The Crown’s Obsession

Chapter 72 - The Coat

Calhoun had changed the canvas he had been making use of which was before Madeline had fallen asleep. He had been looking forward to painting her earlier, but what he saw right now was something that he wanted to capture and paint on the empty canvas with colours that surrounded the girl on the couch. The tips of his fingers were dusted in black because of the constant touch of the charcoal that he was holding to draw her.

Madeline was the art he could draw thousands of times and would never tire out of it. For someone who kept her guard up since the time she came to know who he was, she right now slept on the couch, defenceless and vulnerable without knowing the dangers of the castle or Calhoun.

He took his time in drawing every line and curve as the girl continued to sleep in the quiet room. His red eyes moved between the canvas and the girl. Unable to keep his eyes off of her where for once she wasn't glaring at him, he stopped his hand from moving on the canvas. His feet padded on the ground to where she was, the piece of charcoal turning to dust because of the pressure of his fingers. Black pieces of dust fell on the ground.

Madeline had somehow curled herself on the couch, and it made Calhoun wonder if she had not been sleeping well in the night. It could also be because of the exhausting day, and the thought itself made Calhoun angry. His jaw clenched together at the notion that the man had come here to meet her. He was no fool to believe that it was a coincidence.

"Were you hoping to leave today with him?" he asked in a whisper, his eyes raking in her sleeping form, "You looked anxious when you met me, what did you do with him? I won't let anyone take you away from me," said Calhoun.

When Madeline turned around in sleep to have a much more comfortable position to sleep in, the unconscious girl didn't know she was only enticing the King further with her current state.

Madeline had moved to sleep with her front facing the ceiling. One hand placed on her stomach and the other that rested on the surface of the couch next to her. The petticoat was not a long one, but of the length that reached just below her knee which now had raised itself to show the pale lace-like garters around one of her thighs. Her hand that was placed on her stomach pressed the upper part of her petticoat to show the curve and colour of her tips because of the fabric pressing against her body.

Calhoun's hand itched, and he clenched, his eyes turning darker than before when his eyes fell on it.

His anger had not dissipated, not because the man had come here but because of the lie that was uttered to him. He couldn't let it pass, and it appeared that the girl forgot the point of punishment. He was no kind King.

"Madeline," he called her name loud enough to have her eyes snapped open from sleep.

"I am sorry," she whispered quickly. Madeline didn't know when she had fallen asleep but when she heard Calhoun call her name, her eyes were wide open, and she suddenly sat up and pushed the petticoat down that had risen up to her thigh.

"I didn't know I asked you to sleep while I was painting you," Calhoun's words were sharp, his eyes even more intimidating as if he were upset about something, "Did I?" he demanded.

In haste, she didn't realise that the petticoat had moved from the top of her shoulder- covering one side until her neck and the other giving a view of her smooth shoulder. When it came to her notice, she was about to make it right, but Calhoun had got to it sooner as he took hold of one end of the petticoat from where her skin started to be seen and he pulled it back in place.

Madeline had tried to keep herself awake, but her eyes kept closing, and she decided to close her eyes for a few seconds, but she had fallen asleep in this man's presence!

"You must be very stressed. With the man coming here and getting caught," Calhoun said, straightening both the sides of the petticoat even and Madeline wished he would let them go, but he didn't, "This is why they say not to lie and come clean. I should have preferably had you with the bedsheet to paint. It would have kept you awake," he taunted.

She moved back into the couch she was sitting in to have his hand finally retract to his side. Seeing her still drowsy where she was trying to get her out of sleep, Calhoun said,

"Anyways, I got the painting I was looking forward to. I didn't know you could have a sensual look on your face while sleeping, not to forget where your hands were and the legs," his words were slow and deliberate so that every word of his would sink into her mind. Calhoun's eyes shone with an evil look in them, and Madeline could feel her heart drop in dread, "Was way better than I imagined," and he looked downwards from her neck suggestively and Madeline crossed her arms in front of her.

Seeing him stand up and turn around to go back to the canvas, Madeline's lips pursed. The way he spoke, and the way her petticoat had risen up her thigh, she didn't know what he had painted.

"C-can I see it?" she asked, curious to confirm her suspicion on what outrageous painting he had made of her.

"No."

No? thought Madeline to herself.

Calhoun's reply was quick and short that held no explanation of why she couldn't see it when she was the person he had drawn or painted.

She then realised she had used a polite speech with a question. Changing her words, she said, "I want to see it," and this earned her with Calhoun who turned around to meet her eyes.

"You want to see it?" he cocked his head to the side. The way he asked her, Madeline wasn't sure if she was to nod her head or not, "Yes?"

Madeline tried to search through his demeanour if this was a trap or if he would allow her because the first time she had asked he had refused with a no.

"That's what I thought," Calhoun noticed how she was fretting to see what he had drawn with her in it. He relished the anxious look he brought out in her face. Seeing Madeline stand up, Calhoun took slow steps towards her,

"For someone who fell asleep in front of the King, give me one reason why I shouldn't punish you further? Falling asleep," he walked around, pausing his footsteps behind her, "... were you expecting me to hand down another punishment to you?" his words fell right next to her ears, "You know what? You can go back to your room."

Madeline would have been relieved that he was dismissing her from his presence but she was wearing only a petticoat and the dress she had been wearing was nowhere to be seen in the room.

Was he purposely asking her to leave the room in this state? When her eyes met Calhoun's, she saw him grin at her.