“You’ve never combed your hair yourself since you were born, have you?” She nodded, sitting in front of her mirror. When Alana raised her face, their eyes met in the mirror.
“You’ve never dressed yourself too, have you?”
“I did not think it was something I was supposed to do myself.”
“That’s the equivalent of not being allowed any autonomy. How well did Callisto perform the role of your hand? Dressing, combing your hair, bathing, eating, ghost-writing, etc.?”
“… He put makeup on me.”
“Makeup?” Luciano repeated her statement. “You’re sixteen years old,” he said, creasing his brows.
“Yes, so I need to appear like an adult…”
For a moment, a look of incredulousness flashed across his face.
“What adult?” He snorted. “You don’t need it, makeup.”
“And what’s the rest? Does he help you for business and political matters? I’ll take you there to do it once I’ve finished combing your hair.”
“No. I can do it alone.” Alana pursed her lips
Luciano frowned. “That man would forbid you even that …. Are you aware? You have been deprived of your autonomy. That hand, which could have healed, is simply not being given an opportunity to recover. You have been made to feel like you can’t do anything without him. You are made to depend on him. More so to the point that, this entire country’s system and state affairs, is controlled by them. The power of the Chancellor and Callisto is too strong. They have the same authority as you. No, it may be higher than your own.”
Luciano could only think that this little queen was being manipulated by them. It was even more so, because of her desire for death
The only ones who would benefit the most from her untimely death would be, of all people, none other than them.
“From my point of view, you look like you’re locked up in your room. No, the castle itself is a birdcage. And on top of that, you’ve become a mistress of Callisto.”
Alana stared at Luciano. “Don’t blame Callisto. He’s, my confidante.”
“A confidante with illicit thoughts. Your nightgown shows it. Look.”
Luciano placed the comb on the side table and placed his hand under Alana’s breasts. From behind.
Two sharp protruding points were definitely noticeable beneath the translucent fabric. “I’ll tell you the truth. You can even see the pale colour of your nipples. It’s more obscene than a bare breast.” Alana looked in her mirror and seemed to lose her words.
“You are mistaken in thinking that this is a normal nightgown, as you have no contact with the outside world. Your nightgown is made entirely of very thin fabric. They are designed to seduce men.”
She must have been embarrassed because he had raised a point. Alana put her hands on each of her breasts. “I’m going to dispose of all the ones you have now. You can get new ones that are not transparent.”
Luciano asked Alana, who moves her nodded silently, “What’s colour do you like? Do you have a preference?”
“I don’t have a preference. Emilio, you choose. I’ll leave it to you.” Luciano felt like he could understand why Callisto was crazy about Alana. Being purely dependent on him, in her position, more than anyone else, this was irresistible. Her status was above all else.
The importance of her position, coupled with the circumstance of her hand and the situation she found herself in. She was in such a revered position yet depended on a man. Whoever wound up being her man, found himself in a very coveted, exclusive position. A relationship like that with the Queen of the most powerful Millennial Empire, would drive any man crazy with desire.
Luciano chose his words carefully, for Alana was holding her breasts depressed. “After your injury, I can only assume that your hands have been pampered. People are not weak creatures. I can’t say that it will be the same as before, but it will respond to training. It is much better to do that than not to do it. I’m going to help you, so try to move it.”
As he watched Alana’s lips purse, from the door, two knocks sounded. Luciano looked toward the sound. “It’s time to eat. Today is irregular, but from tomorrow you will wake up at a certain time and eat at a certain time. Don’t expect to be able to stay in your bed until you feel better. An irregular lifestyle makes even healthy people sick.” He pulled Alana’s hand as he spoke.
//I think this chapter really made Luciano so much better than Callisto. I love this story for making the characters so complex. And Luciano underneath all that dark history, there’s a bit of normality in the midst of the unordinary. He is not only the ML, but also Alana’s foil. Both faced unimaginable horrific circumstances at a young age, went through pain and anguish, but they both deal with it so differently. Alana has lost all hope. Once her soul died, so did her will to do anything. The only way to relieve her pain is to disappear. When Luciano’s soul died, he swore to make everyone else die. The only way is to make those who made him in pain, be in pain to. All I can say, is the human psyche responds so complexly and differently to traumatic situations and this story captures that in the little scenes we’ve scene.