Chapter 161: Paid Friendship

Author’s POV~

Midnight had settled over the room, and the only sound was the slow, quiet breathing of two people who had finally stopped fighting the world for a few hours.

Adeline lay curled against Blake’s chest in an oversized black shirt that hung off one shoulder, her cheek pressed right over his heartbeat. His arm was locked around her waist, and his eyes were closed, his chin resting on top of her head as if even in sleep he refused to let anything take her from him.

Adeline hissed. A small, sharp sound cut through the silence of the room. Her eyes stayed squeezed shut, her face twisting tight with sudden agony as her free hand flew to her wrist.

She gripped her own skin hard, desperately trying to hold something in place that was threatening to tear itself apart from the inside. Her breath came fast, shallow, and broken, and a faint whimper escaped her throat before she could stop it.

Blake’s eyes snapped open instantly. He didn’t need to ask what was happening. He recognised that, and the sheer sight of her hurting made a cold, vicious knot twist deep inside his chest.

"Shh, I’ve got you," he whispered, pulling her even closer until her whole body was wrapped in his heat. He pressed slow kisses along her jaw, then down the side of her neck, soft and patient, trying to ground her against the unbearable burning of the curse.

His large fingers curled gently over her small, trembling hand, wrapping around her wrist as he began to massage the skin with steady pressure.

Blake clenched his jaw so hard his teeth clicked. ’How many more nights would she have to suffer through this agony? How many more times would he be forced to watch her writhe in her sleep, completely helpless to do anything except hold her close?’

He leaned down and kissed the corner of her mouth, his touch tender and slow.

Even trapped deep in her sleep, with her eyes closed and her mind far away, Adeline instantly responded to him. Her lips moved softly against his, searching for comfort, as if her body recognised his touch without her needing to wake up.

Blake’s breath caught in his chest. He deepened the kiss, letting his intense warmth wrap around her like a protective shield, and slowly, the agonizing tightness in her wrist began to loosen its grip.

A moment later, her body went soft and heavy in his arms. Her rapid breathing evened out into a deep, steady rhythm as she fell back into a peaceful sleep.

Blake pulled back slowly, letting out a long, heavy breath. He stared down at her face, watching the faint crease of pain between her brows finally fade away. Keeping one arm anchored tightly around her, he reached for his phone on the bedside table with his free hand and dialled Zyran’s number.

It didn’t even complete a single ring before it was picked up.

"Bro, call the healer," Blake said. "That bitch Chloe is awake. Tell the healer to inject her with another heavy dose of the sedative, and make it a high one this time. I don’t care if it knocks her out cold for a whole week. She is disturbing Adeline’s sleep."

"Understood," Zyran answered immediately, his tone sharp and lacking any hesitation. "I’ll handle it now. Stay with her."

The call disconnected. Blake tossed the phone onto the blanket and wrapped both arms around Adeline once more, his long fingers moving smoothly over her hair and trailing down her back.

"Everything is going to be fine," he whispered into her hair.

The heavy silence returned to the bedroom. But just as Blake settled back against the pillows, the quiet was suddenly shattered by a phone buzzing and ringing on the couch across the room.

It wasn’t his phone.

It was Adeline’s.

Blake’s eyes narrowed. He carefully slid his arm out from under her, tucked the warm blanket snugly around her shoulders, and stepped quietly across the room.

The phone screen was glowing bright in the dim light, displaying a name he recognised. Sierra. He stared down at the flashing caller ID for a tense second, then picked up the phone and brought it to his ear without saying a single word.

"Adeline?" Sierra’s voice rushed through the speaker, breathless, frantic, and loaded with worry. She didn’t even wait for a greeting. "Have you reached your room safely? You didn’t text me back. Are you okay?"

Blake turned his body slowly toward the bed. His dark eyes locked onto Adeline’s peaceful, sleeping figure, and when he finally opened his mouth to reply, his deep voice was terrifyingly calm, low, and cold.

"So you are the one Dowager Luna Gwen hired to keep an eye on Adeline at the academy," he said. "From her very first day at the campus. Is that right?"

The line went completely dead silent on the other end. Blake could hear her breath catch sharply, her frantic panic turning into pure terror in a single second.

"L-Lord Blake?" Sierra stammered at last, her voice trembling so badly she could barely get the words out. "I was only trying to check on her—"

"She is with me," Blake cut in sharply, leaving zero room for argument."Do not call her phone again tonight."

He ended the call before she could say another word. Walking back over, he placed her phone on the bedside table, slid back onto the mattress, and pulled Adeline tightly into his arms again.

He carefully adjusted the soft blanket over her shoulders, gently guiding her head until it rested comfortably against his broad chest.He pressed a slow, reassuring kiss to her forehead, took a deep breath, and closed his eyes.

He had no idea that Adeline had actually woken up a few minutes ago, from the pain she experienced.

Adeline had heard everything. She lay completely still in his embrace with her eyes squeezed shut, her heart pounding so violently against her ribs.

’Hired by the Dowager Luna?’ she thought, her mind spinning as the words echoed endlessly through her head. ’Sierra was hired to watch me from my very first day at the academy? Everyone in my life has been keeping secrets from me...’

’So all those conversations, all those silly jokes, and every single time she stood up for me when the rest of the academy turned their backs... was all of it just a job? Was she ever actually my real friend at all? At the-first-sight vibe? Or was she simply playing a part the entire time, just a faithful, loyal servant who was just doing a job she was paid to do?’

A single tear slipped out from the corner of her closed eye. She only lay there in Blake’s arms, pretending to sleep.