My face immediately flushed red when he said that.

'Kaiden, you really are the Master of Flirting! Not just a master but a professional! If this is a game, then you'd be at level 9999! Or Celestial level! You say romantic words without batting an eye. You make my heart beat fast all the time to the point I could be mistakenly diagnosed with high blood pressure! KYAAAA!!! Not that I'm complaining though. I truly like it. Go on and continue.'

"P-Please stop teasing me," I shyly pleaded with him. "I know we're now in a contract b-but shouldn't we just do the charade when we're in front of your family?"

"Eh?" he raised his eyebrows, and his tone, complaining? "We should get used to it while we have a chance. Mother has really great observation skills. And we never know, she might even hire investigators just to check if I'm not fooling her."

"What? She would go to that extent?"

"Yeah. Better safe than sorry. And my grandparents will be heartbroken if they learn that."

"Oh no! We should give it our best then!"

"Yeah," he smirked.

"So we're officially starting our charade now?"

Nodding, he replied, "Yes."

"In that case," I said as I smiled and held out my hand, "Nice to meet you, boyfriend."

He did the same, and shook my hands—though with his gloves on—and replied to me in the same manner.

"Nice to meet you, too, girlfriend."

Awwww. His smile was really the best. I hope he could keep on smiling forever and ever. We laughed to ourselves afterwards and later on, Hora and the sly fox came. We ordered our food and ate lunch together while chatting with random topics.

As we talked, I noticed how Hora seemed to be really happy. I guess she liked that sly fox so much, huh? If that's the case, then I don't regret giving my blessing to them. As long as Hora would be happy. Haaah… At the same time, I wanted Crystal to be happy, too. I wondered what she's doing in the Land of Love. Hopefully, she's enjoying herself, too. I really miss her.

______________________________

[PS. This part is a mini Crystal POV - that moment when Senara thought of her at the cafeteria]

[Music Recommendation: "In Silence" by Janet Suhh (It's Okay Not To Be Okay OST)-available in Youtube or Spotify] ~ Please listen to it in a loop while you read this part to experience the utmost beauty of this chapter ~

Haaaah… Deep breaths.

Again, my mind woke up before its appointed time.

I grabbed my phone on the bedside table and the clock showed 7 o'clock in the morning. A groan escaped my mouth the moment I saw it. The straight line of light that came from the gap of the curtains on the large window beside me confirmed the time for me. It was dead silent and all I could hear was the ticking of the clock on the wall in front of my bed.

Sting.

'Ugghhh… This again. This is why I'm beginning to hate waking up early. Shooting starts in the afternoon and I couldn't get to sleep last night until four. I still need lots of beauty sleep, yet here I am waking up before the appointed time. Haaaah…'

That's right. I had been having trouble sleeping lately—ever since I came here with Callan last week, to be exact. And I had been zoning out every now and then. I should be happy that I was selected but why… Why am I like this?

'I feel so empty.'

Getting busy with shooting was nice. It helped get my mind off of things. But whenever I'm back here by myself, alone with nothing to do, my heart would sting and I would feel so sad and lonely again.

'I hate this.'

Not wanting to think about anything, I tapped through my phone and went over my long playlist of songs. Settling with an upbeat one, I chose "Moves Like Jagger ft. Christina Aguilera" by Maroon 5. I made sure to pump the volume loud enough to echo in the room.

"Just shoot for the stars

If it feels right and aim for my heart

If you feel like

And take me away and make it okay

I swear I'll behave."

I got up from bed and sang along with the music. Later on, I found myself dancing to the beat while I showered to freshen myself up. My playlist continued and by the time I'm done bathing, the song transitioned to Katy Perry's "Last Friday Night".

Upbeat songs always lightened up my mood. I continued dancing around as I tried to make my coffee. Once done, I slumped myself on the couch and stared at the gap on my windows, observing the city below. I was given a room in the penthouse of a hotel so the view was pretty. Half of what I could see were clouds and the clear sky.

Then, the music suddenly died down. Shoot! I forgot to charge my phone. I got up and went to the nearest plug to charge it.

And there it was again… the deafening silence. My mood died down the moment the song was out.

'This sucks. Now what do I do? Ah, maybe there's something good on television.'

Thinking that, I turned it on though I only ended up skimming through channels as nothing interested me. Feeling lifeless and listless, I then went over to bed and laid down, still on my bathrobes. I thought I'd get dressed up later when it's time. For now, maybe I should try to sleep some more.

But then, a sudden knock on my door made me jolt up from bed.

"Damn it! I hate it when that happens!" I complained to myself as I rubbed my chest from my nervousness.

Standing up, I walked towards the door and checked who it was through the security camera. From there, a grinning bratt waved his hands, so I opened up the door, shaking my head.

"Good morning, Crystal!" Callan greeted me with a huge smile on his face. "Have you eaten yet?" he asked as he showed two bags filled with food from his hands.

I rolled my eyes, then smiled at him, "You do know we can just order food or go to the restaurants on the ground floor, right?"

"But you love my cooking!" he pouted like a kid.

"Fine. Come in."