Love doesn’t lie, it doesn’t keep secrets.
Love seeks for the truth even if it hurts. Because love wouldn’t settle for anything less. And a big part of me was hoping that at the end of it all, Alison and I could come up with another definition of love… like the fact that love… understands, love accepts, and love forgives.
“Xandros…”
I held her hands. It was a struggle for my body to stand before her like this.
“Calm down, Ali. I’m fine-“
“Well, I’m not!” For the first time, she raised her voice. “Tell me, who did this to you?”
Just when I thought that U had lost all the reasons to smile, Alison came and blurted those words out. It was also my first time to see her this furious. She looked as if she was willing to injure the hell out of whoever had hurt me even if she was sure that a supernatural being did this to me.
I was suddenly amused by her obvious wrath and her bravery.
“This happened and you could still smile like that?” Alison asked in a voice laced with grief.
I took her in my arms. Peace was still far from my sight. But being near Alison like this felt close enough to achieving peace.
“How can I not smile when you are here beside me?”

(Alison)
“LISTEN, I… I need to tell you something very important. I need to say this now before you find out from someone else. After this, you can decide if you’d still want to be with me.”
Alexandros smiled but I could see the bitterness in his eyes.
He took a deep breath. “You see, eight years ago…” He closed his eyes. “I committed an unforgivable sin.”
My heart sank upon looking at him. I know how much pain Alexandros was trying to hide and how much courage he needed to pluck out inside him just to be able to open up to me. And I appreciated it a lot that he finally came to tell me the truth.
He was currently sitting beside me on the swing. He was about to release my hands but I didn’t let him. I didn’t want him to let go. Instead, I held his hand tightly.
Alexandros had made me nervous for the past days because each time I close my eyes, I see him suffer. I knew that something was going on. And it frustrated me so much knowing that Alexandros couldn’t share it with me.
But here he was now, braving all his fears and uncertainties just to tell me a certain story that he had been keeping to himself.
“You don’t have to force yourself to tell me about it if it still hurts you so much, Xandros, because I already know all about it.”
He opened his eyes and whirled his head towards my direction. “What do you mean?”
“Remember the night when we had a thirty-day deal? The night you sent me home, there was a man who called me and introduced himself as Theron. I didn’t doubt him because when I was in your house, you had pictures there with him. Theron showed up at my gate and we talked about you for hours here in this very same spot.
“He said he wanted to be sure that after everything he’d tell me, I’d still love you. He said he wanted to be assured that should the day come that he has to leave your side, there’s someone who will stay with you. He wanted to know if that someone will be me. That night, Theron allowed me to have a glimpse of your past,” I said in a low voice while remembering the conversation I had with Theron.
‘Simply put, the bastards who tries to harm him are the Armethians, they’re also the same people he’d risk his life for. And while Alexandros is still alive, they wouldn’t stop. They would also try to mess with the people he’s involve with. I’m sorry, Miss Cabrera, but that was how merciless the Armethians are. You see, Alexandros wasn’t lying when he told you that it’s a major risk for you to be with him.’
‘You talk as if you’re not an Armethian,’ I replied instead because I didn’t know how to react.
When Theron told me about Alexandros’ past, his hand was pressed onto my forehead and my eyes were closed. He showed me what happened and in the simplest way, he made me understand the reason why there seemed to be a permanent pain written in Alexandros’ eyes.
Theron’s jaw clenched. ‘That’s because I was no longer an Armethian the moment they banished my king without even conducting an investigation. What they did to Alexandros was worse than what they did to Crono. At least, Crono’s case had been investigated. I couldn’t believe how easy it was for them to judge our king. I also couldn’t believe how the council tried to save their asses by putting the king down.
‘They all knew that Alexandros was half-mortal and that makes him susceptible from evil spirits. There were also signs that he had been possessed by Crono’s spirit that night. But nobody tried to investigate because they didn’t want the public to hate them as well that’s why they threw Alexandros away.’
‘What?!’ Disbelief crossed my eyes.
‘Alexandros helped their businesses to prosper and he saved them when their lives were in danger because of the rebels. He was in the army then and as soon as he discovered about that, he teleported and shielded the council from the rebels. He was hurt but he didn’t care. His devotion to Arameth and its people was so big and so deep although he refused to admit it.’
Theron sighed. ‘He would always disregard his own life for the sake of his countrymen. That’s the reason why I admire Alexandros and hate him at the same time.’
‘Right now, I feel the same,’ I replied.
‘I was so ashamed that being referred as one of the Armethians makes me want to throw up.’