20

"Khittan... He has a condition. It's psychologically affected him. Ever since his coronation, he had been experiencing a series of nightmares,"

My eyes waver when I hear that. Right now, I'm in a video conference with Khittan's cousin, Yug. His condition was the worst two hours ago. I needed to calm him down and force him to sleep.

"What kind of nightmare?" Yug held a deep sigh.

"He told me that he acted violently and cruelly towards someone that he believed to be his wife in his nightmare. On one occasion, he said..."

"Said what?"

"He raped her. And..."

"And?"

"He was responsible for her death. Khittan said the night when he had that nightmare, it was so vivid until at one point his hand shook so badly. He said, he stared deep into her eyes when he asked his army to stab her to death. While she slowly died, she stared at him, tears in her eyes..."

I stop him from carrying on to the next scene. Because I know what happened to the wife.

Know too well.

"We tried many methods to cure Khittan's condition. Those nightmares truly affected his life. He kept blaming himself, especially when he found out that he was being reincarnation. He used to be that evil man in his past life. Not once, but thrice,"

"How did he know?"

"We went to Thai shaman. Like tarot reader and dream reader. She explained that this was the fourth time he had been reincarnated. Something made this life kinda different from the past," Yug glared at me. His eyes told me that he knew who was who at this point.

"Why did you ask, when you probably know it by now?" here goes the question!

"I just want a confirmation,"

"Is his condition now not enough for you? Or, probably you think that he pretending?" Yug starts to press me.

"No! I mean... I don't know what happened to him. I knew he had those dreams like me. But, he never told me that those nightmares affected him like this," I reply to him in such devastated mood.

"I don't know about the past Khittan. But, Khittan whom I know is not as evil as he thought he was. He has the purest heart ever. Imagine, he has two elder brothers yet his father appointed him as The Crown Prince. Can you imagine how much The King trusts him?" what Yug says is true. The King won't simply appoint someone if he isn't capable of the responsibility.

"I never said he is evil,"

"Your reaction speaks well, Karin. You're scared around him. The first time you met him, you collapsed on the floor. You always disobey his rules and resist him almost all the time," those words prick inside my heart. "If you think that this Khittan is not the same Khittan in the past, you won't treat him like that," I can sense the frustration coming from Yug's tone.

"I was in shock that time. I can't lie about my feelings, pretending that I'm okay around him when I still have those terror nightmares every single day," I say.

"Karin, I guess maybe I should tell you this. I know in any way possible, Khittan will never tell you how he feels about you," I'm scared now. "He does love you," says Yug.

"How did you know?"

"There're many girls that throw themselves to him. But, I saw his sincere smile for the first time when he saw you at BTC."

:::

"Khittan, are you sure this is the place?" Yug inquired Khittan. He was in the driving seat, watching BTC from afar.

"You're the one who said she works at BTC. This is the only coffee shop by that name," Khittan glares at Yug.

"Look... Look... Someone's coming!"

They duck their head a bit, leaving only eyes to snoop.

"Is that her?" Khittan grabbed his phone. He checked the picture that The Royal Committee sent to him.

"Yeah... That's her..." he could feel his cheek burn. The lady is indeed ethereal.

"Yo, where are you thinking you're going?"

"I wanna say hi to her,"

"Are you mad? You have a meeting this morning!"

"Then, I have a strong reason," Yug raised his eyebrows.

"I need my caffeine shot," Khittan jumped out from the car, and straight away into the cafe. He joined the line, waiting for a chance to talk to the lady.

"Yug, why aren't we moving at all?" Khittan was getting antsy. Yug stepped out a bit from the line to check the situation that happened at the front of the line.

"Some stupid man is trying to flirt with her..."

"What?" he almost threw a fist in the air. Yug managed to stop him from giving a huge reaction.

"This line goes nowhere!" one of the customers started complaining.

"I have a presentation this morning!" another customer whined.

"I can sleep and awake, still in this state!" a lady in a high bun, almost soaking t t-shirt and looking messy as hell also expressed her disappointment.

Khittan felt the stress started to grow even more than before.

"Do you guys need coffee now?" he asked the crowd. All of them nod in unity.

"I'm awake for more than 48 hours now... My son has a fever..."

A lady almost began to blow up with tears.

"Calm down, ma'am. I'll solve the situation..." Khittan swiftly got out of the line, in full determination to teach some random guy how to be polite to a lady.

:::

"Let me ask you something, Yug..."

"Sure,"

"If it wasn't for that nightmares, would he look at me the same as he looks at me now?"

I can see Yug frown. He takes a sweet time to think.

"You ask the wrong person, Karin. I can't give you the answer. That's for Khittan," finally, he gives a response. I sigh, eyes glaring at Khittan who is fast asleep in bed.

"But there is one thing you should know,"

"What?"

"Khittan really loves you,"

"How many times you wanna repeat that?" I inquire.

"Until you realize how much he loves you, Karin."