The Flame

CHAPTER 55

It's been a day since I met Olivia. Her words were haunting me since then. My friends have been trying to cheer me and Katy since then but failed miserably. I was still adamant on my decision, but I got a feeling Katy wasn't. She clearly wanted to stay back.

"I will miss those metalheads you know Rose", " I will miss this spherical building..." and on and on it went.

We informed our friends about the decision we made. Though initially, they were not quite happy on the idea of us leaving, then understood that it would be probably for the best for us and so accepted our decision, not without making promises of coming to earth and meeting us whenever possible. It was quite an emotional day, with all the tears and hugs. Hell! even Allen pulled me into a hug and cried.

I was walking past the lonely grounds thoughtlessly; now entering the beautiful garden I was always fond of. The small narrow stone pathway was leading me to the flower beds. I walked up to them and stared thoughtlessly ahead. A hand on my shoulders startled me and made me turn around. It was Adrian standing there behind me. His hair was messy like never before, and his eyes were not serene and filled with humour like always, but those dark grey eyes were restless.

"I've got some work" I started leaving.

"No, wait," he said coming in front of me. "Talk to me please", he insisted.

"Why? why?" I cried out. It was the effect of all the things I've been building up from within that was finally bursting out today.

"I'm sorry for everything Rose...for everything. For not telling you that I was a Prince, for not telling you that...", he hesitated "that I was engaged" he finished with a painful expression. "Let me justify what I did, please listen to me, will you?", he asked grasping my hand.

I automatically nodded, it hurt me to look at his face full of pain.

"You asked me various times, why I didn't attend classes, and why I kept running from wherever I should be. The truth is Rose, that I was tired of this life", he said staring at me "This life, as a Prince is not easy Rose" he sighed "I couldn't do anything without thinking about other's opinion on it. I had people around me always, you see people appointed by my father to have a close watch on me. They never leave by my side, they follow me everywhere I go. I couldn't live my life like I wanted Rose. I was not allowed to talk to anyone here, except for Genn. And it was from this life, I tried to run away from. I tried to escape them whenever possible, to breathe this free air", he stopped briefly letting a huge breadth. " And I saw you that day, this same place we are standing right now, lost in your own thoughts. The funny part was that you didn't even know who I was, I was curious to know about you Rose. I thought you simply didn't know me because you've never seen me anywhere before, not slightly did I think that you were a red-blood...a silver-blood now of course", he said pulling me towards him now "Yes I am engaged Rose, but it all happened against my will. My heart never belonged to Genn...it always belonged to...", he stopped mid-sentence. He did not finish his sentence. I wanted him to, but he just didn't.

"Were you going to leave, without biding me a goodbye Rose?", he continued, in a tone that broke my heart into pieces.

I broke away from his hold and turned around, to hide my face from him. "I...I couldn't", I managed teary-eyed. There was a long pause after that.

"Please...Please stay Rose, stay here with us, with me", he said again walking in front of me and grasping my hands.

"I...cannot" I managed, swallowing back my tears.

In a flash, he reached out to me, pulled me towards him and brought his mouth down to kiss me. Time stopped as I kissed him back passionately. At that moment, there was nothing else that mattered to me. It was only him and me, Gradually the intensity of the kiss increased and when I finally pulled back I was left breathless for several moments. I rested my head on his chest, and I silently sobbed.

"Don't" he said, as he cupped my chin between his hands, "Don't cry Rose", he said wiping off the tears that escaped my eye.

"I'm sorry Adrian, it's better if we just leave. I want my old life, Adrian. This world where nothing makes sense and nothing follows the rules of nature all bugs me. This magic", I said staring at my hands "It scares me" I cried, meeting his eyes "It scares me, Adrian".

"Listen...Listen to me, Rose. I will never let anything happen to you, never okay. No matter what, I promise", he whispered "I understand that all this frightens you, but as time passes by you will accept it. You are not even giving it some time to settle Rose. You are not giving your new life a chance, and you say that you are scared", he said hurriedly. I did not dare blink, as he was speaking. "You Rose", he said, slightly brushing his finger through my cheeks, "Are the most beautiful and courageous women I have ever met", he said, which brought a smile on my face automatically "You came to an unknown land back after learning that your best friend was kidnapped, broke into a highly secured XSC, passed the quest test to get us the courage gem, and you single-handedly won against Serena, who was much much advanced in magic than anyone who was present there. I know that you do not fear about yourself, but about how your magic will affect others, you have to believe me, Rose, that once you learn how to control it, it wouldn't be a problem. Just stay for me, stay for another month and then if you still want to leave, I will not stop you Rose".

"One month? I don't know that's a lot", I told him

"Please, will you not do this for me?" he asked me, meeting my eye. Those eyes were looking at me expectantly, I couldn't say no to them. But I should be strong? Shouldn't I?. It was at that moment did Katy's words come back to me 'for once listen to your heart' she said. My heart wanted to stay here. Stay here with my friends, stay with Adrian. But my brain constantly kept telling me that it was a bad idea.

But this time, it was my heart that I wanted to listen to.

"I will have to talk to Katy too, about this", I told him, to which he immediately glowed up.

"So you are staying?" he asked, confirming the reaction he got.

"Hmmm...I can still change my mind", I teased him.

"Ohhh, you won't," he said, pulling me closer again and kissing on my forehead.

"Look Flovi," I said pulling back and pointing at the fireflies flying around us.

"Not Flovi, Fliovshki," he said, chuckling in my ears.

#The end#

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I would like to thank all the readers, who have followed Rose's journey up til here. This is my first attempt in writing, and I have done the best I could do...please do let me know what you think about it.

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This is not the end of her journey....she will meet you back again in 'The Flame- Return of the dragon'. The journey ahead for Rose is not going to be easy.

Go and read it now