The King looked up to where William was pointing, and he felt his heart beating once again. He put his hand to his chest and let out a small cry. Mahnu, do I dare to believe my eyes?

He found himself getting off his horse and slowly walking towards the tree, it was the same type of pull that he’d only felt with Mahnu. Already, he was sure…He was positive!

That beautiful body, that pose, the far away look…

Then, she suddenly moved, making him stop in his tracks and he watched her in a daze, as she started to climb down the tree.

When she gets down, the King immediately runs to her and hugs her, unable to stop himself!

I can't believe it's her! Her hair has grown, and she looks a little bit older but it's Mahnu! Mahnu!

He let her go and asked, "What happened!? Where have you been!?"

She didn't answer him, only making him more certain it was her. Even that confused and stunned face made him want to laugh, reminding him upon when he had first put her into his bath!

So, I have to get her to talk again!?

An excitement went through King Richard, something he hadn’t felt in a long time!

 

She picks up her items and tries to walk away but he stops her, making her drop everything on her toes.

Immediately King Richard apologizes, looking from the fallen items to her…Whom was jumping around, then suddenly falls to the ground and closes her eyes to the sudden pain.

What had fallen seemed to have been some tools that she was supposed to deliver to somebody. But the tools were no longer in King Richard’s eyes as he is unable to hold himself back yet again…

He picks her up and that's when she finally talks, saying to put her down and that he's going the wrong way!

"Ah, so you can talk! And you tried to walk away from me!"

"It is not a sin to walk away from a man when a woman is by herself, now put me down!"

"You're hurt."
"I am not...Broken! I can still walk, please, put me down!"

He stops but doesn't put her down, "I am so glad! Really!" He hugs her tighter. "You still respond to me exactly the same way. I thought that I'd never see you again and that if I did, you would be different."

 

His gentle face and words stunned her for a moment, "You...Know me?"

"My dear! Yes! I've been looking for you everywhere!" King Richard had indeed sent some of his people out whenever he went to Havlish, or visited any other town in the last two years…

"I can't remember who I used to be...I'm sorry. Are you sure...You mean me?"

"Yes. Mahnu is your name and you are my woman. Don't you ever forget that!"

"You're...You're woman!?" Her shriek at saying those words only made him happier. There was a small glimpse on her angry look, making him remember how adorable she was when she was angry.

The King laughs then, he hadn't laughed whole heartily for so long! It really felt great!

He hid himself in her chest then, holding her tight. Breathing in her sweet smell, he also felt a tear falling down his cheek, "I'm finally home!"

Unable to move and not wanting people to know that he had tears in his eyes, he tightened his hold on her and went silent.

Right now, all he wanted to do was hold her like this, in his arms, so that he could feel normal again…

 

Mahnu was moved, moved so much that she had unknowingly put her hands around him. A redness seeped into her cheeks and she felt strange…

Thinking that it was most likely because she had never done something like this before, she tried not to question it more.

"I feel bad...That I don't remember you." Was all she could say at the moment. Yet, she felt like she had to say something to this man that was hiding himself from the world…

Then, she started to realize her own actions of having her arms around his neck, and he didn't move as she tried to push him away,

"Not yet." She heard his muffled voice.

Raising her eyebrows, she looked at the man that was stubbornly stuck to her chest and she didn’t know what to do!

But…He looked…

Silently staring at him, she saw him rub against her, his head moving from side to side and saw the light shake of his shoulders.

He looked sad, was he crying? Why would he be crying though?

 

For a long time, she had felt like it had not mattered that she had lost her memories. Some strange feeling inside made her think that there was no one there looking for her…Especially since Betty and Donald had looked for her parents but never found anyone that knew her. For some reason, whenever they tell her that they’ve had no luck upon finding her family, Mahnu was not surprised…

She felt like…She had no family…

But, within just a week, two years after losing her memories, someone was coming up to her and then someone else came up to her, both of them men!

She knew she was at marriageable age, and men would look at her and perhaps come up with ways to get close to her but…Maybe these two men were part of her history…

Seeing how emotional this man was as he was holding her…Made her sad…She didn’t want him to be sad!

…For some reason, she didn’t hate being in his arms, but…This really wasn’t something she should be doing right now!

Looking out to those close by, that had not come any closer and were looking away from them, she looked back to the man who was hiding himself and really did wonder if she had known these unfamiliar people in the past.

King Richard repeated ‘I love you Mahnu’, a few times in his head. He had not known how much until she had disappeared and until he saw her again. I love you, Mahnu! Now I can finally breath! I can feel my heart beating!

"Are you...Okay?" Her voice was so good to hear. He had been longing to hear it for so long. He had even wished that every day he would remember his dreams, just so that he could see and hear her, even if it was through a dream…

He pulled back, still not letting her go. "Did you hear what I was thinking just now?"

She looked at him confused. "How could I hear what you are thinking? Are you and idiot?"

Smiling freely, King Richard started to walk towards his horse, "Yes, Yes, I'm an idiot!"

She's lost her memories and it looks like she's also lost her immortality and hearing thoughts. Her face doesn't seem stressed, hopefully she doesn't suffer either anymore.

King Richard sighed inwardly, thinking about that. He was sure that her existence had been very hard to endure earlier, so he was very glad that she looked a lot less stressed then she usually did before…

As the others around just watched silently, the King placed her on his horse, and he got on behind her.

"We'll stay in Brackan for now." He said to the others.

 

"Wait, I've got to go home!" Mahnu said.

King Richard leaned over, pushing her more against his chest and smiled, "Show me where you were staying, I need to thank them."

"Thank them?"

Unable to stop himself, he moved his mouth to her ear, and whispered, "For looking after you."

Seeing her turn around and having and irritated face, the King could only smile in return.

Mahnu!

King Richard held her to him once again, still not satisfied, even though she was right up against his chest. "Oh, I've missed you!"

"Are you sure it's me? I'm not used to this at all." She said, noticing that his hands were roped around her. How could he be so direct like this!?

Yet, she didn’t remove them…

Confusion settled into her mind and Mahnu could only be silent…

"It's fine, It's fine. I'll just get you used to me again. I'll chase after you every time, Mahnu."

 

Mahnu was speechless. He was definitely like no other man she had met in the last two years.

It was a little pathetic to her that he has already done more than any other man has done in Brackan! He was Shameless! A pervert!

Yet, she also realized that she hadn’t really fought much against him all this time…Not just now, but even just minutes before!

What was wrong with her!?

Even though she had rarely ever spoken when she left her home, she did have two suitors who had tried to be with her.

One seemed to walk away after seeing her scared and that she had no memory previous of when they were ‘sick’. But the other seemed to follow her for quite some time, thinking that she was still worth considering as a wife, even though she was like that. It had only been two months since he had finally given up and stopped showing up in front of her…

Betty had told her that she was pretty, and that she was a lot easier to get along with then some other young ladies, because she simply didn’t talk as much as them.

But was that really so?

This man, I had only just met him, and his hands were all over me and…They were warm and felt good…Was it because the feeling of it was familiar?

 

***

 

After they got to where Mahnu had been residing at all this time, they greeted each other, and the King personally thanked them. He didn’t care where he was, nor the people he was shaking hands with, he was still very happy with finding his beloved Mahnu.

It wasn’t like he hated poor houses, it was more so that he wasn’t used to them…And shaking hands with commoners was another rare thing he did…

But nothing mattered! He had no worries and wore a smile that rarely left his face!

The older lady, Betty, looked worried as she stared at Mahnu, "...Have you regained your memories, Cassandra?"

‘Cassandra’ shook her head, looked up at the man holding her and then looked away. The redness in her cheeks hadn’t subsided this whole time!

"Then, sir, how can we be sure? We care very much for Cassandra, we won't let anyone think that they might know her!"

The older lady might not have yelled but she had raised her voice.

It was obvious to everyone though, Betty was just looking over her adopted daughter, whom she cared for…It wouldn’t be easy to accept a man that she’d never met before holding onto someone she had accepted as her own daughter…

 

Marcus came to step in, but the King waved him away.

"I know she does not remember, I also have two people who can confirm it but...I want her to come to me freely."

King Richard turned to her then and she stared at him. Putting his hand to her face, he watched her reaction.

At first, ‘Cassandra’ was shocked and took a small step back, but she looked at the man’s face again. For a moment, she was silent as she stared at him. She liked how he was giving her a chance, even though her memories had not come back…And truly she had no recollection of him whatsoever! But…Her heart was beating so fast that she thought she was getting sick! Her palms felt weird, because they were wet, and she felt the blush that was burning on her cheeks!

Even if she had no memory of this man, it seemed…That perhaps her heart and her body remembered him…

Over this short time, her shock slowly disappeared, to show that she was just a girl eyeing a man that she admired.

To many people in the room, ‘Cassandra’ looked like the typical young lady that had a crush!

Putting her own hand up, ‘Cassandra’ slowly went to touch the man’s cheek, starting with one finger, then after, her whole hand.

Silence hit the small room, yet, everyone else disappeared for ‘Cassandra’. She did what she wanted, by touching his nose and his nicely cut, short beard. He was handsome…

 

Putting a finger over his forehead, she felt that perhaps he had been frowning too much lately because of the obvious dent there…Then to touch his lips, she fell out of her daze when she heard a sweet, whispered name that still sounded unfamiliar.

“Mahnu.”

Suddenly, she pulled her hand away and breathed out. "I...Would like to see."

Even though she had said these words in a type of settling the conversation and maybe putting it to an end, her blush didn’t dissipate at all and Mahnu really started to worry if she had a fever!

"Are you sure Cassandra? Is this what you want?"

"If you are worried, then by all means come with us back to Conrella." The King breathed out in relief. He really had taken a gamble!

He would be stuck if Mahnu didn’t want to be with him!

Breathing out a short breath, the King couldn’t help but just do whatever was necessary and let Betty and Donald come with them!

"...Your Majesty!?" Marcus said to the King.

 

Silence filled the room.

Betty and the older man, Donald, were shocked but got down to bow in respect. They weren’t entirely sure if the person standing in front of them was in fact the King of Kralaide, but if they didn’t bow, when in fact he was the King, they didn’t want to know the circumstances!

King Richard stopped them, "No, it's fine. Please don't. I'm not here as the King."

The King looked at Marcus, showing that he was annoyed, then turned back to the older pair with a hopeful face, and said, "If Mahnu wants to be with you as well and she is willing to give me a chance, I will be happy to take care of you in Conrella."

Conrella? The Capital? Both of the elders looked at each other in astonishment. Could it really be true? That he was…The King…And…

Who was this girl that, the King would do all this!? If she was the King’s woman…What was she doing here in Brackan!?

It really was confusing…And if they asked this question, Marcus and the King would not answer them! So, throughout their whole lives, they never ended up finding out why the King’s woman was in Brackan instead of Conrella!

 

After a short silence, Betty said in haste, "Oh, Oh no! Your Majesty! You don't have to do that!"

The King laughs and pulls Mahnu to him. "What do you want to do, Mahnu?”

He pulled her hand up to his lips and kissed it, not helping her cheeks at all!

‘Cassandra’ didn't know what to think about! He was the King! We were...Together? Does he know why she doesn't remember? And who are the other people that know me?

She looked at the other two men in the room, who didn't look familiar, except from meeting recently. What was it they had said? She tried to remember but found herself feeling dizzier and dizzier as time went by.

What is it that I want?

For some reason Mahnu didn't like that question. She didn’t want to answer it…She didn’t want to think about what it was that she wanted!

Just in the space of a few seconds, her head felt sore and she tried harder to focus, especially when everyone was looking at her!

As she felt herself start to faint, she asked herself silently, that same question again. What do I want?

She felt herself fall and admitted that, right now, she just wanted to sleep…

The King caught her, "Mahnu! What...What is wrong with her?"