Her smile slowly turned into a bit of a frown. “He didn’t want to leave but circumstances made him leave. When his master died, he said the children changed. They didn’t know how to handle the immense grief caused by their father’s passing so they decided to step away from all kinds of emotional bonds,” she explained, sadness came out very clearly in her voice. “When that happened, he knew his presence wasn’t needed anymore.”

“What about the woman he fell in love with?” I asked.

“They left together and had a life after that. However, Grandpa Ben said she worked for a different family while he pursued to have a business of his own,” she answered. “It’s such a bittersweet ending for them but Grandpa Ben said they made some sort of promise. They promised that should their paths cross once more, they will never part until they take their last breath.”

Being separated from the person you’ve ever loved is heartbreaking to hear. And to know that Grandpa Ben was able to overcome that, to accept the fact that he and his beloved have chosen different paths for themselves is bravery and selflessness in itself.

Love has done a different thing for Grandpa Ben and my grandfather. Grandpa Ben seems to have given his beloved her freedom without any hesitation. My grandfather didn’t want to lose my grandmother and when she did, he couldn’t handle the pain, the heartbreak.

This is one thing that I have to keep in check in the future, should I fall in love with my future queen. Should she feel that our marriage has no other purpose than to serve the alliance between our kingdoms, I will gladly give her her freedom as long as she accepts mine.

“I don’t know what to say,” I shook my head, speechless. “I know Grandpa Ben has a heart of gold but I didn’t know he could be that selfless.”

“Grandpa Ben has a lot of… magic - I guess we could call it that - under his sleeves,” Laura smiled once more. “He’s of many things that no one can understand. I’m his daughter and I still find many surprises about him. One of those is how the bakery became to be.”

“As I heard correctly, you mentioned that Grandpa Ben pursued his dreams of having his own business,” I turned my whole body towards her direction. “How was he able to do so?”

“A few years after Grandpa Ben left the children, one of them searched for him. The man was close to his death and the business was a secret to his siblings,” Laura said. “The bakery was everything to him and he knew that Grandpa Ben wanted a small business of his own. He entrusted the bakery to Grandpa Ben. Everything about the bakery was given to him.”

“Grandpa Ben must’ve been thankful because one of the children remembered him,” I smiled. “It’s a good thing that the other siblings didn’t try and take the bakery from him.”

“Eventually, after the death of that man, they found out about the bakery and tried to take it from Grandpa Ben,” she replied.

“What did Grandpa Ben do? How did he fight back?” I asked.

“Their plot to take away the bakery didn’t happen. The townspeople loved the late prince and they saw that Grandpa Ben took care of the bakery,” Laura replied. “The other siblings knew that by doing so, the people would riot and it could destroy their reputation. And who wants a tainted reputation for the rest of their lives? After that was resolved, Grandpa Ben moved the bakery here to stay away from the other children. If I was Grandpa Ben, I would hide from those heartless people.”

I chuckled with her last remark. Grandpa Ben has come a long way from where he began. He’s someone to look up to. Even as an immortal, I applaud him for being brave and for standing for what he loves.

“Am I amusing you with my stories?” she asked, giving me a nudge on the shoulder as she noticed me smiling.

“I’m just amazed at how brave and kind your family is. Grandpa Ben may be the only family you have but his roots made you quite the person you are today,” I answered. “You just need to work on being kinder to other people.”

“I don’t usually trust others because all my life, giving my trust has never ended well for me,” she explained.

“I do hope you can trust me because we already told each other almost everything about our personal lives,” I explained. “Spending time with you will help us to get to know each other more. And like I said before, I love having you with me. For some reason, I feel that way.”

She simply smiled and said, “I guess trusting you won’t be a bad idea after all.” She then let out a little giggle after.

♔♔♔

We have finally returned to the bakery and the trip back home was fun. During our journey back, Laura told me different stories about Grandpa Ben’s adventures. I remained silent throughout the journey because I started to feel the same emotion that I had the last time we spent time together.

I told her again that I enjoy her company, that I love having her with me. But her response doesn’t signify that she feels the same way. I’m not quite sure if I’m just overthinking and she does feel the same or she doesn’t. Whatever the answer is, I need to know today.

I need to have a straight answer.

After putting Leo at the back of the bakery, Laura returned to me. “Robert?” she called out, causing me to stand. “Thank you again for accompanying me. I’m glad that we’re able to know more about each other.”

I nodded with a firm smile to keep any kind of frustration within my mouth. Unpleasant words can have their way through one’s heart in such a quick manner.