Asper Reign Dahlia’s Pov
A clear morning dawned on me when I opened my bedroom window. That is why I thought of hanging out on its balcony and drinking the coffee I brewed earlier after taking a shower.
One year.
It has been that long since I left our house and ran away so that Dad’s plan of marrying me to the prince of this country wouldn’t go through.
And within a year, the attention of the palace and its officials gradually disappeared from me because I also completely stopped appearing in public.
But even though I don’t show up to people anymore, I continue to help them with the foundations and hospitals that I have built.
That is one thing that I can never stop no matter what happens. But all of my transactions with them only happened via email and the one who is currently in charge at the office was my youngest sister, Aasiyah.
Well, only a few people know that I left our house.
Jasper, our elder sibling, was the first one to know. He didn’t even agree to this plan because he knew how dangerous it is for me to leave my parents' house.
Somehow, my parents’ position still protects me inside our estate so others are not making their move whenever I am at him.
Well, I understand his concern but leaving our house and hiding away from the people wanting me gone is the right call for this problem. This is the only way for me to end this mess without marrying the cruel prince of Hexoria Kingdom. It is the only way for my family to get back the peace in their life and for the royal family to stop worrying that I might rebel against them.
In the end, he realized my point and agreed on my plan. After that, I immediately told my mother and Aasiyah about it and they didn’t hesitate to agree.
Mom said she would rather let me go and hide while doing things I love than be locked up in the palace with the prince who will surely try to enslave and use me for his own gain.
Then, Aasiyah volunteered to manage my foundations and hospital on-site so it will continue to operate even though I am not around.
I also got to say goodbye to my other two siblings, Kezia, the second child, and Easter, the fourth child.
Like Jasper, they also didn’t like my plan but after explaining everything, they also just agreed and just told me to take care of myself and never do anything stupid.
I would also like to say goodbye to my father personally but I know that no matter what I do to explain what I want, he won’t accept it because in his mind, marrying the prince is the only permanent solution to protect me.
Even if that is not what I want for myself.
So, I didn’t bother and just left a letter for him.
With some clothes and enough money to live comfortably, I ended up in a small town in the southern part of our country.
Yain City.
This is still in the countryside. Not a lot of people are coming here since there is not much attraction here, well, aside from food. Besides, most of the people living here were high profile and wanted to stay away from the mess in the larger city.
The rest of the people living here were foreigners who were married to the local people here. Elderly people who have retired from their job and have chosen to stay here and others are people who are used to quiet surroundings and away from the noisy city.
And this is a perfect hiding place for someone like me who wants to avoid the eyes of the public and the palace since media coverage here is also rare.
The part of town where my house was built was not yet developed. I only have a few neighbors and they are too far away from my block, which is good for me because I don’t have to socialize with them.
Well, except for Miracle, my only friend in this place. I met her two months after I got here.
But even though it is not that developed, this city has a good economy. Aside from farms and other agriculture businesses, this place was filled with good restaurants that the tourists visited.
And to make sure that no one will notice me, I always stayed inside my house while Miracle managed my SweetHeart Cafe, my source for my daily expenses.
I stopped using my personal assets and the money that I inherited from my grandmother when I moved here. It is one way to prevent Dad or anyone from the palace from tracking me down.
So, I established a cafe that serves desserts, coffee, and teas just to support myself here.
“Asper!”
I looked at Miracle who was standing in front of my house’s gate.
She was frowning while looking at me.
“It is early in the morning, Mira.” I laughed. “You seriously greeted me with a frowned face?” I stood up and immediately came to her.
She is Miracle Ryedale, Mira for short. She is only two years older than me but she has more experience in handling a business, especially a cafe. That is why I didn’t hesitate to ask for her help and hired her as the manager of my cafe.
She was the one managing my store while I stayed inside my house baking the product that we are selling at the SweetHeart Cafe.
“Didn’t I tell you that I would be coming early today to get Mrs. Santiago’s order?” she said as soon as we met in the kitchen. “That client wants her order to be delivered in the morning because she meets with her friends.”
“Can you please relax even just for a bit?” I handed her a cup of tea. “Please sit down for a while, enjoy the tea that I got for you.”
“Asper!” She glared at me. She is so strict when it comes to the cafe. She always likes to take care of everything and she never lets us fail every client that we get.
I sighed.
Well, it is my fault that she was like this. I let her do all the work outside and at the store while I enjoy baking in the comfort of my own house and kitchen.
So, it is my fault that she didn’t even know how to relax even for a while.
“Fine,” I said. “I will prepare the orders so just calm down, okay? Sit there, enjoy the tea, and relax.”
She breathed deeply and nodded. Well, she didn’t really have a choice but to sit, drink the tea and relax while she was waiting for me.
Caspian Jyn’s Pov“Something is wrong,” Rajiv said after his phone call and turned to me. “They are all acting weird.”I frowned. “Who?”“Lucky and the rest of Asper’s bodyguards,” he answered. “I don’t know what but Asper has been acting weird ever since she met Reina at Yain City.”I leaned my back in my chair’s backrest and looked at him. “What makes you think that they are acting weird?”“Asper changed, Jyn,” he said. “For the whole year that we haven’t seen her, she changed a lot. She is no longer the type to just stay on the side, keep quiet, and do nothing.”“You think they will cover for her if she is doing something without our knowledge?”He shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know how Asper thinks now and the caporegime that we assigned to her are all afraid and loyal to you,” he said. “But I still can’t shake the feeling that Asper is doing something.”I know what he is trying to say because I also felt that way.“Pull out the last batch of security details that we sent there
Asper Reign Dahlia’s PovDad told me not to worry too much after I mentioned to him what Hector said to me. He assured me that he and Aasiyah are ready for everything that the palace will possibly do.He already learned his lesson through what happened to me. He has no plans on making any decision for Aasiyah and he will support anything she decides once the palace proposes a marriage for her and Cloven.Well, I know my sister. Even though she is the youngest in the family and my parents kind of sheltered her, she will never let anyone around control her.Just like me, she will fight if she doesn’t want the situation. No one will persuade her to do something she doesn’t like.But to ensure that we have another person backing us up for my sister's sake, I also informed Miracle about this. I can count on her to assure me that Aasiyah will not experience the harassment that I got from the palace before.And it made me feel relieved after talking it all to them. It is reassuring that even
Asper Reign Dahlia’s Pov“I already transferred the foundation to my sister,” I repeated. “My lawyer finished taking care of the paperwork last year and it was finalized last week. The foundation is now formally owned by Aasiyah.”Shock was still all over his face after I explained that.Aasiyah will hold a press conference about this to publicly announce the transfer. It was scheduled for next week but since there are still threats to her safety because of me, they might reschedule it once Dad formed new security details for her.I frowned when I saw the concern on Hector’s face as if I made a huge mistake.“Aasiyah took over the foundation when I left our home two years ago,” I continued. “And because of what I have to do, I decided to completely let it go. And Aasiyah decided to shoulder everything since she fell in love working there.”“You…” He cupped his forehead and sat on the floor. I don’t know what his problem is but he is acting as if it was big news for him.And it is not
Asper Reign Dahlia’s Pov“You are really out of your mind, Asper,” Hector shook his head after I told him what I did to Jyn’s men who were assigned as my bodyguards. “You used yourself just to hold them in the neck.”“I only have myself, okay?” I said. “I can only take advantage of Jyn’s feelings for me to make them what I want.”He shook his head again and continued bathing the horse. “You like taking advantage of everything around you to make sure that every situation will side with you.”We are in the horse stable right now. He is working while I am sitting in the corner.“Don’t talk to me about taking advantage of things, Hector. You have done worse than what I am doing right now.” I rolled my eyes. He talked like he never abused his position as the crown prince to get what he wanted before.He looked at me and pointed to himself. “I am trying to change myself for the better, right?” He pointed at me. “But you? It seems like you are changing your path.”“Well, I am entering the wo
Asper Reign Dahlia’s PovI received a warm welcome from the original workers of the farm. I have known most of them since they started working here when Granny was still alive. Some of them were hired by me when I started handling things around here and there were new ones that Dad hired to help Judith with the work in the mansion.And of course, Hector, who immediately got along with the people here. They know that he is the former crown prince but it seems like it doesn’t matter to them. They might be treating him as a normal person but they are all nice to him.Which is good since we never know how long he will be working here.Since I let him choose what work he wanted to do here, he chose to take care of the horses we have here. Maybe because he is already familiar with that since they have been taking care of horses in the palace. And he often joins horseback tournaments so he knows how to handle one.After taking care of things around the changes that will happen around the far
Asper Reign Dahlia’s Pov“Sorry, Dad.” That is all I can say to my father who I was talking to through Lucky’s phone right now. I am standing in an abandoned port while staring at our helicopter that was burning down through the sky. “I am still not sure about how much money I have right now but I will try to buy a new one for you.”I heard Dad sigh. “Don’t worry about that. I already had plans to buy a new one for myself and give that to your brother.”“Oh.” I scratched my head. “Now, I feel even more bad. Helicopters are the easiest mode of transportation that he can use to go to Yain City without neglecting his job here at Ilore City.”“But you are okay, right?” Dad asked. “It is good that you noticed the problem in the helicopter sooner than later.”“Maybe I was getting sharper when it comes to danger.” Ever since I learned about the Rioghail, Dad made sure to train me every day. Not just some self-defense techniques, but also about the things that I should be looking around me th