Tasia blinked her eyes quickly. She almost jumped and would have fainted if what she thought she had seen was real.
'Ah.. it seems my brain is really messed up. I think I saw this kid had a flat face..' She said to herself in mind, by swallowing the saliva that felt like pebbles in her throat.
The boy smiled sweetly at her. A handsome yet cute boy. His eyes were round with irises as jet black as the deep ocean. His lips were fresh red, it even looked cuter with his both chubby cheeks pressing. The boy just kept quiet, didn't say anything.
'It makes sense because he was a child.. Maybe he was shy' Tasia thought.
"What are you doing here, little boy? Where are your mom and dad?" Tasia asked as she sat beside the child.
But the boy was still silent and kept smiling. Weird? No, indeed because he was a child.
"What is your name?" she asked again. This time she hoped the boy would answer.
"Hadyan." Tasia smiled in satisfaction. His voice was even very cute.
"Hello, Hadyan. My name is Anastasia. But you can call me Tasia. Why are you playing here alone?" She smiled as caressed the head of the boy named Hadyan.
"Because I want to meet you, Tasia." He answered.
The girl frowned in confusion. Weird. However, she understands that the attitude of the children was often ambiguous.
"Hahaha.. you're so funny, Hadyan!" She laughed by pinching the round and chubby cheeks of Hadyan. He was a kid but so good at flirting.
"Why are you crying, Tasia?" Hadyan asked innocently.
Tasia flinched a little, but quickly smiled again and rubbed her left eye which might have been swollen and puffy that Hadyan could realize it.
"Because I'm sad. But it's okay, now I'm not sad anymore, because Hadyan is so cute." She laughed again. She really loved kids. And this kid, for some reason, seemed to bewitch her lips to always smiling.
"Ah.. Hadyan. You'd better go back to your room now. I will walk you to your room, okay?!" Said Tasia.
Hadyan shook his head, making Tasia think that this kid was just like any other kid. Stubborn.
"Hey, Hadyan. You know what? On this beach, there is a scary story. If you play alone on this beach at night, you will be kidnapped by the snake demon that lives in the middle of the sea. And he will eat you." Tasia whispered while pointing at the wide ocean in front of them. Then she gasped again and hastily bit his index finger. She just remembered the myth that the local had said, that it was forbidden to point out your finger to the sea. If you did, then you should bite your finger to break the bad luck.
"Really? Are you afraid?"
Tasia nodded confidently, "I am scared of course, very scared! They said the snake demon was very scary! Its body is scaly dark black colour and its eyes light up."
Hadyan smiled in response to Tasia's story. Tasia was getting more and more confused at the boy. Usually, if small children were told a horror story, they would be afraid, instead of smiling.
"Let's just go home. You'll catch a cold later. Come on! come here, little kid." Tasia got down from her seat, carried Hadyan down, then grabbed the boy's small hand.
Then Hadyan smiled again and complied in Tasia's warm hand. His two-round eyes stared at Tasia's figure from the first, like there was a strong magnetic field there.
"Where is your room, Hadyan?" Tasia asked, then Hadyan pointed to one of the rooms at the very end of the rooms row.
They walked on the sand until they reached the terrace of the room. Tasia rang the doorbell as she kept holding Hadyan's hand, who was still standing beside her.
"You are a good girl. Your hands are very warm." Hadyan said suddenly.
Tasia turned to him and smiled amused at the child's innocence, "But your hands are cold. You have to go inside immediately, otherwise, you will get cold. Your vacation will not be as fun!" Tasia answered kindly before ringing the bell again.
Not long, the door of the room opened and revealed a moustachioed man with a black shirt from behind the door.
"Good evening, Sir. I'm here to take Hadyan home. His hands are so cold. I'm afraid he would catch a cold tomorrow." Greet Tasia.
"Yes, thanks."
Then Tasia immediately gave Hadyan to his father.
"I'm sorry, Sir. I don't mean to lecture you. But please watch your kids from playing on the beach alone. Especially at night like this. Besides being dangerous, I think the resort management had informed you about the prohibition on playing on the beach alone at night. Even the announcement has also been displayed near the receptionist's desk." She spoke politely.
"Yes, I know. Thank you." The answer is expressionless. That flat face was actually scary, but somehow Tasia wasn't aware of it.
Tasia smiled then she crouched down to match Hadyan's height. "I have to go back to the room, Hadyan. You also have to go to sleep, okay? So you would have sweet dreams." She said as stroking his puffy cheek.
"I will dream about you, Tasia." Hadyan cupped Tasia's cheeks back with his small hands.
Tasia laughed out loud, "I think, girls will be crazy for you when you grow up. You are still a kid but so good at flirting!"
Then she left after saying goodbye. She waved several times to Hadyan who was still smiling while standing with his father in front of their room door. Until finally Tasia disappeared behind the building blocks of another room.
"I'm attracted to her," Hadyan said by returning his original form to become an adult prince.
Slowly, the figure of the man behind him also changed to its original form which was a black huge monster with a long tongue between a pair of fangs sticking out of its mouth.
"We can take her to the palace, My Lord."
Hadyan shook his head, "No. I can't just take her right now. I still have to investigate her first. After all, I brought her to be my consort, not a royal slave. I can't pull her by force."
"Should we help with it, My Lord?"
"I'll call you all if I need help. In the meantime, I'll step in on my own."
"Understood, My Lord. I'll excuse myself then." Said him before turning into a black crow and flying fast to the sea sky quickly.
Hadyan smiled to himself. He was amazed at Tasia who in his eyes looked very sweet and beautiful. That girl was a good girl, he could feel it in his heart. Tasia's hands were also very warm, unlike her body temperature which was always cold. Maybe if Hadyan hadn't changed his mind about scaring Tasia with a flat-faced child, he would have regretted it by now.
For now, Hadyan had found what he had been looking for. It was a girl that he would choose to be his life partner for good. There wouldn't be such a thing as loneliness any longer. Hadyan could even imagine how in the future, the palace he lived in would be really felt like a home, because there was a person he loved in there.
He knew exactly what he wanted. And his heart was determined to choose Tasia. Because, even though he had only met her once this time, he could already feel his void starting to fill up little by little.