A Candlelit Dinner

On the next day, Anastasia wakes up to find herself lying on her bed.

She struggles to flutter her eyes open for a moment, feeling the veins in her head throbbing a little. This faint sensation helped her recall that she was suffering from an excruciating headache last night, which then later knocked her out cold on the floor.

"What happened? Why am I on my bed, then...?" Anastasia wondered out loud before her gaze strayed to the doors of her room that turned out to be open.

"Wait, did he come?!"

After thinking of the probability that Zen was the one who carried her, the first thing she found herself concerned about was the diary. She couldn't possibly let him see it - at least until she finished the entire thing.

With that in mind, she's thrown into a panic almost instantly. She then frantically gets up from her bed and rushes to the vanity mirror where she's reading last night.

As soon as she gets there, she makes haste and pulls the drawer open. She can't help but heave a sigh of relief the moment she sees her journal neatly tucked in at its deepest part.

"Thank goodness I managed to hide it before I passed out last night. That's really a close call..." she thought out loud before closing the drawer.

"What's up with that headache, anyway? I didn't even remember a single thing after that-"

"Sia? You awake?"

At his sudden arrival, Anastasia jumps a little in surprise. She then turns around to find Zen wearing a plain white long sleeves polo with a formal suit jacket, a pair of black pants and a black necktie - a debonair and lavish look overall.

"Uhhh... Yeah, I just woke up," she chimed in while he proceeded to walk up to her.

"Do you feel fine now?" he asked before cupping her cheeks gently, concern laced in his voice.

"J-Just... a bit of throbbing. I'm good, though," she replied a bit timidly, taken aback by the gesture.

"I'm glad it isn't serious."

With a dazzling smile spreading on his face, Zen just continues exchanging looks with her and holding her face softly. Anastasia shouldn't really feel too on guard whenever he's doing this kind of thing, but for some reason, she keeps sensing that everything isn't always as it seems.

As long as she hasn't recovered all of her memories, she can't be too sure of everything.

"Let's go on a date, Sia..." he then trailed off all of the sudden, much to her surprise.

"It's already night time, you know. You ended up sleeping for an entire day, so you're probably very hungry now."

"A-An... entire day?!"

"Yeah, and that's why I was able to have enough time to prepare everything perfectly."

"What is it?"

Seeing him simply smirk knowingly, Anastasia just blinks in puzzlement. She now wonders what kind of occasion he's thinking of this time.

But then, as usual, Zen didn't reveal it until she finished preparing herself. He had her wear a gorgeous snow white evening dress for tonight while her hair was styled into a high ponytail.

It takes almost half an hour before Anastasia finally gets to see what his surprise is all about.

Zen led her to this balcony surrounded by hedges, vines and roses. It's a picturesque scenery with a perfect view of the moon - a lovely setting that she could only be allowed to imagine about in the past.

What's more, there's this whole candlelit dinner that he set up. Silverwares and trays of meals and desserts are neatly placed on top of a table with a white cloth. There's a golden candelabra at the center along with petals of roses as well.

"Shall we dig in, Sia?" Zen asked as he escorted her closer to the table.

Right then, though, Anastasia is too astonished and wonder-stricken to give any coherent response at the moment.