OMG. I'm so SORRY for not updating these days! I've been absurdly busy...

"Do you really like my touch so much that you slept through the whole morning?"

I jerked open my eyes, meeting huge green orbs that seemed to glitter and reflect my hazel ones.

"You do, don't you?" Usui said.

I gasped and quickly sat up, bumping my forehead with his in the process.

"Ouch," I said, rubbing the area where my forehead made impact with the blond prince's.

"Good afternoon, sleeping beauty," he said while sitting next to me. "How are you feeling?"

I considered his question with my still-fuzzy mind. My head wasn't pounding anymore, which was great because a pounding head is never a good thing. I wasn't burning inside – at least, not that much – anymore, which means that my fever had gone down. Even if just a little bit.

"Fine," I muttered. "What were you doing, anyway, scrutinizing me like that?"

"Oh," he said in a tone so casual that it annoyed me. "Just admiring you in your sleep."

"You creep," I murmured, even though I could feel my cheeks go warm and my heart give a happy – err, annoyed yelp.

Then a knock sounded from the door, and Usui stood up, pulling my hand as he did.

"My Lord, your horse is ready. Do you need anything else?" a voice dripping with the Class accent filled the room.

"No," Usui shouted. "I will be out in a few."

"Understood."

I stared at the blond, dumbfounded. And it was all I could do to not gape at him.

For the first time, I actually heard someone speak so eloquently. His voice wasn't exactly commanding, but it was enough to let one know that he had power and authority. And yet it sounded so gentle.

He looked down at me – he was at least a head taller than me – and smiled.

He actually smiled!

At me!

I quickly turned away, hiding my flaming cheeks from him. It was embarrassing enough to admit, even if it wasn't out loud, that his voice was gentle; I didn't need to let him see me blush.

"W-what?" I said, still not turning to face him.

He chuckled, and my heart started to pound against my chest. His voice was so low, so gentle, so…

Perfect.

I quickly buried that thought deep and away from my mind, wanting to think about it no more.

"I'm going to the woods," he said, and my eyes widened. "Want to come with?"

"Yes!" I said before I even had the chance to turn to look at him. "Yes, please."

He chuckled again before muttering, "Thought so."

Usui made his way to the bedside table, on which a pair of ivory white gloves was on.

"When are we going?" I asked, my eagerness evident in my voice. "Soon, right?"

He walked back beside me, leaned down and whispered in my ear, "When we exit this room, keep your head down and don't look at anyone. Pretend that we have never spoken – not in the woods, not in this room – and that you're still very upset as to what they did to you the night you were taken here. Got it?"

I nodded quickly, taken aback by how serious he sounded.

"Why?" I whispered back.

"Because they will know that I lied and send you back to execution."

I gulped as he pulled back and walked towards the door. I tailed behind him.

Krk…

A gust of wind slapped my face the second the door was opened. I was – or rather, Usui was – greeted with two guards on either side of the double door. And no, they weren't the ones who… you know.

I looked down at my feet, and realized that I was wearing a pair of plain moccasins. Usui must've gotten me into them.

And I didn't even want to think about what else he did.

"Good afternoon, My Lord," one of the guards greeted Usui. "Your horse is ready in the stable."

"Thank you," Usui replied, and we made our way through broad hallways, all bright and filled with beautiful and elegant frames of pictures of previous Kings and Queens and marble-carved furniture. But I didn't get to look at all of them, because I had kept my head down like how Usui said.

When we were out of the castle and into fresh air, I felt my lungs expand. I just realized how suffocating it was to be inside the enormous mansion, and now that we were out of there, I could finally fully fill my lungs with ease.

"Ahh," I exhaled. The coolness of the air – even though it was almost noon, judging by the position of the sun – brushed against my skin and blew my hair slightly. I tell you, the nature is my second home. "Finally. Some fresh air."

Usui chuckled and said, "Here, my horse should be in that stable right there." He pointed towards a small, run-down stable about twenty yards to our left.

And you know what he did next?

He casually grabbed my hand, and dragged me all the way to the stable.

Oh, while saying, "Come on! Let's go!"

Weird, eh?

But he didn't do it in that geeky way a kindergarten student would do. No, he did it in the cool way a senior would do.

Which made me wonder…

"Hey, Usui?" I called out to him.

"Mhm?" he turned his head towards me.

"H-how old are you?" I asked.

He stopped running, looked up like he was thinking what his age was – was this guy for real? – before smiling at me.

"Why do you want to know?" he asked, a smug expression plastered on his face.

I looked at the ground while shifting from one foot to another. "Err… Just curious, you know? But if you don't want to tell me then that's fine. I mean, I would – "

And out of the blue, his hand shot out.

Oh, not to cup my face in that romantic way or anything – but his hand did touch my cheek.

No, he didn't cup my face. He slapped my face.

I was dumbfounded. Really, I was. If he had kissed me I wouldn't have been that surprised. I mean, he did sexually harass me once, who was I to say that he wasn't going to do it again?

But seriously? He was that unwilling to tell me his age that he decided to slap me? Who does that, anyway?

Apparently, the arrogant, blond prince in front of me does.

My shock, however, was soon replaced by anger.

I didn't deserve getting slapped. Sure, I might have been a little impolite to a prince as to ask his age, but he didn't seem to be the slapping type, you know?

But just when I was about to call him with my rather large collection of colorful words, he grabbed a chunk of my hair and started pulling towards the stable.

Yeah, and there I was calling him gentle.

I didn't wail, though. If he thought that I was that weak, well, he was up for a disappointment.

All the way there, I was seriously thinking about how wrong my impressions about him were. He was everything but gentle. His touch wasn't soft and warming. No, it was harsh and cold. As cold as those green eyes of his.

And he wasn't attractive. No, not at all.

Sure, he got nice blond hair that sways with the wind. And yeah, maybe those cold, cold eyes compliment his features. And…

I should really stop, shouldn't I?

I was brought back to reality when Usui suddenly went to a complete halt, and I, who was only grabbed by the hair and nothing else, almost fell flat on my face into a pile of horse… waste. And if it wasn't for my superlative body balance, I would've done so, too.

When Usui released me – my hair, actually – I turned around to face him and glared at him. Oh yeah, his eyes weren't the only ones who could send cold chills down one's spine.

"What," I growled, "was that about?"

He didn't say anything. Oh no, he didn't say anything. Not. A. Single. Thing.

Instead, you know what he did? He got on a horse – a white, freshly groomed one – and ordered me to get a horse for myself.

Yeah, you read that right. He ordered me. And he didn't do it in a very gentle manner, either.

Whatever.

I rolled my eyes and started looking for one. A horse, I mean. And it wasn't long before I found one.

The horse that I got on was brown, covered with a few white blotches here and there. It wasn't as strong looking as the one Usui's, but it was a horse all the same. I didn't believe that a good horse should be a good-looking one. I learned that good-looking things aren't always good from a certain blond dude.

After seeing that I had found a horse for myself, he stirred the horse out of the stable and started yanking on the rope, which caused the horse to start running.

Now, I won't lie to you, but I had no experience with riding horses. I didn't have horses back home. Not only that they cost a heck lot, they also require a lot of care and space, both of which I lack of at home. So I seriously had no clue on how you stir a horse or how you ask them to run. The closest thing I had to a clue was Usui's yanking of the rope. So guess what I did?

I yanked the rope.

And promptly realize that not only was it a bad idea, but it was also an idea that could've gotten me killed.

The horse rose to its hind legs, pedaling its two front ones. I clutched the rope harder, holding on for dear life. And I screamed my lungs out.

I kept on screaming when the horse came back to all fours and started running like crazy. The fact that it was running soothed me a little, but the fact that it was running like insane made my fear came back in full force.

I closed my eyes shut, crouched down and prayed that the horse knew where it was going. I surely didn't want the horse to crash a tree or anything. That wouldn't be too good for both my health and the horse's or anything.

I felt the horse make a series of turns and loops and it even jumped really high this one time. Yeah, my heart seemed to stop when it did that.

Wind was slapping across my face, getting hair into my mouth. My heart, needless to say, was on the edge of stopping forever. I couldn't feel my arms and legs anymore. I was scared as heck.

And then I heard another series of hooves pounding against the ground beside me.

Oh great, I thought. This little horse of mine attracted more horses.

I really thought that I was caught inside a horse stampede. Embarrassing, I know, but I didn't know better, okay? That was, of course, before my horse stopped running suddenly.

And I, you know, fell over the horse.

All I thought about when I fell over was how thankful I was that I didn't fell on a pile of horse droppings.

"Ouch," I flinched when my body got dragged about an inch from where I first fell on the floor by the force.

"Down! Down!"

Slowly, I opened my eyes and scanned my surroundings. There wasn't a group of horses as how I thought there was. The only horses that were there were my horse and –

Usui?

"Are you alright?" he asked from where he was on his horse, holding my struggling one. That, I counted, would be the third time he had asked that idiotic question ever since we met.

I nodded and tried to stand up…

… And had to clench my dress in order not to shout my throat out in pain.

Usui quickly hopped down from his horse and helped me up to my feet. I didn't reject his offer, because I highly doubt I could move by myself. Whenever I tried to move a limb, there would always be this nagging pain in between the joints and on the surface of the skin.

He helped me to a nearby tree, where he then helped me extend my legs. He then kneeled beside them, facing me.

"Which part of your body is hurt?" he asked with so much worry in his voice that it almost made me forget what he did a while ago. Almost, but not quite.

"Why do you even care?" I asked rather hastily, my voice full of hostility, while looking at my now-tattered dress.

I could feel his stare, piercing through the wall of my anger towards him. Well, too bad for him, I had more than just a wall of anger against him. Humiliation was one of them.

"What do you mean, why do I even care? Of course I care. I – " he started, before I rudely interrupted him.

"If you cared so much than why did you slap me, huh? And all the hair yanking?" I bellowed.

Now I was looking at him. I was looking at him straight in the eyes. I wanted him to know that I was hurt. Badly. And not just physically because of that damned horse, either.

But what became my question was: Why was I hurt? Surely, for hurt to be present, there must be affection first, right? But if I was hurt, doesn't that mean that I… actually had feelings for him?

No! I mentally slapped myself for ever thinking about him like that. No, he was just a random guy who saved me from my public execution. I was hurt because I had gratitude towards him. And even though I didn't know for sure how gratitude could lead to hurt, I believed in my theory, anyway.

"Really," I continued, "I don't know which of you I should believe in. You were this stranger when we met in the woods. Then you became this arrogant Class prince with your filthy accent. Soon after you were this perverted, sexually harassing pig that invaded my personal space. Probably a couple hours after that, you were this kind and helpful prince who helped me lace up my dress. And just now…"

I was babbling. I knew that for sure. Tears were trickling down my cheeks.

Yes, I was crying. And you can probably count using the fingers on one hand how much I did that before.

What made matters worse, however, was this feeling inside my chest. Something bittersweet.

Hurt, that could only be.

"…Now you're this… this… c-caring guy…" I let my voice trail off right then. I didn't think that further explanations were necessary.

I looked back down at my dress, my naked toes – one of my moccasins fell off somewhere – anywhere but him. He was left inarticulate for a minute or two, and I thought, just for a second there, that I had hit all the right spots.

But he decided to speak up right then.

"I'm sorry," he said, his tone as gentle as a feather. "I didn't mean for the slap to hurt."

Well, what did you think? I wanted to say to him. That a slap wouldn't hurt? That your pulling my hair wasn't painful? Gee, with a rank as high as yours, one would think that you had better knowledge on these stuff.

But there was this cursed cotton ball inside my throat that prevented me from saying it all out.

"And I'm sorry for how I've treated you since your arrival. I didn't mean to be arrogant, and I didn't mean to intrude your personal space or sexually harass you in any way," he continued. "And the slap and yank before. I'm… I'm sorry."

Whoa. This was definitely more than what I had expected. I mean, seriously? He didn't really need to state out all his sins. I wasn't asking for a prayer of forgiveness to our creator.

"There were people watching us, back in the palace. I've got to treat you cruelly, that's how they treat servants back there. Even in the stable, they've got eyes and ears everywhere," Usui reached out to cup my cheek. The cheek that he slapped. The cheek that was still pounding and hot, fresh from his palm. "I'm sorry…"

There was silence in between us. It seemed that there were so many words left unspoken. Words of explanation as to why he acted like how he did.

But it seemed that words weren't able to convey how we were feeling.

Hurt. Betrayed. Cheated. Humiliated. Uneasy. Lightheaded.

No, those words weren't able to convey all what I was feeling then. What we were feeling then. They were just not that right…

With one hand cupping my cheek, Usui brought my face nearer to his, and brought his face down to mine. And I didn't even budge when our lips met, because how could I? It felt perfect on mine, like it was created to fit the curves of my lips.

And suddenly, no words could explain how we were feeling except for one:

Love.

Yeaaa... Crappy.

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