Hi everyone, thank you for your patience for this chapter! I have been quite busy, now that I'm in college. I hope I haven't lost too much of my edge hahaha

Thanks for the reviews, follows and favorites ^^

haylo4ever: thanks for waiting! I hope you'll like this chapter ^^.

Peachie: yep, now that Neil is a dad, surely he'll change a bit. For sure, I don't think he would treat his daughter the way he had to his love interest lol

teamBLAZE: HAHA maybe he acquired that brutal honesty from someone? :P

Random Reader: Thanks! I hope you'll enjoy this chapter ^^

Even before she became a published author, her head was constantly filled with stories—words of worlds, fictional people, and the weaving of the unseen red strings. She used to tell him of those stories; a different day carried a different episode.

Although now that her stories became written words, he could still hear her voice in his head when he read them. And yes, he did read them although he wouldn't say he was a fan of romance novel. When it came to Iris' stories, it was more than the romance that allured him; it was the nostalgia—the voice that gave him promises and dreams of a beautiful life.

Not all of her stories had what people would normally call a happy ending. The hero and the heroine didn't always end up together at the last page. A number of them, in fact, ended with the death of one of them. However, Klaus saw that in every ending, both protagonists ended up with a lesson that they gained from their journey. They learned about themselves and the world. They matured. Klaus remembered Iris once said—through one of her characters, a wise old woman: "There is no real lesson gained in solitude."

He would admit that Raelyn, young as she was, taught him something. To be more precise, she forced him to admit something that he had been trying to bury deep beneath what he showed to the world.

Fear.

She reminded him of his fear of loving and losing.

It was almost funny how, the moment he forced the conversation to drop and he saw the hurt in her eyes, he knew that he loved and lost her.

In that one moment, he had begun and they ended.

Late winter, but the snow didn't show any sign of easing up. Nevertheless, Iris decided that it was an excellent time for a walk and he didn't have the option to turn her down.

The forest path was almost empty, except for the two of them and the sets of footprints they had left behind. He spoke in a low voice, more to himself than to her.

"I love her."

"I know," came her reply simply. "I could tell."

Klaus shook his head. "I shouldn't have—"

"Don't say it," Iris said warningly. "You are still a human, Klaus, and love is something that comes naturally."

Since they were back in town, the conversation was dropped at that point. As they walked past the church, he saw the flash of pink head. Before he could do anything, she looked up and turned to find him.

"That's my cue to leave, not yours," Iris told him. "See you later, Klaus."

Iris then casually waved her hand at Raelyn, which she replied with a polite bow. He sighed. It would be very impolite to leave now that she had noticed him, but could he greet her the same way he usually would?

She walked out from the graveyard and stopped in front of him. She was holding something—a piece of paper and an envelope. Her round, dark eyes looked straight into his. They said eyes were the door to one's soul; he wondered what she saw in his at this moment.

He was thinking of how to greet her without hurting her when she cut the chase short: "Why didn't you leave with Miss Iris?"

Her voice was harsh, her tone cold. He didn't blame her, though, he couldn't. He could tell he had hurt her the last time they conversed. That being said, it didn't mean that her harshness didn't hurt him. It hurt, badly. Yet, he knew—and tried to be at peace with it—that it was a necessary pain. Someone like her could surely get someone who could offer more than a curse of death.

"Would you rather me to leave?" he asked, trying to sound even.

She held her breath, her free hand slightly covering her mouth. Her expression softened slightly, now changed with an utter shock and a pang of guilt. "I… I didn't mean to imply that… sorry."

He gave her a slight smile. Even after what he had done, she was still being kind towards him. "It's quite all right," he said. "I believe I could understand."

She looked down, refusing to meet his eyes. Early in their acquaintanceship, he would say that's it due to her shyness. Now, he knew it's something else.

"You have not been around," he stated simply.

She nodded meekly. "I didn't find the need to. Sometimes Ibuki helps with my shipping."

Klaus nodded. "I see. It's good that you are on good terms with him now."

She raised her head, but still averting her gaze. "I guess so… yeah."

Neither of them spoke after that. As much as he wanted to, he didn't think that it was the appropriate time for him to walk her home like he would usually do. Then, there was a part of him that urged him to apologize for their last conversation, but another part of him knew that the moment he apologized he would have to explain himself to her.

"Raelyn!"

Both of them turned to the voice; it was Ibuki. He jogged lightly on the snow and stopped right in front of him. "Oh, hey," he nodded in acknowledgment, a gesture he returned to the blond man.

Ibuki turned to Raelyn again. "Visiting my grandma?" he asked.

"Yes," she nodded.

"Hey, listen, just now I stopped by Giorgio's place…"

Raelyn was soon absorbed in listening to what Ibuki had to say—something about new kind of fertilizer, specialized for flowers. Klaus knew that it was now his cue to leave.

Klaus walked away discreetly from them, hoping that they were too busy with their conversation—at least, to him they seemed to be—to notice his departure. He could tell that they were in a world that he was not a part of.

They… she was of a different story than his.

Stay tuned for the next chapter!

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