434: TEN YEARS OLD

TEN YEARS OLD

"What are you doing Hope?" Kace stood in the doorway of Hope's bedroom after he noticed what his little girl was doing.0

Hope was dabbing a pink colored lipstick on her lips after trying to curl her long straight black hair. Kace was sure that the 'tools' that she used was coming from Serefina's bedroom, because there was no way she would get them on her own. 

Hope was startled as she whipped her head toward the door and stared at Kace with wide- eyes. She jumped from her seat and rushed toward him.

"You have to knock before you enter my room." Hope pushed Kace out and closed the door. Afterward, there was a soft 'click' sound which indicated that she just locked her door.

Kace stood right outside the locked door with a blank face. For a minute, he just couldn't wrap his head around what just happened. 

What the hell happened to his baby girl!?

It was almost a year since the last time Kace met Hope, because he was busy chasing after Gluttony and avoiding Jedrek's people. For the latter part, he couldn't stop wondering why his brother couldn't just leave him alone?! It had been decades! What else did he want from him?!

Yet, Kace knew what exactly Jedrek wanted; Serefina. The witch.

Why hadn't Jedrek found his mate yet? So, he could stop his infatuation toward that quirky witch. But, then Kace was afraid that he had managed to kill his mate. 

Whatever it was, Kace didn't mind, as long as he didn't touch his mate. But, for Jedrek that wouldn't be the case… he had issued an order to kill his mate after all.

However, what the hell happened to his baby girl!?

When did she start to use those make up products and tried to make herself pretty? No. She was already pretty! But, why was she doing that?

Hope had never closed the door right before Kace's face like this before. Usually, she would jump onto him while demanding to see his wolf cutely.

So, what is it now? What happened during this year?

Kace was dumfounded for another minute until the door was opened before producing Hope from behind it.

Fortunately, she had wiped off her pink lipstick, but the curls were still there. Kace found himself lost for words.

"What is it little one?" Kace asked softly. He could tell that his mate was starting to regret her actions earlier.

Hope fluttered her lashes and looked at Kace with a pout tugging on her lips. "I am not little anymore…" she said timidly, barely in a whisper, yet Kace could hear her clearly nonetheless.

Kace's eyebrows rose questioningly. Despite there were no words that came from his lips, he stared a hole into her head. 

"Were those Serefina's?" Kace asked after he watched how his little mate started to feel uncomfortable with the silence that stretched between them. 

Hope nodded timidly. 

"Did Serefina know about you using them?" Kace tousled her hair like he always did and he could feel Hope relaxing immediately. She was afraid that Kace would get angry at her. 

Kace was shocked, but he wasn't angry with her. 

Hope shook her head. "She will get mad if she knows you touched her things." Kace knew the witch well, she would get fussy over Hope touching her things and coming into her room.

It was a good thing that Serefina was away while Lana, after she opened the door for Kace, disappeared again, like usual. 

"I know." Hope answered timidly. She bit her lips nervously. 

"So? Why did you take those without her knowledge?" Kace grabbed her hand and led her to the kitchen where he made a cup of warm chocolate for her. 

"Because my friends use them too…" Hope was sitting on the barstool, playing with her curls. 

Kace had to admit that she looked so cute with that hair style on, yet in his eyes she always looked very cute regardless of what she did, thus that judgment couldn't be justified. 

"They used them inside of school?" Kace raised his eyebrows. Was that allowed?

"No." Hope lifted her head and looked at Kace. "They tried to wear their mother's make up in their house and took pictures of it. They tried to dress up like their mothers."

"And they showed those pictures to you?" Kace knew he guessed it right when he saw his little girl nodding. "And then you want to try it too?"

"Yes." Hope admitted, but then her expression turned sad. "But, I don't have mother, so I think Serefina is the closest one to it, that's why I…" Hope stopped, but Kace knew what she wanted to say. 

"Drink this." Kace pushed the cup of warm chocolate toward her and sat across from Hope as he took a sip of his own serving. 

As children reached the age of ten, many would start to think of themselves as being almost teenagers, while some would start looking and acting more mature, others would remain more child- like, both physically and emotionally. 

Kace thought that the former reason was what happened to Hope. She started to imitate and admire someone older than her.

The problem was; since it was very rare for Hope to go outside and meet other people, the only adult with a strong presence in this house was only Serefina. 

Kace just regretted that his baby girl has to take the witch as her role model. 

"Are you angry with me?" Hope sipped her chocolate, fluttering her lashes from behind her cup. 

"Angry? Of course not." Kace chuckled. "You have grown up well." He stretched out his hand and tousled her hair, but stopped when she frowned because he had ruined her curls. 

Kace sighed.

"I just want you to stay like this a little bit longer." Kace murmured, retracting his hands from her hair, unknown to him, Hope was still frowning because she lost the ticklish feeling that she liked. "Let's buy the things that you want when you got a little bit older, okay?" He didn't want Hope getting into trouble with Serefina just because of this.

"Okay!" Hope replied cheerfully. 

pqdm.com