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My hand that was about to knock on the door stopped when my ears caught a faint laugh from the backyard of Balthazar's castle. The voice sounded like music to my ears. For a few seconds my legs felt difficult to move, I closed my eyes to control my emotions at this time.

Today has finally come.

Jake has taken over my duties for the day so I can spend time with Cara. I hadn't told him about Balthazar's request that I stay away from Cara for a year, but Jake didn't protest like he had before when I said I'd be taking a full day off. I guess he himself has had enough of seeing my somber face these past few days. Or maybe Jake thought meeting Cara would change my mood, which is why he let me go.

I tried to persuade myself, repeating Balthazar's words in my head all night. But no matter how many times I tried to tell myself that this was the best path for us, in the end I still gave up. I couldn't imagine Cara's response in my head.

The only thing that managed to make me appear in this pla