~One year ago~

Lilia carried the hems of her dress and ran down the road. As a girl it was improper for her to run but her excitement brushed all that under the rug.

She was a beauty. Her red hair dancing in the wind as she moved. She had beautiful round green eyes, thin rosy lips. Her bangs covering most of her forehead but just enough to leave the rest of her face cute and adorable.

Today was a special day for her. It got even better when he asked to talk to her. He insisted that there was something that he wished to share with her. As his lady, she made it her duty to honor his wish and go to him.

Her heart was beating so loud in anticipation. She had put on a beautiful ocean blue strapless layered dress with a scarf on her neck. The scarf was to hide the fact that her dress had no straps.

She was going to surprise him, he was returning after a long time and she wanted to give him a gift. The very thought of the gift made her heart flutter. She only hoped that he would like her gift.

Branching from the main road, she entered the woods. Surrounded by the trees and the birds, her face turned red thinking of the witness that would watch her moment with her love.

<> she thought.

She reached her destination, she was panting for air from the running that she had done. Her eyes searched the area for any sight of him.

Her lips curled up into a smile when she spotted him leaning on a tree. Seeing him stand there with his eyes closed and hands in his pocket, her heart beat started racing in her chest. He was breathtaking.

Her stare caused the subject of her gaze to open his eyes and look at her. In that moment, Lilia felt her breath hitch. His hazel eyes looking at her as though he could see through to her soul.

She let go of her dress and straightened her back. Biting her lower lip, she moved towards him in a ladylike manner. She played with her fingers nervously as she neared him.

Suddenly the idea of wearing such a traveling dress didn't look at all that good. She held on to the scarf tightly so it doesn't slip off and expose her upper body. Her eyes never daring to look up and meet his gaze, she had missed him so much.

When she got close to him. She halted in her steps, her eyes still down cast. Being so close to him after so many months of being apart was nerve wrecking. She held her breath waiting for him to make a move.

The man stood by the tree looking at her. His face was emotionless, he wasn't moved at all by her and if he was than he hid it well.

He didn't say anything for a long time. Finding the words to tell her what he came to say wasn't easy. The way she dressed and her reactions proved that she wasn't ready for what he was about to say.

He decided against what he wanted to say. Hence he started to walk away.

<> she thought anxiously. <> she scolded herself.

She moved from her place and rushed to him and held his hand to stop him from leaving. She had so much that she wanted to say to him but when he turned to look at her.

She was captivated by his looks. His black hair tied behind his back, straight nose, thin lips and sharp jaw. The gentle yet distance look on his face made her heart skip a beat.

She forgot what she wanted to say and just stared at him. In doing so, she forgot about her scarf and it slipped off her shoulders.

The man drew a deep breath at the sight before. The woman holding him had grown into a woman in the months that he was gone. Her dress was hugging her chest revealing her to him.

Her pink soft skin tempting him to touch her, the innocent look in her face as she saw him in the light that she always did made his heartache. He knew that he had to break her heart. It was only a matter of getting the courage to do so.

"Let go of my hand," his voice ice cold uttered his words. Lilia blinked and let him go, she was confused by his tone of voice. It sounded as though her mare touch was irritating to him.

She brushed that feeling from her heart and mind. He had returned and she was better spending that time embracing him than getting angry over nothing.Doing just that she gave him a tight hug.

It was so tight that he could feel her twin peeks pressing at him. He swallowed resting himself from losing control. Seeing her in that dress gave him an idea of her thoughts. But he couldn't let her do it.

With him by her side, she was in ecstasy. Her lonely dark days were over now that he had returned.The flower in her heart had bloomed with his return, in her mind she couldn't believe that he was standing right there with her.

His scent assaulting her nose as she took all of him in that hug. She wanted her body to be familiar with her body. She had waited long enough for him and she was ready. She was his fiancee so it wasn't wrong to give herself to her.

He was her whole world and she needed him to know that. He was her past, present and future and she trusted him with all of her heart. She pulled away slightly from the hug. Not letting him with her hands still on his back.

"Lar," she spoke his name for the first time in months. She had always been afraid of uttering his name in fear that he might not return sooner. That she would forget him if she called to him often.

The man shivered. His name from her lips was medicine to his soul. He wished to ask her to call him again but bit his tongue and held back. They could not be together and he had come to end things with her.

She reached out for his hand and brought it to her chest and let him feel at her breast over the dress. Her face flushed from the contact, her breath was heavy. She had no idea what she was doing, all she knew was that she wanted him.

Lust filled her eyes, Lar felt his throat dry. He had waited for that moment his whole life but when she had matured and was willing to be his, he had to refuse her. He couldn't think of an easier way to let her down that wouldn't break her heart and her self confidence.

He closed his eyes. He slapped her that was holding his away. Lilia gasped not expecting him to hit her. She brought her other hand and held the one Lar hit. She raised her eyes to meet his in question of why he did that.

"Are you so cheap that you would do this?" he inquired.

His question ran in her ear repeatedly. She couldn't bring herself to believe that he was asking her that question.

"Seeing as how easy you led me to touch you. Can you tell me how many more men have you let close to you?" he questioned to her.

Lilia visage was clouded with tears. The way he was speaking to her, the question he dared to ask made her heart bleed.

"For whom did you learn to wear such clothes huh?" he raised a question pointing at her dress.

"You and I are engaged but how do I know that you are still pure?"

Lilia was unable to reply. He was the man she loved, this has been so since she was a child. She had never once befriended another man let alone get close enough to do what he was accusing her of.

Her tears flowed down her cheeks. A piece of her heart was shattered with every word he let out. She had waited for him, counting days to his return only to be met by a stranger. He was not the man she was in love with. Her love would never raise such questions at her.

"Argh," she let out when he forcefully pushed her back to the tree and trapped her in between his hands.

"Why won't you answer me, who's bed did you climb out of to come and meet me?" he asked while pressing at her hands hard.

Lilia remained silent, only her tears spoke of her unspoken words. In her tears held the pain of having him treat her as he did when all she has ever done was love him.

Her lack of response. The fact that she refused to fight back made him guilty of what he was doing. He could see in her eyes that she was hurt and it pained him but it hard to be done.

He was aware that he was her entire world. And just telling her they were over wouldn't get her to leave him and forget him. But if he got her to hate him then it will be easier for her to leave and never look back.

With that in mind, he reached his hand to her dress, he sneaked a few figures into her dress, feeling her warm skin in his fingers made him stop. Her chest was so soft that he craved to caress her there and then. The feeling that he had long yearned for was in his hands, his heart thundered in his chest.

He could heart her rushed heart beat. The warmth run through his veins. He gritted his teeth and got hold of his thoughts. He looked her in the eyes, Lilia's eyes pleaded with him to stop.

He grabbed her dress and pulled at it very strongly. Lilia's jaw dropped as tore her dress, he let go of it and the front part of her dress fell to her waist, her chest fully exposed to him.

The cold wind blowing to her bare chest forced her to bring her hands to cover her chest. When she thought of giving herself to him, she didn't expect for things to turn out the way that they were going. He had no respect for her at all and was behaving with her as he wished and it broke her heart.

But her like remained sealed. Disbelief ran through her, she was not able to believe that the same man who had always protected her was the one behaving with her like that.

Lar shivered, his hand shook at what he had done. He brought his hand to his back to prevent her from seeing it shaking. He didn't gaze down at her chest, he couldn't bring himself to.

"Why are you covering yourself. Surely you have stood before a man naked before, have you not?" he asked suggestively.

He pushed Lilia's hands from her chest. "I'm sure you didn't put on this act with him," he uttered.

Lilia shot her gaze at him. He had crossed the line and was going a mile. She wanted to look him in the ear and make sure that she heard him right.

"You had me touch you earlier so why are or tending to be innocent now. I am certain that many men have tou~"

Lilia interrupted him by giving him a tight slap. Her eyes were filled with anger and pain. She felt betrayed by him.

"Before you say anything let me go first. There is no way that I prince Lar Wintermere can get married to a shameless girl like you," he spoke. "I am calling off our engagement," he added.

He put some distance between them and turned around.

<> he thought.

He walked away from her with a heavy heart. She was the love of his life and he behaved with her so badly all because of the circumstances that he found himself in. It was no excuse.

<> was all that Lilia could ask in her mind.

It confused her why he was like that. She dropped to the ground, she brought her knees to her chest feeling like her own breath was suffocating her.

She didn't understand what could have provoked him to react in such a way with her. What fault she had made that made him think of her as a cheap person.

<> she sang in her mind. <>

His words echoed in her mind. The things he said really hurt her. It touched her heart, mind and soul. She had given her whole self to him, to have him insult her as he did hurt more that necessary.

He had left her with a scar that she was never going to forget. Lilia cried to herself in the middle of the woods for hours until she fell asleep. Her lady arrived and covered her with a coat, along with her servants they carried her to take her to the carriage waiting for her at the road.

When the servants disappeared from view. The prince emerged from where he hid and stared at the place where he stood with Lilia, he walked back to the tree.

He took out a knife in his pocket and carved on the tree. 'Lar loves Lilia forever' he wrote on the tree. A tear trickled down his face.