"What are you hiding?" Rey's voice was like cold velvet laced with threat, each word slicing through the stillness of the night like a scalpel and full of demand. His gaze locked onto Aluna with an intensity that made her feel stripped bare beneath his sharp gaze, as if he could see straight through her skin to the secret she now clutched tightly against her back—a secret that felt both dangerous and intoxicating.
Aluna's heart pounded in her chest, Ratih's diary burning in her trembling hand like a live wire, a relic of the past that now hung between them like a ticking time bomb. She tried to swallow the bitterness caught in her throat, searching for the right words to dodge Rey's piercing and suspicious question, a question that threatened to unravel a truth she was only beginning to grasp.
"Nothing," she finally replied, trying to keep her voice calm even though her body was tense and cold sweat slicked her palms. Her nervousness was probably obvious, detectable to Rey's sharp senses. "I was just… just looking at the view from the window earlier. The moon is very beautiful tonight."
A flimsy, fabricated excuse—but she hoped Rey wouldn't push further and would let her slip past this tense moment, one that could erupt into Rey's cold fury—more terrifying than any fiery rage.
The atmosphere between them tightened like a frayed string on the verge of snapping, full of suspicion and unspoken secrets—a magnetic field that simultaneously pulled and pushed them apart.
Rey didn't seem to believe her. His eyes scrutinized her every move—from her averted gaze to her hand concealing something. Small gestures betrayed her lie. It was as if he were trying to read the turmoil and fear in her mind, to pick apart the falsehoods wrapped in her rushed and high-pitched tone.
However, he didn't press further, only letting out a soft sigh and looking away, slipping back into the cold, distant demeanor he always wore, as if he knew the truth would eventually surface—and he only had to wait for the right moment to pull it out.
That night felt long and silent. Aluna couldn't sleep well, haunted by Rey's suspicious gaze and the secret she now held tightly, a secret so intimate and dangerous—like a window into the past of the man who now shared her bed, yet remained a mystery she had yet to solve.
She felt guilty for entering the forbidden room and reading pages of a past that wasn't hers. But her curiosity about Rey's past and the woman named Ratih was too strong to ignore, like a fire that consumed her restraint, compelling her to risk everything.
Days passed with a cold, formal atmosphere between Aluna and Rey.
They carried out their contract marriage routine with minimal personal interaction—sharing a bed but not warmth, bound by agreement but separated by emotional walls too tall to climb. Yet, Aluna couldn't forget the flicker of sadness she saw in Rey's eyes when she left that locked room—a vulnerability that stood in stark contrast to his usual coldness, a fleeting softness that made him appear more human… and more intriguing in her eyes.
She sensed a hidden wound behind his icy exterior, a fragility that made Aluna wonder about the man who had become her husband, a man cloaked in so much mystery, a mystery that oddly drew her closer.
She began watching Rey more closely, observing every detail of his expressions, trying to find cracks in the wall of ice surrounding him, hoping to find warmth buried beneath it, or at least understand the coldness that kept her curious.
One night, Aluna couldn't sleep. Restless and suffocated by the mansion's vast silence, its grandeur felt hollow and cold—like her heart at that moment, filled with unanswered questions. She rose from bed and walked to her large bedroom window, gazing at the night sky strewn with glittering stars far away, trying to find peace amidst the chaos in her mind.
By chance, her eyes landed on Rey standing on his balcony. The pale moonlight illuminated the silhouette of his tall frame, but there was something in his posture that looked so melancholic and fragile, his shoulders slightly hunched as if weighed down by something heavy. He stood there with both hands resting on the balcony railing, staring at the stars as if searching for answers or peace in the quiet darkness.
The expression on his face, usually cold and emotionless, looked different under the moonlight. A deep sorrow emanated from his faraway gaze, as if he was yearning for someone or something long gone, a longing so painful and real that Aluna could feel it even from afar.
For a moment, Aluna saw Rey's humanity beneath his cold demeanor, a side full of longing and grief, a side that made him look so fragile and in need.
She saw the vulnerability of a man who might have once loved passionately and experienced a deep loss, a loss that left a scar that would never fully heal, a scar that might explain his coldness all this time. That sight stirred something within Aluna, a surprising empathy and a growing curiosity, mixed with a physical attraction she had been trying hard to ignore, a strange yet strong desire to approach him, to try and reach the heart of the man who had kept it locked away from her, to offer a sliver of warmth even though she herself felt cold in this marriage, an odd yet powerful urge.
With cautious steps, Aluna exited her room and walked towards the balcony. She stopped a few steps behind Rey, feeling the cold night wind brush against her skin, carrying with it the quiet mystery of the night and the faint scent of flowers blooming in the garden below.
She hesitated for a moment, but her curiosity and the desire to understand this man, to look deeper into his cold eyes and find the hidden warmth within, overcame her doubt. With a soft voice, she gathered her courage and asked, "Do you miss someone?" Her voice was a whisper, but in the silence of the night, the question hung in the air like a fragile bridge, one that might finally connect two hearts that had remained apart for so long.