I was occupied in preparing Lady for another stroll to the Mortal Realm. Suddenly, a hand attached itself onto my arm. I looked and saw Mallory. Her eyes were puffed and almost red.
She could have cried for a long time.
I sighed as I shook my head. "Mallory, I don't have time to do this with you. I have to be somewhere else right now," I complained.
"I beg of you, Robert, give me a chance to be with you," she pleaded. She continued, "Grant me a chance to prove to you that I can love you more than any woman can. Let me prove myself to you."
"You already have, Mallory. You have proven yourself to be a good friend and sister to me. Let that be the end of this matter," I replied, slowly removing her hand from my arm. As soon as I got her hand off, she clung onto my arm with both hands. "Mallory, don't you feel sorry for yourself?" I continued, completely irritated. "Do you want for me to paint a picture of how desperate you look right now?"
"I don't care what I look like, Robert," she whined. "All I want is a chance to be able to call you mine."
When would she give up? Couldn't she accept the fact that in her lifetime, as well as mine, there would never be a chance for us? In the very beginning, there was never a chance.
I scraped my hand across my face out of frustration. I just wanted for her to leave me alone. I wanted this conversation, this matter to end here. Right here, right now.
"Mallory, what do I have to do to make you stop bothering me? What can I do to make you stop bothering me? What can I do to make you stop crying every time you and I bump into each other in this castle?"
She held my hand, a glimmer of hope came from her tired eyes. "Are you truly willing to do anything to end my heartbreak?" she asked.
As soon as I heard that question, I immediately regretted what I said. She was going to take advantage of what I just said. However, if this was the only solution to stop her from disturbing my peace anytime an opportunity would arise, I might as well do what needed to be done.
I pulled my hand back from her grip. "As I recall, you mentioned that if you're given the chance to be with me, you will stop pestering me, am I right? You will put an end to this overly-dramatic act that you're currently doing right in front of me, correct?" I replied.
"Yes, I did say that," she nodded, confused.
I sighed, defeated. I knew that if I entered a relationship with her, it would be very difficult for me. I would need to pretend and lie to her that I loved her. And once I put an end to the relationship, it would be even more difficult for her.
"I will make a deal with you, Mallory," I answered, crossing my arms. "But, whatever it is that I incorporate in this deal, that is only what I can do for you. Nothing more, nothing less. Do you understand?"
She nodded as she paid full attention to what I was about to say.
"I will give you the chance to be with me, just so I don't have to deal with this melodramatic scene for the rest of my life," I said. "We can be a couple, only until I turn twenty-one thousand years. I think that's a fair chance for you."
"Really? You would do that for me?" she asked, her tone became hopeful. She also smiled amidst the remaining tears that ran down her cheeks.
"I'm only doing this because you said you wanted to. And I don't want to see you crying every time we cross paths with one another. I don't like it when people are miserable, especially when it's because of me," I explained.
She quickly locked me in her arms, saying, "I love you so much, Robert."
I removed her as fast as I could. "Do not do that, please."
"Why?" she asked. She hugged me once again, but I removed her again. "Robert, I just wanted to show you how grateful I am, and how much I love you," she complained.
"First of all, you've told me too many times today, and it's gotten annoying to hear," I replied. "Second, I don't like being touched or hugged by anyone other than my mother, my sister, and Nana. Don't expect for me to be affectionate, whether it's in public or in private."
"Does that mean I can't even hold your hand in the castle grounds?" she asked, confused.
"Yes, that is also included," I nodded.
"But, why? If we're a couple, what's wrong with that? Shouldn't we be proud of our love?" she asked.
"Mallory, you're being delusional. I already told you: I don't love you the same way you love me," I repeated. "And I'm being careful with my image. My family's reputation is very important to me. I must protect it at all times."
"Are you saying that all you care about is your image? You don't care about what we have?" she asked.
"Mallory, this relationship that I offered to you isn't of any value to me. I value our friendship, without a doubt. But if you're going to ask me to do the same with this pretentious relationship, I can't do that. I agreed to do this in order to stop you from your endless proclamations of love," I explained. "And if I don't put any importance to my reputation, we can lose everything. And if that happens, you would lose everything as well. Do you want that for yourself? Do you want that for Nana?" I continued.
She stood in silence, staring into nothingness. "Robert, you said that we are a couple now. But, you don't seem to be happy about this."
"Because I am not, Mallory," I replied as I turned around, locking Lady's saddle in place.
She asked, "Then, why did you agree if you don't even want it in the first place?"
I groaned. I couldn't tell if she was deaf or if she was playing dumb. I already explained everything and she already asked the same thing, over and over again. "Mallory, didn't it occur to you?" I asked as I turned around to her. "I did it for you."
Her lips slowly formed into a smile and hugged me again. "You do love me," she uttered.
I removed her arms from me, holding her firmly as I looked into her eyes. "Let me repeat this for you, Mallory: I agreed to this because I want for you to stop for your profession of love. I didn't do it because I have feelings for you," I explained as I let her go.
"You truly cannot love me?" she asked as her eyes swelled once more.
I closed my eyes as I sighed, my hands were now on my waist. I had somewhere I wanted to be, and Mallory was a nuisance at this point. "Mallory, no matter what you say or do, I love you as my sister. All I can ever give to you is friendship," I replied.
"But, now that we have some sort of relationship, why don't you try to love me for real?" she asked as she started crying.
I sighed once again as I ensured that Lady's saddle was locked. I looked back to Mallory. "Mallory," I said with a gentle voice, carefully wiping a tear, "I agreed to be with you until my next birthday. A year isn't enough to know if you truly love someone."
She sniffled. She replied, "I understand that you can't offer any more than what you already included in the deal. But… can't we be together for the rest of our lives?"
"You know I can't do that. You know that I already have a bride waiting for me. And once I reach my next birthday, we are to be wed after," I said.
"So, you'd rather marry someone you don't even know, than to be with someone who you knew since birth?" Mallory complained.
"Mallory, I don't have a choice. It's a decree between our parents," I answered, hopping onto Lady. I added, "And like what I've said numerous times already: I only see you as my sister. Therefore, in that sense, I can't be with you."
And with that, I gave Lady a bit of kick on her side, and we went on our way to the Mortal Realm.