Chapter 32 - You're Special

LUNA ASTERBELLE’s POV

Even with that said, I still couldn't come up with a proper plan regarding how I would be able to tame this man. I'm still left wondering if I should actually enact revenge on him or let him be and just move on with my past experiences.

"Seems like we still wouldn't get along all too well unlike what I anticipated. Can I leave now?" I politely asked.

Jerome raised a finger, making the person who served my dish leave the dining area. “We still have something left for us to discuss, don’t even think that you can escape from that maze outside. And if you’re thinking that there might be another pathway in and out of this mansion, then I’m sorry to disappoint you, but there isn’t.”

He really has a way or two to make me furious. No matter what I had in mind, he would immediately shut it off with his cruel principles.

“What is it that you wanted us to talk about? I’m pretty sure that we’re both holding ourselves back with the urge to strike now, considering how we got our own reasons to do so. Exactly how important is —”

“I’m sorry,” Jerome sincerely whispered while looking at the floor.

“H-huh?” I pretended like I didn’t hear him the first time.

“I’m sorry,” he repeated the same phrase at the same time that he raised his head to gaze at me. “I don’t understand the emotions that I had back when I attacked your parents. Believe me or not, every single night that I force myself to fall asleep, the scene of me, burning your parents, haunts me until I can no longer keep my eyes closed.”

This ain’t a dream, right?

Jerome’s statement made me feel like I wasn’t the only victim here. “I-it’s not your fault…” It was the only thing that I managed to say, since I was still unsure whether I really shouldn’t blame him.

I mean, the years that I endured with his physical and emotional bullying made me traumatized a ton. I still want to pay him back for what he did, but… I’m already fortunate enough that both of my adoptive parents are still alive and healthy, unlike him who totally lost his father and even the one that he treasures the most, which is his mother.

“You were adopted, so I figured that you wouldn’t mind losing those two since you weren’t actually blood related. I thought that it wouldn’t affect you as much as it did to me, so I stopped. I didn’t pursue taking the lives of the Blood Moon Pack’s Alpha and Luna,” Jerome said as he distanced himself from me, finally making me able to breathe freely. “I knew that you would end up resenting me for the rest of your existence here, so I deeply prayed to the gods…”

I crossed my arms without averting my gaze. “What did you wish upon those gods that you have faith in?”

My heart was thumping fast. I’m having this gut-feeling that Jerome was supposed to be the person that I should hate the most, and yet, this wolf of mine who hasn’t awakened was yearning for its mate. Even if I was already rejected once, it didn’t stop my wolf from loving Jerome.

Though, I hope that the day would still come wherein I would be the one who would fall in love with him more than anyone else does.

I caught a glimpse of how he gulped as he looked in the other direction. “I prayed to the moon goddess to curse you, Luna Asterbelle, with anything that she can come up with which would make you suffer. I did mention that any curse was fine with me, but I didn’t expect that she would go this far as to make you carry the blood of a vampire,” Jerome explained, before he turned to face me again. “Please… forgive me, Luna.”

The way that he asked for forgiveness was tearing me apart. It was the first time that I witnessed him get so vulnerable right in front of me.

“Is that the reason behind why you despise the thought of the moon goddess, Althea, being called as your mother?” I asked out of pure curiosity, trying to connect the dots.

Jerome nodded his head once as a response. “I literally can’t give her another chance to prove that she actually regrets what she did to you.”

“But, if you hated the idea of me being cursed like this, why did you have to pray to them in the first place? You had the option to face me head to head, abuse me as much as you wanted… Why did you have to do that?”

Ah, my vision was getting blurry once again. I’m about to cry any minute now.

“W-we used to be close friends, didn’t we? I-I still can’t clearly remember it but, I’m fifty percent sure that we first met in the orphanage…” I murmured, my voice cracking. “With this bubbly attitude of mine, it’s impossible that we didn’t get to be friends,” I added.

An image of a boy at the orphanage who was clinging on to me wasn’t clear. It was as if his face was purposely covered with clouds for me not to determine who it was.

He sighed. “You… Your memories are returning to you bit by bit, huh…”

If I remember right, Jerome also talked about how he already got a taste of my blood before. It must have been during the days when I still wasn’t cursed. And judging from what he recently said, it seems like he’s still hiding something from me. But, I couldn’t muster up the courage yet to ask him about it.

“Yes, we used to be friends back then. However, we weren’t as close as what you’re imagining,” Jerome answered my query from earlier. “We simply talked whenever it was convenient for the two of us. There wasn’t anything special between us back then.”

“And what about now?” I unconsciously asked, which made me cover my mouth for a while. “N-n-no. Actually, don’t give me a reply regarding that —”

“Yes,” Jerome seriously said, “our relationship this year is somewhat special.”