Heart Of Darkness Chapter 64
Advertisement
Angelica went back to the kitchen a little shaken. She was confused, shocked, pained, and saddened. She couldn't understand why someone would do that to themselves. How someone could do that to themselves?
He had just looked fine, being nicely dressed and with fine hair. He spoke calmly and politely and then he did this. So many questions were going through her head and she had no one to confide in. She missed William.
Going to the backyard she took a deep breath of fresh air and tried to gather herself. Then she went back to the kitchen and decided to serve lunch in case he changed his mind.
Angelica waited for him at the lunch table but he never came down and the food became cold. At last, she decided to eat alone but she didn't feel hungry anymore.
After cleaning up, she had nothing else to do so she decided to find the library and read for a while. There were so many books, she didn't know where to start. Most of them gathered dust so her gaze fell on the shelf with no dust. It must be the latest books Lord Rayven bought. Curious to see what kinds of books he read, she grabbed one of them and went to sit somewhere.
It was a history book and she realized that most of them were. By now he must have read every history book that existed. The fact that he spent so much time reading told her how lonely he was. She knew she started reading after her mother passed away. It was a way to make time pass faster without feeling pain or loneliness. Books became her companions.
After reading for a while Angelica felt tired and fell asleep on the couch. When she woke up the world was dark. Again she had to find her way through the darkness until she came to the only place with a source of light. The place where Lord Rayven liked to spend his nights, sitting near the fire. She wondered why he always sat there and watched the flames as if they spoke to him.
Advertisement
Angelica approached him slowly but as usual, his gaze stayed fixed on the fire. She took notice of his hands that were wrapped in white cloth.
"Good evening." She greeted.
He turned to her slowly and just looked at her before going back to watch the fire.
"Would you like me to serve you some food? You didn't eat lunch."
"Sit down." He told her with a calm yet firm tone.
Angelica did as she was told. She realized he had changed clothes again and his hair was combed back revealing his whole face. His obsidian eyes watched her through the light and shadows created by the fire.
He never looked at her for too long. Most of the time, he avoided looking at her at all even before she came to him.
"If you are going to stay here, we need to have some rules." He began.
Angelica nodded. One of them was probably to never speak to him, or look at him. Well, at least she got to stay.
"Don't ever come to my room or even that side of the castle." He said.
She knew it.
"I don't like light so don't bother lighting those candles."
She nodded. Her brother was right. This man disliked everything.
"And don't open the curtains. Don't clean my home. Don't call me for food. Don't call me at all and don't leave this place without my permission."
Angelica nodded slowly. "How can I ask for permission if I can't come to you or call you?"
He narrowed his eyes. "Are you trying to be smart Lady Davis?"
Lady Davis? She realized that he never said her name. It was either Lady Davis or… Angel.
Advertisement
"No My Lord. I just don't want to break your rules. It is your home after all." She smiled.
"And don't smile." He told her with a frown.
Angelica stopped smiling and gazed into his troubled eyes. Why did her smile disturb him so much?
He looked away from her face with lips pressed into a thin line. Angelica remained silent not knowing what to say. She watched the fire and listened to the crackling sound of burning wood.
She didn't know how much time passed before he spoke again. "Do you still want to marry me?" He asked surprising her.
He kept avoiding looking at her and she stared at him. What did this mean? Why was he suddenly asking?
Her heart began to beat fast. When she didn't reply he turned to her, "forget it." He said.
"No!" She hurried to say. "I… I was just surprised since you didn't like the idea before. I haven't changed my mind." She said. Even though she felt bad. That would mean she was still using him. Somehow she felt better when he rejected her. She deserved it.
Rayven watched her again as if looking for something.
"I can arrange for you to leave Kraghorn. You can start anew in another kingdom." He told her.
"You would do that?" She asked.
He nodded. "What would be your choice then?"
Angelica's thoughts went in so many different directions. Another Kingdom? It sounded enticing. To start anew where no one knew her as a traitor's daughter or as a prostitute but even in another kingdom she would need a man to survive. And to start anew as a woman alone in a new world would be very difficult and she might end up in an even worse situation.
"I won't have money." She said.
"I'll give you as much as you need."
"What about protection?"
"I am sure you can buy it with money." He said.
"Thank you for offering me all of that. I still haven't changed my mind." She said.
He narrowed his eyes. "Why is that?"
"There are certain things that can't be bought, My Lord." She told him.
And her mother had always told her that a bird in the hand was better than two in the bush.
Money couldn't buy her honesty, trust and genuine care.
"What if I told you I wanted to marry you… for my own benefits?"
What could he benefit from marrying her?
"I will be happy to benefit you, My Lord." She told him.
She was doing the same after all. If she could do anything for him she would, but what was the benefit?
"Think about it more carefully." He said.
"Does this mean you accept my proposal?" She asked surprised.
"Yes," He replied.
Advertisement
Rise
Su Xue, a woman in her mid 20s, is struggling both in paying rent and finding her path in life. Her latest stint has her trying to become a popular League of Legends streamer, though to poor results. One day, she is interrupted in the middle of a livestream by a surprise visit from her landlady. She is informed that she will be having a new roommate. The landlady’s nephew, Lin Feng, a 18 year old boy who has just transferred over to Shanghai for his last year of high school.Though initially opposed to it, Su Xue reluctantly agrees to the arrangement. She learns that the two share a common interest—League of Legends—and that he’s really amazing at the game. Lin Feng also reveals to her he wishes to become the best professional League of Legends player in the world.The next day. Lin Feng attends his first day of school as a transfer student at High School 13. He meets Ouyang and Yang Fan, and the trio find a common passion in League of Legends. Lin Feng is then introduced to Ren Rou, the president of the esports club with a fiery personality, and Tang Bingyao, a quiet bookworm with a love for money and a surprising talent for the game.A little about Lin Feng’s past is revealed. He was a once pro player, the youngest in history and a contender for the best player in the world. Until the finals of the Season 1 World Championship. There, he lost to his arch-rival, an equally brilliant Korean youth. That was the peak of his career, and also the turning point in his life. He stepped down from his team and disappeared from competitive play altogether. Now, after a four year long hiatus, he aims to make a comebackOver the next couple of weeks, Lin Feng learns about the upcoming Shanghai 16 School Tournament, and that his school’s esports club had performed especially poorly the previous year. He agrees to coach the club’s team and help them win the first place trophy this year. And so, he starts the members of the club out on an intense training bootcamp.Meanwhile, the Season 5 League of Legends World Championship is taking place at around the same time. Tian Tian, one of Lin Feng’s former teammates and best friend, is on one of the Chinese teams playing at Worlds. After a poor showing, he is on the verge of a mental breakdown. Lin Feng witnesses everything in a viewing party with the esports club members and becomes worried.On the day of the Shanghai 16 School tournament, Lin Feng reunites with Tian Tian on the phone. He tells Tian Tian he’s going to return to the professional scene, that he’s making a new team and plans to invite him. But Tian Tian has to vow not to give up at Worlds and keep winning. Tian Tian agrees, and Lin Feng promises he’ll fight alongside him. Lin Feng then heads into his match with renewed resolve, to climb from the bottom all the way back to the top, and overcome the rival that defeated him so many years ago.
8 1136Phoenix's Requiem
Painfully shy and conflict-averse, Yun Ruoyan is a scion to a noble house only in name, a puppet embroiled in political machinations beyond her ken. At the tender age of eighteen, poisoned and at death’s door, she finds herself thrown out into the streets. Her relatives have all been executed, betrayed by her dear husband and her cousin. With her dying breath, she curses her own weakness and swears revenge.When Yun Ruoyan awakens once more, she is thirteen, transported five years into the past by the will of the heavens. Her death-defying experience has changed her: no longer is she the malleable creature she once was. But more questions await at every corner—what is the truth behind the birthmark that disfigures her appearance? What are the circumstances surrounding her mother’s mysterious death?Will the phoenix rise from the ashes, or will she fall once more in thrall to fate?
8 646Poison Physician Consort
Follow Bai Luochu on a journey back to the peak as she reincarnates into the body of an orphaned daughter of the former great general of the Cloud Water Nation.With the Three Great Immortal Sects in front of her, her mortal enemies who caused her death, how would she rise to the top again?With her astounding medical skills and ability to create heaven defying poison, Bai Luochu heals the crippled meridians of her new body and attracts the attention of all three princes of the Cloud Water Nation!
8 1749Rebirth of a Fashionista: This Life Is Soo Last Season
Cinderella went from rags to riches, but when you are already at the top, fate is more than happy to kick you down. A car accident kicks off Sheng Jiaoyang's reverse Cinderella story by trapping her soul in the body of a poor girl, leaving her to succumb to fate and wait for her Prince Charming to come to her rescue -- obviously not!Like a phoenix rising out of the ashes, Sheng Jiaoyang forges her own way back up to the upper echelons of society, clearing obstacles, taking revenges, and bagging her handsome and rich childhood friend on the way.If you are tired of reading about poor damsel in distress waiting for a man to rescue her, and wants a female lead that can carry herself to the top, Rebirth of A Fashionista is the novel for you!
8 274The Attack of the Wastrel
Her rebirth gave her a second chance at life. She was back with a vengeance and wanted to make those that had harmed her pay. But to those that helped her, she wanted to repay them. Her evil stepmother? She would slowly pull out her claws, one by one. Her evil stepsister? She would crush her pride. She thought that by getting her revenge for her past life, she would be happy in this life. However, she never would have thought that danger would chance upon her time and time again. The hatred from her clan and whether their bloodline would continue to exist, lay solely on her shoulders. Luckily, on this thorny path, someone had always been protecting her. "Third Prince, have you ever regretted being with me?" That person laughed lightly and peered at her with a loving yet weary look, "As long as I am together with you, I have no regrets."
8 1461Demoness's Art of Vengeance
Jun Xiaomo, notoriously known as “Lady Demoness”, finds herself chained and bound in a dungeon. Her hard-earned cultivation has been completely crippled, and she has no means of escape. Qin Shanshan, a lady she used to called her “close friend”, mocks Jun Xiaomo, revealing that Jun Xiaomo had been used by the people around her. Even her lover, Qin Lingyu was one of the masterminds scheming against her. Jun Xiaomo watches her life flash before her eyes and realizes that she had indeed blindly placed her trust in people. Her naivety had led to her current predicament. Jun Xiaomo wanted to end it all. However, she is determined to deliver a swan song. Over the hundreds of days tormented in that very dungeon, Jun Xiaomo had painstakingly painted a complicated formation array with her own blood. With a determined look, Jun Xiaomo burns her life force to activate the array. Her sole intent? To bring with her as many schemers to the gates of hell as she could. The bright red light from thearray intensified, and the end was nigh.…or was it? Jun Xiaomo opens her eyes and finds herself alive again; time had rewound right back to when she was sixteen years of age, albeit only at the eighth level of Qi Cultivation. Armed with the knowledge and memories of her previous lifetime, Jun Xiaomo is determined to learn from her mistakes and bring retribution to those who so deserve…
8 368