Chapter 26

"Hey, if I said I love you, would you believe me?"

A smile, one hand taking off a mask and the other cupping his cheek.

"If I told you everything..." a hug, slowly his beloved faded away, "would you still think of me the same way? I murdered my father, you know. We're going to war and I have to play with lives as if they were chess pieces."

Suddenly, he was alone and in the dark.

"Accept me as I am, please. I love you."

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"The cruelest fate is meeting again after being parted by death... Someone once said that a familiar face can be broken by ripples in the lake. The dead are forever gone, leaving behind a hundred years of loneliness."

"Perhaps, that's how fate is."

As Ieshige, she could remember her sibling memorizing this quote. She didn't understand it all that much, not truly believing in anything after death.

Now, as Reyham, hints of clarity upon those words revealed themselves.

The cruelest fate is to meet again after death.

Perhaps, this was the balancing factor. The gods had given her blessings and let her live a second life, but they had also let her meet someone so reminiscent of her past sibling that...

It hurt.

He should've used the magic that the gods gave him. Rey knew he had light magic, just like his sister, but he never intended to recognize this potential, scared. Helping his parents and whatnot were an excuse

He was a coward.

Because if he had been in the academy, would he still meet this person, Astara, or so she says?

Astara looked up at him, smiling and Ieshige's heart clenched painfully. The sibling that she died for, the one he loved, why did she have to meet her again like this? Now, he was confused.

What was she to him?

In the past life, they were stuck at the hip. In this life, they were strangers.

But... it didn't need to be that complicated.

She was a customer.

And he would treat her like one.

Meeting after death is the cruelest thing, he understood this now.

"Thank you, nee-san." Astara murmurs and walks towards the exit with a sweep of her skirt. Ah, so she remembered too. It didn't have to be like this, did it? Rey could just reach out, talk to her, reconcile and...

This wasn't him replacing Lily. Was it so wrong to want to reconcile with someone one loved?

"Hoshiko," he starts, the name unfamiliar in this mouth. "Please, can we talk?"

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Prince Christian was here.

To be more precise, he just came. Astara smiled internally, recognizing who the rumored lover is instantaneously.

His smile stiffened when he saw her. En, that was what almost being in an arranged marriage does to an already previously non-existent relationship. The king was a powerhungry bastard if one were to be polite and confused if one were to be a saint.

Tap, tap, tap. The rain starts and she recognizes the command and incentive as it is.

"It has been nice catching up, nee-san. However, I do believe I have my duties to go back to." Astara curtsies and leaves, shadows lapping at her heels and shielding her from the rainfall. She merges with the darkness and appears back at the palace with little effort.

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"How have you been?" Chris asks with a gentle smile, one that makes Rey want to blush and scream into his pillow. He wonders if Hoshiko knew about his crush or something and was why she left. No way, right?

"I've been worried," Rey doesn't want to lie. "But I'm fine."

"Worried?" Chris leans in dangerously close. "For me? Or for your sister? Maybe that Lady Astara?"

Rey flushes and Chris' grin widens even more. "Stop teasing me!"

"Alright, alright." He backs down and Rey presses a hand against his chest, feeling his heart racing a mile a minute. "And...you changed your mask."

"...I did. Do you like it?"

"I think anything looks beautiful on you."

What, why, is he, "are you flirting with me?" Rey asks in an astonished tone.

"I am." Chris blushes, suddenly. "You don't want me to?"

"That..." Rey felt his tongue going in loops. How does he respond to this without giving out the crush title Chris currently held in his heart? "...sure,"

"Sure what?" He suddenly asks, serious. "I don't want to make you uncomfortable..."

This man, does he know what he's doing to Rey's poor heart?

"It—that's not what I, uh!" Scrambling his words in front of Chris, how embarrassing could this be? "I... don't mind."

"Is that so?" A gentle smile, fingers carding through Rey's hair and he wanted to melt away ans never be seen again. Ugh, good thing he was wearing a mask, no one could see the tomato his face had become...

...though, he was probably given away by his burning ears.

"I... really like you."

Ah.

Ah???

Chris took his hands in his own, Rey was frozen. With a serious face, he continued. "We may not be accepted by society and I will bring you into a lot of danger for this, but I am selfish enough to ask for your permission to court you."

"I... I..." Wait. What just happened? Chris... Chris just... asked him to-to what was practically date... "...what...?"

Now Chris was the one who looked completely flustered. He shifted nervously and cleared his throat. "Do you need time to think this through?"

"Yes! No—I meant, uh, let me..." Rey took a deep breath, "gather my thoughts."

The silence is overwhelming, all of a sudden. Rey couldn't stand it and so willfully took cinnamon bun, biting into it with a vengeance. After several more bites, he calmed down and took another deep breath.

"...to tell you the truth," Rey starts, remembering that he had chosen not to lie. He wouldn't lie now either. "I have liked you for a while now."

"You agree?" Chris lights up immediately. Rey smiles and nods, taking another bite of the bun before turning it towards to Chris and offering it to him.

He blushes at the implications and carefully eats.

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I do not see the point of making get together in a weird way. Isn't it sweeter if they got together normally and go through every bump in the relationship together? I think so, anyways.

All that aside, I have recently reread the chapters I didn't read and realized that I made way too many inaccuracies.

I want to ask, do you want me to rewrite those first chapters or do you want me to go on as if I didn't realize it?

I ask because if I know that its something you readers want then I'll have more motivation doing it rather than just going through with something I decided on my own and may even be annoying.

Please, choose either:

A, rewrite the earlier chapters

or

B, don't do it

Thank you for reading all this!

Words: 1173