The sun, a glorious ball of fire, shrouded the Rochefort's majestic garden with hues of crimson and magenta, bathing the flowers in its final warm light.

  It was a breathtaking sight, and the only wito its beauty was a lone gardener. His attention, however, had been drawn to something other than his task.

  He had seen the Duke's daughter ehe gardens from the er of his eye.

  The sun's fading light touched her midnight blue hair, giving it a warm glow with hints of violet.

  "My Lady," he said, bowing his head as he approached her.

  She looked up at the sound of his voice, "Lu."

  Standing at least a foot above her, she had to e her ne order to look him in the eyes. Lu was a handsome young man, his looks only enhanced by the dirt and grime that covered him, and the sweat that soaked through his clothes.

  "It's been a long time," he said.

  Her face remained passive. "Has it? I hadn't noticed," she replied coolly.

  His face flushed slightly, and a muscle in his jaw ched when she approached him. She was so close, her sweet st filled his nostrils, urging him to pull her into his arms, and taste her soft pink lips, "How are your studies going? You haven't burned down the academy yet, I hope."

  She ughed, a melodic sound, "Not yet, though I'm quite tempted."

  He smiled, gd he could still bring a smile to her face. He had missed her, more than she would ever know. He wao reach out and caress her cheek, feel her warm skin. Instead, he tucked his hands behind his back, and rocked ba his heels, "Well, if you ever need any help burning down buildings, I'm your man."

  "Thank you for the offer, but I prefer not to associate myself with criminals," she responded, her words a sp in the face, "People like you are better suited to work in the gardens, grow the flowers and make the world a more beautiful pce." She reached out, her firailing across the delicate petals of a nearby rose, "You do have a talent fing life to things, even the most hopeless of causes, after all."

  "The world is a beautiful pce, a fact I am reminded of every time I get to see you," he said, a smile tugging at the ers of his lips.

  "If the world is such a beautiful pce, then why do we hide out here in the shadows like a pair of criminals?"

  "Give me time, and I'll give you a reason to be proud of me. Then we'll both be able to walk freely in the sun."

  She smiled at his words, her eyes dang with ughter. "You really believe that? That love overe all?"

  "No, I don't believe in love. I believe in us."

  "That's quite presumptuous of you. There are many other options for the future Duchess, some that don't involve a lowly gardener," Her words were meant to sting, but they fell ft as she reached out to stroke his face, "The gap between us is se you couldn't jump over it with ten horses," she said again, pushing him down onto the grass and straddling his hips.

  "A gap is not a chasm, and distance is merely a matter of perspective. Besides, there are worse fates than being caught in the arms of the woman I love."

  She shook her head, her lips brushing his in a sweet, fleeting kiss, "You are su incurable romantic."

  "Only with you," he murmured, pulling her against him and c her lips with his own.

  She could feel his arousal through his trousers and smiled, "Do you enjoy beih me, that much?"

  His hands found their way under her dress, caressing her smooth thighs,"I remember it the other way around."

  She pulled at his cheek, f him to look her in the eyes, “An i little rat you are.”

  He smiled, his golden eyes shining with mirth. "Aren't you happy to see me, e?"

  Her smile ositively wicked, "Not as much as you are."

  "What do you think would happen if someoo find us like this?" he asked, his lips h above hers. They never kissed in the open. Their previous enters had been done i, in dark pces where no one could discover them.

  "They'd accuse you of defiling me, and you'd probably be hung for it."

  "And what would happen to you, My Lady?"

  "My reputation would be ruined," she said simply, "I'd probably have to marry some old goat who is thrice my age. It'd be a sdal, a stain on the Rochefort's name."

  "We don't want that, do we? Let's stop here," he said, pulling away, though his body protested. He pced his hands on her waist aly moved her off his p, hiding her among the tall hedges.

  She watched him curiously as he adjusted her clothes, poking the pitched tent in his trousers with her dainty finger, "It's a pity that I 't check if you are still a virgin. I bet you have defiled a few girls during my absence."

  "I have not!" he replied indignantly, "I'm saving myself for the woman I love."

  She raised an eyebrow, her gaze moving downwards to his groin, then back up to his face, "Really? Are you saying you haven't bedded any women since our st meeting?"

  "No, I haven't."

  "Are you sure? It's been a year," she pointed out, "I wouldn't bme you if you had found some girl to scratch your itch."

  His cheeks colored a pretty shade of pink, easily flustered by her blunt words, "I trol my urges, unlike some people."

  "Oh?" she smirked, "Want to see for yourself if I still am?"

  "e, be patient," he replied, his voice strained, "Once I am able to earn a respectable position, I'll make you mine. I promise. A knight, a t, even a duke. Whatever title I have to attain, I will get it. For us."

  She looked away, a shadow falling over her face, doubting his words in silence.

  · · ─────── · ???· ─────── · ·

  Every time dy e returned for the holidays, it py occasion, a ce for Lu ao meet and reect.

  Everything he did was with the goal of being with her. He had worked himself to the boirelessly, doing everything in his power to rise above his humble beginnings, all for her.

  She taught him how to read, audied during the night until his eyes hurt, reading the books she had lent him. He sneaked into the guard's barracks to learn how to wield a on.

  All this was with the hope of one day being worthy enough to stand by her side.

  His parents had passed away when he was young, leaving him orphaned, alone, and starving. He had grown up oreets, selling flowers and whatever else he could get his hands on.

  The her, a little girl who dropped a pile of drawings before him. The daughter of the most powerful man in the dukedom had her allowaaken away, and wouldn't get it baless she learhe vocabury of the fn nguage she had been studying.

  At the tender age of eight, e Rochefort had mao vince Lu to sell her art, telling him he'd be a fool to turn down the opportunity of selling a painting made by a Rochefort.

  It spreaded quickly through the lower levels of the dukedom. The paintings fetched a pretty penny, and people started to e looking for him, him s, food, anything they could spare in exge for one of e's drawings.

  Unfortunately, the duke found out about her scheme and her first stream of ine became the family's business. She got back her allowance, but lost a friend in the process.

  Her schedule became packed. From the moment she woke up until the time she went to sleep, every sed of her life nned.

  Lu was too young to nd a job at their estate, so he had to do the best thing: make a name for himself as the best gardener.

  As his fame grew, and the gardeook care of became more eborate aiful, the higher css started to take notice.

  Eventually, the duke's estate was added to the list of pces he had teo.

  And it was there that he had beeed with e.

  He had seen her a few times while he worked in the garden, and his heart had leaped every time he had spotted her. She had matured siheir st enter, and had developed an attitude that was very being of her.

  "You've never leariquette, yet you have bee so refined and elegant," she told him, a small smile pying on her lips.

  "It is the pany I keep. Yrace has rubbed off on me."

  "Is that so?" she ughed, "I have been trying to rub on you for years."

  He flushed bright red at her innuendo. She had always been a naughty girl, "e."

  She looked away, her smile fading, "Well, it's about time we end this charade, don't you think so? Our ag is great, but we shouldn't abuse our luck."

  "e?" he called out, worried by the sudden ge in her demeanor.

  "It's getting annoying," she said, turning her head and looking him directly in the eyes, "Practig my sedu teiques on you was fun, but I'll o use them on another man soon. You're not actually supposed to believe there's anythiween us. How delusional you be, holy."

  His mind was uo prehend what he had just heard, "W-what?"

  "You are not the only oh pns for the future," she told him, her words sharp and precise, like daggers thrown his way, "I 't let my father's power and es go to waste, I? I have a lot to gain if I marry the right man, and a lot to lose if I marry the wrong one."

  "But you said─"

  "I lied."

  He had spent years dreaming of a future where they were together, and in a few seds, those dreams had crumbled to dust.

  "This must be a joke," he said, f a smile on his lips, "Is someohreatening you? Is something f you to say these things?”

  "No," she replied simply, standing up and brushing the dirt off her dress, "I've always been a liar. You've always been the idiot that believed everything I told you."

  "e," he whispered, taking a step closer to her.

  “Don't touch me!” She shook his hand off her. "Guards! Guards!" she screamed, her pierg voice ringing through the garden.

  "e!" Lu called out, catg her by the wrist and spinning her around to face him, "Please, stop sg me," he begged, bringing her palm to his cheek, he pressed it there, "What's wrong?”

  The look she gave him was one of disgust, her blue eyes as cold and unfeeling as ice, "Don't touch me, you lowlife!”

  He flinched as if her words were physical blows. He got on his knees, his eyes were red-rimmed, his face a mask of grief and despair, "e, please. Don't do this to me.” Wheurned around as if leaving him food, he clutched onto her ankle, his grip bruising, "e," he whispered her name like a prayer, “I 't live without y─ugh!”

  He felt a sharp pain as her shoe came down on his head, her heel digging into his skull. He could hear her screaming, catg everyone's attention, "Filthy peasant. I told you not to touch me!"

  A pair of guards hurried over, taking hold of his arms and yanking him off her.

  The blood on his forehead had turned his blond hair crimson, the crimson liquid trig down his face like tears.

  His golden eyes, now dull and lifeless, stared bnkly at e, as if seeing her for the first time.