Camilla sat across her tiny kitchen table and wondered where she went wrong. It had been a month but Daren was STILL in her house.

After the third day he’d arrived, he started working. Unexpectedly, he was gone almost the entire day and would come back late into the evening. Because he was coming back so late, she’d given him a spare key to her house. This way she wouldn’t be woken up by him trying to get in.

But this simple act of self-courtesy had backfired. She never saw him when she was properly awake. And so she never got a chance to properly kick him out. It was to the point she couldn’t even get her spare key back!

From what she read in the newspaper, the WallGoods branch in the Republic wasn’t doing very well. It seemed that Daren had been sent to knock sense into upper management and clean house where needed. The business section of the newspaper was filled with “Today Daren Wallsby…” because of his bold and sometimes ruthless methods.

Camilla didn’t know anything about business, but she did wonder how merchants lived if they had such long work days. Won’t working this much put them in an early grave? Even though she wanted him gone, at the same time she was worried about him working himself to death!

As she was wondering if Darren had time to eat, she heard the door unlock.

This was earlier than usual, so she went over to greet him.

And hopefully kick him out.

But then she saw his face. He looked absolutely exhausted. Like a dead man walking.

Whatever she had meant to say got lodged in her throat. Instead she walked forward and helped him take his jacket off.

He was so out of it, he jumped in surprise.

“Oh, it’s you.”

“Who else would it be?” She asked in exasperation, hanging his jacket up. “Do you want to sit in the kitchen? I just started seeping some tea…”

He brightened slightly, “Would you really? That’d be lovely…”

Without further prodding he plodded to the kitchen and sat down with a thump on the chair.

She busied herself getting another tea cup and, since the tea had already been seeping a few minutes, she immediately began pouring it into the cup she’d put down for him.

He must have been really thirsty as he gulped down the tea instantly, likely not tasting anything at all. She poured him another cup, and then another. Once he got to the third one he finally slowed down.

He let out a contented sigh and gave her a tired smile.

“I just wanted you to know, starting tomorrow, I’ve got my own place.”

“Oh?”

He took out the key and placed it on the table. He then reached back into his pocket and pulled out a thick stack of Republic dollars, pushing it towards her. She blanched at the amount.

“What are you doing? I didn’t let you stay expecting to get paid!” She pushed it back towards him.

“Even if you weren’t expecting it, I used your home and your household goods. It’s only fair to compensate.” He pushed the money towards her again.

“I don’t need this!” She pushed it back.

“I didn’t say you needed it,” He pushed it towards her again, “I just want to give it to you.”

She grabbed the money halfway and stopped him.

Grinding her teeth, she glared at him, “Daren, we’re friends. Friends don’t need to pay each other.”

“We’re not friends.”

“What?” This comment had surprised her so much she’d loosened her grip on the money and it found its way in front of her again. “What do you mean we’re not friends? Then what are we?”

He narrowed his eyes at her, a glint shining through the exhaustion.

“Well, I believe people in the Republic do a thing called dating, so we’ll start there.”

“What?!”

“Mm, but not today. If I live in my… what’s it called here?... girlfriend, right, a girlfriend. If I live in my girlfriend’s house, all kinds of nasty rumors will spring up.”

“I never said I’d date you though!”

He blinked, “You’re going to turn me down without even thinking about it?”

Her mouth fell open.

“At least think about it.” He gave a cheeky grin. “It’s not like we have to date seriously. I hear dating in the Republic is often done just for fun. You have to admit dating a rich man would be all kinds of entertaining.”

“But you work all the time, when would we even date!”

“Ah, that’s true, I’d have to make time.” He raised an eyebrow, “So that’s a yes?”

“No!”

“Well, like I said, give it some thought before turning me down.” He gave a huge yawn. “Anyway, I’m exhausted. We’ll talk more later.”

He then promptly stood up and went to his “sleep sofa” and passed out. Camilla didn’t have any time to argue, he fell asleep so fast. She stood next to the sofa in a daze, wondering what just happened.

Daren wanted to date her? Since when?!

She fumbled towards her room and, as always, closed and locked it.

Daren opened his eyes for a moment, his brow furrowed slightly while biting his lower lip. Then, he pulled up the blanket and really went to sleep.

***

“You punk, I don’t care if your office is on fire, if you dare cancel on our anniversary, I swear to God I’m going to beat you to an inch of your life. But you better be alive first, otherwise how can I keep my promise to God to throttle you?”

Camilla sat alone in the cafe… again. The over-sweetened tea had been left untouched after being drunk halfway. She was currently wavering between being furious and extremely anxious.

There were various twists and turns but, sure enough, Camilla ended up dating Daren. They’d been going out for over two years. Technically 3 years in two days, but they were celebrating a little early.

Dating a businessman had turned out much more stressful than she’d anticipated.

At first, she hadn’t minded that he worked all the time. Why would she mind? She’d only dated him out of curiosity, not because she’d fallen deeply in love with him. She also had her own life and worked full time. Basically, she wasn’t that committed and liked having her own time without him.

But as time passed, she found she’d grown attached to him. She didn’t know when exactly it went from like to love, but once the switch was made, she couldn’t turn back.

A lot of women liked Daren for his wealth and good looks. For her, it wasn’t about his wealth or his appearance, though she did like how he looked. She’d grown up a noble, engaged to a handsome prince, and now had a steady income thanks to her job. Daren brought nothing she hadn’t experienced before, and frankly in better ways. If she went by what women typically wanted, she should have stayed a noble and married her prince. But she didn’t, so what attracted her to Daren was none of the typical things.

What she liked about Daren was the man himself, not the things he could give her with money.

The first thing she liked about Daren was how he made her laugh. He often tried to act cute, though he’d lost most of what made him cute to begin with. The gap between his actions and his appearance were both highly amusing and adorable. Sometimes he knew his actions weren’t matching his looks, but sometimes he did it without realizing, which tickled her endlessly.

He was good at planning but also good at rolling with the punches. No matter where they went or what they did, he always seemed to have a plan. And if he didn’t have one for a particularly hairy situation, he would think of something on the fly. This gave her a strong sense of stability without ever feeling stifled or bored.

Though he liked her, his life doesn't revolve around her. This was both good and bad. She appreciated his independent thinking and goals he had for his life, which had nothing to do with her. This was a breath of fresh air compared to Albert, who ONLY did well to impress her or his father. She felt a person who didn’t have their own ambitions wasn’t really living life.

On the downside, his self motivation and strong work ethic meant she sometimes got set aside. Their dating was basically planned around his work. Regular dates would frequently get cancelled or moved to another time at the last minute. Sometimes she’d find out several minutes BEFORE the date in question.

Cancelling and rescheduling was so common that one of the ways he showed he cared was by making sure certain days of the year he would get off, come hell or high water. Anniversaries or birthdays or big holidays, he always made sure to be with her for those. That was why she was anxious, because he really wouldn’t cancel a date on a day like today without a really good reason.

He deeply cared about their relationship and fiercely protected it. To keep her out of the limelight, which she definitely didn’t want to be in, he never told anyone WHO he was dating, only that he WAS dating. However, despite his adamant declarations of being in a relationship, newspapers would occasionally print groundless gossip about him being seen with this or that popular lady of the day.

Any time these gossips got printed, he’d find the newspaper and demand a retraction get printed the following day. He would then make sure Camilla understood in no uncertain terms he wasn’t fooling around. At first he’d shown sincerity by simply showering her with declarations of his love, but later it was being showered with kisses and then later…

That was the other thing she discovered she liked about him. To put it as mildly as possible: he was a very good kisser….

Cough.

It’s not like she’d thought about this particular aspect all the time, but she had to admit it was important. How he loved her body reflected how he loved her. He was passionate but also accommodating, never doing anything that made her feel insecure or uncomfortable in those moments of intimate vulnerability.

He made her feel beautiful and treasured. And he did so as if it was as natural as breathing. If she didn’t fall, and fall hard, for a guy like that, she’d have to be blind.

But with her fall into love came an unpleasant realization: his constant absences because of work, which she’d initially liked, had started to feel like an agonizing burden. She wanted him to spend more time with her, but she felt guilty asking him to make her a priority.

Who was it that told him prioritizing his work wasn’t a problem when they first started going out? To suddenly change the “rules of the game” because she decided she liked him more… exactly how could she explain it without admitting she’d been ambivalent at the beginning? And wouldn’t he be annoyed if she decided only now to get clingy and demand things?

Plus, they were only dating. It wasn’t like her native country, where there was only courtship-to-marry. Even though they’d treated each other well, here dating was only slightly above a purely physical relationship between a man and a woman. To demand he change his life for her, that would be like asking to transition into a more serious relationship.

Would he want that?

He’d never said he did. But then, she never talked about their future together either.

In the past, she had been too embarrassed to mention a future together. What could she give him? She lost her title and her job was something his family connections got her. She was decent to look at but her personality was bad. Even if she wanted to shed her “domineering villainess” attitude, it was too late. Being arrogant was second nature now.

And he was so serious about his work. He wanted the Republic’s branch to succeed and poured everything into making it happen. Hundreds of employees' livelihood depended on him making it happen. If she selfishly demanded he put that aside just to relieve her ever increasing loneliness…

Honestly, her emotions were a mess all around but one thing was clear: they couldn’t keep on like this.

Her intention was to have a serious talk today about what their future held— if anything. They’d been together long enough that once she sorted out her own mind on an issue, she wouldn’t hold it in. She wanted something more from him. Yes, she was nervous and scared and filled with doubt, but it was better to get that all out rationally than wait for it to explode and turn into an argument.

After all, if their goals didn’t match, then it was better to cut things off between them. That way, she could move on. It’s not like she meant to go out with someone like Daren anyway. If things didn’t work out between them, it wouldn’t be all that shocking.

It’s just she really REALLY didn’t want to break up with him...

She’d mentally prepared herself for a week to have this conversation, yet the man in question never showed up.

“What was I expecting? I’m just the rebound for Bethany to a capture target anyway...” She muttered, her anxiety and anger combining into a depression. She picked up the tea she’d been ignoring and took a gulp.

And spit it back out.

With tea dribbling out of her mouth, she lamented at her own stupidity: she’d completely forgotten her sugar packed tea was stone cold!

While she was wiping tea from her mouth a figure flashed by the large cafe window, red petals trailing behind them. Someone was running past the cafe. She’d only just registered that’s what happened when the cafe door flew open, almost violently, and Daren rushed over.

“What on earth…”

She watched in shock as he walked up to her and leaned on her table, wheezing loudly, and slapped what must have originally been a bouquet of a dozen red roses on the table. There were currently only 7 roses left and even those were a mess.

Daren was covered in sweat, to the point his hair was soaked, as if water had been poured on it. He held up a hand, as if to say something, only to keep wheezing loudly.

“G-goodness, sit down! Take deep breaths!” Camilla instructed, grabbing his moist arm and forcing him into the chair. A waitress had jogged over at his arrival, Camilla turned to her and said, “You serve cold drinks, right? Give me the largest cold drink you have! Plus a separate water cup! No, a pitcher of water!”

“Yes ma’am!” The waitress responded quickly and went to get the order.

The water was brought first, which Daren almost inhaled. It was only after several minutes had passed that he was finally able to speak.

“Ah, Cammy, I’m sorry I’m late!” Where his first words once he’d finally caught his breath.

Apologizing without any excuses, despite obviously having some, instantly made her angry, anxious heart soften.

“What happened?”

He rubbed his eyes and slumped in the chair, “It was like the universe didn’t want me to come. First an emergency came up at work. An angry employee set one of the stores on fire! Then on the way here, the carriage wheel broke. I had to get another one. When I finally got into the city, there’d been some huge accident downtown—”

“What were you doing downtown?” This cafe was on the outskirts of the city.

“—I’ll get to that in a bit. Anyway, by the time I got where I needed, I was running late. When I left, I realized it was faster to walk out of there because the traffic was so horrendous. I thought I could find a cab on the way out but apparently everyone else had the same idea! And most of the cabs were stuck downtown, so I couldn’t find the few left on the outskirts!”

“Do you mean to say you WALKED all the way here from downtown?”

“Walk?” He waved at himself, “Did I look like I walked?”

She could only look at him aghast, “You crazy man, why did you run!?”

“Tsk, what kind of question is that?” He rummaged in his damp pocket and slid a small box on the table between them, next to the pitiful looking roses. “Isn’t it because you’re just that important?”

“What’s this?” She asked while picking up the glossy black box.

“The reason I was going downtown.”

Camilla tilted her head and opened the box, then immediately froze.

Inside were two gold etched rings or, more precisely, paired rings. Paired rings were like a single ring cut in half, from top to bottom. With hands shaking, she lifted up each ring and saw her and Daren’s name engraved on the bottom inner, flat side of the ring loop. At the top, on the inner side of the shoulder, the words were clearly engraved: Together Forever

She looked up at Daren with wide eyes.

Rubbing his nose in embarrassment, he gave a wry chuckle, “Sorry it ended up like this. I had a much better proposal planned. But I was running late and even the roses got ruined—”

“Engagement rings?”

She held up two pair rings.

“Er, y-yes.” He stuttered slightly, proving he wasn’t as sure of himself as he was acting. “As I was saying, I had planned on proposing in a more proper—”

“You… want… to marry me?”

“Yes?”

“Me?”

He gave her a puzzled stare, “...who else would I want to marry?”

Camilla stared at the rings blankly. Her mouth opened and closed several times, like a fish stranded on land.

“Do you… uh… do you not want to?” Came his nervous query at her silence. When she didn’t respond, his nervousness skyrocketed into an incoherent babble, “I had thought you… but if you don’t want… Aaron did say I ought to test the waters… but I was so sure… the surprise would be… oh, but since you don’t want… ah… I guess I really am arrogant to just assume… now I made things awkward… oh no...”

“You can’t work so much.” She interrupted him suddenly.

“-er?”

“It’s fine to work all day when we were just dating, but I won’t tolerate it when we’re married.”

He blinked, sat up straight, and then brightened, his face shining like the sun from joy.

“Naturally! Naturally I would spend it with you—”

She cut him off again, “I know work is important, but a father who works all the time might as well be dead to his children.”

“...you’re already talking about our children…” He muttered, acting shy and pleased at the same time.

“As to the wedding, if we hold it here, there’s no way Albert and Bethany can come. Though it means the Duke attending, we’ll need to hold it in Ailandale.”

Daren stiffened slightly.

“Bethany is fine but who cares about Prince Albert?”

She raised an eyebrow, “Why shouldn’t I care about him?”

“Because you’ve got me now!”

“What’s that got to do with anything?”

“Arg, isn’t it obvious I’m jealous of your former fiance!? That damnable “Perfect Prince” had you all those years! Do you realize how hard it is to compete with that?!” He took a deep breath and then pouted in an attempt to be cute, “How could you make me say it outloud? You wretched woman…”

Her lips twitched in amusement.

“I never viewed him as my fiance though.”

“But he viewed you like one!”

“He’s married to Bethany now.”

“You were his first love!”

“So? You’re my first love! Isn’t that more important?!”

“Your first love has nothing to do wi— oh!” His whole face blushed red. “A-am I really?”

“Haven’t I said before?”

“No!”

“Goodness!” She smacked the table, causing more petals to fall from the rose bouquet and startling the waitress who’d walked over to refill everyone’s drinks. Camilla had the grace to look a little embarrassed at her behavior.

After the waitress finished, Camilla cleared her throat, “It’s true. I never loved anyone before you. Even if Albert liked me, it’s in the past. He has Bethany and I have you. We are both happy with our beloveds.”

“Darling!” Daren stood up on shaking legs and almost fell over trying to reach out and hug and kiss her. The poor roses were thoroughly crushed under his body.

“Guh! Stay away you stinky man!”

“This musk shows I worked hard for you!”

“I don’t want this type of hard work!”

“But I want you!”

“Stay away!”

“Mwah!”

“Stop it, even if you’re a target, stinky is still stinky!”

“Target? What—mwah!—does that—mwah!—even mean? Mwah! Mwah mwah!”

And so Camilla was kissed all over her mouth and face by her sweaty smelly fiance for the now clapping and congratulating cafe employees and customers to see. Though she was pushing him and crying out at the injustice of his actions, there was a smile on her face and laughter in her voice.

She was very very happy.

CAPTURE TARGET "DAREN WALLSBY" HIDDEN ROUTE: UNLOCKED