In This Story There Is Someone Whose Name Must No Longer Be Spoken

Hikaru couldn't hide the expression of aversion on his face, which wasn't directed at Hortensja, but at Kamil. He was torn by mixed feelings. At first, he envied him that he could get to know her so quickly, spend so much time with her, and probably steal so many first moments. And then with each subsequent word, only anger and hatred towards the man he was hearing about for the first time grew in him. The Japanese didn't understand how he could hurt her like this every day. How her forced smile could be enough for him instead of a sincere one, how he could deprive her of the joy of life and force her to abandon herself.

Although he wanted to hug her, he knew that he shouldn't make any sudden movements until she finished telling her story. He suspected that it must have cost her a lot of effort and emotions, and he wasn't sure if she would ever be able to gather the courage to come back to it. Besides, he wanted to find out everything and could only hope that when she got it out of her system, she would feel better.

“That bow simply reminded me of all that I willingly made myself Kamil's servant and completely submitted to his will, and I ran away from that. But you couldn't know about that.” She smiled apologetically.

Then she described the moment of her escape, how a chance meeting with her step-aunt acted like a spell that lifted the curse. She said how afraid she was that he would catch her, and even more that she would decide on her own, turn around on the way to the airport, and pretend that it had never occurred to her. Hortensja broke up with him over the phone and then turned it off for the flight. She showed Hikaru a bunch of messages he had sent her, but she didn't translate them. The Japanese could only guess the content; someone like that couldn't accept that easily.

“He hasn't contacted me for now. He probably thinks that he'll give me some time, apologize like always, promise to improve or bring me a bouquet of flowers and chocolates, and I'll forgive him everything,” Hortensja summed up, continuing to look through the messages. “But I don't want to say that Kamil is just evil after all at the beginning...”

“Forget about him,” Hikaru asked in a firm tone. “Don't say his name anymore and delete all these messages.” He looked the girl deep in the eyes. She nodded as if she agreed with him that she really should have done it a long time ago. “You're here with me.”

He took her face in his hands and kissed her. As if he wanted to show her that he didn't care about her past, that he would accept her and help her find a new version of herself, one that missed her youth, mixed with painful experiences. Hortensja was surprised at first, but she responded to this gesture, in which for the first time in so long she felt true love. She wanted to enjoy the closeness of another person who cared about her, but despite this, the force of habit won. Her hand went to the man's chest and then went lower and lower. He stopped her and nestled into her neck.

“You don't have to do anything, Horteni,” he whispered. “It's not that I don't want to; quite the opposite. Let's slow down a bit since we've already moved in together,” he laughed. “I still can't believe that this is really happening.”

“Sorry, I'm awful,” Hortensja mumbled, disappointed with her behavior. She wanted to pull away, but Hikaru only hugged her tighter.

Finally, they were tired after a sleepless night spent worrying about each other, and both dreamed of a nap. They fell asleep cuddled up on the couch, and for those few hours the world forgot about them. The snow stopped falling, the right mood was no longer needed, and finally nature allowed the rain clouds to gather.

Hortensja woke up first, forgetting that there was a high probability of waking up to the sight of Hikaru's face. He seemed calm in his sleep, she wanted him to sleep peacefully longer, but she was also in no hurry to leave his arms. So she stared at the face that had become a new safe haven for her, wondering if she really deserved a second chance so quickly. She managed to pull out her phone and fulfill the man's request, deleting everything that had to do with Kamil. Now she felt that she had the right, without remorse, to gently stroke the cheek of her beloved lying next to her. She tried to remember every detail of his face, although she always returned to the mole on his forehead that had been hidden from her for so long at the beginning. On the one hand, she resented it, but on the other hand, she hoped that it was a little secret that few people knew about.

“Why?” she whispered. “What do you see in me?” The man was woken by her voice. He smiled at her, although he didn't understand what she was saying. He was glad that everything that had happened that morning was not a dream. The girl he had fallen in love with was still lying next to him and had revealed a part of her soul to him. Now he could only do everything to make up for her years of suffering and treat her as she deserved. He bet that she probably didn't need to become a princess, but that honest respect and love would be enough for her.

“What did you ask?”

“Never mind,” she replied in a serious tone.

“Don't do this to me. Tell me what's going on.”

“I'll ask you again in a while.” Hortensja laughed and stood up. “I'm hungry. Are we cooking, ordering, or going somewhere?”

“This one time, I forgive you for changing the subject,” the disappointed man muttered.

“Just like that?” the girl smiled, leaning over him.

“Mhm.” Hikaru tried to decipher her behavior. He sensed a trick. She kissed him on the cheek and ran to the bathroom before he could react. “Horteni-chan!” he called after her.

“What's wrong? After all these years, I have someone I don't have to, but I want to kiss!” she shouted happily from behind the door. “Now I'm in love with you. You have to deal with it somehow.”

Hikaru shook his head in disbelief. When he met her, it didn't seem like she would bring so much positive chaos into his life that he wanted to plunge into it with her. He didn't know how much he helped her, and giving her sincere feelings saved her from sinking into darkness.

Although the negative memories and experience would slowly start to fade, when the girl looked in the mirror, fixing her hair, she noticed a glimpse of her old self that she was afraid she had lost forever.

“Our favorite restaurant?”

“Sure!” She smiled and started dressing up with enthusiasm. “I missed the old man.”