To Love You Again

Apparently, the beautiful lady had started her own small store in a small countryside. She became quite famous locally because of her stunning appearance, yet despite a long line of suitors, no one managed to snag her hand in marriage.

Young Master Lu visited the tiny yet cozy store a few times. He disguised himself as an Asian man who had come to love the place, treating it as his resting spot every weekend. He visited her once a week. He got to chat with her casually. 

From getting her name personally until occasionally having small chats with her with random topics like 'how's the day?' or 'how's the business?', they became friends eventually, with the passage of time. Their relationship back then was akin to a loyal patron and the owner of the store.

Young Master Lu unconsciously formed a habit of spending his weekend in that place. He would especially fly from Asia to that place just to have a few moments of chat with her.

She was initially guarded, but polite. Until slowly, they began to warm up to each other.

It had been more than a year since he started visiting the store every week.

But for the first time, the store was not open. 

Young Master Lu asked around. The neighbors said that in this time of the year, Prescilla's store usually was closed. They did not know where she always went but the next day, she would be back to business again.

Young Master Lu was worried, so he combed through the town. Finally, by the seaside, he found her staring blankly at the ocean. Her silvery strands flowed behind her back as it was blown by the cold wind. Her silent figure screamed of loneliness and sorrow. 

Young Master Lu knew at a glance that the woman in front of him was different from the usual owner he saw at the store, who smiled politely and spoke in a cheerful voice.

He knew that Prescilla had been truly hurt by that cold hearted man.

He took a step nearer, but then stopped. He wanted to call out to her, yet he was afraid that she would show her fake smiles again.

So, the man who silently fell deeper in love stood far and watched his beloved woman stare blankly at the sea until the sun completely vanished.

It was then that he had vowed to do everything to heal her heart.

"Gradma was in love with Master Xiong?" Lu Yin Ze gaped at this shocking information, his mouth opening slightly. 

Who would have thought that the Xiong family and the Lu family had a hidden history like this? Was that the reason why both heads of the families did not get along well?

Master Lu nodded in confirmation.

"Your grandma fell in love with the wrong person. In the end, she was ruthlessly abandoned. That cold hearted bastard prioritized his family's surname more than anything else, thus, he chose his family elder's offered fiancée. Tsk. In the first place, he should have not brought my dear wife to the Xiong Mansion if he did not have the guts to actually marry her!" Master Lu said angrily. 

In his memories, those blank eyes of his woman staring at the ocean every year gave him so much pain and distress for her. Screw that bastard Xiong! 

"But to be honest, I am relieved that he had left her. If he had not, I would not have grabbed my chance," Master Lu added while reminiscing the past.

"Did you have a hard time getting Grandma to love you back?" Lu Yin Ze curiously asked, his blue eyes filled with curiousity.

"Of course, child! Sigh, it took me almost five years tirelessly pursuing her to finally have her heart open up to me. After that, when we were finally together, it again took another couple of years to convince her to come here."

"That long?" Lu Yin Ze was stunned. Five whole years? That must have needed so much will, determination, courage, and effort.

"Well, your grandma is quite traumatized by what had happened with that bastard. And, ahem, well, I also happen to have a fiancée back then."

"Eh?!" 

Lu Yin Ze was shocked. His grandpa had a fiancée but he went behind her and chased another woman? Not to mention that the woman he was pursuing happened to have a trauma involving her ex-boyfriend getting another woman as his fiancée. This is really… Lu Yin Zhe did not know whether to admire his grandfather's courage or shake his head in disapproval.

"Cough. Don't give me that look. I did not cheat."

Lu Yin Zhe could not help but look at his grandfather with dead fish eyes. He already had a fiancée but still saying he did not cheat?

"What I meant was, she was not my official fiancée. The other's family persuaded my father to set an arranged marriage for us, but it was all talk and there was no official engagement," Master Lu explained when he saw his grandson's dubious look. At that time, he was just as shocked after hearing his father announce that he had a fiancée. 

He had fought with his father a lot because of that. 

On the other hand, Lu Yin Ze noticed another detail. "Someone actually persuaded our Lu family to arrange a marriage with them? Are they from one of the eminent families?" 

Master Lu shook his head. His aged gaze lowered. There was a flash of foreboding in the old man's eyes.

"No, they are not. They are only a family that had just risen in sheer luck. They would never be able to get on the same level with us legendary-old families of ill.u.s.trious origins."

"…?" The silver ball of hair tilted his head in confusion. "If that's the case, then, why…?"

Master Lu patted Lu Yin Ze's hand. 

"Those families that acted like phoenixes when in fact they are just lower than pheasants would never be able to rival us, more so deserve our hands in marriage." 

Lu Yin Ze was taken aback by the predatory look in his grandfather's eyes. 

After a while, Master Lu smiled gently and continued on with his story. 

"Your Grandpa was still a handsome man back then, so a lot of chicks wanted to fly around. It took me a long time to clean them up and give your Grandma a comfortable place to live in. You see, making a woman you love fall for you is hard, especially if they have someone they love. But it doesn't mean you don't stand a chance." 

"…"

Lu Yin Ze gazed quietly at his grandpa while he took in the elder's words.

"I did not just spend a night getting your Grandma's heart. It took many years, a lot of effort—" Master Lu emphasized. "And I never regretted a single moment of it. Even if in the end, the time we spent together was little."

Master Lu's voice turned bleak when he spoke the last sentence. He was the most heartbroken at the passing of his wife. He had not yet recovered from the haze of grief, and news his daughter's sudden death reached him, putting him in despair. Only his thoughts regarding his grandson barely pulled him out of the haze.

Fortunately, he was not too late and had not lost his grandson.

-----------------------------

After comforting his grandfather and gently bidding him goodnight, Lu Yin Zhe headed back to his room.

He thought of his grandfather's words. Did he, Lu Yin Zhe, stood a chance? He hesitated.

But…his grandfather only got his chance when his Grandma was abandoned by her first love. Xiong Zhi was not the same—

Lu Yin Ze suddenly froze on his steps.

In the long, empty hallway, the slender figure of the youth glowed under the lamps, his silver hair reflecting off the radiance of the overhead lights.

Xiong Zhi had took a liking to her butler. A butler.

Even if that butler had the same feelings towards Xiong Zhi, they could never be with each other. That was the rule of their world. The rule of the legendary families and their butlers. Unless, it was approved by the legendary family.

But there was no way that the Old Xiong, who adhered strictly to the rules and could even abandon his own love for the sake of his family's prestige, would let that butler marry Xiong Zhi. Especially right now that she was the official heir.

Lu Yin Ze swallowed. He suddenly had a thought.

Perhaps. Maybe he still had a chance. 

Perhaps, right now, Xiong Zhi was only infatuated with her butler as he was the number one person she spent most of her time with.

And maybe afterwards, her feelings would fade, once she saw that they could never be with each other.

Lu Yin Ze knew he was having absurd and bad thoughts. Yes. Just like what his grandfather said, people would be selfish when it came to what they desire.

And Lu Yin Ze desired for her. 

Since the two could never be with each other, what was the rush? He would patiently wait for her, until her feelings for her butler dies down and she wakes up in reality.

Lu Yin Ze wanted to see which would fade out first. Would it be his feelings towards her? Or her feelings towards her butler?

This little thought that he had decided upon was like a seedling that would turn into a baobab tree and would consume him later on.