An immeasurable warmth from the sunshine and the gentle presence of Hale lingered all around her. Pandora flashed her eyes open, praying that she would see tree leaves above her, that her dream was reality.

She didn’t though. All she saw was her polished marble ceiling and a reflection from it that only showed her. The warmth and presence she sensed earlier was only a feeling resulting from her dream. Closing her eyes and settling back under the covers, she felt Hale’s warmth faintly beside her. She didn’t want to get up, though it was probably late already. It had been too long since she had a dream of him, and while she knew it was an unhealthy obsession, any reprieve from her endless loneliness was welcomed by her.

Soon though, to her dismay, all lingering sensations of Hale’s being disappeared without warning. She wasn’t ready to let go. What wouldn’t she give up to spend a single day with him?

After staring into the distance for another half hour, her daydreams needed to end. Dreaming about Hale wasn’t going to bring him closer to her. She rolled off her mattress and reached for her robe at the end of her bed. Today, her robe was made of gleaming pink silk with printed flowers on it. She tied it tightly around her and slipped her feet into the slippers under her bed. Normally, she would have made her bed and maybe started a bath for herself. But this morning, she didn’t have time. In her robe and slippers and messy hair, she left her room and speed-walked through the hallway. She took an elevator to the first floor of the castle, which was the busiest floor. Pandora stepped out of the elevator and walked through a large hall with many staff passing through. While they said nothing to her as they went by, many gave her strange looks. They were used to her having a near perfect appearance thanks to her handmaidens. So, seeing her like this was probably quite shocking.

As long as Matthias and his family didn’t see her, she would be fine. Even if they did though, why would she be concerned? Right now, she wanted them gone.

Pandora reached the security office, located on the first floor near the main entrance of the castle. She opened the doors and boldly walked inside. Most of the officers stopped what they were doing immediately and stared at her. Soon they all stood and bowed as she went by. Pandora didn’t stop until she found the overseer of the investigation department, Shahni Colle. Her personal office was located in the back of the department complex. Pandora knocked on the door.

“Come in please!”

Pandora entered. Detective Colle was standing at her desk and had numerous holographs of spreadsheets and documents floating in front of her. As soon as the detective laid eyes on the princess, she leaped around her desk to greet her.

“Your Majesty,” she bowed, “How can I be of service?”

“I’m sorry to disrupt your work, Detective Colle. But I have a question. You might not be able to help me with this though.”

Shahni shuffled back behind her desk. Her personal office much smaller than Pandora had expected. Shahni was in-charge of the investigation department. Wasn’t she important enough to have a spacious office?

“What is your question?” Shahni turned off all the holoprojectors she had and focused solely on Pandora.

“You can’t tell anyone about this, certainly not my father,” Pandora began.

“Of course, your Majesty.”

She huffed. “Please call me Pandora.”

“Of course, your— Pandora,” she corrected hesitantly. Shahni looked down at her desk littered with glass cups. “Sorry, everything is such a mess. I wasn’t expecting you.”

“Please try to relax. I’m just a regular person.”

“Right….”

“Do you have the capabilities to search for a person for me? Someone outside of Elani?”

Shahni’s brows wrinkled in concern. “Why?”

“I’d prefer not to say.”

“I can try. Is this person from Elani?”

“Yes, but he’s not on the records. He was last seen here on Elani though. He’s lived on Dunwar most of his life.”

Shahni pulled out her tablet. The typed in something and a small holoprojection of Dunwar hung above her desk. “Most of the people here we have very little data on. What’s the person’s name?”

“Hale Verdun.”

Shahni paused. “Isn’t that the guy who—”

“I don’t really want to talk about who he is. I was just hoping you might be able to find a trace of him since he left Elani over two months ago.”

Shahni put her tablet aside and the holograph of Dunwar disappeared. “I don’t think I’m allowed.”

“Please, please. No one else will help me but you. I just need to know that he’s alive.” Pandora hadn’t meant to cry, but it was too late. Tears were already falling.

The detective looked at her with eyes full of sympathy and gave a long sigh. “Alright. I’ll try. You’ll have the results by tomorrow sometime. Come see me though, since you want this off the record.”

* * * *

Matthias waited in the castle garden for Pandora. She was almost late, but he decided he would give her five more minutes before he would consider her late. He didn’t mind. Perhaps she was taking her time getting ready. If so, he was quite flattered. The weather was splendid this afternoon. The air was fresh and picked up the scent of the real flowers surrounding him. The orange sun shone brightly today and lightened the deep color of the magenta sky. The two moons were still visible in the distance, though it was too bright to see the aurora.

He sat at a round glass table in the back of the garden. He found this table to be the perfect place because they were surrounded by beds of flowers and were far away from prying eyes. Privacy was necessary so that she could truly open up to him. Eventually, she would forget what was holding her back and love him forever. Out of all the eligible men of Elani there was no better option than he. The king had proved that at the dinner where Matthias first met Pandora. The king chose him for a reason. He could provide Pandora with the guidance she needed to rule her kingdom steadily. He could see that’s all she really needed: someone to support her. She didn’t have that anywhere, not from her father and certainly not from the criminal she was in love with.

His family had been preparing hundreds of years for this moment. Every advantage he had in appearance, intelligence, and wealth was all because of his ancestors. The responsibility of uniting the Moargan blood with royalty rested only on his shoulders. His parents thought that it was theirs because he was their son, but if anything, they only got in the way. Their tactics to win her over would push her farther from his reach.

“Matthias?”

He looked to the side. Pandora stood before him in all her regal glory. He promptly stood and pulled out a chair for her at the table.

“Thank you,” she said as she sat down.

He went back to his chair and sat across from her. She looked directly into his eyes with her amethyst gaze. Her eyes were round and innocent. He feared to stare too deeply because he couldn’t let his desire for her consume him. He saw perfection when he looked at her. While he was aware this wasn’t true, he felt like she was made for him. He was most definitely made for her.

“Sorry, I was late,” she said.

“No worries. I don’t mind waiting for you.”

She looked down at her hands and twirled the rings decorating her fingers. “You’re too kind to me.”

He folded his arms and leaned closer. “Don’t say that. You’re deserving of so much more. Everything I could possibly give you, you deserve.”

“I wouldn’t say that. But I appreciate it.”

She re-adjusted one of several silver necklaces that hung around her neck. Matthias was curious to know why she didn’t wear the necklace he had picked out for her. Did she not like it? It would have matched perfectly with the top she wore.

“Did you like the gift?”

Pandora looked up at him and blushed. “I love it… I meant to wear it today, but—” She placed a small silver box on the table and slid it over to him.

His heart clenched in pain, seeing the box. He wasn’t sure how to respond. “Oh.”

“It’s not that I don’t like it, but I can’t accept it. It’s too much. It would be wrong. I can’t accept gifts like this from someone I… I don’t love. I don’t want to lead you on.”

He pushed the box back to her. “I had it made specifically for you. It was only a thank you for being so patient with my parents. I understand that you don’t have feelings for me, and that’s okay. But please accept the gift.”

She nodded and took it back. “Thank you for understanding.”

Matthias regretted giving such an expensive gift only because it had made her uncomfortable. He should have gone with something much simpler. However, his heart was aching to impress her and reveal to her how much he wanted her.

“May I ask you a question?” Matthias said.

“Yes, of course.”

He carefully gazed into her eyes, refusing to look too deeply. “Could you tell me a little about the one you still love?”

Her round eyes widened. “I don’t think so. Why would you want to hear about another man… considering we’re on a date right now?”

“I want to know who you are. Not the show you put on at parties. The real you.”

“Well, if you don’t mind, then I suppose we can talk about it. Usually no one wants to hear about him.”

Matthias leaned back in his chair. “This man is important to you. So, I would like to know about him.”

She turned her eyes to the sky. “Hale… is someone I would have never had the opportunity to meet in my circles. He’s not concerned with the things I was then. He doesn’t place value upon people according to their money or social status. He’s fearless. He doesn’t care about rules or the opinions of others. He opened my eyes to the galaxy and my heart to… love.”

Matthias was intrigued by the way she described Hale. From her description, many would walk away with the impression that he was wonderful. Hale’s charisma must have blinded her from the danger his life would have brought her. He was nothing but a criminal. Matthias had already looked at his criminal record. And as substantial as it was, it only presented a few of his crimes.

“My father only sees his past. He refuses to acknowledge that without Hale I wouldn’t be here.”

“What if Hale has just returned to his life of crime? Would that change how you feel about him? I’m curious. That’s all.”

She frowned. “He probably has. But that doesn’t change everything he did to help me.”

“That makes sense.” Matthias held back his true feelings. The way someone carries themselves every day shows his character. Who someone is cannot be seen by a few acts of kindness. It seemed Pandora forgot that she was unusually attractive. Most likely Hale had helped her, not out of the goodness of his heart, but for physical favors. He wondered how far she had gone with him. If she had been tainted by someone as horrendous as Hale— no, he couldn’t be concerned with that. She had the best doctors, and she would have received any treatment for the potential illnesses she might have caught from the criminal.

“It’s stupid. I know. But I haven’t been able to let go of what I had with him, and I don’t want to drag you into my mess.”

“Don’t concern yourself with my feelings. I want to pursue you even in private. But if you’re not ready, I can step back and wait. As long as we keep up with our public appearance, no one will be the wiser.”

“You would do that for me when you have so much on the line?”

“Marriage, even an arranged marriage, is serious to me. I’m not in a rush.”

* * * *

This time when Pandora visited, the office of Detective Colle was spotless, though still suffocatingly small. Pandora planned to ask her father to update her office. The amount of dedication it took to work for the castle was deserving of a comfortable workspace.

With a bright smile, Shahni walked around her desk to greet Pandora. “It’s a pleasure to see you… Pandora. Please have a seat.” Once Pandora sat down, Shahni went back behind her desk. She handed Pandora tiny tablet. “This is a copy of the search results for Hale. I’m truly sorry.”

Pandora hopelessly read over the tablet. Shahni had found nothing definitive that would lead her to him. Hale had been on Rhin days before they first met. Then two months ago he was on Elani. And just after that he had been traced to Dunwar but nothing after that. It was as though he had disappeared.

“Can I keep this?” Pandora asked.

“Yes, but are you sure?”

“Yeah, I need it as a reminder that he doesn’t want to be found.”

“If you ever need anything, don’t hesitate to ask me,” Shahni assured her.

Taking the tablet, Pandora left the detective’s office. As she walked back to her room, she forced herself to read over the tablet again and again. For the last two months, she hoped endlessly that he would return. Hope had always been something that came easily to her. Even now as she was faced with the truth, she wanted to believe that their ending would be happy.

She shouldn’t anymore. For Hale’s return she should be hopeless. Believing that he would come back for her was destroying her ability to thrive. The moments she was happiest was when she dreamed about him. She had her whole life to live apart from him, but she spent it fantasizing about the past.

But how could she continue to believe in him? Right in front of her face was the proof that he didn’t want to come back. He wanted to stay far away from Elani. Holding onto the idea of someone when they didn’t feel the same was shameful. The princess of Elani should have had much more important things to do than worry about a man, regardless of how much he once meant to her. Not everything was meant to last. He chose to leave her when she begged him to stay.