Hey, guys!
Late update, I know. I'm so sorry. :'c

But thank you to those who voted and commented on the first chapter. Happy to have read some good feedbacks from you! :)

Ciel Phantomhive and Sebastian Michaelis on the media ♥

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Chapter 02: A Stranger's Kiss Under The Moonlight

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"I'm Akashi Seijuro.."

Under my mask, I raised a brow. If I wasn't mistaken, Akashi was a very influential and wealthy family in Japan. No wonder he's got that very domineering aura and tone of voice. Not that I cared though, he was in my territory, in my kingdom. He could never intimidate me.

"So, Akashi huh? What are you doing in this part of the castle? There is nothing here."

His lips drew a sudden smirk then he slowly inched closer. "Actually, there is. You're here."

"And what exactly do you mean by that?" I asked in amusement. I didn't know but he was starting to get interesting. Somehow.

At that point, he sat beside me. Though he maintained a good distance between us, like he didn't want to scare me or something. Which I found very gentlemanly. "I mean exactly what I said. You're much more entertaining than that boring party."

I fought the urge to scoff as I showed him a sarcastic look. "I don't plan to be your personal entertainment, Mr. Akashi Seijuro."

"I didn't mean it that way. It's just that, you're interesting.." He brought his hand up to my hair then carefully gathered some of my neatly-curled locks, securing it in his hand before bringing it to his mouth -- placing a little kiss against the ends of my curls. I thickly gulped at his bold action. "..Your Highness."

I thanked the place's lack of luminance because it successfully hid the blush that dusted my cheeks. But it was annoying as well, because I couldn't quite comprehend the expression he was making -- since he was also wearing a mask, regrettably. Was he cute? Or was he handsome? I wasn't sure. But I could feel it though, in my bones and guts, he could be one hell of a hot guy.

Then realization of him calling me Your Highness managed to stop me from completely falling into the rabbit hole, I composed myself. "You know me?"

"Your necklace gave it away," he replied huskily. My gaze dropped to the necklace I was wearing. "That's the same necklace your Mother, the Queen, wore when he married King Lelouch. That's a gift from Prince William himself." He set my curly locks free, and captured my right hand instead. He planted his soft lips against the back of my palm then looked up to study my reaction. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Princess Nathalie Kaye vi Phantomhive."

I didn't know but my heart hammered inside my chest. It was just- I couldn't explain. This Akashi Seijuro's flair in speaking was making me utterly flustered.

I exhaled and forced a smile on my lips. "It's nice meeting you too, Mr. Akashi Seijuro."

"Your smile makes me want to never let go of your hand." He promptly stated with a sexy smile, tightening his grip on my little hand.

"No one is allowed to touch me except the Royal Family and my trusted butler." I pointed out with a smug grin, attempting to pull my hand away but then failed because he squeezed it in a genitive manner.

"Why were you crying here in the dark, all alone? Did something happen?" His sudden question made me freeze, and only then the memory of what I had witnessed earlier came rushing back to me. Images of Elliot Nightray kissing another girl filled up my mind again and I couldn't possibly stop myself from biting my lower lip in frustration and grief. The guy in front of me noticed it and leaned closer. "You can tell me, I'll listen."

"But I barely even know you.."

A soft smile slanted his lips, "It doesn't matter. I want to get to know you more, My Princess.."

God knew how much I tried not to stare into his full lips as he uttered every word from that last sentence, especially the last two words. He sounded so sweet and gentle yet entirely dangerous, the timbre of his voice was giving my body chills. "I'm the princess of this Kingdom, Mr. Akashi Seijuro. My life has been broadcasted all over the globe, that's all there is to it."

"No," he replied almost immediately, this time, with force. "I want to know the girl behind those makeups and gowns.." His hand traveled to the side of my face, gently tugging my mask. "..I want to know the girl behind this mask, the girl whose sobs and tears I came to witness earlier. I could feel your pain, and I'm feeling it now."

I stayed frozen in awe. His words were starting to penetrate through my every skin. "Why are you saying that? We're merely strangers to each other."

At that, he backed away a little and withdrew his hand. He let seconds of complete silence passed by before he spoke. "You took my breath away, and now I can't stop myself from wanting you."

I gasped, rather loudly, and instictively moved away from the man. It wasn't like I was grossed out with what he confessed or something, but because it just felt so weird hearing that from a person I didn't even know. Well yeah, I knew him, the Akashi Seijuro of the very wealthy and influential Akashi Household in Japan. But what I meant was, I didn't know him personally. We've never met before and I haven't even seen his entire face -- because of the mask he was wearing, yeah.

"I haven't felt this way before and believe me, I'm starting to like it." He continued, lips twitching into a fascimile of a smile. "I'm starting to like you.."

I gulped and faked a scoff, though it was a failure because it came out like a nervous sigh. Crap! He was making me lose my focus to the world, he made me forget all the sadness and frustration I was dishing out earlier. And now I was left with an overwhelming urge to pull him in for a kiss-- Wait! What was I thinking?

Don't flirt with him! Don't you even dare, Nathalie!

"I'm sorry but I'm not available to give you some royal entertainment, Mr. Akashi Seijuro. Let's stop this nonsense conversation and hurry back inside." I fixed my dress and prepared my heels to stand up. But before I could move another muscle, he pulled me back closer, raised my chin and pressed his lips to mine.

My eyes widened and I squirmed against him. But all of my will to protest vanished into thin air when he started to move his lips against my own. It was strangely sweet, he was unexpectedly gentle. Since he forced the kiss, I thought he would be more agressive -- but he wasn't. My eyes fluttered closed and my hands came to grab ahold of his chest, while his other hand dragged it's way down to the side of my waist. I melted into his touch and I finally decided to relax my lips against his sweet ones.

It wasn't my first kiss, but it was the sweetest kiss I ever had.

He was the sweetest kiss I ever had..

I wished that moment would never end. Oh how I hoped it didn't. But whether we liked it or not, we had to stop our sweet endeavor..

Because somebody came to interrupt us -- just a few steps away, Elliot Nightray stood with a horrified face.

"Kaye, what's the meaning of this?"