Run.

Just keep running.

And maybe they'll go away.

And everything will be fine.

But of course, who am I kidding? The fact that my father's guards are all here, I am only delaying the inevitable.

But at the moment, that doesn't matter. They don't matter. Because nothing else matters anymore.

They were gullible enough to think that I would just go and do what has expected me to do, so I took that chance to pull out an old trick that under different circumstances would have me screaming in joy right now. But, alas this is not the time to scream nor to even feel the joy of a moment's freedom. I have to continue running so I could extend this moment alone and keep my mind straight. I need to think straight.

When I finally found a spot to hide, I stopped running and sat on the pavement. Trying to catch my breath, I waited until my breathing evened out.

Sigh.

I should have known. I should have known that I could never really be able to escape from my father. That whatever I do, I will never really be free from everything I was confined in.

The sign was there. Right there before me. I just refused to look at it because I was too naïve to even consider such... betrayal.

Is this the feeling of being betrayed?

Of course it is. After all this time, he knew who I really am. After all those adventures we had, he was just pretending for my sake. After all the memories we made, he was just following orders from my father. They have connived with each other in order to create an illusion out of my dreams. My father and my boss decided that it was a good idea to set up everything and pretend that I was free for the past months but in reality, I wasn't. Not really. Not ever.

They have created an illusion of my months' experience with Nathaniel Westwood. And they have successfully made me believe that I was really free.

A big round of applause before they go to hell. Both of them.

A tear suddenly rolled out of my eye as a stabbing pain coursed through my veins and into my heart.

It hurts.

So much so that my heart feels like it's being torn to pieces and crushed through my ribs.

The thought that everything was just a lie hurt. The thought that my freedom was just a lie hurt. The thought that every moment I spent with Nate hurt. The thought that everything was just all pretend hurt.

An overwhelming pain hit my gut as I recalled every moment with Nate. His smiles. His kisses. His words. Everything. Knowing that those were just his ways to pretend seemed to hurt even more so than knowing that you were never really free.

Freedom.

That's what I always wanted anyway. So, why does Nate's betrayal hurt me more?

Rising from my seated position on the sidewalk, I began treading through the crowds as thought whirled in my head. My mind is a war with my heart. They both ache for some reason. My mid and my heart are both dealing with the pain I felt.

I came to a halt, as does my mind. Two men stood a few yards away from me. They wear the similar outfit every bodyguard of my father's wear. The tuxedo, the shades, and very grim face.

I knew if someone would find me, it would be the two Max's. They were my companions during my time in Cambridge. They have already experienced being tricked into something just to have a momentary lapse in their focus for me to have the chance to escape. During one of my escape, they vowed to memorize the place I would be in so it will be a trouble for them to find me.

And they fulfilled it. They managed to find me, considering, they are new to this land just as I.

"Princess," one of them said as they both walked towards me. I was rooted in my position because I know trying to escape would be futile on my part. "Your father ordered us to take you now straight to the airport and bring you back home."

"You're not taking me back to the hotel?"

With their negative answer, I know my father is trying to avoid the media by all means necessary. If an outsider brought this to the press, then the news of my irresponsibility will be out before the night ends.

Reluctantly, I let the Max's escort me back to where I belong.

I took off the moment I saw her vanish among the throngs of people. Not heeding the king's orders, I followed my mind, and went to every corner of he place she might hide. Until an unlikely idea struck me. Although she might need a few coins to go back there, she's smart enough to form a plan to make up for that. And although the route is different, I know she has a sharp memory, and she will not have much problem because she knows a little bit of the Filipino language.

And if I didn't try, and she happened to be there, I would be able to forgive myself.

I need to tell her the truth.

I need her to know everything.

The whole truth.

And my feelings.

So, I went there. Despite the unlikeliness of her being in one of the places we visited, I still want to check and find out myself.

Following the trail imprinted on my mind, I boarded the bus.

But as seconds turned to minutes, and minutes turned to hours of being on the road, I realized that looking to the places we've been to the past few days is just a waste of time. The traffic was so bad that the hope in finding her there was quickly dissipating with every passing minute.

I slumped in my seat as I recalled the look she gave me when she pieced everything together, when she wrongly placed a piece in the jigsaw puzzle.

The look of betrayal was written all over her face. The hurt in her green eyes conveyed everything she wanted to say.

But of course, she thought wrong.

When her father graced us with his presence, she thought that everything we did, experienced, were just a lie. I can see it in her eyes. She thought I was just pretending in order to create an illusion that she was free.

I'm not an idiot, and neither is she. She's smart enough to know that I have become part of everything her father planned just by understanding that her father and I know each other. Add to the fact that my reputation as a business man, who will do everything for the growth of his company, precedes me.

I know what she thought the moment she pieced everything together. She thought that I was only using her. That she is just a bridge in order to obtain more clients through her father.

Oh how wrong she was on that thought.

She had stirred something inside of me the moment those green eyes pierced mine. She has woken something in me that was asleep for a very long time.

I love her.

And she has to know that, no matter what.

Part of me was disappointed because I failed to say what I have been trying show all throughout this adventure. But part of me was glad at the outcome, considering that she thought everything was a lie. If I have confessed earlier, she might have thought that that was a lie as well.

And I could not have that. The pain in her eyes was already too much. I don't want to add something to that anymore.

My phone jarred me back to reality.

"It is done," the person on the other line said before I even said 'hello.' "The princess was found and she will be brought back home."

They hung up before I could say anything.

And I suppose that was already a sign that my adventure with Vanessa Carter is over. My connection to Vanessa Carter is gone just as the name would be changed back to Princess Carolina Ysabelle-Aurora Radieux Winzenried.

That name was too long for me to memorize.

But she will always be Carter to me.

*****

Boarding my private plane back to New York, I forced myself to stay seated at the front row and on the aisle.

This is going to be along flight for me. I have to force myself to sit on the aisle because sitting in between will make me remember her being seated by the window. The cabin will bring back memories of her sleeping in it. Although the sheets were probably changed, her presence in there, I know, still lingers.

It was already hard to breathe knowing I failed to say to her what I truly feel. My chest is already constricting at the thought of her tears.

I gasped.

It's going to be long flight indeed.

15 hours of nothing but self-loathing and regret.