Chapter 18: .•8.3•.

"Sure, go ahead Nana," He dismissed the maid with a nod, much to Diana's dismay, choosing to sit on a chair very close to hers.

She thickly swallowed as she watched the maid quickly retreat, wishing that the ground could swallow her whole right then and there as she hesitantly lowered her eyes to his casually sitting form, noticing how his knees were so close to hers and widely spread apart, effectively trapping her in between.

Warily raising her sight to meet his once again, she awkwardly sat there for a moment as she didn't even know what to do with herself, choosing to lower her gaze to the mildly steaming plate sitting right next to her.

"Go on then, don't mind me," He urged her with a smile as he noticed she wasn't making any attempt to eat, her hand almost hesitantly settling over the fork and after a moment of silence, she finally dared take a piece of heated up vegetable and put it in her mouth.

Discreetly chewing, she took a piece of fish too, soon starting to slowly eat, not failing to also notice how his dark eyes kept lowering to her mouth every time she took another piece of food between her lips, that sole action making her feel more uncomfortable and embarrassed than ever.

Yet she couldn't just tell him to go away. This was his house after all and she was just a mere employèe.

"Now, could you tell me what was that all about?" He suddenly took her by surprise as he spoke, making her almost drop the fork from her hand at the sound of his question, the memory of those horrible nightmares now returning at the forefront of her mind.

She audibly gulped, struggling to keep herself in check as she most definitely knew how stupid and utterly childish it would all sound if she would've ever dared tell him about them.

"I-it was nothing, sir," She quickly lied, completely avoiding his gaze as she did so.

"It's Nicholas. I thought I told you to stop addressing me so formally," He mildly scolded with a smile, that playful tone however, strangely enough making her suddenly remember all about that otherworldly and utterly terrifying silhouette she had seen behind his back right before she fell into the dark abyss of unconsciousness.

"N-Nicholas..." She unconsciously repeated his name as she took a moment to think about it, completely failing to notice the way his lips curled up into a pleased smile at the sound of that.

"I-it was probably just the lack of food, I-I'm sure there's nothing to worry about," She quickly told him, more feeling like trying to convince herself rather than him as that image stuck to her mind for a few moments longer.

He only hummed in response as he closely watched her, even though he most definitely didn't believe her. That bastard must've definitely tampered with her mind. And the thought only made him feel even more driven to complete his task. More determined to uncover that secret he appeared to be hiding.

.••.

Wiping the sweat off of her brow with the hem of her tank top, she bent over and kept on plucking the overly-grown weeds from the round porcelain pots, stopping to catch her breath from time to time as even if it was still early in the morning, the sun was already beating down the glass-made roof, creating a proper environment rather fit for a sauna room.

"Oh boy, this heat is killing me," She heard Dan whine from somewhere close to her, turning aside to watch him approach her with a small bottle of water in his hand.

"Yeah," She breathlessly agreed, quickly moving to snatch the bottle from him and before he could even protest, she unscrewed the cap and downed its contents in three big gulps.

"Hey! I was thirsty too, you know?" He scolded her with a pout, throwing her a glare. She only let out an amused giggle in return.

"Hey, you can always go to the kitchen and get yourself another one," She told him with a shrug and a careless smile before she bent forward to gather the small pile of weeds and carry them outside.

"Yeah, right," He grouchily mumbled, turning around to resume to his previous activities.

Nicely placing the weeds outside into a small pile to let them dry, she turned back around to enter the greenhouse, letting out a hearty laugh as soon as she noticed Dan struggling to move a large ceramic vase filled with dirt, those tiny muscles in his thin arms barely bulging out as he kept on trying and trying, letting out overdone grunts and moans.

"Gaaah! Why the fuck did I even agree to this shit?" He complained as he eventually let go and gave up, the girl letting out yet another amused laugh as she simply stood there and stared at her friend, the young male straightening himself up to give her another glower.

Only the moment some movement in the background casually caught his eye, his jaw immediately dropped in utter astonishment.

"Oh.my.god," Diana watched her friend suddenly say as he widely stared somewhere past her, the girl quickly turning around as well to see what was going on, only to notice the owner of this estate heading straight towards them. His appearance was so unlike him now as he was wearing a simple black t-shirt and a pair of navy blue jeans, this attire however making him look even more young and boyish.

Oh my god indeed.