"Alright, alright, don't be angry anymore!" Erland exclaimed while wrapping his arm around Aldrich's shoulder.

     "This is the first time I've seen you like this, do you really like her?" he asked. Aldrich shook his head.

     "How can you think like that? We even just met Arina. I'm not like you, always fall in love with any girl in first meet."

     Erland chuckled at his friend's answer. Unbeknownst to them, it turned out that Arina was secretly listening to their conversation. Her heart sighed in disappointment.

     'Am I expecting too much? I was stupid, thinking that Aldrich liked me, it turned out that all this time she didn't have any feelings for me. Then why is he always good to me?'

     "Princess," said Silva's grandmother, gently patting the girl's shoulder.

"It's getting late. You'd better get some rest. I've tidied up your room too."

      Arina just nodded as she rushed over. Her steps seemed wobbly. Grandma Silva just watched the girl go to the room.

     Outside, Aldrich and Erland were still conversing without noticing Arina's presence earlier.

     "It's good that you don't like her, if Arina is a princess, we can't like her. She and we are very different," Erland said as he turned to Aldrich.

     "I know that," replied Aldrich, nodding.

***

     Arina opened her eyes when morning came. She wished she had returned home, but she remained in the hut.

     'When I hoped I would wake up from this dream, I found I was still in it,' She lamented in her heart. She then rushed out of the room. It was still very quiet outside. She don't know where everyone went. Arina had suspected that she was left alone when she heard the voices of people outside the hut.

      "It's okay, everything will be fine," said that person. It was so soft and soothing that it sounded in Arina's ears because she also needed to hear the same words.

      The girl rushed out and was surprised to see Rion. The young man was smiling while gently stroking a puppy in his lap. The little white dog with brown stripes appeared to be injured. Even so, the puppy looked quite calm. Not long after, that puppy whimpered softly. Again Rion gently caressed while repeating the same words. The smile remained on his face.

       Arina stared half dazzled. How different from the figure of Rion that she had seen so far, so cold and cynical, like he was heartless. Now in front of her, the young man was smiling gently at the animal in his lap.

       'Does he treat animals better than humans?' Arina muttered in her heart.

      As if realizing that he was being watched, Rion suddenly turned his head. His gaze was fixed on Arina's figure. The smile disappeared from his face. Arina herself was very panicked. She quickly turned around and rushed inside. In his hurry, she tripped over the doorknob and fell to the floor.

      Hands reached out to help the girl. Arina looked up and saw Rion bowing in front of her.

     "I don't need your help!" She said, her face turning red. It was a shame for her to fall in front of that young man.

      Ron didn't answer. Arina then tried to get up. However, her legs hurt, and so did her arms.

     'Must have been scratched by the fall,' the girl muttered to herself.

'Even if it hurts, I won't ask him for help.'

      "So you don't want me to help?" Rion asked. The young man then straightened up.

"Okay, just lie down there as much as you want. Just wait for Aldrich to come home. Later he will help you."

       Arina remembered Aldrich's conversation with Erland last night. She didn't want that young man to pretend to be kind to her anymore. She didn't really want to ask Rion for help either, but right now she had no other choice.

      "Wait!" call her.

"Please help me!"

       Rion had already walked some distance stopped and turned around then walked over to Arina. He bent down again and held out his hand.

      Arina winced in pain as Rion tried to pull that girl up.

      "I can't do it," she said.

"We have to find another way."

      Rion then crouched down. One hand wrapped around the girl's waist. Arina then wrapped her arms around Rion's neck. However, this creates a new problem for her. Their faces were so close they were almost touching. Arina turned nervous. But Rion's face looked normal.

      Rion then half lifted the girl's body. Arina stood up while groaning in pain. Without speaking, Rion immediately carried Arina and put the girl on the chair.

      "Thank you," Arina said quietly. If Rion continued to be gentle like this, her heart might melt.

      'But will he also behave like Aldrich?' Arina supposedly doubted.

      "Wait here, I will

take the medicine!" said Rion.

      Ariana just nodded. After all, where would she go if she was in pain like now?

     Not long after, Rion returned. He then sat next to Arina. She helped the girl to fold the long sleeves of the dress she was wearing. The girl groaned again in pain as the scraps of cloth hit the injured skin. Earlier Rion wanted to cut the sleeves of the dress, but Arina refused. The ivory white dress belonged to Silva's grandmother which was lent to her. Seeing that the dress was so nice and clean, she must have kept it very well.

     "If you're in pain, just hold my hand," said Rion without turning his head. Arina just nodded then held the young man's hand tightly while biting her lip. He saw Rion's face looked so flat, but slowly he began to understand that even though Rion looked so cold, he was actually a good person.

      Slowly Rion began to smear the medicine on the wound while blowing slowly. Arina's face reddened as the warm gust hit her skin. Now the pain seemed to have disappeared, replaced with a loud pounding and tightness that blended into one.

      "Relax, everything will be fine," said Rion.

      'What's this? Did he treat me like a little dog earlier?' said Arina wondering in her heart.

***

      Rion knelt in front of Arina and applied medicine on the girl's injured leg when the front door suddenly opened.

      "We're home!" cried Erland. However, that talkative young man immediately froze. His belongings even fell scattered.

      "What are you doing?" he asked subconsciously. Grandma Silva and Aldrich also followed in. Aldrich just stared at that.

     "You're home? That's good," said Rion as he stood up and then rushed over and gave the medicinal ointment he had brought to Silva's grandmother.

     "There was someone who liked to peek in secret, as a result she fell and was injured."

      Arina's eyes widened hearing that. She threw a piercing glare at Rion, but that young man just rushed away out from there.