"My Lady, Prince Aiden has come to visit you," Sarah informed her one day when she was peacefully drinking tea at the flower garden.
"What?! Why is he suddenly here?" Stella was alarmed. The prince never mentioned visiting her in his letters.
'Perhaps the Emperor had some matters to discuss with Duke Henry and brought Prince Aiden with him.'
It had been two months since the doctor declared that Stella's body was cured. While recuperating, she had been continuing the lessons that the former Stella was taking.
During the time that Stella was bedridden, she had been receiving letters from Prince Aiden. But knowing what would happen in the future, she wanted to avoid him at all costs and never responded. Letters still arrived from Prince Aiden though.
If she followed what was written in the novel, Stella might end up falling in love with the prince to the point of no return. She had her memories as Yeong-ja, but she knew that she was weak to good looks.
There was still a chance that she might end up falling for him once he grows up. She had seen the illustrations of Prince Aiden's face when he grew up and he was manly and beautiful at the same time.
Thus, she wanted to cut off her ties and avoid him at all costs.
If possible, she would have prevented them from meeting in the first place. But the former Stella had already met Prince Aiden when she was eight.
* * *
Prince Aiden was ten years old then. He met Stella playing at the garden when the Emperor visited Duke Henry's residence at the capital.
Stella was walking along the lake when she slipped and almost fell into the water. Since he was training every day, Prince Aiden saved Stella before she fell.
Sarah who was the maid with her at that time was almost beheaded if not for Stella's plea.
As two lonely little kids with no friends, Prince Aiden and Stella became fast friends. They promised to exchange letters as often as they could to have someone close to their age to talk with.
That was how their relationship started.
And in the novel she had read, it ended with someone having to die.
* * *
When Stella did not receive a letter that month, she thought that Prince Aiden would finally stop sending her letters every month. She did not expect him to personally visit her.
"What should we do, my lady? He had asked to be escorted to where you are since he did not want to trouble you," Sarah continued.
'He is already troubling me,' Stella wanted to say but just agreed instead.
"Alright. Bring him here."
In a few minutes, a boy of golden hair, dressed in the finest fabric in the empire came to greet her.
He had bright golden eyes, thin plump lips, a sharp nose, and fair skin. A very beautiful child indeed. He was radiant as the sun as he beamed at her.
"Stella! I could finally see you again," he excitedly rushed to her and embraced her.
"I missed you very much. Why did you not respond to my letters? I was so worried."
'Get your paws off me, you playboy!' she wanted to scream at him and hit him on the head.
'No wonder Stella fell for him. He was so affectionate. Not to mention he was a cutie.'
"I'm sorry. I was busy trying to recuperate that I barely had time for anything else," she lied.
She had all the time in the world. She was even bored to death. But every time the maids mentioned replying to his letters, she would pretend to be tired and go to sleep.
"I-I see. Do not fret about it. I am just relieved that you are safe," Prince Aiden responded like a gentleman despite his young age.
"Thank you for worrying about me. But why did Your Highness come here? Did His Imperial Majesty have something to discuss with my father?"
"Please just call me Aiden. We promised to be friends, did we not?" he looked hurt that she was addressing him formally.
'That will get me beheaded for disrespect,' she wanted to yell.
"R-right. But I shall call you Prince Aiden. Else I will get scolded," Stella reasoned.
"Alright. Then regarding your question, I asked permission to visit you. I came with some knights so Father agreed."
"Just to visit me?" Stella could not believe that he had so much free time that he could personally go and see her.
The next time they met was supposed to be when Stella was sixteen and she would fall for him then.
* * *
It was a cliché scenario that the author created.
Zafir, her personal knight, was not with Stella since she sent him on an errand. Other knights escorted her as she was going home to their duchy from a visit to the capital.
They were ambushed by bandits and her knights were outnumbered.
As she was about to be taken captive by one of the bandits, Prince Aiden came to her rescue. And Stella was charmed by her savior.
She was surprised when he introduced himself as Prince Aiden, her long-time friend, since he changed so much from a pretty child to a tall and well-built gentleman.
Since then, Stella's heart belonged to only one person. She was head-over-heels over the Prince but she kept it to herself.
* * *
"Yes. I wanted to see you," the young prince replied and Stella flinched at the cheesy line.
'Why is this person that was supposed to charm Stella after six more years already here charming this little me?'
"To see me?" she almost screamed at him to tell him to stop speaking in such misleading lines. If he had always spoken to Stella that way, it was no wonder that she fell for him.
"Yes. You do not know how worried I was when I heard you were sick and bedridden. I wrote so many letters but perhaps you were not able to read them until you were well enough. I heard you were asleep for some time," Prince Aiden said with his eyes tearing up.
"Y-yes. That's right. Thank you for your concern. I was not well enough to get out of bed for months. Even now I am only allowed to go out here in the garden once a day," she reasoned. It was not a lie though.
"I wanted to visit sooner but everyone was afraid that I might catch the disease. It was only after they were sure that you were cured that I was finally able to come here," Prince Aiden explained all too honestly.
If he said those to someone else, they would have been offended. Even if that was the case, as a prince, he should have sugarcoated it a little.
"Oh, no need to worry about that. You did not have to come visit me here, Prince Aiden. I would have eventually responded to your letters," she lied once again. She had no intention of ever replying to his letters.
"I, I see. Did you not miss me? Do you want me to leave?" Prince Aiden asked gloomily. He looked hurt and was sulking.
"Of course, I missed you.
"I am happy and grateful that you came to visit me.
"I was just worried that you might be busy. I did not want to get in the way of your daily schedule.
"What if your teachers got angry at me since I was the reason you are gone for days?"
She did not deny wanting him to leave since that was exactly what she wanted. She badly wanted him out of her peaceful life.
"I see. Then I shall get going then. It seems I am only causing you more trouble," Prince Aiden stood up with his eyes downcast. He looked unhappy to leave.
Stella froze when she realized that tears were flowing down his cheeks.
'I made him cry?! Why? I didn't do anything. This is not my fault, right?' she looked around for help.
'Who would have thought he was a crybaby like Alina. They really suit each other.'
All her maids signaled to her that she should stop the prince from leaving. In a panic, she caught his hand right after he turned back to leave.
"D-don't leave," Stella managed to say.
When the prince turned around, she felt so bad after seeing his teary eyes. He looked as gloomy as an abandoned puppy. She suddenly felt like an adult who mercilessly bullied an innocent child.
'Right. He was still a kid. What was I doing?'
"Stella, do you possibly hate me now?" the Prince asked with tear-stained eyes.
"Of course not. You are my friend. How can I hate you?"
"Waah! Stella!" The prince hugged her as he continued to sob.
'Let go of me you fucking brat,' she wanted to yell at him but she felt bad since he bawled like a baby.
'Damn, I did not know Alina's skill is way too effective. This is an ultra-skill. I need to perfect this technique too.'
"I was so worried. I was so scared that you would die," Prince Aiden cried and Stella was brought back to the present.
"It's alright now. An excellent doctor has cured me so you have nothing to worry about anymore," Stella said and hugged the prince back to comfort him.
She gently patted his back and then stroked his hair until he finally calmed down. At least, he was truly worried about Stella's well-being.