"Yes, I am the Prince of Wansai." 

As the words left from his mouth, I felt as if my world was turned upside down.

My eyes were almost pleading with him to tell me that it was all a lie. But he didn't move his eyes as he was looking at me. His eyes were darkened and his strong, determined face said this wasn't a lie. 

It was all real...

He was Arashi, Prince Rian of Wansai. The Prince, the whole Kosaki despised, my father despised and even I despised because he took my cousin brother from me. My brother was the only companion I had.

My mind reminded me of Touma and tears ran down on my cheeks. The memories of my brother and I playing, or him helping me with everything came back. 

He would encourage me to be strong when I heard the harsh words of the first lady of the house. Everything came back to me as I recalled the day when news came that Touma and his father were dead. 

We couldn't even get their bodies because the Wansai Prince didn't release their captives nor did he let us have our dear one's dead bodies. This is why my father hated him. 

He was the cruel prince we all had heard. He took all the Kosaki, killed innocents and left the nation to cope with all the tragedies. 

And I felt my breath hitch in my throat. My legs became weak and I couldn't think clearly. 

"We have to go now." Arashi said, his voice hard.

I nodded looking away from his eyes and biting my lips hard so the sniffle won't leave from my mouth. 

He led us back to our carriage and the carriage started to run. But we stayed quiet. The tension between us had grown so much that I felt suffocated.

I tried to think about everything that was happening at the moment but my mind was too occupied with the thoughts of the cruel prince I had heard of.

Was he really cruel? My inner voice asked.

I recalled how Arashi had been so gentle to me. He had never once done anything to disrespect me nor did he do anything that would define him as a cruel person.

I remembered him saying 'Not all the rumors were true from the war'. Did it have anything to do with his rumors?

I asked in a low voice, "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

Arashi's shoulders became stiff and I could sense the growing tension sipping out of him. 

"If I had told you or your family, do you think they would stop believing all those rumors about me?" He asked back and I clenched my palms against my yukata.

He was right. My father or others would try to kill him instantly. What about me?

What would I have done? I asked myself.

It was true I was hurt but did I really hate him?

I looked at him slowly and saw he wasn't looking at me. His face was blank but I could feel the sadness in his eyes. The spark in them was missing and I felt helpless. The bile in my throat grew and it was hard to breathe.

My heart clenched painfully. I was hurt but I was more hurt because he looked sad and lonely. He looked like a lot of responsibilities were on his shoulders and he was buried under those heavy weights. 

My heart and mind both were in a battle because he wasn't a person who would kill innocents endlessly for his thirst. My heart refused to believe it. Besides, in a war, no one was innocent. 

They had to kill their enemies whether the enemy was helpless or not. An enemy was an enemy. 

Now, my conscience started to question all the rumors I had heard of the Prince of Wansai.

Why did they spread all those rumors? What would they gain? 

I recalled Mr Amane and the young Prince of Kosaki didn't hate him. It was the opposite. They liked him and they respected him even though they knew his real identity. 

Prince Sen of Yokoto even trusted him. 

"What is going on?" I asked finally gaining some courage. Mostly because I wanted to make sure that I wasn't wrong to put my trust on him even if he hide things from me.

I looked at him and asked again, "Please tell me everything because I don't understand any of it."

His dark eyes moved toward me. I saw they yearned for love and compassion and more than that, trust and faith. He looked so dejected and it made me feel guilty. 

He opened his mouth and closed again. "It is hard to start because I don't know where to start." He seemed a bit hesitant but he was contemplating if he should tell me or not.

He took a deep sigh and said, "But it is more than what you think it is."

"What do you mean?" I asked, now confused more than ever. 

He looked away and for a while didn't say anything. I knew he was worried because of the emperor and I felt bad for putting him through this situation. He already had many things on his platter and with me now, he must have felt everything overwhelming.

I hated the Prince of Wansai but this person, who was sitting beside me, I didn't hate him. I loved him and I had made a vow to put my trust in him. Didn't I say to him that I would always be by his side no matter what happened? Didn't I say I would always support him? 

I felt like a bad person for putting pressure on him. But he had always helped me whenever I felt too burdened and now it was time I should help him too.

 I took a deep breath and said, "Arashi..."

His head slowly moved toward me and his eyes turned wide as soon as my lips met his forehead. He went still.

The tension in his body immediately evaporated and slowly he leaned toward me. We stayed like that wrapped against each other for a while until he felt calm. All he needed was someone to rely on and someone with whom he could be himself. 

I realized he had let me be myself but I had never tried or thought if he wanted that too. I was a stupid not to see through him.

His hands were wrapped around my back and waist and his head rested on my chest as I felt his warm breath. I tightened my hands around his neck as we bathed in each other's warmth. 

I didn't know how long we stayed like that but we both needed our touches and we needed to feel our pains. And I needed to tell him what was in my mind.

 I pulled away as our eyes met.

I said, "I am not hurt because you are the Prince of Wansai."

His brows ceased together in a line as I continued, "I am hurt because you didn't trust me enough with your burdens."

I looked at him with a determined eyes and asked, "Didn't we vow to each other to always support and stay beside each other's side?" 

It seemed he recalled it as well but he looked at me with a gap in his mouth. 

"That also meant to put our trust in each other." I gave a small reassuring smile. 

My lips quivered as I added, "I may hate Prince of Wansai but I didn't know him as a person. But I know you and I know you are not like that."

I looked into his eyes and got close to him, "I don't care if you are a prince or a physician or a common peasant..." My eyes watered as I took his hands in me. His hands were large and the hardness of it told many stories of his struggles. He must be feeling lost because everyone seemed to hate him if they knew his real identity, but they didn't know him like I do.

I wanted him to know that even if everyone was against him, I was with him. And I would be with him. My heart thumped loudly as I said, "I only care about you. You as in Arashi, my husband whom I have fallen in love with."

His eyes became wet as he held my hands tightly, the spark in his dark eyes slowly returning. 

I smiled but the tears won't stop. "I will wait for you to tell me everything. I have so many questions but I know you need time and I will be here if you ever need me to release your burdens."

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A/n:
Sorry, it took me long to update, I was really tired of all those sleepless nights of assignments and I literally slept like a log for two days lol.

Anyways...

Hope you will enjoy the Vol. 3 as well but let me warn you, things will get a nasty turn and there might be some rated 18+ scenes. I didn't make it too gory nor too steamy but yeah, it still has those. Especially, Vol 3.

Anyways, this comic I made from the previous day's inspiration through the readers... I even uploaded it on the instagram.

Hope will like it. XD

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28th June, 22
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