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Ruler Vol 5 Chapter 52

Author: Anit666

Editor: Weasalopes

【Sherry’s POV】

Plip-plop, plip-plop. The rhythmic pitter-patter of the rain resounded inside the quiet room. He stood by the window with his back turned to me. Staring out into the open, he reached out for the falling raindrops and let them wet his hand.

With bated breath I waited for him, observing his actions and trying to decipher the meaning behind them.

“You know, Sherry.” He started, without facing me. “I love rain.”

I could not understand; was this his response to my mutter? Why? What sense did it make? Oblivious to my feelings, he continued.

“There could be many reasons for that. Maybe I love its scent, or perhaps I’m fond of the coolness it brings. Maybe, I like the clouded sky because it seemingly fits my mood, or maybe I just adore being drenched in it and forgetting everything else.” He finally pulled his hand inside and shook it to get rid of the drops.

“But the thing is, they are all just ‘maybes. I do not know why I like rain so much; those were just the possible reasons I came up with after thinking hard about it. Now, the question is-” He turned to me.

His gentle smile tinged with mild amusement caught me off guard, and for a moment I forgot to breathe.

“Does it really matter why I love rain?” He leaned on the windowsill and looked straight at me. “The reason is of no consequence; there is only one truth here, that I love rain. The same goes for you, Sherry. What does it matter if I did more for you than Michael ever did? Does that deny your feelings? Nay. Does that make your feelings worthless and unreasonable? Nay. You love Michael- that is ALL that matters. Reason be damned, because reason was never your incentive to fall for him. You’d do well to remember that.”

These were the words he gave me. This was his reply to my dilemma. The words I had so inadvertently muttered had given me this result.

His words themselves weren’t that great, but the meaning behind them was clear; don’t try to understand love through logic. As the saying goes, ‘There is a reason we call it falling in love’.

Of course, I wasn’t convinced yet, but his words had surely put me at ease. And I’m sure that result was calculated. He wanted me to arrive at my own conclusion.

And so, Samuel Hayden had once again saved me.

This happened back when we were still on Earth. Disillusioned from my failure to get Michael’s attention, I had wondered why I couldn’t love Sam instead; he had done so much for me after all. It was supposed to a mere jest, but the more I thought about it, the more logical it became, until I was trapped in a labyrinth of reasons and emotions I had created by myself.

In the end, I accidentally ended up muttering that in front of Sam while we were playing games at his house, and after thinking for some moments, that was how he had replied.

In just a few moments, Sam had eliminated my doubts. In just a few moments, he had once again become my saviour. Though I still wonder whether he actually loved rain or not. Was it a mere coincidence that it just happened to be raining when he said those things, or were his words a result of careful calculation that involved the current phenomena of raining? Who knows?

At least, I don’t. And till now, I had no way of knowing it.

When Samael had asked me, “If the Hero protects humanity, then who protects the Hero?”, Michael wasn’t the only person who had appeared in my mind. The other one was… yes, Samuel Hayden.

Sam had been my… messiah, yet I failed to save him that one time.

But how interesting; both Samael and Samuel sound so similar, yet their meanings are so different. Samael was the son of God who had rebelled against Him and had been cast into Hell. Samuel, on the other hand, means ‘God had heard’.

Huh. Both the names have something to do with God; maybe they are not that different after all.

Then, is it because of God’s grace that Sam has once again appeared in front of me?

“Thank you for accepting my request, Sir Samael.” I snapped out of my reverie and returned to the present.

“No problem.” Samael gave a short reply.

Sitting on the sofa in front of me, he glanced at the moon through the window. His gaze lingered there for some moments before finally shifting back to me. His face was hidden by his mask, so I could not decipher what he was thinking.

“So, how can I help you?” He asked. “Or before that, are you alright? It has only been a few hours since you were stabbed by your beloved Michael.”

Hours, huh…

“There’s no need to worry about that. Ms. Mary’s treatment was perfect. I’m good as new.”

“If you say so.” He nodded. “So, how can I help you?”

“Actually, I need your advice on something.”

“I’ll try my best to help.”

“Thank you.” I gave a light bow while sitting. “But before that, I was wondering Sir Samael, why do you wear that mask?”

Samael instinctively touched his mask and let out a short sigh.

“I was caught up in a really large fire a long time ago, and have some really bad scars from that time. They are quite nauseating to look at, so I cover them with this mask.” I could almost feel him smiling bitterly.

Tch. His acting is perfect as always.

“I’m sorry for bringing up such a painful memory.”

I almost truly was; that was how perfectly he had maintained his tone.

“Don’t worry.” He waved his hand. “And you can call me Samael; adding a Sir before it just makes it more tedious.”

“Is it really alright? I mean-”

“It is. So, what can I help you with?”

“Actually…” I got up from my chair, circled around the table, and sat on his lap.

“Um, Sherry?” He fidgeted awkwardly but I firmly held his shoulders and gave my sultry smile.

“Samael, do you know the rumour that used to circulate among my classmates?”

“No, I don’t. So how about you get off-”

“My classmates used to call me a slut.”

“I see. Now please get-”

“What do you think? Was it true?”

“……Who knows?” He gave up his struggle with a sigh.

“Do you want to know?”

“Not particularly.”

…Even though I’m acting, that actually hurt. Am I not attractive enough for him? Isn’t he getting ahead of himself?

“Those rumours, they were… true.” I smiled and pulled his face closer to mine.

“I see.” He stiffly nodded.

“Now since you’re a man, I’m sure you…” I squirmed my hips a bit. “Already know what I’m talking about.”

Ah, I wanna get off already.

For a long time, I had thought about how to get Samael to admit his crime, but none of the plans I thought up would work. Using force wouldn’t work since he was crazy strong, while cornering him with words and arguments was a strategy worth 0 points because he was a master manipulator and could easily direct the conversation according to his wishes.

Finally, I had to settle on this; get him worked up by doing something he would never expect me to.

After all, Samuel Hayden had formed an oath with me that we would never touch each other in a sexual way again. And despite being a piece of shit, Sam was a man of his word; he would go to any lengths to keep his promise.

Now, I’m damn sure that Samael is in fact my Sam. He might be a good actor, but old habits do die hard. The moment he said ‘Progress takes sacrifice’ back at the party Cecile had organised, I knew that Sam had returned.

After that I continued observing Samael carefully, and found a lot of similarities with Sam. His mannerisms, way of talking, way of walking, his choice of words, tone, his method of doing things; all of them were giving me an intense déjà vu.

There is only one way to explain that; Samael is Sam. I mean, what else would make sense? That he just simply happens to be similar? Pfft, impossible. I’m sure- this is Sam.

As I thought, Sam somehow survived after being cast away. Well, of course he would. A man of his calibre would never die so easily. He must have survived and found some way to return; he knew that I, that we, were waiting for him.

Of course, he wouldn’t just appear before us and say that he’s Sam. That would create a lot of problems and Sam would never want to deal with them. So, he took this roundabout way to make his presence known. He must have controlled each and every action of his to invoke a sense of déjà vu within me so that I could recognise him. By doing so, he would be able to escape the troubles because he would have a backer in the form of me.

As always, his plans were convoluted yet perfect.

“If I remember correctly, don’t you love Michael?” Samael, or rather, Sam, made a weak attempt to resist me in order to not break our oath.

“That I do.” I nodded. “However… he cannot satisfy me.”

“Satisfy in the sense?”

“In bed, duh.”

“I see.” He nodded. “So now you want to use me to satiate your desires.”

“Precisely.”

Good, fall into my trap, Hayden. I’ll take that fake persona of yours and rip it, and smash it, and blast it, and ravage it, and turn it into dust, until nothing of it is left. I’ll make sure that you can never hide from me again.

“Wow. To think that both the lovers would have the same kinks. You and Michael are truly a match made in heaven.”

“Yea- wait, what?”