The preparation for the banquet was going too well. Calhoun had been extra nice to his servants that they all began to fear.
Diana also noticed his unusual kindness to them and she wanted to ask about it, but then she noticed that Calhoun had kept to his part of the deal and wasn't always falling around her like he used to.
Somewhere, she missed him. She missed his attention and she wanted to ask about it. But she also did not want to pass off as the loser of the bet. Was it that important anyway? Was it a bit more important than she and Calhoun having the best times of their lives?
She walked around the castle, watching the servants go about their usual duties, fervently. She enjoyed the way they did their designs and occasionally she had something to input.
And when she did, she would notice Calhoun observing from the side and if their eyes met, he would offer her a charming smile of approval.
That was it, it was three days already and the full moon was the following night. She could not endure it again. She had to end the bet. She did not know how long she could tolerate his distant display of affection.
She walked up to him while he was dressing up in the chamber. She usually gave him space to do whatever he wanted to do in the chamber and she would take Coco out.
"Diana...? You're here." He stated and she felt like she could sense the surprise in his voice. Was he really serious about this?
"Yeah." She said softly. She quickly walked up to him and stood in front. She removed his hands from his shirt and started doing his buttons.
"Oh. We are doing my buttons now." Calhoun said.
Diana felt her cheeks turn warm. "Don't act as if you don't like it. You do!"
"Of course I do. I love everything you can do for me." Calhoun replied cheekily. "But I won't do anything you won't want me to do, including complimenting you out of the blues."
Diana scratched the back of her neck awkwardly. "About that..."
"What about it?" Calhoun asked, urging her instantly.
"I... I wanted to say... I..."
"You what, Diana? You know you can tell me anything." Calhoun said. He was fighting the temptation to touch her, to grab her and pull her close to his side. He wanted her body to touch his and the temptation was too much to resist. However, he pushed all thoughts away and focused on the woman that stood before him.
"Calhoun... I don't want to continue with the bet." Diana whispered. "I don't like being away from you."
Calhoun's brows came up in fake surprise. He wasn't surprised, he had expected it even sooner than she had confessed. Everything he had done in the past was all a plan. He wanted her so badly, he had to make her cancel the bet. Yes, his reputation was at stake too.
"Really?" Calhoun asked. A smug smile appeared on his face and Diana slapped it off.
"Dare to smile and I will break your jaw." She threatened with a scowl which Calhoun found adorable. Rather than being pissed with her threat, he found it appealing.
"That's fine, so long as it's you who breaks my jaw, I don't mind," Calhoun said cheekily.
Diana shook her head. She should have known that Calhoun would be very cocky about her confession but she did not care at all. So long as she could hug him the way she was doing at the moment. Calhoun did not hug her back immediately.
"Diana, you're getting your paws all over me," Calhoun commented.
Diana raised her head and glared at him. Calhoun stared down at her and his gaze was serious as if he didn't appreciate the fact that she had come to meet him. She began to feel somehow scared. Had she gone too extreme with the bet?
"Cal," Diana whispered. "Hug me back."
"Diana, the bet is not over yet." He reminded.
"What? I just said I wanted to cancel the bet." Diana exclaimed.
"Well yes, but do you believe now?" Calhoun asked.
Diana was surprised and somehow confused. She cocked her head to the side. "Believe what exactly?"
"The bet can only end when you believe that I do not have any ulterior motives for loving you and that I'm not all about my reputation when I'm with you."
Diana was surprised. So he still remembered the details of the bet? He still remembered? So now, would she have to say she believed him totally when she did not, just to make him come around her?
"I can already tell what you're up to and trust me, it won't work," Calhoun said, shaking his head. "Diana, you don't yet believe me. And maybe that's good. Because at least, it's helping me know how to keep my hands women."
"Women?" Diana asked, scowling terribly. "How many women did you have in your bed while I was away?"
"None," Calhoun replied truthfully. "That's if you accept that the kiss Patricia and I shared in my bed is nothing too."
"That's the point. If you had no women for almost two years I was away, what's the point of learning to keep your hands away from women." Diana said. "So don't make it seem like I'm any woman. I'm just one woman, and I'm yours. And you don't have to keep your hands off me."
"Maybe I didn't have to, but now, I have to," Calhoun said. "Because you don't trust me."
"How can you say that? Calhoun, if I don't trust you, how can I be with you?" Diana asked. "How can I accept to stay here with you, away from my family-"
"Family?" Calhoun asked. He scoffed. "Your only family is here in the castle. So what family are you speaking of?"
"Don't say it that way, idiot. I didn't kill my parents." Diana huffed.
"Neither did I kill mine," Calhoun replied instantly. "Don't say it as if I killed yours too."
"Calhoun!" Diana exclaimed. "You're going extreme."
"Sorry. Sorry." Calhoun apologized. "Don't get so pissed with me, I won't say such a thing next time."
Diana smiled at him. She didn't want to take any offence to what he had said so she just smiled. She hugged him again and he hugged her back. She smiled even wider. That's what she had been expecting.
"So what do you say about the bet being over? I mean, you just hugged me back-"
"That's an apology, dear." Calhoun corrected and his hands slipped away from her body instantly, taking away the warmth from her. She scowled.
"Calhoun..." She whined.
"Come on, you can't seriously expect me to just forget as if nothing was said." Calhoun stated. "there are rules to this game-"
"But this is me coming to you, if I don't trust you, how can I return to you?"
"Come off it," Calhoun said, waving his hand. "You're not here because you trust me. And the fact that you did not remember what you put as the condition, says a lot about that."
Diana rolled her eyes. "So if not trust, then what?"
"It's just because you miss me," Calhoun said. "And I understand that too. But Diana, I want you to fully trust me. I will keep to my part of the deal until then."
"But Calhoun, if you know that I miss you, does it not change anything?" Diana asked softly.
Calhoun shrugged. "When I missed you, it didn't change anything."
"Calhoun! The past is in the past! Let it go!"
"I have let it go." Calhoun defended.
"Then why do you always raise it again?" Diana asked. She was getting quite pissed. All she wanted was to have a nice time with Calhoun. Why was he making things difficult?
"Well... Because you always refer to it indirectly." Calhoun shrugged. "But it's fine, I won't refer to it directly again."
"Alright," Diana said. "So how long do you think this should go on?"
"Until you know within yourself that you love me," Calhoun answered.
"I do love you, Calhoun," Diana replied.
"I know. But do you now trust me?"
"Can I love you without trusting you?"
"Very possible. Like you have loved me since you served me. You trusted me to always be ruthless to an extent where you never saw the feelings I have for you."
"It was never visible."
"Because it was supposed to be in the way you had expected to see it. That says enough too."
"It doesn't say anything!" Diana whispered. "Calhoun, I love you and I trust you but even if I don't show it, I want you to teach me."
"It's easy to teach you, but that's if you're willing to learn," Calhoun said with a small smile.
"It's alright! I'm ready." Diana exclaimed happily. "But first, can you stop torturing me by moving your lips so
... Sexily and just... Just kiss me!"
Calhoun chuckled. "Alright, I could just spare you a simple kiss." He said and pecked her lips. Just as he was pulling away, Diana grabbed his face and pulled him closer to her. She closed her eyes as she savoured the feeling of his lips against hers.
When she finally pulled away, Calhoun wasn't sure he wanted her away from him again. He had tried to keep his hands off her but now she came to tempt him and even wanted him to touch her.
"Diana, let's go and see what the servants are up to." He said. "Thomas says he would not be available for the banquet as he was summoned by your mother's family in Sunshine Town."
"Really? He did not tell me about that." Diana said with surprise.
"Yeah. He doesn't want you to know. He says you might want to follow him." Calhoun said.
"I understand. Going to Sunshine Town is surely something I ought to do. I haven't met with my mother's family and meeting another set of family members at a time like this would be so wonderful." She said.
Calhoun shrugged. "It's alright if you want to go."
"I do want to go," Diana said, touching her lips. Then she hugged Calhoun suddenly with a bright smile on her face. "But I can't bear to be away from this man whom I love so much."
Calhoun chuckled. "Okay, now you're getting cheesy with me."
"Cheesy," Diana repeated. "What do you think would happen if I was the one wooing you?"
"I think I would fall for you," Calhoun answered readily.
"You haven't fallen for me?" Diana asked.
"Nah. I have. But this would raise me and push me harder, thereby making me fall harder."
"You are even cheesier than I am."
"Well, shall we now go and see what the servants are up to? I hope neither of them has gotten wind of what I'm about to do to them." Calhoun muttered.
"About that, Cal. I was going to ask. What do you plan to do to them?"
"Um, nothing you should worry your pretty mind about," Calhoun said, offering her his charming smile. He even went ahead to pinch her cheeks to prove a point.
"Um, I want to worry my pretty mind about it. Calhoun, you were never this nice to them. And you're only this nice when you have an ulterior motive."
"There you go again, stereotyping me with the ulterior motive thing," Calhoun said, feigning anger.
"Shut up!" Diana rolled her eyes. "As if I'm wrong."
"You aren't wrong anyway." He answered. "I do have an ulterior motive. Why? Does this change anything between us?"
"Um, no," Diana said, scowling slightly. "It doesn't change anything. I'm just happy you haven't changed a bit."
"Changed? I have changed a whole lot, Diana." Calhoun said. He held her hand and led her out of the chamber. "Go out and see for yourself how well I have changed."
Diana was confused but she started her walk down the corridor. Just as she was rounding the corner, a body fell at her foot, massacred and she screamed.