DAHLIA:
“I was leaning over the lotus flowers, and it got caught and broken into pieces. I tried to recover the broken pieces, but I can’t,” I abruptly explained to Kaist as my heartbeat escalated rapidly.
Before he could say something more, one of the attendants in the party approached us. “Lady Hurst, Your majesty, I am an attendant of Count Abell from Crohmwall District. He is requesting an audience from the two of you.”
I had heard of the newly-installed count from my attendants earlier this week. Apparently, the original count and his family from Crohmwall District had become poor enough to sell their family title to a blossoming merchant from Linderon, an allied kingdom in the north of Talandor.
This was becoming a common practice nowadays. We are slowly feeling the effects of continued rogue and vampire attack on the lands, especially in the far-flung places of the kingdom, like in the case of Crohmwall District.
<DAHLIA:My own father could very well be the culprit… He must be the one who ordered the men to shoot arrows at Tristan – this was the conclusion I had come up on my own.Papa was a stern man. He would sometimes lose his temper on me and grip my arms hard, but he never did anything beyond that point… Or am I mistaken?Can it really be true? Can he order my own fated mate to be shot just so that he and the king can save face and go through with the wedding? Didn’t he care what I would feel like if I lose my mate?I gripped my chest while gliding at the hall after bolting out as I remember this. I felt a physical kind of pain seize me abruptly. I heard that when one is unfortunate enough to lose a fated mate, that person starts to perish on the inside.Even just the thought of losing Tristan, a mate I have not known for a long time, was enough to drive me crazy. I felt a great pain already started to tug so strongly at my ch
DAHLIA:“Dahlly, don’t be insane! You can never wed someone you knew for the first time!”This was papa’s first words when he saw me that day before I left for town. I didn’t eat breakfast because I had no appetite, but he did not care at all. All he cared about was the state of my arranged marriage.“Papa, would it be better then if I married someone I knew but did not love? Even you had loved my mother wholeheartedly, right? You were fated mates! How can I not do the same?”My father’s angry face contorted into a pained expression. Every time I mentioned my mother in our conversations, it would always become like this.“The love of a fated mate is not all there is in this world! How can you think like a child in times like this, Dahlia?”I felt hurt. I was nineteen – an adult – but still very much like a child too… his own child! Did he not care about me at all?
DAHLIA:What was he saying? How did Tristan knew I was lying?He inched towards me, still accusing me of telling him a lie with his beautiful eyes. I stepped some more backwards. My leg was caught at the sofa, which was right behind me. I yelped in surprise as I stumbled backwards, and that was when I felt a pair of arms coil around my waist. It was Tristan’s. He caught my body in an embrace, and we both stumbled down into the long sofa at the waiting room.I don’t know what happened, but when I fell sideways, it was soft and not painful at all. Tristan’s face had fallen into the top of my chest, and I felt his breath blowing through the exposed skin of my breast.I shivered. Moon Goddess, why are you doing this to me? Why are you tempting me like this to the extreme?I knew I wasn’t the only one tempted. I felt a lump of flesh harden somewhere at the center of Tristan’s hips where one of my legs was caug
DAHLIA:I went back home feeling more depressed that ever. I was heartbroken. I cried in the carriage all the way until I reached my own room at the mansion, and I didn’t have the strength to eat at all.“Lady Dahlia, you need to eat… How will you have the energy to stand in front of the wedding hall like this if you don’t,” Lina commented as she urged me to eat.That’s precisely what I wanted – not to stand in front of the wedding hall at all!Despite how I looked like and behaved all this time, papa did not budge. He continued with the wedding arrangements, deciding everything on my behalf, saying to people that I had been afflicted by flu, and that the doctor forbade me to go out, explaining my absence from any social functions.I actually didn’t know which was worse – that he was desperate enough to marry me off even if he had to say a blatant lie or that he didn’t care about me at al
KAIST:A strange tide of emotions was brimming in my chest, threatening to pour out all at once while I was in front of Dahlly. I tried to contain what I felt, but it was far too much that my wolf, Cruz, couldn’t even stop his whimpering. The longer I stay in Dahlly’s room, the more dangerous I might become, so I excused myself…Dahlly was my childhood friend and my closest friend. She always referred to me as her ‘best friend,’ but I always knew she was more – absolutely something more for me!I was fifteen when I started feeling something else than friendship for Dahlia. I had always loved the quiet but morose way that she would smile. Her brown hair matched her pale face perfectly. She was a little flower in a field full of green grasses – truly a beautiful and delicate thing.My father – the king – had always told me that Dahlly and I belonged to each other. When he was drunk, he’ll elaborat
TRISTAN:It was far too early in the morning when Gideon came and told me I had an important guest at the living room. I had been expecting this to happen, but my eyebrows still went up in surprise when my assistant told me who it was.“My lord, the Crown Prince is here.”It had been some weeks since I met the man and some days since I last saw Lady Hurst. She must have already told him what happened; that’s the only reason why he would be here.The corners of my mouth began to curve into a smile. It’s time to face this wolf head on then.I changed my clothes quickly before I showed myself in front of the prince. This will probably be a long day.“You highness,” I said, bowing down. “It’s an honor to have you at my villa.”He didn’t say anything back. He just kept looking at me with a contemptuous gaze in his eyes as if he was controlling his rage. This was good. If he goes c
DAHLIA:Shortly after Kaist visited that morning, he surprisingly went back again in the middle of the night.As always, I couldn’t sleep at all when I’m alone, and since I had been so tired tossing and sulking in bed for a few days already, I decided to be a bit productive. I picked a book and started reading.I had prepared myself to spend a quiet evening. Therefore, it was a surprise to see Kaist late at night, knocking softly on my veranda. He had done it before when we were younger, but that suddenly stopped when we turned fifteen. I wondered why he was here again after not doing this for years now…Knowing that he was probably troubled about something, I held the candle in one hand and unfastened the lock on my veranda window. As soon as the light fell on his face, I gasped. His face was bruised, and his lip was a bit swollen with a tinge of blood.“What happened,” I asked. He took my hand, and I immediately gui
DAHLIA:We were driving by the harbor when I decided to open my carriage window. Papa hated it whenever I do so. He always wanted me to sit still until we get into the destination we were aiming to reach. I never really liked traveling with papa.As soon as I opened my window, the feel of the sea breeze swept inside, making me feel a little bit calm and peaceful.I struggled to control my thoughts and emotions once again. I had lost it earlier, resulting to that slap in my cheek that was still stinging despite the measures that the maids did, including rubbing ice on my cheek for some time to make the swelling subside.I could have healed my face if I wanted to, but I didn’t. I wanted a reminder to myself that I mustn’t lose my head this time… Kaist did promise me he will make separation between us possible. I just hoped in my heart that it was true…There was also another reason why I never tried healing myself despite po