Ceres

105

He didn't know why but the moment he neared at Ceres' courtyard, he felt another person's presence. It was a familiar one. He hastily went inside Ceres' room and saw a person standing in front of Ceres' cabinet.

The person was clearly hiding his presence just like him and even disguised himself. But somehow, he felt familiar with this person. Right when he was about to ask the person who he was, he heard him say a few words. From that, he knew who that person is.

It was definitely Ceres.

He couldn't help but blurt out her name.

When the person turned around, even if the face doesn't resemble Ceres, his intuition, gut feeling, and deep familiarity with Ceres told him that she was definitely Ceres.

The night was silent but his heartbeat was clearly beating out loud at that moment.

Ceres is definitely standing in front of him. She was alive. She was safe. She's here.

He was about to hug the person in front of him, thinking he will not definitely let go of her anymore when suddenly, that person disappeared.

A voice which is not familiar to him sounded near his ears.

"You're mistaken."

Then, he was left in the room all by himself. He started walking towards the lawn to look at the night sky. Blinking twice, his mind was processing a lot of things and thousands of emotions rushed to his heart.

---

Ceres immediately decided to go and leave Lucas behind. He mustn't know that Ceres is alive. Also, she felt that it was unnecessary for her to get closer to Lucas. It seems like she would only die if she tried to get closer to him particularly when her heart would burst any moment with just seeing him in person.

She stopped on top of a roof while still clutching her chest. She didn't know why, even though she's far from him, her heart was still beating loudly and fast.

Did she catch a disease?

---

"I'm Lucas."

A young boy extended his hand to a young Ceres. He was smiling and even his eyes were shaped like the half moon. But, the young Ceres knew that there wasn't even an ounce of happiness in this young boy's eyes.

She didn't give him her hand and instead, stood up on her own. She was rushing to the magic attribute testing site with her brother but she suddenly got lost.

The young Ceres patted her dress and ignored the extended hand of the young boy in front of her.

When she was done removing the dirt and dust from her dress, she turned to face him.

"Don't ever show that smile in front of me."

Then, she suddenly snorted and turned around. The young Ceres thought of looking for her brother instead and left the young boy standing there with his extended hand in air.

That was how their first meeting went. It was something close to Lucas' heart; because, it was the first time for Lucas to be offended directly, personally, and by a little girl at that.

Unknown to Lucas, it was also something close to Ceres' heart; because at that moment, she didn't know that she'll be able to make her first friend. Thus, she treated it like one of life's blessing.

---

Memories once again started to flood Ceres' mind. She couldn't help but half kneel on where she's standing at. Her eyes were even tightly closed and her brows were furrowed more than ever.

Is it happening once again?

It would have been better if she could only feel headache but sadly, it didn't end there. Even her heart felt like there were something scratching it and hurting it from deep inside her body.

Beads of sweat started forming and showing on her forehead. Her breathing also became heavy. It looks like she found it hard to even breathe at that moment.

This is not supposed to happen. These aren't my memories. These aren't my feelings. These are not mine.

"Do you really have a heart? Aren't you just a thing devoid of emotions?"

Ceres' eyes abruptly opened and she was surprised to hear someone speak such words beside her ears.

Yet, she was alone.

Who was that?

Why does that person's voice seem familiar to her?

And that happened right when she was even feeling powerless.

Even though she knew that this time is really dangerous and she needed to go back immediately, she couldn't even move from her spot.

So, someone like her is still powerless against the clutches of fate, huh? Is this something she has to bear because she isn't from this world? Or is this something she has to bear because she is currently Ceres?

For the second time in her life, she felt utterly helpless such that her vision started to blur. Tears started forming in the corner of her eyes. Because of this, she tightly closed them; suppressing whatever emotions she was feeling.

Right at that moment, she felt someone carry her. She couldn't open her eyes because she was still not well and feeling dizzy. Even though her consciousness wanted to fade away, she kept on fighting it. She wouldn't feel safe unless she knows she is really safe.

"I'm already here, princess."

Ceres didn't know why but with just hearing those words, she felt her mind and heart suddenly calmed down. Whatever she felt back then, seemed like it didn't happen at all. After a few seconds, she fell asleep.

The mysterious man felt that Ceres' breathing and heart beat went back to normal. When he glanced at the young woman in his arms, he knew that Ceres was already sleeping. Only at that moment did he feel assured.

He didn't want to bring back Ceres to the royal palace and instead, booked a room in a certain inn. He, of course, informed Gil through telepathy that Gil needs to cover for Ceres for a while. It seems like he hasn't met Gil before encountering Ceres this time around.

"I'm sorry."

The mysterious man carefully placed Ceres on the bed. He gently wiped the beads of sweat on her forehead and even made sure she was not feeling hot but warm instead.

He sat beside her bed and slowly reached out for her hand.

"...I was late, once again."

The mysterious man couldn't help but show a painful expression as he held her hand in his.-tbc

A/N: Thank you very much for reading Ceres!! This is it for the ten-chapter update today. :D I hope you enjoyed reading and please look forward to the next update!!

Thank you very much for the reads, votes, comments, and messages!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!