Anthony was silent for a moment, and I wondered if I had said too much or if I had made him suddenly uncomfortable. Just when I had started to regret my words, Anthony smiled at me and nodded his head slightly a couple of times as if in agreement. “Dahlia is indeed a beautiful name,” he commented casually. “Really? Sometimes I think that it sounds quite outdated,” I replied as I tried to sound natural. “If that's the case, have you asked your parents for a nickname?” Anthony asked with a hint of suggestion in his tone. “I'm not so sure…” I replied hesitantly because I wasn’t sure if that was a good idea at all. The idea of asking my parents for a nickname never occurred to me before, and I didn't think that they would give me one simply because I demanded it. On top of that, I had always thought that the concept of a nickname was to show adoration to the owner of the name. “Dahlia, what about Leya? It's like saying the second syllable of your name very slowly. Leya,” Anthony sug

Most probably, there wasn't any explanation that I could give to her that she would find satisfactory besides from the truth, and that was something that I could not offer. Suddenly, the flowerpot in her hand made its fast descent onto the ground in between our feet. Had this been a dramatic scene in a movie, the flowerpot would have landed and shattered into countless pieces with a loud sound that would echo all around us. Perhaps it would all happen in slow motion just to add to the climax of the moment; however, the truth was the flower pot simply landed on the grass ground with a muffled thudding sound. “I don't want something like this…” she said after letting the flowerpot fall to the ground. “I thought that you might like it, but if you don't, you can just take it as a bad joke of some sort. You're also right, I got this idea from a story that Anthony told me about how happy you were to receive this flower from him as a gift a long time ago,” I said while trying to keep my vo

The golden light from the candles bathed his face in a warm light that made his blond hair look like rays from the sunset. My chest felt heavy and warm at the same time, and that made me have to admit that I was touched. I closed my eyes and made a wish that I would have the inner strength to deal with all upcoming obstacles so that I would be victorious at the end of the day. When I open my eyes, the swaying warm golden light of the lit candles looks like a work of art filled with hope. I took in a deep breath and blew out all the candles while everyone applauded from all around us. Strangely, that moment reminded me of one of my very younger days. “Alright, now turn the lights back on and open the curtains,” I heard Jenna's voice instruct. Light flooded back into the room again and I could see clearly the people who had gathered to celebrate my birthday. Jenna, Zain, Bella, and many other maids and bodyguards were there with a bright smile on their faces. For a moment, it felt li

I couldn't focus on praying for the entire session as my attention was divided between Desmond and Bradon. Although I didn't want to admit it even to myself, the role that I had to play in Desmond's plan weighed heavily on my heart. I wasn't sure how I was going to succeed in going about acting as both myself and my sister at the same time. Somehow, I knew that I had to manage because I didn't have any other choice, but whenever I thought of that, I couldn't help but feel very conscious of Bradon's presence close to me.Ever since the little celebration that I had for my birthday party, we haven't had the chance to discuss anything solid. Of course, preparation for the king's funeral kept us busy, but it also felt like we were both carefully trying to avoid that sensitive topic between us. Sooner or later, I knew that I would have to take up my new position as Desmond's girlfriend. As to how that was supposed to happen, I was quite clueless at the time.When the prayer session came to

The celebration held in the evening ended with a spectacular display of fireworks. Despite the budget cut, it seemed that Desmond was kind enough to ensure that there would be firework displays in many major cities across the country so that everyone could feel the celebratory vibe of his coronation. I personally thought it was a good choice that he decided to cut down on the decoration and the flowers while also shortening the celebration from a whole seven days to only three.“The fireworks look like flowers…” I murmured to myself as I kept on staring upwards into the sky. The fireworks decorated the sky like large flowers blooming in a dark field. Its vibrant colors sparkling and dancing as if it were alive. I felt Bradon’s arm tightened around my waist as he pulled me closer. When I looked up at his face, I thought that he looked quite concerned as if he was worrying about something important. Unlike the other people around us, Bradon didn't seem to be enjoying even a speck of th