CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: VISIT TO AMUSEMENT PARK
1449 Words
The late morning light streamed through the arched windows of the castle’s drawing room, falling in fragmented patches onto the polished floors and illuminating specks of dust suspended in the air. Aurelia sat perched on the edge of the tufted velvet sofa, her knees drawn close to her chest as she watched the flames flicker in the massive stone fireplace, though no chill hung in the air.
Last night had changed something — not everything, but something. Lucien hadn’t touched her cruelly. He hadn’t spoken with ice or contempt. He had simply sat, held her, allowed her to cry and shiver and slowly drift into the strange comfort of his presence. No harsh words. No punishment. Just silence, and warmth.
And now, the silence lingered.
Until he entered.
Lucien’s figure filled the wide doorway. Dressed in a black fitted shirt and charcoal-gray trousers, his dark hair slightly tousled, he looked entirely out of place in the golden light, like a shadow mistaken for a man. His eyes found her instantly. Those eyes—cold and piercing, yet not quite the same as before.
Aurelia straightened immediately, instinctively. But he didn’t bark orders. He didn’t ignore her either.
Instead, Lucien crossed the room and said something that nearly made her fall off the couch.
“We’re going out.”
She blinked. “Out?”
“To the city.”
Her brows furrowed. “But… I thought I’m not allowed to leave the castle grounds.”
“You weren’t,” he said simply. “Now you are.”
She stared at him, utterly dumbfounded. “Why?”
He tilted his head slightly, as if considering whether to tell her. “Because I want to see what you’re like out there. Among the humans. Away from the darkness.”
A pause.
“And I want to be somewhere I won’t be recognized.”
Her lips parted. That alone was enough to send dozens of questions racing through her mind. The mysterious CEO who ruled from the shadows, whose face most of the world didn’t know, was about to walk through a city square with her?
“I need to change,” she murmured, heart racing.
“We both do,” Lucien said. “I’ll take care of the disguises.”
---
One hour later, Aurelia stared at herself in the mirror and burst into laughter.
She was wearing a bright oversized hoodie with a cartoon duck on it, round sunglasses, and a baseball cap pulled low over her eyes. Her hair was tucked into a low ponytail, and she had just enough smudged eyeliner to look like a hungover tourist.
Lucien, on the other hand, was unrecognizable.
Gone was the brooding aristocrat aura. Instead, he wore ripped jeans, a plain T-shirt under a plaid overshirt, and a pair of chunky sneakers. A fake tattoo curled down his forearm, and his usually perfect hair was messily tucked beneath a knitted beanie. He even wore glasses.
“You look…” she began, eyes wide, “normal.”
He raised a brow. “Insulting.”
“No, I mean — convincingly normal. No one would ever guess who you are.”
“That’s the point.”
Their eyes locked for a second, the humor between them a strange, pleasant thing. It felt… easy.
Lucien extended a hand toward her.
“Shall we?”
Aurelia hesitated, then took it.
---
The city was alive.
Aurelia’s heart soared as she walked beside Lucien through the crowded streets. It wasn’t her first time in public, but it was the first time she wasn’t invisible. No apron. No dishes to clear. No drunken customers to dodge. Just air, light, and noise. Laughter. Joy.
And Lucien.
They bought pretzels from a vendor. Lucien frowned at his as though unsure whether it might bite him. Aurelia smirked and stole a bite of his, just to mess with him. He blinked in surprise but said nothing, only handed her the rest as if he hadn’t wanted it anyway.
They walked through a street fair filled with music and booths, and people bustling about in every direction. Children with balloons. Couples with matching shirts. A street magician who made a coin vanish from Lucien’s ear — which earned the magician a low, dangerous stare before Aurelia pulled Lucien away, laughing.
Then came the amusement park.
The castle had never felt so far away.
Aurelia gasped when she saw the entrance. Roller coasters twisted in steel arcs above them, and the air was thick with the smell of cotton candy, roasted nuts, and funnel cakes.
“I can’t believe you brought me here,” she said breathlessly.
“I thought it’d be amusing,” Lucien replied.
“Have you… ever been to one?”
“No.”
She grinned. “Then I get to pick the rides.”
Lucien’s brow lifted, but he didn’t argue.
---
The first ride was the carousel.
Aurelia insisted on it, claiming it was to “ease him in.” Lucien looked less than thrilled as he climbed onto a galloping plastic horse, and even less so when Aurelia giggled and snapped a photo of him with her burner phone — a pink glittery case she bought just for the occasion.
“I will destroy that photo,” he muttered as the ride began to move.
“No, you won’t,” she said. “You’ll keep it as evidence that you were once happy.”
He glanced sideways at her, something unreadable in his eyes.
The second ride was the Ferris wheel.
High above the city skyline, with the wind gently tousling their disguises, Aurelia looked over at him.
“Why did you really bring me here?”
Lucien stared out at the view for a long time before answering.
“Because I wanted to remember.”
“Remember what?”
“What it feels like to not be... feared.”
The words were quiet. Almost lost in the breeze. But they struck her.
“You’re feared because you make people fear you,” she said gently.
“Perhaps,” he said. “But once, a long time ago, I was just a boy in a crowd. I didn’t have to hide.”
He turned toward her, meeting her gaze fully now.
“And for some reason, being with you makes me want to find that boy again.”
Aurelia’s breath caught.
He wasn’t touching her. He wasn’t seducing her. He was just... honest.
And that was far more dangerous.
---
Later, they played ring toss and lost terribly. Lucien insisted the game was rigged and glared so hard at the booth operator that the poor teenager nearly gave him a prize out of fear. Aurelia chose a small stuffed bat — she said it reminded her of him.
By mid-afternoon, Aurelia’s cheeks ached from smiling so much. They sat on a bench near a fountain, sharing a bag of caramel popcorn.
“You’re not what I expected,” she said softly.
Lucien popped a piece into his mouth. “What did you expect?”
“A monster.”
“Am I not one?”
“You try to be. But you’re failing.”
He chuckled, a low, rare sound. “Careful. People might think you like me.”
Aurelia turned toward him. “Maybe I do.”
Silence.
The words hung there between them. No take-backs. No pretending they hadn’t been said.
Lucien didn’t answer right away. His eyes searched hers, as if trying to decide what to do with the truth.
“You shouldn’t,” he said at last.
“Too late.”
A hint of pain flickered across his expression, so fast she almost missed it.
“I don’t know how to love, Aurelia.”
“Then learn.”
Another silence.
But this one wasn’t heavy.
It was full of possibility.
---
By the time they returned to the castle, dusk was falling. The world had changed outside those gates, but inside, it was still the same — cold stone, flickering sconces, silence. But something had shifted between them.
Lucien walked her to her chambers.
“I’ll have a light dinner sent up,” he said, voice quieter now.
“You’re not joining me?”
“No. Another night, perhaps.”
Aurelia hesitated in the doorway.
“Lucien?”
He looked at her, waiting.
“I had fun today. Thank you.”
He gave a nod, almost too subtle to see.
She stepped inside, but before closing the door, she turned back.
“You know,” she said with a small smirk, “you’re really bad at ring toss.”
And with that, she shut the door on the sound of his soft, surprised laugh.
---
- Writer
