A Deceptive Beauty

~ Prologue ~

He heard a knocking on the door and looked at the familiar girl that was standing outside. The sudden knocking had jolted him from his thoughts. After getting startled, he went to see who was at the door from his second-level window.

Why did she look so familiar? The pretty girl that stood outside had long, blond hair that was blowing in the wind. He vaguely remembered hazel eyes belonging to the owner of that hair.

Then, realization dawned on him. She was that one girl. The one that he stayed with for quite a while. He mentally smacked himself in the head, wondering how he could have forgotten her.

Still, he was impressed. He never told her who he really was or where he lived. She really must have fell entirely for his act. If she found him, he must've either messed up or she was desperate enough to hunt him out. Maybe he shouldn't have been with her for that many weeks.

Or maybe he didn't act well enough that time. He had been very distracted lately, with a certain issue about the kingdom. He ignored the thought of the issue and brushed it away.

He put on a grin and tousled his dark-brown hair. He casually walked down the curving stairs, making her wait a little longer. Making people wait was torturous for them, but amusing for him. He arrived at the door, grasped the handle, and pulled the door open.

As soon as he opened the door, the blonde girl threw her arms around him. He was jolted back by the unsuspected force. He had to take a few steps to regain his balance, before he got a closer look at her. She had bright eyes and she was sniffling a little. She smelled of salty tears and flowers.

"Kaiden! Oh, Kaiden! I've missed you so much! How come you haven't come back to see me?" she cried. Kaiden realized that didn't remember her name. But then, he had never been good with names.

He would've frowned if he hadn't remembered that he needed to keep up his façade. He was actually surprised that she even remembered him after a couple of weeks. Clearly two months was too long to be with one person.

Or perhaps not enough if he still didn't remember her name. But the thought of a relationship longer than two months filled him with distaste.

His thoughts were interrupted when the girl started talking again.

"Why didn't you tell me you were a duke? I would've accepted you, no matter what you are," she chittered, fussing over him.

"I'm sorry, I've been busy. But I need to tell you something," he said smoothly.

He may have forgotten to end their relationship before he traveled to the coast for a few weeks. It was his fault that it didn't end cleanly. Maybe now he should correct his mistake.

He was going to tell her that it was over, but her face brightened and she interrupted him.

"I know what you're going to say. Don't worry, you can make it up to me by coming to my house and meeting my mother! She's been waiting for three months now!" she exclaimed. Kaiden paled slightly. Parents? That was an enormous issue that he tried to avoid.

Once again, before he could talk, the girl interrupted him by latching onto his arm and dragging him. Kaiden was slightly surprised by her hidden strength, because he had never been dragged off like that. Perhaps it had something to do with her comment about her mother that threw him off balance.

"Let's go," she commanded, looking back at him for a brief moment. She walked him to the front gates of his castle, where he saw two horses.

He thought about just telling her no, but when they got to the horses, the girl waved her hand and told him to get on. Suddenly, he felt compelled to comply to her wishes. It was as if he was a servant and she was his master.