Back to the Present

Aaron was sure that Lorelei, now Therese, remembers everything. With that information in mind, he was bombarded with too much thought-and most were concern for the person he loved.

.

[Loved]

As it should be. He regressed back in time to undo things, and that means that this was the body who didn't love her yet--but it was all so confusing. The way his heart beat-- the moment his gaze landed on her was all too familiar. The way her presence suddenly lit up any place she went, leaving traces of shadows when she's gone, was even more familiar. The only thing that was not familiar to Aaron was when she looked at him the moment he proposed to bring Eva to the play date.

She looked... almost hurt.

It pained Aaron a lot. He couldn't bear the thought of hurting her.

For the whole night, it was all he thought about- Lorelei, Lorelei, Lorelei.

But now he has to call her Therese.

_______________

"What were you doing running like that to the royals?" Ivarage, who always smiled at Therese, asked seriously. The boy was 5 years old and with a brown hair similar to his father. Everything about him screamed wealthy, but in truth, he was humble. He was always kind to everyone--even their staffs and orsinary people loved him. But now, he was so serious that Therese actually got scared. They were in a carriage that was bound to their home.

"Don't be too hard on her, brother. It all ended well!" Eva happily said as she blushed from ear to ear, very happy that the Prince she admired knew her name and invited her to the palace for a playdate.

"Do not condone her actions, Eva." Ivarage said. "Something feels off about that Prince."

"What's so off about him?" Therese asked, her innocent face with hwr sparkling green eyes were too much for the siblings. Unable to contain her cuteness, Ivarage almost forgot that he was mad.

"He seems like he is too mature, like, he's an old person," he replied as he sat back and relaxed on his red fluffy chair.

"Weally?" Therese asked again, this time, with all the attention she had. It was detrimental for her to know if he remembers her or not because she's been through a lot.

As a slave from the Tuveran region, she was very lucky to have been adopted by the Farminas household. To do that, she had to make the most delicious cake she could ever hopw to bake, and serve it to the Farmenas leader when he went to the pub where she worked. She made sure to provoke the weak looking men so she could get bruises in order to appeal to the leader.

Because of pity, he took her in, and she officially became a noble.

She was doing everything she could just to be worthy of him, and if he cannot remember her, it would be too hard for her to be loved by him again because they didn't meet in the garden.

For five hours, she waited near the garden's entrance, waiting for Aaron to come running together with Rigel. She endured the cold winds and the insects, only to hear the bell ringing which signifies the last hour of the event. She then went back to the venue as normal as she could, and tried to mingle with everyone.

She thought he remembers because he tried to change the destiny by not coming to the garden, but the way he just invited Eva signified the other way around. Aaron never liked Eva, much less liked spending time with her. Eva kept on complaining about that before, and she never forgot it, for she hated the Prince for doing that to the most beautiful person she met--however, that was before she realized that she was actually the reason behind his actions.

'Did he...fall in love with Eva?' she thought. The thought alone hurt her.

"Are you okay, Therese?" Ivarage asked, deeply concerned for her.

Therese didn't realize that she had been holding on to her chest ever since she thought about the happening of the night.

"I am alwight, bwothew, " she said, smiling, trying to make a face that would assure them that she's fine.

_

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_

A month passed by, and Therese turned three years old. Instead of preparing a banquet for her celebration, she chose to go to the palace for their playdate with Aaron.

It annoyed her that the other two would go with her, but she could never dare to miss her chance.

Little did she know that Aaron had been preparing for that day to come. He did a little effort to practice his cold expression that was perfected years prior because of the training he had endured. He had to condition himself to purposefully lead Therese to think that he did not remember her.

The danger to the queen's life was over, however, he wasn't so sure. The judge of the court sided with the King's brother because of the similarity of the Yang and Yin flower.

He always protected his mother, and the King, naturally, never let her out of his sight.

"The Farenas siblings will arrive here shortly, your majesty," a servant said as she bowed down. The prince didn't need to answer since he saw the carriage arriving from the third floor.

The moment Therese got out of the carriage, all the effort he did to prepare hinself crumbked into pieves as if they were never there. His heart beat so fast, it felt painful. The world was brighter again, and seeing her wearing a nice dress made him the happiest.

However, she saw her laughing alongside Ivarage, who held her hand to help her with the stairs.

He had the same concerned and happy expression when he looked at her.

Aaron's rage was fueled with gasoline. It grew and grew until he remembered his mission-he actually had to encourage Ivarage and Therese so she could unlove him.

"Time to play the cupid for the love of my life," he muttered as he went to greet them.