"Remember, do not cling to the prince, alright?" Ivarage said as their carriage stopped at the gate of the enormous castle of the royal family. They were wearing casual clothes that would provide them comfort for the warm summer breeze-- Ivarage wore a plain white shirt with black pants. Despite being simple, he pulled his look because of his looks. Eva wore a knee-length red dress while Therese wore a white dress.
"I won't, brother, rest assured," Eva laughed it off, but she had a cold sweat trickling down her left forehead. She wore red to signify her deep affection for the prince and to not be outstaged by her cute little sister. However, her brother have seen through her scheme, making her almost apologetic.
Therese, meanwhile, remained calm as she looked at the window, but inside of her was her heart that was beating so fast. She had been looking forward to see him again and to figure out if he remembers something, or anything about her.
Because not only she remembers everything, she also misses it.
'I did my best to prepare for today,' she assured herself as she fixed her white, snowy dress. It was the same color as the flowers Eros, now Aaron, used to give her--the same hue as the famous yang flower. She was hoping it would trigger any memory he have left of her.
"Good day, welcome to our home. Please come in."
But all of her hope was shattered when the person who greeted them looked like it was business-as-usual. She never saw him as serious as this for he always smiled whenever he saw her.
He looked almost unfamiliar to her. And she looked like a forbidden candy to him.
The three siblings bowed in front of him as a courtesy.
It took him a long, hard time to calm his heart before meeting them because it was racing too fast at the thought of seeing her again. He couldn't understand why his body was reacting like that, but he was sure that what he feels were just fragments of something that was imprinted directly on his soul.
"H-hello Prince Aaron!" Eva greeted him as her eyes sparkled, trying so hard to be cute in his eyes. She even asked her helper to give her some pink blushes to make her beautiful, but that, to Aaron, was something a child isn't meant to do.
"Hello, Lady Farenas," he greeted back, his eyes cold and his tone unkind, but he still flashed her a smile on his face. He never liked her for all the things she did to Lorelei. "Did you have a nice trip?"
Amazed that the Prince replied to her, she beamed happily. "Yes! I enjoyed it very much!"
Ivarage and Therese looked at Eva. She was warned by Ivarage to not cling to the Prince, but now, she just closed her distance and wrapped her arms in his shoulder.
Aaron looked at her hands. He had the sudden urge to just decapitate her of her dirty and disgusting hands, but he held himself back.
'This is an opportunity,' he thought. 'If i become welcoming of her advances, maybe she'll think I don't remember anyone I've ever loved.'
He just let her cling to him, despite being greatly annoyed, and he gestured to the other guests to come inside the palace.
His ruse was effective-- for Therese's face became sad. He almost fell for it--he almost pushed Eva away, for the way Therese became sad, but then,
"I can hold your hand too, Therese. It's a big castle, so I think we could be separated,' Ivarage said, smiling, as Therese looked at him, pouting.
" I am a big giwl, bwothew," she said and started to walk faster.
" Therese! Wait! " Ivarage called.
However, her legs were too small and she walked too fast she was almost running, making her trip on her own shoe lace. But before she could even fall, someone already caught her.
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The Prince, still with the same stone-cold expression that never cracked, caught her arms to pull her against him, and prevented her from falling.
His warmth spread through the entire body of Therese--it was a familiar warmth that she ever so missed. It was a familiar gentlest touch that used to be hers and hers alone.
Little did she know that she had the same effect to Aaron.
"Please be careful," Aaron said and let her go once she got back on her feet. Eva immediately clung to her again, silently eyeing Therese who caught the Prince's attention she planned to take alone.
"Are you okay Therese?" Ivarage asked, clearly worried about her well-being. Therese looked at him.
However, tears were already falling from her eyes.
"Oh no, oh no, oh no..." Ivarage worried and hugged Therese.
But he got one thing wrong--Therese didn't cry because she was physically hurt by the way she tripped. She was crying because she felt the love of her life again after what felt like a decade.
"Are you hurt, Therese?" Ivarage asked because she hasn't stopped crying yet. Aaron and Eva were standing behind them, the former watching intently, and the latter getting annoyed.
"No," Therese answered, but Ivarage was not convinced, so he started to remove her shoes and socks to inspect her legs if she had any issues.
Aaron flinched at the sight of Ivarage touching Therese, and Eva felt it. Little by little, Ivarage was pissing him off, just like before. But he couldn't do anything even if he wanted to, much to his dismay.
He just turned his back against them and saw the knight standing near them. He knew she is scared of knights for what happened in their past, so he ordered the maid nearby to carry the girl to the resident doctor instead.
"I'm weally okay," Therese, who now stopped crying, said. "Don't take me away. Please!"
Ivarage put back her socks and shoes. He just piggy-backed her without a word and stared at the Prince
"I'll just lift her. It should be fine, right?" he asked Aaron who just nodded. However, when they reached the entrance of the garden, Aaron excused himself for a bathroom break after they all sat down for tea.
"Please excuse me. I will be back," he bowed, careful not to show anyone his face.
"Alright!" Eva said as she waved her hand, smiling so wide at the handsome build of the Prince.
Aaron left them while his head was bowed low to go to the toilet where he stared at his own reflection who, just like Therese, was crying. He didn't know why he had to be hurt like this, nor why he had to endure this kind of obvious jealousy, but he knew he was losing this game for how affected he was of her.
He almost hugged her tightly when he pulled her in his arms--he almost refused to let her go for even one second. Their hearts beated at the same time--both were pounding, both were happy, and both were in pain.
It was like a spear directly stabbed him and stole his heart.
He wiped away the tears he shed for her, promising himself that it was the last time he would cry for her and went back to the three, who were already talking amongst themselves.
"Eva, I warned you,"
"I know, i heard you. But I really want him, brother! Please understand!"
Ivarage could only sigh at his sister's insolence.
"You are bothering the prince," he lectured her, but it wasn't working because Eva rolled her eyes.
"If I ever bothered him, he would have pushed me away." Eva said, crossing her arms to stand her ground.
However, what she said really spoke to Therese who was listening to the both of them bickering.
Aaron came back after a few minutes as Ivarage stared at him, thinking that the royal prince had to do some serious business at the toilet.
"Your Majesty! Can we please explore this garden? I've heard so much about it!" Eva excitedly said as she closed herself to the prince again. Ivarage rolled his eyes and reminded himself that he did his best to stop her as words of affirmation.
"It's a garden labyrinth," Aaron said. "We might get lost."
He was really getting mad because of the touchiness of the Farenas girl. He was so against the idea of exploring it, but he wanted to have some alone time at the labyrinth.
"On second thought, I can just call my wizard attendants to track us down if we ever get lost," Aaron said and headed to one of the entrances. "It would be nice if we could race to the exit."
Ivarage liked the challenge and he trusted the wizards more than ever as they were so famous and he wanted to see one. He didn't worry about his sisters since the safest place was the labyrinth and if they were wounded, the wizards could heal them.
" I accept the challenge, your majesty," Ivarage smiled and headed to the entrance next to where the prince stood.
"Can't I come with you, Prince Aaron?" Eva cried, acting like a vulnerable little girl. Aaron only looked at her and smiled.
"Please take the challenge, Lady Farenas." he said. Eva begrudgingly stood next to him as Ivarage kept himself from laughing. The last entrance was automatically taken by Therese, who was actually the most familiar of the labyrinth she started to explore back then when she was five, every night, so it deeply excited her to see the labyrinth in the morning.
"Ready, get set, go!" Ivarage shouted, and he ran as fast as he could to find the exit, but he didn't know that it would lead him to dead end. He wouldn't even reach the beautiful middle of the labyrinth.
The thought humoured Aaron until he saw Therese at the middle of the labyrinth, chilling in the bench. In an instant, he felt ready to risk it all moment she smiled at her.
"Love, I know you remember." She said, but instead of being happy, tears bedimed her loving eyes.