The Inconceivable Flame: A Fallen Angel's Disguise

’My heart has already caught the rhythm of yours. That reason should be enough for you.’

Those words echoed in her mind like a broken record. She was sick of this endless loop constantly playing in her mind. It wasn’t annoying though. The feelings it agitated in her were annoying.

For the next couple of nights, she again wasn’t able to sleep. It was lack of Xiao Zhiren’s presence beside her or her insomnia was back; it was hard to tell. However, a certain voice in her mind was nagging and claiming that it was the absence of a particularly cheeky person.

"My friend is coming today. We are going to a restaurant for dinner. Would you like to join?" Xiao Zhiren asked her as he met her outside the condominium building.

"Friend is yours. Dinner is yours. Why should I join?" Ru retorted keeping her eyes anywhere but at him.

Leaning closer to her, he said, "I have to introduce my girlfriend." He saw Ru’s body flinching visibly at his words and felt amused. Aye, this little chili wasn’t that unaffected as she pretended to be.

"What do you think I’m friendless? I also have a prior commitment with a very very very close friend!" Ru snapped at him, not caring about her sharp tone at all. Who told him to make her feel flustered? She wasn’t this annoyed before in her entire life. Hold on a second, there was indeed a time when someone really annoyed her to an extent but she wasn’t willing to relive through the memory lane. At least, not while Xiao Zhiren staring at her as if trying to read through her soul or something.

Oddly, Xiao Zhiren wasn’t bothered at all even when Ru tried to incite him with that ’very very very close friend’ phrase. Why should he feel threatened? She was his girlfriend. It was a commitment as well; one that Ru wouldn’t go back on for the sake of her pride.

"Okay, enjoy yourself." Xiao Zhiren chirped literally like a happy bird before planting a soft kiss on her cheek, leaving Ru to gape at his back.

Clenching her fists, Ru punched and kicked in the air behind his back imagining him to be at the other end of this whole assault. But then he will get hurt. Aish! I need a drink. I so do! With this thought, Ru got into the car that she was using these days and made a bee-line for a popular nightclub in the Capital.

Nightclubs weren’t her forte considering she had a very old and conservative personality and beliefs. But she needed to be in a loud crowd where she won’t be able to hear even her own mind. And since nightclub was the best option that came to her mind, Ru went with it. There was indeed no prior commitment. It was just an excuse on her part and it worked.

As she entered the nightclub, the loud music made her wince in irritation but she still willed herself to continue. But the smell of different perfumes lingering in the air made her stomach churn. And seeing those young men and women doing a sensual dance while grinding their bodies on each other made her even more repulsed.

’Okay, I am done! I can’t do this! No way!’ She turned on her heels and walked out of that suffocating and horrendous place. She was feeling disgusted. How could anyone like a nightclub? It was a horrible place.

She drove around some more and with Raven’s recommendation chose a sophisticated bar. She took the elevator to reach the bar that was a part of a circular restaurant with floor-length windows. The bar counter was set up at the first portion of the restaurant while the second floor was dedicated to dinning.

"Hey, bloke[1]! Give me some brandy. Or any hard liquor would work." Ru ordered the bartender as she took a seat at the high chair.

The bartender looked her up and down. She had to repeat her words in Mandarin and then he reacted with, "Right away, Sir."

Ru held her head in her hands and started humming in her mind. It was a good tactic to stop herself from thinking nonsense.

"Aly?" Ru frowned at that voice and turned to see one of the most irksome guy in her life.

"Your Royal Highness, I have a name. And it certainly isn’t ’Aly’." She was gnashing her teeth in rage at him. Seeing Adrian’s face was enough to make her already sour mood to get even more bitter.

Adrian gave her a cheeky smile as he sat beside her saying, "Aly, Alev, Knight-y, Knight. All’s the same, mate! Why are your knickers getting into a twist?"

"You Bloody Blighty Plonker[1]! Get your Royal arse away from me!" Ru didn’t bother giving him a face. It wasn’t worth it. And she wasn’t on good terms with him anyway.

Adrian gasped dramatically while Ru picked up her brandy and gulped it in one go before clicking her fingers to get the bartender’s attention as she gestured him to refill.

"Mate, you look gutted!" Adrian commented as he didn’t take her words to heart at all. He knew the more he felt agitated, the more she’ll try to mess with him.

"I thought you to be a bludger[2], why are hell-bent on acting like a bugger instead? Don’t be nosy." Ru wasn’t in the mood to entertain him at all. Wasn’t it enough that she was having a restless day? She was feeling really uncomfortable for some reason.

As if something was about to happen. But her heart was restless because of the anticipation rather than anxiousness.

"Brilliant! You look like a ticking time bomb." Adrian was observing her expressions because it might be the first time he was actually seeing some fluctuation there. He thought she had face paralysis but now he was certain that there were a lot of emotions on that face. "By the way, when did Knight Empires top mercenaries become bodyguards? It makes one curious to know who you’re protecting."

Ru wasn’t surprised to hear his words. He was from the Royal Family, of course, he had enough resources to know about her special orders regarding Yuan’s protection. However, people were misunderstanding something. Her protection was for Lilith more than it was for Yuan. She was aware that Xiao Zhiren had sent his men for his brother. She didn’t need to bother with him. Her priority was her own people.

"Why are you here, Adrian?" She asked completely ignoring his question.

"I have a dinner meeting with a friend. I heard they serve excellent nosh here." Adrian replied in a vague manner knowing well enough that she was referring to his presence here in China rather than here as in the restaurant. "What brought you here? Nosh or liquor?"

Taking another swig of her drink, Ru answered, "I’m on the pull[3], mate!"

Adrian choked on air as he coughed profusely while gaping at her in disbelief. It took him a while to compose himself before he said, "Blimey! Your sense of humor is still horrendous as always."

"Who said I’m joking? This lord is certainly not in the mood to joke. And you’d be the last person I’d want to use my sense of humor on." Ru’s brows were quirked up as he spoke monotonously.

"Look, Knight! I for one will never believe your words. I have never even seen you snogging with anyone. And you’re talking about shagging? Please, mate! Say something that I could really believe." Ru’s lips curled up slightly at his reply. He wasn’t that much of an idiot as she thought him to be. Certainly, snogging or shagging weren’t on her list. Never had been.

But a certain someone had already made her taste what snogging was like. As for shagging? Ru immediately shook her head and took the brandy bottle drinking straight from it.

"Someone nicked[4] your heart?" Adrian said teasingly and while Ru glared at him and wiped the remnants of liquor off her lips, he added, "Sorry, but the way you’re trying to get pissed[5] is misleading."

"I am gobsmacked. Utterly and completely gobsmacked! How can a nutter[6] like you even come up with such a ridiculous thought?"

"You know what, chap? With this word game of yours, you seem really dodgy." Adrian’s smile irked Ru and she felt like her patience was running out now.

"Your Highness, would you leave on your own or should I make you?" Ru’s warning made Adrian zip his lips. It was better. He still remembered how she made him lose millions just because he came unannounced.

"Fine. I’ll see you around." Adrian got up from his seat to leave.

"I hope not. I won’t be polite like today otherwise." Ru replied shedding all fake cordiality while Adrian was yelling at her in his heart to know when was she polite? Because if her definition of polite was the way she just treated him like then she really needed a new thesaurus in life.

[1] "Bloody Blighty Plonker": Damn Britain Idiot

[2] "Bludger": An idle or lazy person

[3] "On The Pull": Looking for sex

[4] "Nicked": Stolen

[5] "Pissed": Drunk

[6] "Nutter": Crazy person