Alice's Heart : The Ruby Eyed Man

Nineteen years ago, if Mrs. Greyson hadn't been kind enough to care for an innocent, unidentified baby, then Alice wouldn't have existed and grown into a raving beauty she was today.

At the age of nineteen, Alice only made one wish on her birthday. She wanted a prince for herself. Of course, the prince she was referring to was aimed at the one man who had filled her heart for years, and that was none other than Sebastian Greyson. Growing up together, he turned into an extreme handsome demigod. But her peers called him The Umeboshi. His arrogant, nonchalant demeanor was not much different from a sour taste. If he was a fruit, then he would be Umeboshi.

It was the twelfth memorial of Sarah Greyson's death. It was done because the family did not know for twelve years where she had actually gone. No one knew whether she was still alive or not, but because she had not returned for that long, everyone agreed that she had died.

All of the family gathered for the day. The memorial of the death was made for them as well as a big family reunion, considering they lived far apart and it was difficult to have time to gather together if not that day. And as for Alice, she locked herself in her room every memorial of the day. Her clothes were completely black, symbolizing how her heart was broken and grieving. She sat in a dark corner of her room and contemplated silently. She would be there all day like in previous years, not eating and not wanting to interact with the people around her.

A gentle knock landed on her door, causing Alice's eyes to shoot up in alarm. She prepared if it was Sebastian with his anger issues, forcing her to come out of the room and eat something.

"Alice?" called Zoe softly. Thankfully it wasn't Sebastian, because Alice had absolutely no energy left to deal with him. "I know today is hard for you, believe me it's hard for all of us. Sarah Greyson was our most loving mother and milady. We all feel the pain of losing her, but we have to move on with life. You can't stay in that pain forever or try to run away from it like you do now,"

Alice curled up in her seat, not a word left her lips in response.

"Please open the door, will you?" whispered Zoe from the doorway in the most fragile voice Alice had ever heard. "I need you. Remember about the Greyson family tradition I told you about? Yes, today is also the day. I'll be leaving in a minute, and everyone is expecting you to come along. It's my first year doing that and I want you to be there with me. We can do it together like we promised. Please come out,"

When Zoe mentioned about the tradition, Alice suddenly felt her legs betray her. She felt a strong urge for her feet to leave her place towards the hill. Hated it, but she was also curious. The curiosity she had was still the same as she felt at the age of seven. She was forced to put her ego aside and ended up opening the door to her room a few minutes later.

Zoe froze in place to find Alice finally emerging from behind the door. She was taken aback by the dark circles around Alice's eyes. "Oh my God, Alice. Come here,"

Alice smiled sadly then dropped herself in Zoe's arms. That's what she really needed. "We promised to do it together, so let's do it."

For the first time on the memorial of Mrs. Greyson's death, Alice left her room. Her arrival captivated attention. The rest of the people in the living room didn't take their eyes off her at all. They all seemed like good people to her, but she needed to meet one person before introducing herself to them. Her eyes scanned the room until they stopped at a pair of red eyes that were already blazing at her.

Sebastian was sitting on the couch, enjoying his glass of vodka. Needless to say, his face conveyed shock. He was shocked to see who finally decided to leave the room. Sighing, Alice walked over to him. "Am I too late?"

Sebastian stood up, lowering his face to study Alice's expression. "Not really,"

A bashful smile quickly made its way onto Alice's face. She rubbed the back of her neck under Sebastian's intense gaze. It was hard for her to get air when he was around her.

"Hello there, you must be Alice."

Alice turned around and found an old granny in shabby clothes with a genuine smile. "Yeah, it's me." She answered politely, sending a glance at Sebastian, asking if it was his grandmother, but the man's expression was hard to read.

"It's a honor for me to finally meet you. You're so alluring and smelling heavenly as mentioned," whispered the granny, more to herself. Her trembling hands touched a strand of Alice's blonde hair and muttered some incomprehensible words.

Alice showed the granny her best smile. Before she could say thank you, Sebastian's sudden order startled her.

"Leave her alone!" ordered Sebastian with a roar that boomed through the room. He hardened like steel. His expression had already changed a hundred percent from before. He clearly didn't please see how the granny touched Alice's hair.

The granny almost jumped from her spot in surprise. Her eyes stared at Sebastian with a shudder of fear that ran through her stooped body, even nearly falling when she took a step back. Seeing that, Alice didn't remain silent. She immediately helped her by supporting her body to stand on balance. They really caught everyone's attention in the room. Alice was absolutely sure she didn't need a proper introduction to them now.

"What's wrong with you, Sebastian?"

Not paying heed to Alice's words, Sebastian in a loud and harsh voice ordered the guards to take the mysterious granny out of the mansion. His red eyes glared at her sinisterly. "Who dared to invite this tramp to my mother's memorial!"

Tramp? Alice could hardly believe the man she liked the most could insult so viciously. She quickly blocked the way of the two guards who were about to take the granny out with harsh treatment. "Let her go! Can you guys at least be gentle with the elder?"

"What do you think you're doing, Alice?" snapped Sebastian, making Alice gasp. She tried hard not to cry or make a scene in front of all the family members. It was her first time meeting them and was already making a fuss.

"I'm doing the right thing," replied Alice, feeling her cheeks heat up with embarrassment as all eyes stared at her as if she was the villain.

Sebastian groaned in anger at Alice's answer. He didn't even mean it as a question. "Alice!" It was his last warning.

"Get your filthy hands off her!" ordered Alice to the guards. They obeyed after getting a quick nod from Sebastian. "Did they hurt your wrists?" Her tone softened at the granny who was already looking at her in admiration.

The granny shook her head weakly through the difficulty of catching her breath.

"Alice, you have to learn to respect to me!" Sebastian raged after feeling humiliated in front of his family. "I know you're in love with me, so you should take my word for it, instead of rebelling all the time."

Alice's face fell at that very moment. Whispers from people started to sound and put her in a very uncomfortable position.

Sebastian smirked in satisfaction at how he had managed to get Alice's attention. He came closer then lifted the tip of her chin with his forefinger. "Listen little one, yes, I know how you feel for me from years ago. And I love to see your blushing cheeks or the way you act shy around me. It's really fun entertainment. But what do you expect from me? Be my wife? It couldn't have happened even millions of years later,"

Has her love just been rejected? Alice's hurt gaze turned completely to hate. She no longer recognized the man standing in front of her. Sebastian was no longer the same boy she once liked. Her eyes finally shed tears showing how much pain she was in.

Being the bastard he was, Sebastian just watched, doing nothing as he watched Alice sob like a baby about to cry. "Just do whatever you want, I don't care anymore. But listen to me carefully, this granny next to you doesn't look like what you see. She's even worse than the devil,"

Alice shot a sharp look of disbelief at Sebastian's words. She was about to share her piece of mind when one of the servants approached them. "Sorry to disturb your time, Young Master. The food is ready to be taken to the hills and will take place in a moment. Your presence is most welcome,"

Sebastian nodded and left Alice without finishing their argument as usual. They used to fight and even stab each other with hurtful words, but that was the first time Alice felt her heart being crushed. All that time he knew about her feelings and just kept quiet without taking any action?

Everyone left the mansion towards the main gate, remaining Alice and the granny.

"You didn't have to do that for me, but thank you. It's rare to find young people as nice as you," said the granny in between coughs.

Alice smiled gently. "If I may ask, where do you live? I can take you home,"

"You're willing to take me home?" asked the granny with sparkling eyes.

"Alice!" shouted Zoe from behind. She was in such a hurry that it was difficult to regain her breath. "Sorry I'm late, by the way what did I miss? Where's everybody?"

Alice looked back and just shrugged her shoulders. She wasn't in the mood after what happened.

"Are you okay?" Zoe looked worried, blaming herself for letting Alice out of her room alone and meeting people she didn't even recognize. But what could Zoe do? She couldn't stand the pain in her stomach and needed to go to the toilet for it.

Alice avoided the question and was about to introduce Zoe to the granny when all she found was no one around her.

"Alice?" repeated Zoe, finding Alice confused and looking for someone when she was just all alone there. "You look like you're looking for someone,"

Alice ran her hand through her hair, not understanding what was really going on. How did the granny disappear all of a sudden? Even to keep the balance of her legs, the old granny had a hard time.

"Stop staring, Alice. I think it's time for us to go. So get on your feet quickly before we're left behind!"

Without any warning, Zoe pulled Alice's hand with her out of the mansion. The moment their feet landed on the main gate, a strong wind blew causing the hairs on their necks to stand on end. The clouds suddenly darkened and accompanied by the sound of a roar; the rainstorm had already signaled its arrival.

From where she was standing, Alice could see Sebastian standing at the forefront of the many servants. The man seemed undaunted by nature's orders for him to retreat and remain in the mansion until the storm passed. "Are we still going? It will be dangerous for all of us if we force our way through this storm,"

"You know we can't go against what Sebastian has ordered," whispered Zoe back. "It's our first year after all, so you have to keep your spirits up. Even though the weather is playing games with us,"

Alice nodded, slowly taking her steps following the other servants who started to leave the mansion in the direction where the hill was. Her first steps felt normal, but the more steps she took, the more she felt something in her heart. Her heartbeat quickened its rhythm. It felt like something was waiting for her up there, something that had a strong scent and mighty build.