Lost

Since the last dance, day after day had passed, but Melisa no longer heard anything about Alister. Alexius could only say that he needed more time to find out about Alister every time Melisa asked. After their last sweet meeting, Alister, who was usually always in Melisa's life, suddenly disappeared.

Melisa realized it too late. Only after Alister suddenly disappeared did Melisa know that the source of her happiness mostly came from Alister, who never tired of visiting her at Alexius' residence. Melisa's days turned gray again without a smile from Alister. Alexius was so worried about Melisa's condition that he, who was usually too busy to take care of his girlfriend, took the time to accompany Melisa every time the girl came to his palace with a sad expression.

"You shouldn't torture yourself, Melisa. If Alister were here, he would be sad to see your current condition."

In the greenhouse of Melisa's favorite place in the crown prince's palace, Alexius sat and watched how Melisa looked sick in just a few days since Alister no longer came to the royal palace. Even if the servants in Melisa's palace had tried to do their best for their master, Alexius could still see the eye bags that appeared due to Melisa's difficulty sleeping recently.

"If he really would feel sad if he saw me sad, then he shouldn't have just disappeared after making me fall in love with him, Your Highness."

Alexius' eyes widened after he heard Melisa's confession. Even though it was Alexius who encouraged Melisa to be with Alister, he didn't expect that Melisa would love Alister so quickly. Alexius seemed at a loss for words after hearing Melisa's confession. Melisa captured her shocked expression well. The change in Alexius' expression made Melisa smile wryly before she spoke again to Alexius.

"Why do you look so surprised, Your Highness? Didn't you wish that I loved him?"

"I...."

Alexius couldn't answer because what Melisa said was the truth. Alexius had expected that since he heard Alister's story about Melisa long before Melisa came to the Sigmund Kingdom. But just this once, Alexius felt like he couldn't support them when he knew that doing so would only lead to bigger problems.

"Your Highness, have you really not heard any news from Lord Alister's family?"

Melisa is a quite sensitive girl. Therefore, when he finally started talking properly with Alexius, he could immediately tell that Alexius already knew something about the reason for Alister's sudden disappearance.

Melisa's intuition was further strengthened when she saw that Alexius looked increasingly troubled after hearing her last question. Anxiety began to surround Melisa because Melisa knew that Alexius couldn't possibly appear troubled if there wasn't a serious problem involving Alister's disappearance.

"Your Highness, please tell me the truth."

Under pressure from Melisa, Alexius finally took a deep breath and made his decision. Alexius' gaze fell on Melisa, who already looked confused before he spoke the truth. As the person who felt he had led Melisa down a difficult path, Alexius felt guilty when he had to convey the unpleasant news he knew to Melisa.

"Actually... I received news that Lord Alister is under house arrest at the moment. He is in that position because he angered his father who is the head of the family."

"House arrest, you say?"

Melisa's expression was filled with disbelief and worry when she repeated what Alexius had said before. Melisa heard from Alister himself that his parents were people who loved him. After Melisa had heard too many times about how much Marquess Webster loved his eldest son, Melisa couldn't immediately believe it when Alexius said that Alister's father had suddenly sentenced the son he loved to house arrest.

"Believe it or not, that's what's happening right now, Melisa."

Melisa couldn't just accept Alexius' explanation. Just from the way Alexius didn't dare to look directly at her, Melisa knew that there was still another truth that Alexius was hiding from her at the moment.

"But why? What did Lord Alister do to deserve that punishment?"

That's right. Alexius' movements immediately stopped when he heard Melisa's follow-up question.

"That...."

"Your Highness, I beg of you. Please tell me the truth."

Alexius clenched his fists tightly. Because sooner or later, Melisa would finally hear the news she knew, Alexius decided to tell her first before the news would hurt Melisa's feelings even more.

"Lord Alister was under house arrest because he refused the match arranged by his parents. I heard he rejected it so hard that it angered his parents. Lord Webster insisted on marrying Lord Alister to a woman of his choice. Because of this, Lord Webster forbade his son to go anywhere until Lord Alister is willing to marry the woman he chooses."

Melisa felt that her mind suddenly went blank when she heard Alexius' explanation. Even though it feels like just yesterday, Melisa and Alister made a promise that they would get married someday. But today, reality woke Melisa up again from her simple fantasy.

"Melisa... I'm sorry."

When Alexius saw Melisa crying silently, the man apologized sincerely to Melisa. Alexius doesn't love Melisa, even up to this moment. However, Alexius also didn't want Melisa to continue being tormented after he found out about the girl's background in coming to the Sigmund Kingdom.

"I will try to prevent the match with my strength, Melisa. I can do it for you because I know that Alister has only loved you all this time."

Even though Alexius had tried to comfort Melisa, the girl remained silent because she didn't believe everything could end that easily. From the start, her relationship with Alister could only be carried out secretly. Because Alister is the oldest child in his family, it is clear that the demands of getting married and having children are much heavier on his shoulders.

"You don't need to do that, Your Highness. Just as I am still here to be your future wife, you also know that Lord Alister also has duties that he must carry out as the future successor to his family."

"After I thought about it, I couldn't possibly ask Lord Alister to continue waiting for me. Moreover, when I couldn't give him assurance about what will happen to us in the future."

Alexius was at a loss for words when he heard Melisa's bitter words. The man knew that what Melisa said was the bitter truth for nobles like them. Because of that, Alexius finally kept quiet when Melisa asked him to do so.

"Thank you, Your Highness. I am truly grateful that you told me the truth before it was too late."

"Melisa..."

Alexius stood helplessly when Melisa got up from her sitting position limply, and saluted Alexius, before leaving the greenhouse with slow steps. Seeing Melisa's back from behind immediately made Alexius realize how lonely Melisa had been all this time. Without anyone who could support her, Melisa had to live in torment in another kingdom in order to protect her kingdom.

It was only after Alexius saw Melisa's figure that looked so pitiful that Alexius felt that he had to immediately become stronger so that he could get Melisa out of the vicious circle that was shackling her freedom.