Third Arc (Fallen Heart) -  8. Fall For Him Once Again

Half an hour had passed. After Rose was much calmer, Angel finally allowed Claire and the others to enter the room. Although in these circumstances Angel would rather ask Rose to return to her room to calm herself down, they had to finish their wedding preparations first. That's why his original plan was to tell Rose after they had finished their wedding preparations, not in the middle of their preparations like this.

As Claire and the others entered, their eyes fell on Angel and Rose who were sitting side by side on the sofa. They immediately noticed something had changed from Rose and Angel's gesture. Even though Rose looked a little gloomy, the ice and distant feelings from her to Angel had disappeared. They also caught a slight worry from the king's cold face and an unusual gesture from him since they realized Angel was holding Rose's hand gently, though he didn't overtly show it to them and released it soon after they entered. Not only that, oddly, Angel had returned to his usual uniform.

"I accidentally soiled my wedding suit. Please clean it up." His voice dispersed their attention. Her tears had soaked his suit since he didn't want to create a bad rumour that he had made her cry so he decided to change his clothes.

"Yes, Your Majesty." And the servants did his order.

The royal tailor approached him and bowed.
"Your Majesty, how is the suit? Is there anything that you don't like?" he asked.

"No need, you've done your job well," he said in a calm tone.

"It is an honour for me to make your wedding suit, Your Majesty." Then the royal tailor turned to Rose.
"How about you, Your Highness?" he made sure once again.

"This dress is perfect. I love it," she said with a formal smile. Her thoughts were not on the dress but something else.

"I'm glad you like it, Your Highness," said the royal tailor. Then he retreated.

After that, Claire approached them, behind her several maids and servants lined up with trays filled with boxes of tiaras.
"Your Highness," said Claire as she gestured for Rose to choose it.

Rose's eyes moved from one box to another after looking at the tiara inside it for a while. Indeed, all the tiaras were very beautiful and Euphorion's collection surpassed Zephyrus' since his kingdom was far more prosperous than her kingdom which was often hit by rebellions, but her mind was in a mess right now, so she had no interest in choosing. She turned to Angel.
"Your Majesty, do you mind choosing it for me?" she decided to let Angel choose it since whatever his choice, it wouldn't be a problem for her. Besides, it was just a tiara.

Angel realized that Rose's mind was still in a mess.
"Very well," he said as he waved his hand, asking all the maids and servants to step aside. They closed the boxes and retreated at his command. While he stood up and extended his hand to Rose. Which Rose took it despite her confusion. Then he led her in front of the big mirror in the room.

As they arrived in front of it, he released his hand and stood face to face.
"Bring me that special tiara," he ordered. His eyes were on Rose's gloomy face.

A servant brought him another box and opened it.

Angel took the tiara and placed it on Rose's head gently.
"Now tell me, do you like it?" he said.

Rose turned to her side, looking at her reflection in the mirror. Her eyes widened in surprise and happiness when she saw the tiara above her head. Instead of Euphorion's black and white diamonds, a tiara dominated with rubies and diamonds adorned her head. The tiara looked simpler and smaller than the other tiaras, yet Rose recognized it immediately.

"Your uncle said your mother wore this on her wedding day and he said you've always wanted to wear it too. So I brought it from Zephyrus for you," he said with a smile. His eyes fell on her reflection in the mirror.

Rose's heart was pounding with happiness, even her eyes began to tear up. But there was one thing that bothered her. She turned to Angel.
"Is my uncle using this as one of my Kingdom's compensations?" she asked.

"Yes. But it wasn't your uncle's choice, it was my choice," said Angel.

The disappointment began to grasp Rose's heart since it meant that her mother's wedding tiara belonged to Euphorion now. But then, he approached her ear and whispered.
"Don't worry. After our wedding, that tiara will be yours. I won't take it." After that, he pulled his face away as his eyes fixed on her face.

Her eyes trembled, it was getting harder and harder for her to hold back her tears. However, she knew she must not shed a single tear in front of the servants or maids.
"Thank you, Your Majesty," she said with a slight nod. Her voice also trembled in emotion. Although this marriage was a political one in which she was the hostage, Rose knew Angel had prepared a lot of things for this.

"I have another business to do. I hope you don't mind if I leave." Since Rose suddenly asked him to speak privately, his schedule was a bit messy right now.

"I don't mind, Your Majesty," she replied.

"Then---" He turned to Claire.
"I leave the rest to you, Claire."

"Yes, Your Majesty," answered Claire.

After giving his Dark aura to Claire to return the other tiaras to the treasury vault, he walked out of the room.

Rose stared at the back of the king who was walking towards the exit in a daze. Even after he left the room, her eyes were still fixed on the door. In just a short time, she had experienced various emotions because of him, the harsh reality she had just discovered, his kindness and his warmth. Although she still didn't know his real intentions and feelings or whether this was a mere political agreement or not, she knew… She had fallen in love with him once again. It was even hard for her to ignore these feelings and regard him as an enemy just like when she met him again at Scarlet Stone Castle.

"-ur Highness," Claire's voice startled her.

"Yes?" she turned at them awkwardly. Her cheeks were blushed in embarrassment since she knew they caught her spacing out with her eyes fixed on where Angel had gone. Even some of the maids and servants lowered their heads to hide their giggles or gave her slight smiles.

"Do you want to change your dress?" Claire repeated the question since she was sure Rose didn't hear her when she asked the first time.

"Of course," she replied as she tried to get her composure. Still, she couldn't help herself to take one more glance at the door, as if her subconscious wished him to return to the room. But of course, that was not possible.
'What am I thinking? He's busy right now. I should stop thinking like a spoiled princess.' Then she turned to the side and headed towards the changing room.