Chapter 0034 +25 BONUS
My heart fluttered at the undisguised want and hunger in his eyes. This was unlike him, to desire me outside our intimacy nights. But something had changed lately.
Later that evening, as I began dressing for the banquet, I stood before the floor-length mirror in my chambers, staring at my gaunt reflection. Viona, wearing her own dark purple gown, carefully laid out potential gown options on the bed behind me.
“I like this black one,” she said, pointing at a long black silk gown with one hand while lifting a wine glass to her lips with the other. “It’s sexy, but refined.”
I turned and picked up the dress, holding it against myself in the mirror. She was right; it was suitable for tonight. “But I haven’t worn this dress in… I don’t even know how long,” I said absentmindedly, turning this way and that. “There’s no time like the present,” Viona said.
Glancing down, I traced my hands over the hollows of my ribcage, the knobby protrusion of my hips. But there, just below my concave belly, was the tiniest swell—a gentle curve that caught the light, casting the faintest shadow. It wasn’t my pregnancy showing; that wouldn’t begin to show for a good while. No, this was the sign of a belly with food in it. Not much food, but still something.
I closed my eyes, picturing my body from before my eating disorder began—the slopes and valleys, the lush femininity I had forsaken through years of starvation. But now… now I could see that form returning, slowly but surely. Part of me hated it.
A hand on my shoulder made me open my eyes. Viona stood beside me, meeting my gaze in the mirror, and it was only then that I realized I had tears in my eyes.
“Hey. You’re doing great.”
I nodded, quickly wiping away my tears before they could ruin my makeup. “Thank you, Viona. For everything. For never losing faith in me.”
Viona offered a small smile in the mirror and sat on the settee at the bed’s end. “It’s what friends are for, isn’t it?” she asked.
Smiling, I unzipped the gown and stepped into it. It slipped on smoothly and easily, hanging slightly loose on my frame, but not in a bad way—more of a sexy, casual way. Viona stood and helped me zip it up.
Then, her eyes lit up, and she reached into her purse. “Actually, that reminds me… I brought this for you.”
Pulling out a folded pamphlet, she held it out. I took it and opened it to see details for a local support group—weekly meetings for women recovering from eating disorders and related issues. It was completely anonymous, or so the tagline promised.
“I thought you might be interested in this,” she said. “I’ll go with you, if you want. And you can wear a mask if you’re worried about your identity… although, if people saw their Luna admitting to her issues and publicly working on them…”
Her voice trailed off, but the implications remained: my reputation. That was the reason behind so much of what I was doing lately. And she was right; something like this would bolster my approval ratings. If the people of Nightcrest saw that their Luna was just another person, a woman struggling with her own issues but willing to conquer them, then they’d look up to me.
“Viona, you’re a genius,” I said, lifting my gaze to meet hers.
Viona smiled and raised her wine glass. But before she could speak, there was a soft knock on the door. Assuming it was a servant, I called out without hesitation, “Come in.” A moment later, the door cracked open, and it was not a servant who stepped in. My heart stopped as I turned to see Noah standing there, holding a wrapped gift box.