Bewitched (Snow White with the Red Hair Fanfic)

23.Flair

"Izana...I..."

He looked at me with his enchanting eyes. I remembered the reason why I fell in love with him. His ambitious looks, the determination that lingered in his very soul and every other dominant traits that represented him.

"...love you...."

It felt like time itself had stopped. I gasped, hoping he would still feel the same way I did. I clutched onto my dress with my eyes closed waiting for his response.

I had the feeling to keep going. I didn't want my confession to sound like a request or a plead. I wanted him to know. To tell him how I felt about him. How he made my heart race everytime I encounter with him.

"I feel like if I don't tell you now, I won't be able to forever. You make me happy and I'd like it to be that way by your side for as long as I can. I want to laugh by your side during times of jubilation and embrace you during hard times....."

"I..."

Pausing, I was welcomed by the embrace of his firm body and he held me tightly in his arms. He had a slight scent of honey and cinnamon. I hugged him back in response and tears came streaming down my face.

"Say no more." he commanded in a comforting sense. It was quite contradicting if not for our love being mutual. "I loved you and I will love you from now on. Nothing can stop me to dear you as much as my life."

He let me go but took hold of my hands, making me look directly into his eyes again. Every bit of his actions were charming and I could not help but think of a future with him.

"I am overjoyed to know you feel the same," he smiled. It was just a wonderful moment that I couldn't think of when I could ever feel happier. He still accepted me after all what I had done. "Now..."

"I'll ask you once more. Will you, Lera, become my wife and stay by my side until death do us apart?"

"Yes," I nodded in joy. "I will. For as long as I live, I will be yours."

Then, we hugged once more. When the hug was loose, Izana gently took hold of my chin before closing the distance between our lips.

♢♢♢

It had felt like a dream. I met the boy from my childhood again. Who was the wonderfully hyper friend I had? Or was it a mere hallucination?

I had the whole morning pondering about it. But all my thoughts were swiped away when Izana came to see me. I had actually confessed to him the day before and he accepted and asked me to be his bride.

Which I agreed to.

He told me that the engagement would be soon. He would announce it to the citizens by then and we would get married two weeks after the engagement.

"M-Morning...Izana..." I greeted, blushing. He smiled. "Good morning, Lera." he greeted back. "Accompany me for lunch?" I nodded in response.

"I think we should tell your parents first." I said. "They deserve to know." Izana hesitated for a moment before replying as an agreement to my suggestion. "I think so too,"

I smiled.

"I can't wait to have you by my side every morning when I wake up and every night when I sleep."

My face instantly heated up. How can he say such heart-racing words??? With that sly grin of his!?

But every moment with him was precious to me and I would treasure them for the rest of my life. It was quite exciting, to be honest. To have a lover and to experience love.

After I returned to my room for the day, I searched around for Shirayuki. I hadn't seen her since the incident and it had been on my mind.

Maybe she's already back to doing work?

I rushed to her workplace only to run into Ryu. The herb prodigy. "Ryu..." I stuttered in surprise. "Lady Lera." he greety formally.

"It's fine to call me Lera, you know."

He just nodded in understanding. "Are you perhaps looking for Shirayuki?" he asked and took a grip full of herbs to complete his work. He scattered the herbs onto the surface of warm water.

A sweet aroma encompassed the room as I took in its scent. It was such a sweet smell that I felt like I was in a field full of lavenders. "What is it?" I asked, simply curious as I went up closer to him.

"It's our latest scented package. Thought it'd be a good use in stress relief baths and tea time." he responded. "You can add this in tea?!" I questioned. I was taken in by the nature of herbs. They were my food when Shirayuki and I had to survive.

"It's not poisonous to have lavender for tea but I recommend the rosemary for teatime purposes." He took out a stem of greenery which seemed to be rosemary.

I took a sniff of it and frowned. "But there's no smell."

Ryu chuckled a bit. It was the first time seeing him smile like that. Normally, he would only be friendly around Shirayuki. "It's dried. You can only smell it when mixed with warm water."

"Oh." I said. I probably looked like some idiot. "I feel like there's still a lot to learn about Clarines." I said shyly. "Uh...do you want to become a herbalist?" he asked.

I shook my head. "No, not quite. I understand it is a very simple and resourceful job yet diverse occupation. Yet, I feel like it's not what I am destined to do." I explained.

Ryu paused for a moment before chuckling. I blushed a bit, embarrassed. "Hey! What's the laughing for??"

"Nothing really," he said. "But sometimes, the way you talk reminds me of Shirayuki. You both are similar somehow."

Me!? With Shirayuki!???

"Shirayuki is much more ambitious than me. She has a dream to accomplish while I have none." I confirmed. "You just might not know," he continued.

Eh?

"Know what?" I asked in curiosity.

"Your ambition. What you believe you're destined to do. It might actually be closer than you think."

He kept on pouring the ingredients to grind as I watched him. "You're also quite talented. I heard what happened with the Tanbarun Prince."

Raj huh?

"Speaking of which, where is Shirayuki?" I asked. "I had quite an interesting conversation with you, Ryu. Thanks." Ryu told me where Shirayuki was and I waved him bye before continuing on to her.

He also told me that Shirayuki was the one to brew up my medicines and watched over me along with Kinare when I was sick. I couldn't have been more grateful to her.

I wanted to thank her. For what she had done. For having been by my side. For always being my friend.