When they turned eleven, they met again. It was the day before Dahlia's younger sibling's birthday and she had been pouting from the lack of attention from her parents.
At the sight of Aleksandr, the girl rejoiced. "Husband!"
She jumped from her bed and hugged him in greeting. Aleksandr hugged her back, despite carrying some hesitance in expressing affection. The foreign sensation in his chest scared him still, but he chose to ignore it in favor of questioning it.
In a split second, he was pulled to the spot where Dahlia had been resting. In his hands, a book was placed.
The Princess and The Frog.
Afterwards, they had escaped to the estate's creak to catch frogs. Aleksandr had collected a dozen in a sack. As for Dahlia, she caught one with her face before eventually starting a screaming fit.
They'd managed to sneak the sack into the mansion before Aleksandr realized that Dahlia would have to kiss the frogs to fulfill the fantasy of rescuing a prince from froggy damnation.
None of it sat right with Aleksandr, other than frogs being unsanitary, there was no way he was going to let his fiance be swept away by a prince. That'd ruin the entirety of their arrangement.
So he let the frogs go as they were walking through the kitchen and framed it as an accident. The screams of the staff preparing the birthday party that had Dahlia so pouty amused Aleksandr. And based on the little girl's toothy grin, it seemed the sentiment was mutual.
As for the beating he got later that day, it was more than worth it.
--
When they turned twelve, a few maids were assigned to watch them just to ensure that there'd be no repeat of last year's incident.
Dahlia had undergone a pretentious phase and tried convincing Aleksandr that she was too old to play with her horses, preferring instead to read elevated novels written in Old English.
He didn't believe her a bit and the girl spent the rest of the day dozing off inside their garden maze after reading two sentences she couldn't comprehend.
Despite the injury on his torso, Aleksandr held the girl close and found that he'd discovered the peace sleeping next to his fiance.
--
When they turned thirteen, Aleksandr was informed that he would be having lunch with Dahlia's family and his.
Of course the girl would find some way to turn a normal arrangement into trouble.
They'd snuck out to a local amusement park, competing with each other in shooting games. It was a surprise that no adults had approached them yet with malicious intentions, considering their more than lavish outfits.
Admittedly, Dahlia had talent when it came to shooting, but the plushies they received were more than enough when it came to showcasing the difference in their skill level. They'd exchanged them, of course, like couples usually did in the romantic films Dahlia loved so much.
"This one will be named Jimbo." His fiance declared, holding the giant horse plushie Aleksandr had won her (not really, she insisted that he did though).
Dahlia had difficulty standing upright, the fluffy thing much too large for her undeveloped body.
And although Aleksandr had offered to help her, she turned him down. Stubborn as always.
Aleksandr stared straight at the pink tiger toy Dahlia had acquired. It was nothing impressive, just the usual plushie.
He thought about it deeply before coming up with the most appropriate name he could think of. "This little lady will be Ms. Dahlia Farts-a-lot."
"No, I don't!" She protested, smile contorting into a frown.
"You do! And you can't argue with me on that, I've witnessed it myself." He argued back, leading Dahlia away from the amusement park.
They'd run out of money competing with each other. And despite Dahlia and his excitement to try the rides, both of them were getting tired.
"Ugh, I can't help that I'm lactose intolerant."
"You can help the fact that you consume lactose anyway despite everyone's protests."
She pouted all the way back to the estate, her future husband's teasings not helping a single bit. When they arrived, Aleksandr was swiftly pulled to the side by his mother, not an ounce of mercy in her iron grip.
"You fucking disappointment. You had one job." The boy barely felt his the slap, a look of nonchalance permanently etched into his face whenever she was near. "Where the hell were you?"
"With my fiance. Pleasing her. As you requested."
His mother raised his hand, about to strike him again for his defiance. Aleksandr closed his eyes, ready to accept his fate when his little fiance had come running to him, clutching his body protectively, as if he hadn't suffered much worse in the past.
"Ma'am, please! It was my fault! Aleksandr did nothing! It was all me! I forced him to go!"
To his surprise, Dahlia was outright sobbing, looking like she had been the one to be hit.
Aleksandr looked around, worried by the absence of his fiance's parents. Without them around, who knows what his mother could do to the innocent girl.
His mother only retracted her hand however, face hardening to conceal her fury. She left swiftly, bodyguards following her angered figure.
Dahlia continued to cry for hours, her parents' worried inquiries doing nothing to help. She eventually slept clinging to Aleksandr, practically forcing him to stay the night by her side.
He didn't mind. Her tears had left him conflicted, however. Why had she cried? She hadn't been hurt, had she? Was that pity?
"You feel so cold, Alek..." She'd mumbled against his chest, half-asleep.
He laid restless that night, trying to decipher why exactly he felt pleased despite all the happenings. Did she care about his hurting...?
Aleksandr shook his head before his thoughts could spiral even further. The boy opted instead to bury his face into his fiance's her hair, her sleeping body bringing him solace.
--
When they turned fourteen, Dahlia was looking at him strangely. She kept inspecting him from all sorts of angles. They'd been reading and eating ice cream, the food Aleksandr had recently discovered to he his favorite.
"Is this what puberty does, my darling husband?" She asked without thinking it over, something that would probably never change about her. The nickname had been abused over and over, but it still sent unidentifiable shivers down Aleksandr's spine.
"What?" He asked, putting down textbook in his hands. Aleksandr was supposed to help her study, not a bit surprised by the news of her failing grades.
But, well, Dahlia.
"Just what?" She repeated. Her brow was raised, popsicle pointed at him as if it was a tool for interrogation, and immediately, he knew what she'd been asking for.
"What is it, my darling wife?"
Dahlia outright beamed at him. Aleksandr was a bit outraged by her joy, the embarrassment he felt unexplainable.
"You look different." His fiance commented and he had to withhold the urge to ask whether she meant good different or bad different.
Aleksandr himself knew he looked different. His body had developed to be more lean, losing any semblance of softness from his childhood. He'd grown taller too, much taller than most kids his age.
"You sound different too." Dahlia just had to add, and it had Aleksandr feeling unsettled by how deep his voice had gotten over the past few months.
As he was turning his head to retort with sass, he found that he was a breath away from Dahlia's face.
The lack of reaction coming from the girl irritated him, realizing that it was only him going haywire from the proximity.
"Not bad, puberty."
Aleksandr had been bothered by his fiance's comment the entire day, his ears burning bright red as he wondered what she had meant.
--
Some time after turning fifteen, she'd turned down his greeting hug with the prospect that she already had a boyfriend.
Something about the news set Aleksandr off and the murderous tendencies his mother had been trying so hard to trigger inside of him had come emerging all at once.
He wanted to have a word with the little homewrecker, before realizing that he and his fiance were probably old enough to realize that the marriage was just a transaction.
"Are you alright, A?"
Aleksandr flinched.
It had saddened Aleksandr to the point that Dahlia noticed the shift in his demeanour, despite his usual poker face. He felt ridiculous for being so offended.
"Hey, come here." The girl urged him to take the seat beside her.
Aleksandr was about to bite back with a comment about how her boyfriend wouldn't be comfortable with her being near another male. But the softness in Dahlia's eyes had him shutting up and complying.
His fiance had the courtesy to introduce him to her lock screen and apparent boyfriend. Greeting him was a rather cringy photo of a young popstar Aleksandr swore was familiar.
Dahlia reassured him that she was going to break up with the popstar right after she took a picture of Aleksandr and herself, replacing the lock screen.
The blond heir looked like he was about to snap someone in half, and his fiance next to him looked about the exact opposite. It was a hilarious contrast.
What scared Aleksandr the most was that Dahlia could probably actually meet her idol if she had asked her father. Fortunately for Aleksandr, Dahlia would never come to figure that out. Or develop the intention to do so.
Later that day, despite never having thought of it, he asked for a phone. After receiving his first, he'd messaged the girl for the photo and turned their lock screens identical.
--
When they turned sixteen, his fiance came to him with a rather peculiar question.
"Husband."
He hummed in acknowledgement, toying with her hand in his. They'd grown to be more affectionate despite only seeing each other a few times a year. Something about Dahlia made everything in his life easier, including opening up, to her exclusively of course.
Maybe it was the unchanging enthusiasm or the unabashed affection she so consistently showered him in.
"What is it, my dearest wife?" He'd replied after realizing Dahlia wanted a verbal response. At that point, he'd grown comfortable with his feelings for her and doted on his princess as much as she did with him.
No more of the hesitance. No more of the facade.
"Have you ever made out with someone?"
"Why are you asking that?" was the only response his genius could come up with, his book conveniently covering most of his face from his fiance's prying eyes.
Aleksandr would rather not touch on the topic, knowing he'd imagined doing less than appropriate with Dahlia. He thought he was above such distasteful needs, but apparently being a horny teenage boy is a part of healthy development.
"I don't know. Curious." She'd replied as if her words had no visible effect on Aleksandr.
The one-sidedness of all the panic and anxiety kept biting him back in the ass.
"Did your friends introduce you to something weird again? I swear, you need to be in a better group."
"No! It's not them! And you should really stop talking badly about my friends."
The squeak in Dahlia's voice had Aleksandr looking up from the passage he had long given up on reading.
The girl took a deep breath and continued. "It's just... I've been thinking about my first kiss and I.. I don't know. I'd rather you have it over some dumb guy or someone else."
Aleksandr looked at his fiance like she had grown a second head and the unreadable emotions in his gaze had her backing away in insecurity.
"Whatever. It's stupid."
The blond held his fiance's hands in his, stopping her from moving away further. "Wait. No."
What happened next continues to live in Aleksandr's most cherished memories.
--
When they met again at the age of seventeen, Aleksandr had been in a god awful mood.
He doesn't like remembering that part of the story. He doesn't like recalling how his father had taken his anger out on him that day, the cut on his lips sending his fiance on a spiral of worry.
Her inquiries only served to anger Aleksandr even more, even though he never intended to ever show that side of himself to the girl.
He'd sent Dahlia home with tears clinging to her lash line, refusing to slide down for an argument so petty.
She'd told him that she'd understand, that she'd ask about it again the next day, and Aleksandr hated how she refused to be vile even when he was being absolutely unfair.
In a matter of a few minutes, Aleksandr's mother had come barking up his ass about maintaining alliances and pleasing his fiance's family.
"I swear to fuck, if you fuck up again and they decide to call off the marriage."
She didn't need to. Their gangs had broken their alliance due to conflicting interests and that was the last time he'd ever see the peculiar princess, unbeknownst to the cold boy.
What had started as a clash eventually became a war, Dahlia's last name becoming his enemy's. In the few years they had handled the stress of the conflict, Aleksandr had grown to be a man, brightness completely dimmed by the countless deaths he had caused, bursts of crimson painting over the last of his humanity.
Now he's twenty-seven, attending a pretentious charity event in the place of his bedridden father. He's being bored to death by all the stuffy "philanthropists" crowding him in the room.
He starts questioning why he went in the first place, but when a drunken figure stumbles into his arms, bright brown eyes looking at him in wonder, he considers that it may have been fate that brought him there that day.
Even more when his ex-fiance's soft, pink lips part to say something careless once again.
...
"Hey handsome stranger, want to take a lonely lady home? I'm really skilled with my mouth, maybe you'd like a demonstration."