My Fiancée Hates Me

After a few more weeks of checkup, the doctors had cleared me and told me that my injury was healing so well that there would not be any scarring. Garett came to pick me up after my checkup. I was so incredibly happy to see that I had someone I love waiting for me.

"Arielle, how was your checkup?" Garett asked with a sweeter smile than usual.

My heart squeezed upon seeing his smiling face.

"It was great," I said as I ran to him and hugged his chest.

"Let's go on a date then," Garett said as he took my hand and pulled me along.

He seems a bit more forceful than usual, but I did not mind since I was happy just being with him.

"Where are we going?" I asked him.

"Let me buy you some clothes," Garett said as he pulled me into a ladies' boutique. "You like tan- and maroon-colored clothes, right?"

Huh? Did I ever mention my favorite colors to him before?

"Yes, I do," I said.

"Please find me a blouse that is of a tan color and can be matched with several kinds of outfits and a maroon-colored skirt with a high waist," Garett asked the clerk.

Garett usually does not care much about fashion.

"Right away, Sir," the shop clerk said as she brought out an outfit that completely aligned with what I usually like to wear.

I tried it on immediately and saw that his selection suited me quite well. The blouse was slightly tan and had frilly sleeves that were not overbearing, and the skirt fit comfortably around my waist. "You look beautiful, Arielle," Garett said with a smile as he slipped on a red flower hair accessory into my hair.

"...I would like to wear this out as is," I told the shop clerk.

As I was about to pay, Garett beat me to it first.

"This is to celebrate your discharge from the hospital," Garett said.

"...Garett," I said with a happy face.

My heart welled up with joy as I hugged his arm.

"... You do not mind if I continue holding your arm, yes?" I asked with upturned eyes.

Garett showed me a shy face as he accepted my clinginess.

Garett took me around to a bookstore, a hip restaurant that served lunch, and even took me on a romantic walk through the park.

"Are you not enjoying yourself?" Garett asked.

I was enjoying myself but found myself lost in thought.

"...Are you forcing yourself?" I asked as I pulled Garett aside behind a tree.

"Forcing myself?"

"You usually do not like doing activities like these," I said.

"...Can't I do something like this for you once in a while?" Garett asked as he rubbed my cheeks with his thumb.

I stood on the tips of my toes and kissed his lips.

"...I am not saying that you can't," I said as I held his shoulders.

"I see... You actually wanted me to pay attention to you this way," Garett said as he leaned down and cupped his hands around my face.

"...If you know, the decency is not to ask," I said with a slight pout.

Garett closed his eyes as he came in for another kiss. I closed my eyes as well and waited for his kiss.

"Arielle?"

I snapped my eyes open and looked in the direction of the voice.

"Garett? Who is the person in front of me?"

The person standing in front of me had blonde hair...Prince Erik.

I shoved Prince Erik away and began running away from both of them.

How cruel of him to play with my feelings!

"Arielle!"

The one who caught me was the real Garett.

"I am sorry! I did not know that it was Prince Erik! I thought he was you, so I held his arm and even kissed him. His hair was black, but I did not recognize him at all," I explained frantically.

"...I know that you would not go behind my back and see him. You spent so many years trying to avoid him, and most of all, I trust you," Garett said.

"How can you trust me so much? I am still hiding so much from you, yet you continue to blindly believe in me all of the time," I said.

"It is because I do not want to touch your trauma. You are always crying because of him, so I do not want to force you to say something you are not comfortable talking about," Garett said. I grabbed his hands.

"I want to tell you now," I said as I pulled him along.

For whatever reason, I brought him to the school Library. We went to the furthest parts of the Library where the sun barely shines through and sat on the ground between the bookcases.

"... You really like the Library, don't you, Arielle?" Garett asked with a slight scoff.

"I am sorry if it is a bad location," I said.

"No, I like Libraries too," Garett said as he held my hand. "I fell in love with you in one after all."

I pulled on Garett's hair.

"Is it a wig?" I asked myself.

"Ow...Ow...Ow! It is not a wig. This is my real hair," Garett said as he pulled my hands off of his head.

"I am sorry..."

"It is fine. Actually, it is better if you are more alert from now on so that mix-ups like this do not happen again. You should be this alert from now on. Understand?"

"Yes...Um...now..."

I tried gathering my thoughts about what I wanted to say to Garett but did not know where to go from there, so I kept opening my mouth and stopping from there.

"... How about I tell you a story?" Garett suggested.

"A story?" I asked.

"There once was a pitiful woman. She was forced to marry a man who was in love with another woman. Her husband respected her and never cheated on her, but she was always so miserable because he was always so standoffish towards her and never told her that he loved her. Then, one day, she had twins. Having twins was a very not a very auspicious occasion as twins were always an ominous sign that marked the failure of a kingdom particularly in a Royal Family. So, according to the advice of the people then, she gave away one of her children to her brother who could not have children of his own, while she brought up the child who resembled her husband the most," Garett said as he held my hand.

"Garett, are you..."

"That child grew up in a home where the wife thought continuously thought that her husband had brought in a child from a mistress. She hated that child and would often lock that child in darkness for several days. It got to the point where the child found comfort in being in the dark. Maybe that is why he prefers being the moody dark ambiance of libraries growing up..."

"How did the child find out about his parents?"

"... That child met his biological other half. His face was just like his, but he had hair like the sun and a mother who seemed to care for him. When the child asked the only man, he knew as his father about the other child, he revealed to the child that he was not his biological father but his uncle. The uncle arranged for the child and the biological mother to meet one day. Instead of apologizing, she just cursed at the child and told him to take the child away as if he was a sickness. If the child knew that he was going to be shunned like that, he wished that he never met her in the first place."

My heart began to fill with grief and sorrow from listening to Garett's lonely story. Unable to say any comforting words, I could only sit by him and listen in silence.

"When the boy who was filled with hatred, the other half appeared to him like the sun and brought him around as a plaything, often changing clothes with him to confuse others. For a while, the child was able to experience a short life as the Prince. One day, the child received a present from his biological father. The man who never knew that he had another son gave the child a book of poetry. It was his first and only gift that he ever received from his real presents, so he kept it a secret from the Prince that he received a book and kept it by his side. For whatever reason, the child could never read the book even though reading was his passion. The book, the affection he received, and the parents who raised him all never felt like they ever belonged to him but to the child that lived in the sun... For his whole life, the child lived a complete lie hindered in the shadow of the blessed child blessed by the sun."☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐