True Alpha's Chosen Mate-Chapter 306: Breathless

"I don’t like you."

My eyes lowered, falling on the dark landscape that overwhelmed the natural beauty of the garden. I didn’t mean to voice out my thoughts aloud, but I already did, and somehow, it felt liberating.

"I don’t like you too." I turned my head and faced him when he answered.

"You don’t?"

"You kept pushing me away and aside from the first time, you break my heart consistently. Why will I like someone who only knows how to hurt me?" he explained as if he was simply speaking the obvious.

"Then that’s good." I rocked my head, only to frown when he snickered.

"Pfft —! I’m kidding. I like you." While the corner of his lips stretched from ear to ear, I frowned. "Although I’m still surprised you are so easy."

"Easy?" I scoffed, pushing myself away from the railing, looking at him from head to toe. "You think I am easy?"

"Mhm. Do you have to repeat it?"

"Hah..."

"I mean, easy in a way to make you agree."

"You don’t know me."

"I don’t, but you don’t really push me hard enough to make me back away." He shrugged. "I’m not saying you’re completely easy, but probably more on the people you don’t think you should keep that act up."

I bit my inner lip, looking at him with displeasure plastered across my face. Sven sported a meek smile, tilting his head, batting his eyes ever so tenderly.

"Want some beef jerky?" he asked, sitting on the railing with his legs spread wide, feet swaying back and forth.

"No." My tone was cold, rolling my eyes at him. "What made you think I want anything from you?"

"What about going out for a walk?"

This time, my brows furrowed as I looked at him in dismay. But this devil-may-care simply raised his hands and shrugged.

"If things are too much, I usually take a long run and I won’t stop until my anger or my thoughts are still haywire. Trust me, a run or just a break helps," he swore with his hand across his chest. "You’re a vampire and hopping over the castle wall should be easy. It’s just a night walk. I don’t understand why you haven’t done it."

My mouth opened and closed like a fish and, like usual, I kept my reply to myself. Not because I didn’t want to defend myself, but I figured it was pointless.

"You won’t understand," was all I said as I looked away with a huff.

"How can I if you don’t tell me?"

Silence followed his remarks as I looked ahead. Everything he said was true. For a vampire such as myself, I could go beyond the castle walls — it was not like I was forbidden to go out of this place; it was just... pointless.

"Going outside this castle won’t resolve anything." I breathed out. "It’s just... an enormous cage. I’m not the person who will delude myself into believing I can breathe when, in fact, staying inside and outside is almost the same. I still feel breathless."

’I must have lost my mind,’ I thought. How could I say all these things to him? I bit my tongue, but it was too late. My words spilled out of my mouth and I couldn’t stop myself until the last syllable of my sentence.

"Then break the cage."

"Huh?" I looked at him with furrowed brows. Sven jumped out of the railings and leaned his arms against it, keeping his eyes ahead.

"If the cage is huge, then run to where it ends. If you still feel restricted and breathless despite reaching its end, go beyond that. It doesn’t matter if beyond the cage is surrounded by vast waters or sand. It could be dangerous and you might find yourself coming back from the starting line a hundred times, but trying is something than not trying at all."

"Do you think I’m not trying?"

He cast me a side-eye. "I don’t know you and I’m simply speaking from experience." Sven shrugged before he peeled his eyes away from me.

"You had no idea how vast this world is and how different people were. Maybe you do, but I don’t think you had been exposed to the things why people live with a smile despite the hardships that’s come along with life." He continued as the side of his lips curled up into a smirk. "Because this world is wonderfully created. There were so many things to see and things to learn from different people and races."

All I could do as he spoke whatever the hell he wanted to spew was stare at his side profile. He looked amused and happy and in peace while thinking of the things those russet eyes had seen. It was as though he saw this world differently than I did.

Not that I didn’t know that. For me, I only see the night and what happened in it. But he was someone who lived in the day, at the time when the world was brightly lit and everything was clear.

I lowered my eyes and pursed my lips, only to raise them again upon his next remarks.

"Do you want to see my night?" he asked with a playful grin.

"What?"

"My night," he repeated. "Yours is boring, no offense. You always stay in this room without making any sound or lighting up a single candle."

Sven jerked his chin towards my dark bedroom, keeping his eyes on me. "It’s not like you sleep early. If you are, then I would’ve stayed on this balcony without a problem."

I didn’t properly hear his last sentence as it sounded gibberish like a murmur. But whatever it was, I still frowned. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

"This place is suffocating, so I usually go out and have fun with everyone. You should come with me. It’ll be fun." He smiled innocently, wiggling his brows.

"Fun..." I scoffed and shook my head. "What sort of fun are you talking about and could possibly happen in the duchy?"

I was being sarcastic, convinced that there wasn’t anything fun in the duchy unless it involved blood and more blood. I arched a brow when I glanced at him, catching the huge grin plastered across his face.

"No," I said, but he nodded and replied,

"Yes."