A Hidden Past

On Sunday morning, there was a visit to the orphanage and Chezem and Ashori were getting ready to go there.

"Hurry up, Chezem, or we will be late."

"I know, I know, I'm coming already. You are so energetic in the morning, Ashori."

Chezem yawned.

"I can't wait to meet the children!"

Ashori was really excited to meet the children as she loved children really much. Chezem usually don't like to go out of the castle and he often stayed in his room, but because it was requested by Ashori, he agreed to go. The both of them got on a carriage and left the castle. Not long after, they arrived.

"Chezem, we are here, we are here!"

Chezem stared at Ashori and smiled after seeing Ashori looking so excited. Ashori noticed that Chezem was staring at her.

"Wh…What are you looking at? Is there something on my face?"

"No, ...is just that you are really cute."

"What…? Cu… cute…?"

Before Chezem got off of the carriage, he gave Ashori a peck on the cheek that made Ashori blushed.

"Che…Chezem…!"

Chezem chuckled. Chezem got off from the carriage first and took out a hand to help Ashori to get down from the carriage.

"Let's go, my lady."

"Geez, you are always so sneaky, Chezem."

Ashori pouted.

"Haha, don't pout, it will ruin your cute face. Let's go now, the children are waiting."

"Okay..."

Ashori got down from the carriage and they both arrived at the doorstep of the orphanage. When the children saw them, they were so happy.

"Prince Chezem! Miss Ashori! You are here! You are here!"

Children were jumping around with glee.

"Settle down, children. Thank you so much for making your time to come here, Prince Chezem and Miss Ashori."

The orphanage's caretaker came to welcome Chezem and Ashori.

"The pleasure is all ours."

Chezem and Ashori played with the children and spent the whole morning there until it was evening. They were now enjoying some snacks together with the children.

"Ashori, is evening already, I think is time that we go."

"Oh, is evening already? Time passed by so fast when you are having fun."

When Chezem and Ashori were about to get up from their seats, one of the children grabbed hold of Chezem.

"Don't go. Play with us some more."

The child looked at Chezem, teary eyed. Chezem then smiled warmly and patted the boy on the head.

"Don't be sad, we promise that we will come again, okay?"

"Really?"

"Yup, really, if you don't believe me, you can ask Miss Ashori."

The little boy looked at Ashori. Seeing this, Ashori quickly responded.

"Yes, of course we will!"

"Okay, children, come bid your farewells to Prince Chezem and Miss Ashori."

"Thank you for coming, Prince Chezem and Miss Ashori! We hope to see you soon."

The children waved goodbye to Chezem and Ashori. The caretaker showed Chezem and Ashori the way to the door and bid them farewell.

"Hmm? The carriage is not here? Stay here, Ashori, I will go and see whether the carriage is right around the corner."

"Oh, okay."

After Chezem disappeared into the corner, Ashori heard someone crying. Ashori followed the voice and saw a little boy crying sitting on the ground with a scraped knee, a fallen basket and buns.

"Little boy, what happened?"

"I… *sniff* accidently fell… *sniff* and all the buns… *sniff* I bought fell as well. Mother's*sniff* going to scold me."

The little boy continued to cry. Seeing this, Ashori took out a handkerchief and wrapped it around the little boy's knee, picked him up, dusted him off and gave him some money.

"Here, go buy some new buns, okay? Don't cry anymore."

Ashori wiped the tears of the little boy and patted him on the head.

"Re…Really?"

"Yes, stop crying now. Use the money and buy new buns and this time, try not to trip, okay?"

"Th…Thank you."

The little boy wiped away his tears and smiled at Ashori and ran off to buy new buns with the money Ashori gave to him.

"Be careful."

Ashori waved at the little boy and the little boy waved back.

Seeing this was solved, Ashori was about to return to the waiting place. When she was about to leave, she heard a sound behind her and as she turned, a guy in black stood there while holding a knife. Ashori tried to backed away and run but then there was another man who was behind her and he grabbed hold of her and covered her mouth. She tried to scream and struggle to get away from him but the man was too strong. Not long, Ashori fainted.

"Hurry up, let's go, the boss is waiting!"

"Yes, I'm coming!"

One of the men left a rolled up paper next to Ashori's fallen off bracelet on the ground before leading the way while the other picked up Ashori like she was a sack of flour and they both disappeared.

Chezem came back to the waiting place but Ashori was nowhere to be found. Chezem tried searching around and he finally saw Ashori's bracelet lying on the ground and he saw the rolled up paper beside her bracelet.

"What is this?"

Without much thought, Chezem quickly opened the rolled up paper and it appeared to be a letter.

If you want her back alive, come to this place alone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Al

Below the letter was the place where Ashori was being held captive.

Chezem stared at the letter and he couldn't believe his eyes.

"No, it couldn't be… Ashori…Please be safe."

Chezem crumbled the paper and set off to where Ashori is.

Ashori woke up on her way to the abductor's place and her hands were being tied up. She was now walking towards the boss while being pushed from behind by one of her abductors.

"Hurry up! Walk faster!"

The underlings then pushed Ashori to the floor.

"Ugh…"

"Boss, we got her and we also left the letter behind as you ordered!"

"Good job. Now leave us and don't enter eventhough you hear anything."

"Understood!"

The underlings left.

"Well, well, well, look what we got here…"

The boss walked towards Ashori and lifted up her chin.

"So… You are Chezem's lover?"

"What do you want from me?"

"Oh, not to worry, I am not going to do anything to you. You are here now because I need you to lure Chezem here… so I could kill him…"

The guy released Ashori's chin.

"Wha..t?"

"Since Chezem is not here yet, let me tell you a story… It was 10 years ago, when I was still Prince Chezem's servant, we were the best of friends. Then, one day the castle got attacked, and they were aiming for him but I protected him and I even got hurt! But then the next day, instead of being rewarded, not that is important, I was told that I was released from the castle by him! I saved him and he kicked me out of the castle! That ungrateful prince!"

Ashori saw that the guy was on the verge of tears and was really angry at the same time. Not caring the situation she was in, Ashori fought back.

"Don't lie! Chezem is not that kind of person!"

"Shut up! You don't know him well! He's been deceiving you like he did to me!"

Ashori just glared at him.

"Oh, that's a nice glare, probably the same one when I glared at Chezem. But he didn't even bother to look at me… He just turned his back, leaving me, while the guards showed me the way out. From then on, I swore I will get my revenge but then I don't need to wait for long now, he would be here any minute…"

Then Ashori heard running footsteps and the door was kicked open.

"Al! Let Ashori go this instance!"

"Welcome, Prince Chezem, what took you so long…"

Al bowed to Chezem playfully.

"Enough of this, I am here now! Release her!"

"Oh, yes, I will release her… after I kill you…"

Suddenly, Al came toward Chezem with a knife. Chezem tried to dodge the knife but Al managed to cut Chezem on the stomach area.

"Ugh!"

"Chezem!"

Ashori cried out.

"I'm alright, Ashori… Is just a flesh wound…"

"You idiot! Why did you come? You could have died!"

"You are the idiot here, do you think I won't worry when you suddenly disappeared from my sight? You were told to wait there for me, but when I came back, you weren't there so I search for you but you were nowhere to be found then I found your bracelet on the floor with the letter. I was so afraid something might have happened to you…"

"… Chezem…"

Ashori was on the verge of tears.

"Oh… How sweet but I guess this story won't have a happy ending."

Al grabbed hold of his knife and was ready to attack Chezem again. Chezem then faced Al while holding his stomach.

"Al, why are you doing this?"

Al stopped his attack and looked directly at Chezem.

"Are you seriously asking this? Well, I guess I should refresh your memory… 10 years ago, you crudely released me from the castle eventhough I saved your life… Did you know I have nowhere else to go? My life had been so miserable for the last 10 years… You did this to me and I vow to get my revenge on you!"

"What? I… released you?"

Chezem looked shocked and confused at the same time. Chezem then spoke out.

"What do you mean I released you? You were the one who didn't want to be my servant anymore. I was told that you ran away because you were scared of being killed!"

"That is not true! After the attack at the castle, I received a letter saying that you didn't want me to be your servant anymore because I wasn't strong enough to protect you and that I was just a weakling in your eyes."

"No! That is a lie! I didn't release you… What is going on here? There is clearly a misunderstanding. Who has been feeding us lies…"

Suddenly, Ashori saw something shiny in the shadows. It seems like there was a figure aiming a knife at Chezem. Ashori saw and she mustered all the strength and rushed to Chezem.

"Chezem! Look out!"

"What?"

Ashori managed to push Chezem out of the way from the knife but she got cut on her arm instead.

"Ugh…"

"Ashori!"

"Im fine… Are you alright, Chezem?"

"Of course I am. Are you an idiot? Why did you jump in front of me?"

"Isn't it obvious, I didn't want you to get hurt again."

"Ashori…"

Chezem hugged Ashori tightly.

"Ouch, Chezem, you are hugging me too tight."

"Oh, sorry."

Chezem released Ashori from his embrace and quickly untied Ashori's tied hands.

Al then spoke out.

"Who goes there? Come out wherever you are hiding!"

The figure came out from the shadow.

"You! I know you!"

Al's eyes suddenly grew big while looking at the man.

"You were the one who gave me the letter! Chezem, he was the one who told me that you released me!"

"Wait a second, I know you, you worked in the castle before, you were released as well, 10 years ago!"

"Oh… I guess the secret is out. Yes, it is true, I was the one who released you and lied to the prince about it. You were an eyesore! I've been planning to kill the prince 10 years ago and you ruined it! I just have to get rid of you! After that, the security got tighter and I got found out. But then the visit to the orphanage, I saw a chance and make use of you instead. Your hatred for Chezem… I knew you will use this chance to get to him but then now, another person, this woman made my plan failed again! I'm going to kill you all!"

Furiously, the guy took another knife from his back and was heading towards Chezem with it. Chezem hugged Ashori tightly. Just then, Al quickly rush to Chezem side and stood in front of him. He then used another knife to hit the man's knife away, in the process, he cut through his hand.

"Ugh! You again!"

The man glared at Al while holding his bleeding hand. He then took another knife from his back and tried to attack Al instead but Chezem was just in time to knock him unconscious. Just then, the underlings rushed in.

"Boss! Are you alright?"

"Aren't you two a bit too late?"

"But, boss, you ordered us to not come in eventhough we hear any sound…"

The underlings looked down.

"Well, whatever, take this man away and hold him captive first, I will see what I should do with him later."

"Yes, boss!"

The underlings took both the man's arm and pulled him away. After they left, Chezem spoke up.

"So… it was just a misunderstanding after all…"

"Yes, it was, both of us misunderstood each other for 10 years because of that man!"

"I'm sorry, Al, for everything..."

"No, don't apologize, Chezem. It is clearly my fault and I've done such mean things to you and your lover…"

Al dropped his knife and started tearing up. Chezem then put out a hand and patted Al's head.

"Al… You never change… You are still a cry baby."

Chezem chuckled.

"No, I'm not!"

Al wiped away the tears.

"I am just glad that the misunderstanding has been cleared."

"…Yeah…"

"The truth is... I miss you a lot, Al. I've wanted to look for you and see you but... I thought you would not want to see me so I didn't."

"Chezem, I've missed you too…"

After that, Al and Chezem hugged each other.

Ashori was almost teared up after seeing such a touching scene.

"You should go now, Chezem, both of you are injured and need to get medical attention."

Chezem then broke off from the hug and took hold of Ashori's hand. Before he left, he faced Al.

"I hope to see you again, Al."

"You will, Chezem, you will."

They both left the place.

When Ashori opened her eyes, she was in her room in the palace, her arm was wrapped in bandages and the bracelet was back on her wrist. She fell asleep after returning to the palace with Chezem. She then noticed Chezem was sleeping soundly next to her. Ashori then put one hand on Chezem's head.

"…Chezem…"

Chezem woke up.

"Hey… How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine… What about you?"

"I'm great since now you are here with me."

Chezem then ruffled Ashori's hair and Ashori smiled.

"You know, back there, you nearly gave me a heart attack."

"I'm sorry…"

"Why weren't you there at the waiting place?"

Ashori then explained to Chezem what happened.

"I am to blame too, I shouldn't have left you alone, this would not have happened if I was there."

Ashori shaked her head.

"No, you are wrong, Chezem, if you were there, you will be captured instead and be killed. That is something I would not want to happen. I wasn't really hurt so is okay…"

"You arm is hurt!"

"I know, but it is a small price to pay now that you are alive."

Ashori touched Chezem's slightly blushing cheek.

"Ashori…"

When Chezem was about to kiss Ashori, the door was swung open.

"Ashori, are you alright? I heard you were hurt!"

After Prince Nagit came in, one after another prince came into Ashori's room.

"Ashori, are you okay?"

"Ashori, I bought some flowers for you."

"Ashori, I'm here for you."

"Ashori, I hope you feel better."

"Prince Nagit, Prince Lambert, Prince Alvah, Prince Jun and Prince Melchiorre, what are you all doing here?"

"We heard you were hurt so we came to visit you."

"Ah, thank you very much but I've only hurt my arm, Chezem is the one…"

Before Ashori could finished, she was surrounded by the princes and Chezem was pushed aside.

Seeing this, Chezem got furious and yelled at them.

"Ashori needs her rest and you all surrounding her make her uncomfortable and unable to rest! Leave at once!"

Chezem then used all his strength to push all the princes out of Ashori's room.

"Chezem, don't push yourself too much, your wound…"

"I'm fine... So... where were we?"

Chezem returned to Ashori's side and was about to kiss her when there was a knock at the door.

"Ahh! Who is it this time?"

Chezem went to open the door and it appeared to be Ashori's parents.

"Mum? Dad? What are you both doing here?"

"Ashori, my beloved daughter, we heard that you were hurt from the King so we came to visit you."

"I just hurt my arm… but I'm glad you both are here. Since you both are here, let me officially introduced you all. Chezem, these are my parents. Mum and dad, meet Chezem."

"Oh, Chezem, we finally get to meet you in person, you are more handsome in person, I've been hearing a lot from Ashori about you."

"Mum…"

"It is a pleasure to meet you both."

Chezem bowed gracefully.

"The pleasure is ours."

Both men exchanged handshake.

"So, wow, this is your room, is so beautiful! Honey, look at this table, it looks priceless."

"Wow, it does, dear."

While Ashori's parents were exploring the room, Chezem stood beside Ashori and sighed while looking disappointed. He then muttered under his breath.

"Why are there always people interrupting the special moments..."

Suddenly, Ashori pulled Chezem's arm.

"Woah, Ashori."

Ashori then kissed Chezem on the lips. Chezem blushed at the unexpected kiss. Ashori chuckled. Ashori parents didn't notice anything because they were too busy exploring the room.

"You are so adorable, Chezem."

"Geez, Ashori, you are the sneaky one."

Chezem said this while half covering his face with his hand, blushing.

"Hehe, I learnt from the best."

They both smiled at each other.

The End.