Don’t trust him, and don’t love him either

Synopsis

Don’t trust him, and don’t love him either Chapter 23 has been released. Celestial darkness closes in like a suffocating shroud as soon as I step outside. My skin screams in protest at the absence of sunlight, a cruel reminder of my cursed existence. The once-beautiful features I've kept hidden behind this mask would be scorched to oblivion without it – a constant taunt from fate. Whispers have always surrounded me – whispers of being an 'abomination', a creature too grotesque for society's gaze. As if it matters what people think when even their deity wouldn't deign to look upon me. Now, however, that all seems set to change. For reasons both inexplicable and infuriating, the resplendent Duke Adel proposes to me, a union binding our families in matrimony. Admittedly, his intentions seem pure at first glance – blind and chivalrous perhaps but genuine nonetheless – yet the disparity between us should serve as warning enough not let our words deceive each other or ourselves. That hastily uttered promise only complicates things further: beneath Adel's enchanted facade, wounds run just as deep as mine do. What ensues becomes less foregone conclusion than unflinching test – will these tentative bonds slowly foster resolution, bring the scars within us closer together, or simply grow stronger because we're frozen helplessly in fear of stepping foot elsewhere.