Hello everyone, I hope I don't make you guys wait for too long! Thank you for your continuous support: the fave, follow and reviews; I hope you guys would keep them coming ^^

StarGirl06: Yep, there's that bit, of course... but Rex is also worried about the age gap between the two of them (as he had explained to Iris in the previous chapter). He might be on the 'wild' and 'impulsive' end of the spectrum, but I believe his heart is in the right place. ^^

Without further ado, enjoy!

The second day of Spring was a fairly good one. Most of the snow had melted, but there was still enough reminiscent of the past winter, too. It was against this weather that Klaus and Raelyn had a picnic on a plain, fifteen-minute ride from the town. After having some snacks and small talks, both of them decided to just lay down on the mat, bathing in the gentle sun.

"Winter is beautiful, but I like spring better. I think spring is my favorite season."

"It suits you," Klaus commented.

Raelyn rolled her body to lie on her stomach and glanced at Klaus. "What do you mean?"

"You're just like Spring—not just because of your hair… you're young, full of promise and life. You're a blissful spring."

"Is that a sappy way to tell me that I'm a kid?"

Klaus laughed. "It's not necessarily a bad thing, now, is it?" he asked. "How's your brother?"

"Rex? He is back at our hometown—apparently, he had enough of doing acrobats in the Capital," Raelyn replied. "He's helping out with our family's farm."

"Ah, you did mention that you came from a farmer's family."

She nodded. "My mom is the one. My dad is an animal trader—as you can guess, she was one of his regular customers."

"You have another brother, don't you?"

"Mm-hm, Nate. He's older than Rex by ten minutes. But, besides their looks, they are so different from each other. You don't have to worry Nate suddenly springing on you the way Rex did. He'll just glare at you."

Klaus chuckled. "I guess I can manage that… speaking of which—" he rolled on his side to face her and propping his head against his hand. "I saw how you… handled Rex, so to speak. You're quite good with hand-to-hand combat."

"Growing up with two brothers equip you with some brawling techniques."

"I think I have enough experience to differentiate crass brawling and proper techniques, love."

Raelyn blushed when she heard it. "You… you just called me 'love'."

"It's the truth. Do you not like it?"

She bit her lower lip and averted her gaze from him. "No, I don't dislike it. Just… maybe not when there are lots of people around."

Klaus stretched his free arm and caressed her cheek lightly. "Sure," he agreed. "Maybe overwhelming you in public and letting them to see this kind of expression of yours wouldn't benefit me either."

Raelyn watched the gorgeous man in front of her. His gentle gaze, coupled with his smile was easily the most dream-worthy look she had received throughout her living memory. "You know… there are times when I think this is a dream."

"What is?"

"Being with you, like this."

Klaus chuckled. "I can make it even better," he said confidently.

"Really?"

Just as she closed her lips, Klaus leaned forward and kissed her. She almost yelped in surprise, but nothing came out from her mouth since Klaus sealed her lips with his. She eventually decided to just close her eyes and took in his scent—a mixture of mint and musk—and nibbled lightly on his lips. She could feel him smiling against her; he drew back slightly and asked: "See? Isn't this better?"

"Come to think of it, I have never really told you about my family, have I?" Klaus suddenly asked on their way back to the town.

Raelyn looked at him for a moment. She knew how he lost them, but that's all that she knew, and she was not about to force him to tell something that might bring painful memories back to him. "You don't have to, if it upsets you," she replied.

The dark-haired man smiled ruefully. "It's fine. You've told me yours, it's only fair if I do the same," he said. "My early life was uneventful. My father was a banker, and my mother a homemaker. My father taught me the basics of equestrianism. I was about to have a younger sister when the robbery happened. She would have been slightly older than Iris otherwise…" he trailed off. After a few moments, he picked up on his story again. "Truth to be told, most of the time I had almost forgotten my birth family… I remember their faces and their voices, but I had almost forgotten how it felt to live with a 'family'."

"You have me now," Raelyn finally spoke up. "I don't mean to be preposterous… but I want you to know that… I'm here for you—but of course it's not just me!" she added quickly. "There's also Iris, of course, and Mistel and Dr. Marian and Raeger and—"

He laughed. "Yes, moving here is definitely one of the best choices I have ever made."

"So, how did you become a perfumer?"

"I was introduced to a perfumer who was looking for an apprentice."

"By whom?"

Much less answering her, Klaus stopped walking altogether. Raelyn stopped walking too, and immediately felt uncomfortable, should she had not asked that? However, she found out soon after that Klaus was staring into the distance, towards the Trade Depot. She followed his gaze.

What is he looking at?

Raelyn scanned the Trade Depot, trying to find something that was out of the ordinary. Since it was almost sunset, and today there were only two stalls in business, there were not a lot of people in that area. People were walking to and fro, lining up, haggling; it was just like any other day in the Trade Depot.

She was about to ask Klaus about it when she finally found the anomaly. It took shape in a figure of a woman, dressed in a rather conservative, dark-colored dress with long sleeves and slightly puffed shoulders, as well as high neck with the ruffles on top. To complete that look, her hands were also gloved. However, it was not the dress that made her anomalous; rather, it was how in the midst of the business going on around her, she was looking straight at them. Her face was obscured by the netting attached to her hat, but Raelyn could somewhat see her auburn hair that was arranged into a tight high bun, as well as her lips that were coated in a bright red lipstick, easily drawing the attention from the rest of her obscured face.

That woman slowly made her way to them. She walked with her fingers intertwined to one another in front of her and chin slightly upward, clearly showing her gentry upbringing. As she gradually came closer, Raelyn could make out the color of her eyes; they were gray, cold as steel, and her gazed were fixated at Klaus.

She stopped walking a few meters away from them. Raelyn was not sure whether she did not notice her presence, or simply ignoring her altogether (although, honestly, how could she not notice? She was literally standing next to Klaus), but she spared no greeting, or even an acknowledging nod to her. Her eyes were directed to Klaus and him only.

"I did not expect to see you here," she said. Her voice was light and airy, with an accent that clearly did not belong to this part of the land.

"Neither do I," Klaus replied. "You are a long way from home."

"So are you," she countered. "Although, I suppose, it is to be expected of someone like you."

Raelyn could feel Klaus tensing up; subconsciously, he squeezed her hand. She could even see him gritting his teeth slightly. Raelyn held her breath as she was seized with a suffocating feeling in her chest. Whoever this woman was, she had a considerable influence on Klaus, and Raelyn did not like it for one bit.

That woman smiled; actually, it was more like a slight tug of the corner of her lips rather than an actual smile—so restrained that describing it as a smile was rather generous on Raelyn's part.

"It's good to see you, Klaus."

Those words, when rolled out from that woman's mouth, seized Raelyn with an unspeakable amount of force. It was suffocating and upsetting, to say the least. Raelyn put her hand on her heart, subconsciously she clenched her fist as if she could contain the pain that way.

What is this feeling? Why am I feeling this way?

It was then finally something came out from Klaus' mouth. A word she had never heard him said before—a name:

"Allie…"

Another figure from Klaus' past...

What is she doing here, and what would happen to them?

Find that on the next chapter!

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