The stroll through the park was supposed to be serene. The sun turned the lake into a sheet of liquid gold, and the shadows of the tall trees created a narrow, romantic corridor.
Zaliyah and Karas walked hand in hand , basking in the sunlight, The sun shadowed on Zaliyah's skin making him look surreal.
Karas stared at him as if in a trance.
Zaliyah wondered if he'd anything unusual on his face and was about touching his face when someone bumped into him , Zaliyah whom was few meals away from being bag and bones fell down.
Karas hurriedly helped him on his feet cautioning him " Are you okay? Does it hurt anywhere?"
Zaliyah shakes his head.
Karas added " please be careful next time"
Zaliyahs face went from pale to bright furious red ." I should be careful? That lunatic should be careful" .
Karas spoke tenderly " I'm sorry , I should have rephrased my words"
"What are you apologizing for ? That lunatic should be on his knees apologising".
Zaliyah angrily yelled "Hey" looking at the supposed 'lunatic'.
Malachi perceived the faint smell of flowers , it was the same smell that greeted his nose when he bumped into that guy at the market he murmured to himself confusingly "...Flower?"
"Hey it's you!" Malachi exclaimed
The voice was deep, echoing with an authority that didn't belong in a public park.
Malachi stood there, looking down at them. He roughly grabbed Zaliyah's arm pulling him towards him, but as he did, Zaliyah's hat fell.. off .
The world seemed to stop.
Zaliyah's white hair spilled over his shoulders like a waterfall. His purple eyes glowed with a violent, otherworldly energy, framed by lashes that cast long, dramatic Shadows and a Grecian nose which complemented his face , soft plump lips which looked like cherries.. Even Malachi, the King of the Underworld, found his breath hitching.
Cherry, he thought. He looks like a cherry in the snow.
SLAP!
Zaliyah's antique fan connected with Malachi's cheek.
"You have the balls to touch me?" Zaliyah hissed, trembling with rage.
Malachi's shock folded into a wicked grin "If you were to see my balls you'd really be impressed" Malachi replied.
Zaliyah's face twisted in disgust and Karas whom was done strapping Zaliyah's hat couldn't help but twitch, he stood up, his body shielding Zaliyah.
The "Gentle Lord" was gone, his blue eyes were now as cold as a winter sea. "What an odd, thing to say to a stranger"
Zaliyah grew angrier at the gross statement, using his fan to slap Malachi again, he dared not touch the perverted brute with his delicate hands.
He pulled his hands from Malachi's grasp, the delicate pale hand was now red.
" Zaliyah does your hand hurt?" Karas asked, noticing the red mark where Malachi had grabbed him.
Zaliyah scuffed "what hurts is this tanned bum standing Infront of me , his face hurt my eyes".
Malachi grinned "Za.Li.Yah..." , an odd yet beautiful name for an odd boy" .
Zaliyah pulled Karas saying "let's go".
Malachi whom had never been ignored in his life didn't know how to act he grabbed Zaliyah on the same red hand, Zaliyah twitches at the pain And Malachi quickly releases him, he thought to himself.... I didn't use a quarter of my strength, yet he has such a painful expression, I've never met such a weak being.
Zaliyah's purple eyes glowed violently, he raised his hand and landed a forceful slap on Malachi's face.
Karas with a worrisome look spoke "that's enough, let's go ".
Malachi was shocked " I got slapped twice and you're worried about the oppressor?".
Karas fixated his gaze on Zaliyah " do you by any chance know him?"
Zaliyah "since when did I start befriending lunatics?" He spoke angrily .
Zaliyah looked at Malachi as if his face was greeted by poop "you ought to serve me your hands on a silver platter"
Malachi grinned "does young master require anything more?"
Zaliyah's face went from white to purple "it's the lunatic from before" he sighed while massaging his temples.
Karas whom was already confused by the whole interaction asked" where did you meet him?"
Zaliyah responded "At the market... he bumped into me "
Malachi muttered "Two men on a date ? I see new things in this realm everyday".
Zaliyah raised his fan for a second strike, but Karas gently caught his wrist. "Ignore the lunatic, . The fan will break before his head does."
As Karas led a fuming Zaliyah away into the sunset, Malachi remained standing in the path. He looked down and saw the golden lotus hairpin lying in the dirt , Zaliyah must have lost it when he fell.
He picked it up, his long fingers tracing the gold and embedded lotus flower.
"He's weak," Malachi murmured, inhaling the lingering scent of lilies on the metal. "But he smells like home"
"Zaliyah..." He whispered the name, a slow, dangerous smile spreading across his face.
The King had found a new game to play.
At the Ruohan Residence
Inside the master suite, the air was usually filled with the calming scent of Riosuka's perfumes.
She sat at her vanity, her movements practiced and elegant as she brushed her hair.
The peace was shattered when the door flew open with a violent thud. Lord Caius stormed in, his face a mask of purple-veined fury.
"That brat!" Caius roared, pacing the room like a caged beast. "He does nothing all day but waste his life in books, and then he has the audacity to talk back at me in front of the elders? He is an insult to the Ruohan name!"
"Don't be angry, honey," Riosuka said, her voice a tender, soothing melody.
It was the same tone Karas used to calm Zaliyah, a family trait of soft mercy.
"I shouldn't be angry?" Caius rounded on her. "That... that abomination should never have been brought into this house. He's eighteen years old, Riosuka! He can't lace his own shoes. He can't swing a sword. He is a ghost haunting my halls!"
"Please, keep your voice down," Riosuka urged, her grip tightening on her brush. "Riru wouldn't be pleased to hear you speak of her brother this way."
"Brother? He's a parasite!" Caius stepped closer, his shadow looming over her. "When you brought that shivering thing home from the bottomless waterfall, I told you to return it to the mist. A child found in such a cursed place could never amount to anything good."
Riosuka stood up, her tenderness vanishing. She met his gaze with eyes that suddenly went cold. "You closed your heart to him from the start, caius. You never bothered to understand him. Zaliyah has done nothing wrong except exist in a house where his 'father' treats him like a plague."
She stepped toward him, her voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. "And don't you dare forget Zaliyah was our luck charm. Our wealth, our status, our safety... it all began the day I brought him home. Don't act as if you haven't profited from his presence."
Caius flinched as if struck. His face contorted with a mix of greed and hatred. "Yes! A luck charm! That is the only reason I've allowed him to continue his pathetic, freeloading existence under my roof."
"Karas and Riru love him," she countered. "If you hurt him, you lose them. Do you want to be the man who tears this family apart?"
Caius let out a sharp, jagged laugh.
"That boy has you all wrapped around his finger. He's playing puppet master while we provide the stage. Listen to me carefully, Riosuka my patience has a limit. The moment that 'luck charm' does something unpleasant, he is gone. I'll throw him back to the mist myself."
Riosuka's eyes flashed with a fire that silenced him. "You dare not," she hissed. "I sacrificed everything to build this family with you, Caius. Do not test me. If you cast him out, you cast me out too."
Without waiting for his response, she swept past him, dodging into her dressing room and locking the door as if avoiding a plague.
Left alone in the echoing room, Lord Caius gripped the edge of the vanity so hard the wood groaned. He hated the boy. But more than that, he feared the luck might run out if the "Ghost" ever truly left.