine amusement not mockery. He leaned in his chair and looked at her with renewed interest.

"Well," he murmured, his voice smooth and slow, "it's not every day someone looks me in the eye and says I'm emotionally incapable."

Something about her certainty, her refusal to fawn over him like others did, unsettled him in the most unexpected way.

She hadn't just deflected his warning. She'd matched it, word for word.

Then for the first time she gave him a pure, unadulterated, radiant smile. Ivan felt a slight movement in his chest and heard her say, "So then it is settled. I look forward to our cooperation."

His expression quickly returned to his usual cold composure. He gave her a nod and settled back into his casually elegant posture. Turning his gaze back to the window, a slight frown formed on his forehead and he wondered about the slight tremor he felt in his heart.

Before he could dwell on it any further, the history professor finally entered the class.