That evening, after dropping Raelyn's off at her farm, Klaus found himself alone in his house, laying down on his bed while staring at the ceiling. With Raelyn's question and—most significantly—Allie's unexpected appearance, he could not help but to recall the time he had spent with the Weatherbys.

I should've learned my lessons. Shouldn't have concealed my past from Raelyn, he thought wryly.

To his defense, however, he had an entirely different reason of why he chose to conceal his story about Allie. It was much less about him not being proud of what had happened, but more to two things: he typically didn't kiss and tell, and he saw no relevance of revealing Allie to Raelyn. But, now that the lady was here, he was in a more difficult conflict than he thought.

Conceal, Raelyn might find a way to know the truth; she would trust him less. Reveal, he had no idea on how Raelyn would react. Even back then, Allie had been a very different woman than Raelyn was; Klaus was not sure whether revealing the truth about Allie would be in Raelyn's best interest.

Even after he drifted off to slumber, he was still in a limbo regarding these two women.

The next day, on Allie's invitation, he met her at Raeger's. His acceptance was less about catching up than trying to figure out why she was in this town. Along the way, he could not stop asking himself—and the Goddess: Why now, of all times?

Nevertheless, now there he was, sitting across the woman he loved once. Today, she let her auburn hair down—the way she kept it years and years ago. Age had been kind to her—that, or her beauty was the more persistent one. He had to admit, though, her gray eyes had lost their warmth that he could identify. That lack of warmth chipped away the memory of the girl he used to love, replacing it with the woman sitting across him, clearly less ignorant of life.

As was the custom, she removed her gloves right after their food was served. Klaus, attentive as he was, noticed the lack of wedding band on where it should have been, but he kept mum of his observation.

"What brings you here?" he asked.

She carefully picked her wine glass and rotated it ever slowly in her hand. "A brief change of pace."

He carefully studied her outfit. She wore a dark-colored dress again today, together with a prominent black onyx clasp right below her neck that she also wore yesterday. Back from where they came from, it only meant one thing: "I am sorry for your loss."

She smiled ruefully. "The mourning period was over long ago. It just became a habit."

Klaus nodded understandingly while taking a sip of his own wine. "The mourning period never dictates how long one actually grieves."

"My father would have been proud to see how well you are doing right now."

He held his breath. "Wait, so the one you were mourning for is…"

"My father, yes."

Klaus put his glass down and hung his head low. There was no way he could forget Mr. Weatherby and what he had done to him. After all, he was the one who had brought him to a new chapter of his life, the chapter that was still very much a part of his life right now. After he felt enough of reminiscing, Klaus took a deep breath and faced her again. "I'm sorry I didn't come to pay my respects."

"I'm sure he understands," she comforted him gently.

After a brief, but heavy moment of silence, Klaus tried to divert the topic of their discussion. Much to his chagrin, he could not come up with a better question than: "How is your life?"

He watched as Allie took a moment to ponder upon his question. The woman took another sip of her wine before finally speaking up. "Roughly six months after you left, a man came into my life. A soldier. He was dashing and chivalrous, his tales recounting his battles… young as I was, I became smitten with him before I realized it. I took that leap of faith and married him."

The irony was not lost on him, and Klaus felt he should not pass the opportunity to point that out. "Of course, you would have chosen a very righteous, upright man."

She smirked wryly. "So I thought," she admitted. "But I was wrong. He brought the battle home. There were times that he was so sweet and gentle and I was his lover and wife—others, he thought I was his foe and nothing more or less."

His heart was clenched with pity for this woman, and rage for that man. How could one be so cruel to a creature so gentle?

"Took me five years to realize that staying true to my vows would cost me my life. I lived with my father ever since."

"And your husband?"

"Oh, he attempted to retrieve me from time to time… it stopped when he met his end during one of vicious brawls in taverns."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

She waved her hand dismissively. "I feel no more grief for him."

Allie had always been fond of antiques. On her request, Klaus agreed to escort her to the Antique Shop. After all, perhaps he could sneak away and consult Iris on how to deal with this unexpected situation, although it meant that he had to tell Iris whom he was dealing with.

One thing that Klaus had forgotten to take into account was how engaging Allie was. She had always been gifted in socializing and making people feel welcomed; she was an exceptional host. However, that also meant that it would be harder to slip away. Even with Mistel's presence, Allie always checked on his presence from time to time, engaging him in a brief conversation about the pieces they were looking at. Klaus could feel the inquiring gaze of the young man; it took everything he had to maintain his composure.

"Oh, look at this vase… the pattern…"

Another voice interrupted his line of thoughts. "Klaus?"

He held his breath. That voice.

Klaus turned around and Allie followed suit. Much to his horror, Raelyn was standing a few feet away from them, accompanied by Iris. She crunched her brows so severely together while her wine-colored eyes, usually gentle, glared at him intensely, with tears at the verge of bursting out. Her glare was not a heated fury; instead, it was freezing cold—the kind that could kill your cells in an instant. Fittingly, her glare sent chills down his spine; the coldest one he could remember. Apparently, he was wrong thinking that he would never feel this kind of chills anymore, with what he had seen and gone through. He saw her clenching her fist, unclenching it for a moment, then clenching it again until her knuckles turned white.

Without saying anything, she turned on her heels and dashed away. Klaus immediately gave chase. When he felt something tugging him, Klaus spared no thought and shook it off. When he glanced aside he realized it was Allie who intended to hold him back. Allie finally noticed his ring. Nevertheless, she gazed at him pleadingly, but he could care less; he dashed out from the Antique Shop, crying out her name desperately: "Raelyn!"

The shop became deathly quiet after the two of them left. Allie could feel the smoldering gaze of the shop proprietor, as well as the other young lady who looked so alike to him. The young lady made her way towards her casually, but elegantly.

"I don't know who you are, but if you think you can seduce Klaus, you cannot be further from the truth than you already are," she told her. "You don't know him very well, do you?"

"Perhaps I don't," Allie admitted. "But I know I had him wrapped in my fingers."

To her surprise, the blond young lady smiled elegantly, but also mocking in an equal measure. "Look at you, you used past tense to describe your so-called 'wrapping'."

"Besides, is this an acceptable behavior of someone in mourning?" Mistel pointed out. Before she could answer that young, but sharp-tongued man, he continued nonchalantly. "Nevertheless, you had some use to us in helping them, wittingly or not. If this kind of disruption could destroy their relationship, then they are never meant to be."

Iris folded her arms tightly, wrapping herself in the process. Her face looked forlorn. "That might be true," she said. "But, I cannot help worrying for Raelyn…"

What will happen next?

Stay tuned to find out!

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