Hellbound Heart

If he could choose the one-line advice from Alexander that he was most thankful for, it would be 'pay close attention to your wife's actions and emotions and pamper her'.

During the last few days, Sebastian had been calling Alexander every now and then. He had been asking about many things he had never once thought even mattered before. Most especially with this birthday event he had planned for her. He had called Alexander and Abigail for help and guidance, knowing that Abigail seemed to always know what Izabelle likes.

In fact, it was the couple who had told him about Izabelle's birthday. He did not even know when it was as he never had thought about such matters before. He himself never bothered about his own birthday and he had never celebrated even when everyone wanted to. He simply did not care about it. It did not matter at all as it was just another day to him.

However, he understood that this event was important to the humans and even for many vampires. Apparently, birthdays were something that they would remember and celebrate on a yearly basis.

Initially, Sebastian planned to deal with the circulating gossip his way without this event, but Alexander had discouraged him and suggested a more natural way to kill the issue. Abigail had also butted in and told him Izabelle would love to celebrate her special day with him.

Sebastian was skeptical because he knew that troubles always happen during big events. Sometimes, it was unavoidable. Izabelle was already doing so fine and recovering pretty well. Everything was peaceful for once. So, Sebastian would not want to do anything that could possibly disrupt this hard-to-come-by peace they had. He just wanted this tranquility to last as long as possible.

But he got the point that Alexander and Abigail were trying to make. And if this event would really make Izabelle happy, then, he would do it, sparing no expense. He would just need to watch her extra closely so that there would be no chance for any trouble to strike. Even if it did strike, at least he would be there to immediately deal with it. He would not let anything bad happen tonight.

To his relief, everything went according to plan so far. Sebastian had even dispatched his men to keep a close watch on everyone who were identified as having a possibility of causing trouble and most importantly to keep keen eyes on any cunning secret move from Elijah. Having Lucas and Raven for that matter was the reason he had allowed himself to relax the entire time.

Just before the dance, Rion came to report the situation to him secretly. It appeared that no trouble was brewing, but Sebastian still ordered everyone to continue to be on high alert. He knew he did not need to say it, but he did it anyway. And then to his surprise, Rion told him something unexpected. Rion had said that Lucas wanted him to spare some attention on Kana.

Sebastian simply raised his brow at that remark but during the dance, he could not believe he had actually caught her eavesdropping on his and Izabelle's conversation. He would know if someone was invading his privacy. He could sense if someone was eavesdropping. And he could pinpoint immediately who it was as long as there was no barrier blocking in between them.

Catching Kana eavesdropping was a surprise because she had never behaved in that way before. She was never a troublemaker. But then again, that did not mean that she would not cause any troubles now. Though he still thought that Kana stirring up trouble was very unlikely, Sebastian still warned her, just in case. Because he remembered what Abigail said during his last call with Alexander. She had reminded him to watch for the ladies and keep Iza away from hearing any gossip.

He was not certain why Abigail sounded a bit grave when she had mentioned that it was like something he needed to pay attention to the most. She even told him not to let her into the public bathroom alone which made Sebastian frown when he heard it. But since it was he who requested for advice, he had decided to just listen. All because he knew that Abigail had once been in Iza's shoes.

But for Sebastian, he was still more concerned about the possibility of lurking danger that Elijah had plotted than any gossip amongst the ladies.

So, he followed after her. No matter how secure everything was, Sebastian would never fully trust any security anymore. Most especially since they still could not figure out how did Iza disappear without any trace from Alexander's house.

...

Elle was speechless when she found Sebastian waiting for her right outside the doors of the ladies'.

"What are you doing here...?! Good lord, you didn't need to..." Elle blushed a little as she thought how he had been waiting here the entire time she was in there.

He lifted a brow. "You know... I should've even followed you all the way inside because you have a history of disappearing from supposedly secured places, Izabelle."

Elle bit on her lip to prevent the gasp that she almost let out. The disbelieving look on her face slowly faded. Though he said those words so casually, the thought that Sebastian was just that worried she would disappear again to the point of following her even to the ladies', had her heart melting. He must not realize how endearing his actions had been to her.

And before she knew it, she had already tiptoed and kissed his neck.

Sebastian cursed low under his breath as he held her shoulders. "Is this you telling me to go and just end the party now? Huh? Izabelle?" His eyes bored into hers with a seductive intensity that sent her mind reeling. It was so sudden that she was completely taken aback. Was that one little kiss enough to trigger him to this extent?

With wide eyes, she shook her head frantically even as her hands signaled 'no' to him. She would not want him to do that, or their guests would really wonder what must have happened! It could spark unnecessary gossip which was what they were hoping to avoid.

"That's... a thank you kiss." She told him with reddened cheeks and before he could respond, she grabbed his hand and pulled him along.

She heard him mutter out a low curse again but she ignored him, smiling a little at the frustration in his voice. However, contrasting to his frustrated tone, his hand held hers in a gentle and warm grip with no intentions of letting go.

"You better not think I'm letting you get away with this, Iza." He muttered as he followed along, his tone filled with delicious promises that sent shivers running down her spine.

...

Soon, Sebastian had let Elle mingling with the other ladies by herself. Of course, that was only after giving her multiple reminders on not to speak too much and strain her throat that had just healed.

The queen had gently told him to give Elle time to mingle with the other ladies without him sticking next to her. Sebastian thought that as long as he was looking at her directly, it should be alright. Nobody would be stupid enough to do anything outrageous on his watch.

While some officials finally approached him and spoke to him, Sebastian had kept his attention carefully on Elle, never keeping her out of his field of vision even as he listened and spoke with the officials.

He could see her smiling, enjoying her time as she accepted the gifts from the ladies. He, on the other hand, was responding to the officials as he usually does. Even as he kept glancing and watching over his wife, he could multitask and he was giving them just the right answer. That made the men he was talking to stop thinking that he was not actually listening to them and was utterly distracted. It amazed them how he was even engaging in the conversation like usual while his gaze was somewhere else.

Until the air suddenly changed.

Sebastian's hand that was about to lift his glass and take a drink of wine halted and a heavy and dark energy enveloped him.

"Your Highness? Is there a prob..." one of the dukes was brave enough to ask, but before he could even finish his question, Sebastian had vanished from sight.