It Is You I Have Loved

Chapter 37

At the moment Alastor was approaching the mill with a wide smile on his face and a Magnolia flower in his hand, Charlie's favorite.

"Princess." He said rehearsing his words. "First of all, how are you this evening? Good I hope...Listen I...I noticed some magnolias growing around here and I remembered they were your favorite saw I picked one for you...Why? Excellent question. Well the thing is...I...I'm in trouble."

During the time he spent by himself, Alastor had done a lot of thinking. Thinking about his life, thinking about this entire week, thinking about Charlie, and thinking about how he felt about her. At first glance he thought that he would just be some shallow, spoiled, and snobby princess who would look down on him and belittle him for what he was. Treating him like an undesirable, like so many other humans he had encountered. But as he spent more time with her, he realized that wasn't the case at all.

 She could be traditional but also open minded. She looked good but she didn't show off. She's kind but she has her limits. She's very smart but she doesn't act like she knows everything and is willing to learn from others. And yes like every typical princess, she dreamed of finding love and living happily ever after but she didn't want some superficial romance with a handsome prince. She just wanted to find true love with the right person. And Alastor was thinking that maybe, just maybe he was the right person. 

After all they had a lot in common, they could relate to each other, they could be empathetic to each other. He found himself feeling so happy whenever he was with her. It was a happiness that he had never known, not even when he was living alone in the forest. A happiness that was greater than any he had ever felt before, and he never wanted that happiness to go away. He found himself dreading the day she would have to go marry that cybertronic tyrant Vox and the very thought of them being married gradually repulsed him. She was much too good for him. He'd never appreicate her wonderful personality and he'd never find her little quirks adorable. He'd never truly love her, he was just using her to become king. 

At first he was so confused about why he felt this way. What these feelings were and why did this woman cause him to have these feelings. But it all became clear to him when he learned that she was that little girl he had met years ago. That she had never seen him as a monster even back then. That she had always seen him the way no one else had. And it was that which had caused him to fall in love with her. 

He loved her. He loved her and he wanted to be with her. So tonight, he was going to tell her how he felt and ask her to run away with him. If she rejected him, he would accept it. He knew that if she turned him down, she would do it kindly and they could always remian friends. But if she returned his feelings, he make a new goal in his life to be the most wonderful husband any woman could hope for. Far better than any of those princes she read about in books. True eloping with her would cost him his land but he could always find some other secluded place for them to live on. He could take care of her and he would do whatever he could to make her happy. 

"Okay, here we go." He told himself.

He took a deep breath and climbed up the steps of the mill. When he reached the door, he raised his hand to knock but his ears picked up the sound of voices talking. He leaned close and listened carefully.

"Who could love such a hideous freak?" He heard Charlie say with contempt. "There are certain rules and expections that the world has. One of which is no one who is different will ever be accepted. Ever. My only chance to live happily ever after is to marry my true love. That's just how it is Angel."

Alastor felt his heart shatter into a million pieces as her words echoed in his mind.

"Who could love such a hideous freak?" and "No one who is different will ever be accepted."