The Lunar Curse: A Second Chance With Alpha Draven novel Chapter 216

Chapter 216: Uncomfortably Familiar

Meredith.

Xamira sat cross-legged on the thick carpeted floor, her little notebook sprawled open, her brows furrowed in a way that was far too serious for a seven-year-old.

Her tongue poked from the corner of her mouth as she scribbled out numbers with the short end of a graphite pencil.

I lay beside her on my stomach, chin resting in my palm, watching the way she chewed her lower lip like it was her nemesis.

It made me smile, although quietly.

The room smelled faintly of lavender and the buttery scent of the scones one of the maids had brought earlier. But Xamira hadn’t touched hers yet.

"Are you sure this is how you carry the number?" she asked suddenly, holding up the page like it was a declaration of war.

I reached for it. "Let me see."

She scooted closer and nudged the page toward me. Her handwriting was small but neat, slanted slightly to the right, as though even the letters were in a hurry to prove themselves.

I pointed to the third equation. "You’re close, but the three needs to go up here—see? Carry it above the tens column, not the ones."

She blinked at me, absorbing the correction. Then she nodded solemnly and picked up her pencil again.

"Okay, okay. I get it now."

She was brilliant—bright, curious, too emotionally aware for her age. But I couldn’t ignore the heavy silence that came with homeschooling.

I glanced toward the high-arched window of the sitting room. The sun was high and warm outside.

Somewhere out there, children her age were running around schoolyards, braiding each other’s hair, fighting over lunch snacks, and giggling over jokes that didn’t make any sense.

And here Xamira was, solving multiplication problems beside a woman who wasn’t even her mother.

It wasn’t fair.

But I didn’t blame Draven entirely. His methods were strict, yes, but they were grounded in caution. In protection.

He wanted to shield her from danger, from judgment, from being used as a pawn in political games she didn’t understand.

But still... I wondered if, when war finally broke out, Duskmoor’s council would even allow him to take her away.

Would they see her as leverage? Would they care that she was just a child?

"I’m done!" Xamira announced, dragging me back from my thoughts.

I blinked and looked down at the page. "Let’s check it."

She scooted beside me again, her head resting lightly against my arm. I took the pencil from her hand and ran through the answers with her, nodding as I marked ticks beside each one.

"Well done," I murmured. "You got them all right this time."

She beamed. "You’re a good teacher, my lady."

I laughed softly. "Oh no, I think you’re the good student."

Xamira kicked her legs in excitement and clutched her notebook to her chest. "Do you know how to draw?"

That made me pause. I stared at her little face, full of expectation.

"Draw?" I scoffed. "I can barely sketch a stick man without turning him into a bent twig."

She giggled. "That’s horrible!"

I raised an eyebrow. "I’m aware."

"Want me to teach you?" she offered, all puffed-up pride and the kind of generosity only a child could afford.

I pretended to consider it seriously. "Hmm... if you can teach me to paint without laughing at me, I might just take the deal."

She put on a mock-serious face. "I never laugh at my students."

"Oh, so now you’re the teacher?" 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

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