Downfall
"I've searched for you all this time," Aaron said, his voice as robotic and emotionless as possible. His face was the same case and he projected a certain loneliness that was contagious.
However, his eyes never lied.
His eyes showed how broken and tired he was.
It was as if he was begging to be helped--to be saved--to be free.
For thirteen years, he suffered voicelessly. He endured everything.
He was taught to kill his emotions. He was made to kill his most beloved dog. Everything he loved and owned, the King took away from him.
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Lorelei saw the pain in his eyes. Still barefoot, she apprached the Eros she knew and gave him a tight hug. She touched his head as her warmth enveloped Aaron, who just had his most real and long physical contact for such a long time.
He couldn't remember the last time he was held like that, and her touch was something so different from the way people touched him. It was a touch that wasn't painful, it was a moment that was so brief. It was an evanescent, fleeting feeling of relief and awe.
Everything looked more beautiful to him now more than ever.
His legs lost their strenght and he fell on the ground with Lorelei still hugging him in silence. He felt his chest heave rapidly, his breathing faster than ever.
Before he knew it, he was crumbling as he hugged her back as tightly as he could--never wanting to let her go. He let himself breathe her very smell--she smelled of something sweet and sugary. He immersed himself in the softness of her hair that reminded him of silk. He adjusted his hold on her based on the way she fit in his arms.
At last, the person he was searching for appeared in front of him. It has been thirteen years and he never stopped, never doubted that he would find her.
Lorelei pulled away from the hug first after what felt like a brief moment. It was so painful for Aaron's heart.
She wiped away the tears that fell from his cheeks and put something in his mouth.
It was a baguette.
It was what Aaron smelled.
He chuckled at his own stupidity.
"You grew up well," was what he said after he munched the baguette down, little by little. However, he thought that it was another stupid move because he is not her family. He sounded like an uncle. Thinking these thoughts, he felt down again.
"You too. You are more handsome than before," Lorelei replied, smiling at him. "I remember you being very tall, and now, you are still tall. I can barely reach your chin," she laughed, making Aaron's heart beat faster. He blushed because of what she said.
"Where were you hiding for all these years?" Aaron asked, a hint of sadness apparent at his voice.
"I was serving my lady very faithfully," Lorelei answered sweetly as it is her nature. "I used to live in the Tuvera house, but now I live in this castle because my lady has been chosen to be the future empress."
Aaron got more annoyed. He never visited Eva's castle, and if he did, he would have seen her earlier.
"Why did you not come to any gathering to serve your lady if you were so faithful?" Aaron said.
"My lady didn't want me to leave the palace. She wouldn't feed me if someone else saw me," Lorelei said. "That is why I stole this basket of bread. I know that is the usual punishment for servant and slave, so nothing to worry about," she added and she showed him the basket where she took the baguette from.
Aaron touched her cheeks. She shivered because they are cold." You barely have anything but you still gave me something because you thought I was hungry. "
He almost cried in amazement. The girl he searched for never changed.
"I should actually apologize for feeding you a stolen good," she chuckled, removed his hand from her cheeks, and held it in her pale arms to warm it up. "Your hands are so cold. Are you even getting the right nutrition?"
Aaron's face was suddey bright red, like a tomato. He was excited and scared because he has been straying from the ultimate lesson the king taught him, to kill his emotions.
"I am...not," he said, smiling, like he conceptualized a plan. "Are you concerned for me, my lady?"
Lorelei didn't speak, but she blushed, which was immediately noticed by Aaron. He felt so happy it almost hurt. He squeezed her hands.
"Why not just cook for me if you are concerned? Hmm my lady?" he teased, his face gradually closed in on her. But when he realized what he was doing, he quickly backed away.
"I can cook for you if you like. I've been trying out recipes from the library but no one wants to taste it! I am very sad about that, " she said, bowing her head. Aaron's face darkened as his bloodthirst was building up inside him because someone dared to make her feel sad.
"Will you taste my cooking?" Lorelei's eyes sparkled and now, her excitement made her close her face to his.
Aaron was flabbergasted and nodded mindlessly and rapidly. His heart was leaping out of his chest. He just created a reason to see her again!
He will eat any poison she made and compliment her for making it so deadly.
"That's so great!" she happily said and relaxed her sitting, the sight of her made Aaron so happy and fulfillled. It was the first time in years that he felt happiness--or even an emotion. He promised himself not to let anyone know about her so that she will not be taken away from him.
"You live in the palace too? Why do i never see you?" she asked him.
"I-I have the same case as you. My mentor do not want people to see me and I can only go out at night."
It was a lie. In truth, he was the crown prince engaged to her master.
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Five years passed by.
Each night, he would meet her to eat her cooking--be it cookies, meat, chicken, soup--everything was delicious for him. She was a great cook, and he enjoyed her company so much. It was the only time of the day that he's allowed to be happy as he sees her and be at her presence, to be sad as she tells him how she cannot get out and be seen, to be amazed at her beauty and personality, as well as her knowledge from reading, and to be vulnerable. She would listen to him with so much focus, and her reactions made him feel that she really was interested in what he was saying. She never judged him. She looked at him, and only him.
She was his only salvation, his only reason to live. In the morning, he would be trained to kill emotions. And at night, he would finally be happy and be himself.
Sometimes, he would sneak to the library where he'd find her reading books of different genres-but today was different. The now twenty-year old Lorelei was talking happily to a man named Ivarage, the oldest son of the Farenas household. He saw her laughing and chucking, being comfortable. The appearance of Ivarage enraged him so hard he thought of a plan to remove him from her sight.
Ten days later, Ivarage got engaged to another woman. Because of that, he did not visit Lorelei as often as he did because his fiancee was keeping him from doing so.
All of those was caused by Aaron who was in a good mood for two whole weeks.
He never looked at Eva who desperately tried to please him. He never slept with her, much less touch her. This made Eva so angry she started to wonder why.
She tried to spy on him but was never successful because Aaron always kept his tracks as clean as possible. He never allowed any loopholes because anything could be a reason for them to know about Lorelei, whom he always admired.
He didn't know that what he felt was love, for it was disguised as a yearning and amazement, and he was never one to give feelings labels.
"What is love?" he asked. Lorelei looked at him as he ate the cookie she gave him. She wondered and the moonlight hit her sqare in the face.
"I think love is being lonely when you don't see someone, or when you don't see them, or touch them. When you see them, you want to stay with them forever. You might even want to touch them or kiss-"
Aaron moved instinctively. They both fell to the ground from their sitting position and they looked at each other, both blushing. Aaron was on top and he pinned Lorelei to the ground as his hands met hers. He closed his face to her ears, whispering to her, "how is that different from normal friendship?"
Lorelei struggled to speak. Her heart was beating so fast she could hear it.
"You wouldn't want to kiss your friend, Eros. You wouldn't want to share intimate moments with them. You won't eat poisons if you know they'd feed you one." she said as Aaron looked at her again. "Love is irrational."
The both of them paused.
"Do I.... Love you?" he asked her, looking straight into her eyes. He was confused and happy and sad--and afraid--because he's endangering her with his feelings. "I want to kiss you, start a family with you. I want to worship you, wake up next to you every day. I will eat any poison you give me," he said. He didn't notice that he was crying until his tears dripped into the cheeks of Lorelei.
He was so disappointed of himself for pinning her on the ground. He tried to get up, however--
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Lorelei grabbed his hand and pulled him to kiss him.
It was a nothing but a millisecond peck, but something inside Aaron snapped. He kissed her so passionately - - at first it was sloppy, but then it became torrid and warm, as they were both touching each other. Aaron lifted her, still kissing her, and went inside the palace through a secret door that led to a secret room and they spent the night wrapped up in each other's warmth.
That was the moment Aaron knew that she had become his salvation,
... and that he became her downfall.