The next day, the girl started to stir and raised her hands above her head to stretch her muscles. She sighed deliciously when she felt how soft the bed was under her body.
Could it be because of this soft mattress she could sleep soundly? She never fell asleep this soundly before as nightmares, and past trauma often haunted her nights.
Her pretty lids opened slowly to reveal autumn leaves-like brown eyes. At first, the girl frowned in confusion, realizing she didn't recognize this unfamiliar room. The moment she turned to the side and saw the face of a stranger she didn't know…
All hell breaks loose!
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!"
Axel jumped out of bed to avoid the girl's sudden tantrum. The girl picked pillow and anything she could reach and threw it all to Axel.
"Wait, I can explain..."
Bug! Bug! It seemed the girl had no intention to listen and kept throwing everything she could find.
Axel was hopeless and only could receive the unpainful hit until the girl was satisfied.
He did not expect that the girl's first reaction when she woke up was screaming and rolling away from him while throwing everything in his room.
As a result, the room was messy, like some robbers invading his house and search any valuable goods. No, it wasn't like that. He felt like a tornado hit this room.
Yup. That was more like it.
After the girl couldn't find any good to hit him and the girl was a little bit calm, Axel started to explain.
"So, here, let me explain. I..." he paused his words when he looked at the girl's autumn-like eyes filled with fear and looked at him like he was her eternal enemy.
He knew it was wrong to bring the girl to his house, and the girl had every right to get angry moreover hate him. But, it was not enough to create those extreme fear in those beautiful brown eyes.
It doesn't suit her. That well-shaped brown orb should be filled with joy and immeasurable glee.
Axel kept his distance, seeing the girl's fear and her stance that looked ready to escape.
He explained everything that happened yesterday evening with great patience and apologized for bringing her to his house without the girl's permission.
"I had to do it because I didn't know your house. Or, do you want me to take you to the hotel?"
The girl frowned in displeasure at his last sentence, which made Axel regret what he said. Why did he mention a hotel at a time like this?
"I've ordered my servants to make you Blood Mary to get rid of the remaining alcohol in your body."
"Blood Mary? What is that? I've never heard of it." came the suspicious tone from the girl, but Axel acted oblivious of it.
"It's vodka mixed with tomato juice. We British used to eat it to get rid of our hangover. Eat a little, and I'll take you home after that... only if you don't mind."
The girl looked at Axel warily as if she wanted to judge whether she could trust this person or not. But when she saw the sincerity of this mysterious man, the girl decided to believe him.
Axel did not stop smiling and tried to persuade the girl to make small talk without putting on an aura of intimidation or cold demeanor. He was as friendly as possible to make the girl feel more comfortable and open up to him.
In the end, slowly, the girl began to lower her defense fort, and Axel got his goal. He managed to get the girl to tell her name!
Chleora Regnz.
Her name was so pleasing in his ears and tasted sweet when he rolled her name with his tongue. It suited her very well.
But… Regnz? Is this girl related somehow to Vincentius Regnz? If so, why was this girl in this city? Aren't Vincent and his family in New York?
As promised, Axel led the girl back to her house... which turned out to be just a simple, humble house.
Ah, that means this girl is not the daughter of Vincentius Regnz, one of the richest and most powerful in this country. There's no way Vincent would let his daughter live in poverty like this.
After all, Vincent was not the only one who had Regnz as his surname. It made him feel sure that this girl had nothing to do with Vincent.
Well, Axel didn't care about this girl's identity, and he was genuinely interested in making friends with the girl who was always acting cold to him. He was looking for every means to meet the girl by coincidence.
"What are you doing here?"
"Why does it feel you are everywhere in this town?"
"Are you stalking me?"
Those are the girl's accusation words every time they met in the name of 'coincidence.'
Well, only Axel knew that their encounters were not a coincidence. He did 'stalk' the girl and show up everywhere the girl go. But there was no way he would admit it right in her face.
"No, it's purely coincidence. By chance, I had some matters to do in this store." was his defense excuse when he met her in one of the book stores.
Chleo squinted her eyes as if she couldn't believe this mysterious man. Alas, she could do nothing but let the man do what he wanted.
Without realizing it, Chleo got used to his sudden appearance and befriended him willingly.
They met and talked for several days more before finally, Chleo broke down all the walls of her self-defense barrier.
She was not a talkative girl but started to talk more to Axel and enjoyed their togetherness. Chleo didn't know why but she felt like she was at her home every time she chatted with this weird guy. She barely knew about him, but she let the man approach her until she couldn't push him away.
Without her realizing it, one by one of her unsolved problems, including her fight with her boyfriend, was no longer inside her head. Instead, she was pretty anticipating Axel's unannounced appearance.
Axel also knows one thing through their togetherness: a piece of bitter news that made his heart clenched in unfamiliar feeling. Chleo had a lover, and she loved that man... who is not him.
The girl always looked radiant every time she talked about her lover. He loved her blissful expression, but his heart ached, knowing he was a step behind.
She loved someone who truly understands Chleo and accompanies her whenever Chleo needs a shoulder to cry on.
Chleora was indeed a lovely girl but not as bright as girls in general. There are many things she is afraid of, such as water, heights, and dark spaces. The girl cannot swim and will also tremble with fear when she is at very high altitudes. Every night she would sleep in her room with a bright light. She wouldn't sleep well if the room were completely dark.
Axel wondered what caused a girl like Chleora to have so many unusual fears? But he knows one thing. The young man who turns out to have succeeded in having Chleo's heart is none other than Alexis, Alexsei Peskhov's biological son.