Free

A refreshing breeze blew from the lakeside. The evergreen trees around swayed in a relaxed manner, nobody to rush them with the problems of the world. They took their time like they have it all in the world. No worries for the past, present, or future.

It was nice to know that despite the advance progression of technology in the major parts of the nation, such a view could still exist. The beauty of nature, well-preserved without harmful interventions.

Such a scene was perfect to encompass the figure by the end of the piling dock. He sat on a sturdy-looking foldable chair that was uncharacteristic for the person who owns the throne of the nation. For a six-foot-tall guy with a well-built body, he appeared to be comfortable on the little chair.

Gripping a simple dark rod, his gaze lingered on the lake, yet his mind seemed to be diving deeper below the surface. Zinnia noted not for the first time how he always looked like he had a lot inside to let out, to say, to show. She could see it in the translucent color of his eyes and the way his gaze could hold a lot of meaning behind them. But at the same time, she could see the firm control he has over them, no clues or hint to give away in his manner of speaking or even in his small gestures. And damn, he makes it look so easy.

Well, at least, she could relate to the former part, but she knew she'd want advice on how to manage the latter.

Maybe that's also the reason why it was difficult to figure out what's inside Arius' head.

A path carved with the blood of his enemies and only ashes of the aftermath left in his wake, he was written as a man with a bloodlust second to no one. The records described his eyes to be as cold as arctic ice that one can freeze on the spot with just a glance from him. His calloused hands were said to be from the days he had been ending lives here and there. Some also spoke the recollection of the unhinged look on his face that made all his enemies cower in fear.

The whole nation bowed down to him in terror. He sat atop the throne, peering over the nation of Stygia with the cruel and cold-blooded eyes of a ruler.

But all of those were hard to reconcile with the image Zinnia was seeing in front of her. It was difficult to imagine the man sitting by the lake to fish in peace juxtaposed with the silhouette of the man the century-worth of history was referring to.

Regardless.

Feather-light yet determined steps treaded the path that led to the piling dock. She couldn't let any more surprises catch her off-guard. After coming up with ways to deal with it, she finally had a conclusion.

It was a simple answer. There was no guarantee it would work, given that Arius was very much unpredictable. Still, a complicated problem might only need the most basic solution.

The plank made a soft creak under Zinnia's flat sandals, but it was enough to have Arius whipping his head toward her direction. A small smile appeared on his face.

He patted the empty foldable chair beside him, already set to receive her as if he knew she'd come.

An indistinguishable silence fell over them once Zinnia settled beside Arius who carried on with his waiting game with the fishes.

She stayed perfectly still, pretending to pay attention to the motionless string of the rod as she tried to come up with a way to bring up the topic of this whole fiasco he brought them into. She cast a side glance at him. For a person who had a lot to answer to, he bore an innocent and content smiling face. Zinnia drew a deep breath before turning and fixing a firm gaze at Arius who faced her, reacting to her sudden serious demeanor.

"Why are we here?"

The man's eyes briefly shifted to the lake before returning her serious gaze again. He wore a solemn expression that made Zinnia worry about the upcoming response.

"Well, I've been stressed out for the past few days, listening to a bunch of old council members talk my ears off about how to run this nation like I haven't been doing this for a hundred years, duh!" He made an exaggerated hand gesture to dismiss whatever invisible thing was irritating him. "Then, Xerxes gave countless piles of paperwork to deal with. Each needs a careful read or else someone will curse at me for being a careless king," his shoulder rose into a shrug to wrap up his rant.

Once again, Zinnia was stunned into silence. But it wasn't long before he continued, preventing another session of a looping perplexity.

His voice was soft and quiet when he spoke, "Besides… you looked like you also need a time out."

Despite the words sounding like they were only but a whisper, the wind carried them to her, and she took them with widened eyes. She didn't know how to react, let alone process what he just said.

Could it be that he is… worrying about her? The ruthless King Arius?

"How about you? How have you been for the past few days?" He wore another small grin that was already becoming his signature expression whenever he looked at her.

Zinnia forced herself to say something, anything at all to push away the unsettling feeling of warmth growing in her chest, "Just the same."

Arius' curious brow raised, "Care to elaborate? Unless you don't want to. Either way is fine."

Thrust into another tempting contemplation, Zinnia considered what she really wanted to say. But she pulled herself together in an instant, wearing the mask she discarded earlier to quickly fall back to the role she was molded into, "Well, it's any other normal day."

"Really?" He was unconvinced but didn't pry further. "I told Xerxes to let the organizers take over the nitty-gritty of the wedding, so you can have a lot of breathing room inside the palace. But I doubt he'd skipped on handing you the brochures. Sorry about that."

"Ah, yes. It's fine. He only asked for my preferences about the colors, taste, design, and such."

Mouth agape and eyes wide, he almost exclaimed, "You decided on those things?"

"Ah… Yes. It is my job after all."

She was told by the headmistress that she should take the task to decide on the matters of the wedding, as it would be the starting point of taking some of the reins in the palace. Oh, the migraine she had when she realized they intended to embed politics even in the smallest things.

Everything was already stressful as it was. Throw complicated diplomatic tactics in the mix then it got overwhelming for someone who wanted nothing but to get things over with.

When she thought Arius would have a wider smile, his forehead creased instead and grimaced. "I messed it up, didn't I?"

The hint of forlornness in his tone confused her, "Huh?"

"After all those decision-makings you went through… Here I am, left it to be ruined. Well, I did run away with you—but still, I ruined it."

Urge to make clarification rose in Zinnia's chest. For some reason, she disliked the fact that he felt guilty about her efforts getting disregarded.

"Oh, no! I mean, it's okay! I didn't even give them careful consideration. I just give him whatever pops up in my mind first… So…"

There wasn't any lie in that. Despite being advised to be meticulous in her decisions involving her standing as the bride or wife, she made them quick and simple. At least in that regard, she stayed true to her own personal motto: get things over with as soon as possible.

"Oh… Really?" A hearty laugh escaped Arius' lips. "Then that wedding was really bound to get dumped, huh?" His laughter echoed a sound of pure amusement. Even tears were coming out of his eyes.

Zinnia didn't know what to make of it. Was he that happy the wedding's getting canceled?

Which begged the question… "So… what happens next? Now that the wedding will most likely be called off?"

"As I said, I still plan on marrying you. I just don't want to get caught in that suffocating ceremony they forced to happen for publicity. I'm content with just a simple paper-signing event." He suddenly froze for a few seconds then his mouth curved, and his grey eyes sparkled with giddiness. "In fact, I brought the documents with me! We can just sign them here and go back."

Absent-mindedly, she nods. It would make sense that way especially when he preferred an uneventful ceremony.

"Or…"

Zinnia waited with patience for the next words, sounding a bit ominous and heavy.

"…You don't sign it," even his stare carried serious weight. "You can take the car and everything in it beyond the border where no one would follow you. No one would be able to touch even a strand of your hair, even the House Ruby can't do anything to you. I'll make sure of that."

Time stood still. Only the gentle breeze passing by could be felt. It was her turn to return his intense attention with her mouth open.

"The neighboring nation, Noirn, will accept you to their borders, no questions asked."

A realization struck Zinnia, "You… You prepared all of this… for me?"

So much for his image of spontaneity.

His expression changed into a soft countenance. His full lips formed another tiny smile, "I just want to tell you that you have an option to back out. I feel like I've thrust you into so many unknowns so recklessly. I've put you on the spot with that sudden proposal when we only knew each other for a week. Then, the next thing you know, you were accepting the marriage proposal of the king." The pair of translucent grey slowly shifted to the lake's horizon with solemnity. "I've been thinking about it, and I realized… I've been selfish about it all this time."

This was not the first time Zinnia could only respond with silence, and it seemed she was already making a habit of it.

He continued, "That's why I thought… It's just right to give you an out, a safe option without consequences. I just want you to be real with what you want."

She held his intense gaze as the honesty of his intentions pour over her. Once again, she arrived at a place that compels her to acquiesce to her true desire.

But is it really okay? To run away from all of this?

She never believed in the high stakes the House Ruby regarded when it comes to her mission. But with so much riding in the bigger picture, was it really fine to simply walk away?

As if the man could read her mind, he proceeded to reassure her. "It's okay, Zinnia. You can run away. I'll make sure no one comes after you."

And it was that damn smile. It carried so much kindness that it summoned a kind of warmth Zinnia was never familiar with. She couldn't explain why there was heat in her eyes, why the tears were bound to come out, and why she felt she should allow them.

The days of crying herself into tears were already long forgotten, buried with the horrors of her childhood. But this… this urge to burst into tears is different. It came from the feeling in her chest that is so pleasant, it felt unreal.

But the offer to run away—on her own—that, she knew for sure, was real.

No one ever gave her this option. Everything happened—leading from one thing to another—because she was left with no choice. But this time, she could decide. He even gave an assurance that nothing will happen to her if she made the choice she secretly yearned for.

It's okay. She was free to say no to all of this shit.

There were a lot of times she considered escape. Disappear to nowhere, leave everything behind, and be someone no one knows. However, a lot of times, it felt like she was just going back to her life before Alona, the head of House Ruby, found her.

The possibility that she would revert to her hopeless situation had her backpedaling from the mere consideration.

And yet, when the offer came up from Arius—more like an invitation—her fears about the scary what-ifs were suddenly stripped away. Her mind shifted gears, exploring all the good things from the idea of running away and seeing it in a different light.

Soon, her body couldn't quite contain the excitement it gained with the thought of freedom that cost nothing. She abruptly stood up, turned back to the cabin almost too eagerly, and immediately walked to the front of the little house. Leaving the cabin of her dreams, somehow, was so easy. She didn't give much importance to it or what it would mean.

The black sports car had its roof attached back to the frame of the windshield. Opening the unlocked backdoor, she realized the bags she ignored as they quietly rest there were probably for her all along—containing supplies and things she would need for the trip. There was a paper bag of food she mistook to be for their trip. It didn't dawn on her that it was for her trip. The main control panel screen in the driver seat popped up, beckoning to her. Her hands shook with the buzzing excitement.

This was it.

She could go. Her dream of spending the rest of her life in peace didn't seem so far away. She could stretch her hand, and she'll probably be able to reach it. She finally opened the driver seat door and hopped in, activated the car controls, and grabbed the steering wheel. An automated voice greeted her with her name.

In this age, a vehicle AI would only address the owner of the car. The AI greeting her could only mean one thing: Arius had transferred the ownership to her some time after they arrived.

Hazel eyes looked ahead with tons of anticipation on the road that'll lead to freedom.

Zinnia whispered to herself, "Finally."

Meanwhile, the former owner of the car stayed silent in the dock, his mind absent from the wiggling string of the fishing rod he had been holding for a long time. The whirring of an engine that came alive reached his ears, making him shut his eyes and smile.

He had prepared his self for this. He was the one who arranged everything after all. But a part of him still wished she would choose to stay, no matter how illogical that sounded. There was reprieve at the thought that she can finally be free from whatever serves as shackles to her, causing her to wear that lonely expression disguised as indifference. He, at least, found comfort in the fact that he was able to help her.

Arius wrapped up after another hour of waiting since the last fish got away with the bait. His fishing endeavor ended as a failure, but at least his major purpose here didn't.

Equipment in tow, he meandered back to the cabin, strolling along the same path she eagerly passed through.

After he opened the backdoor, he treaded the empty kitchen before being met with an empty living room. He was about to make a beeline to his room when the other bedroom door opened. Out comes Zinnia with a document in hand.

He frowned for a moment before asking, "Y... You're still here?"

Maybe the woman in the same sunflower dress in front of him was a product of his imagination that had gone wild after the hour-long inactivity in the lake.

The woman who might be just an apparition of the real Zinnia handed him a paper. He considered not taking it and just go straight to bed, as the lack of sleep could be the perpetrator of this imaginary scene.

However, her hazel eyes were dead set on making sure he took it. Feeling compelled under her serious gaze, he reached for the paper and read what was in it. Although he already had an intuition about the content, he still couldn't help but be surprised. More so, seeing a signature on it felt like he had become delirious already.

The imaginary Zinnia spoke, with a conviction he never heard from her before, "I'm not going anywhere."

He only continued to gawk at her as a response.

"I'll be your wife, Arius. Unless, you want to take the car instead and run beyond the border on your own?"

The sweet smile her peach-tinted lips formed made him wish he wasn't dreaming. He desperately hoped he wasn't dreaming because there was nothing in the hundred and thirty years of his life that he wanted more than to have Zinnia Shepard as his wife.