After hearing those words, Lisa no longer wasted any time and turned her prince without uttering even a single word. She held and lifted the sides of her dress as she took step after step. She knew that she should at least thank the prince or maybe bid him a proper goodbye, but doing that felt so wrong.
Doing that won't ease up the pain that he was feeling.
As Lisa descended the stairs, the people who were watching moved away and let her pass even though they still barely understood anything. They were all still staring at Lisa, watching her every movement, murmuring at each other. But Lisa didn't waste any more time by stopping and looking back at them.
Lisa just continued running with only one goal in her mind: to see Jennie again.
"Lisa!" The blonde's feet were when she heard a manly voice shout her name after getting herself out of the crowd. She looked back, recognizing that voice, looking for the owner of the voice.
Lisa's eyes became even hotter due when she finally saw her friends again. Just two seconds later, everyone came running towards her and the dryad twins and the pixies wrapped her in a tight hug as they bawled their eyes out, paying no attention to the people who were watching them.
"Lisa-yah." Jisoo repeatedly called as she cried like a teenage girl.
"Guys. I'm sorry. I'm sorry if I forgot about Jennie- if I forgot about all of you." Lisa apologized between sobs.
The girls wanted to tell Lisa that there was nothing to apologize for, but because they were all busy crying, they ended up just shaking their heads, hoping that Lisa would understand what they wanted to say.
Leo and the other men were doing their best to stop their tears. They couldn't believe that this was happening- that this had finally happened, especially Leo.
Earlier, when he said confidently that he was certain that Lisa would remember everything, he didn't have any basis. It was all just a feeling. He just got that feeling that this would happen and it really did.
Lisa remembered Jennie before she even became married to the prince.
"Stop apologizing, Lisa. None of it was your fault." Jisoo said between sobs as she busied herself wiping her tears with the back of her hands.
Lisa bit her lower lip fully to stop more tears from coming out as she looked away and covered her mouth with the back of her hand.
Lisa took a deep breath as she spoke in a croaking voice.
"Is Jennie here too?" Lisa asked, meeting each of her friend's eyes.
Leo lightly shook his head and gave Lisa a little smile. "No. She was in the castle. She refused when we asked her."
Lisa lightly nodded her head, a little bit disappointed with the fact that it would still take several hours before she saw Jennie again. She was just so excited. She was just so eager to see her again. She missed her a lot and couldn't wait to get rid of that feeling by drowning herself in the presence of the raven haired beauty.
"I figured." Lisa answered.
Lisa couldn't hide the disappointment in her voice as she looked down for a second, but when she looked up again, her lips stretched into a smile as she uttered, "Then can you all take me to her?"
Lisa's friends smiled upon hearing that as they nodded their heads.
"This was the reason why we're here after all. Because we didn't lose hope that before things became even too late, you will remember Your Highness. We're here to take you to her if that happens and now it did." Leo explained, couldn't hide his happiness anymore.
They only needed one nod from each other as they all started moving again, going towards where Leo and his friends left their horses.
On the way back to Jennie's castle, Lisa busied herself thinking of the words that she would say if she finally saw Jennie again. Of course, the first thing that she would do is apologize, then she would confess her feelings all over again.
Lisa would do everything to make up for the days that they weren't together. She would make sure that she would be able to make Jennie happy now. Not because the prince asked her to do that, but because that's what she wanted to do. That's what she the very start.
"Lisa, I just wanted to say this because I don't want you to be surprised when you see Your Highness again, but she's actually no longer a human." Leo said, keeping his eyes on the front, holding the rope that was tied to the horse.
Lisa was riding the same horse as Leo. Everyone can tell how excited Leo is about getting back to the castle with Lisa, since he's been hitting the horse with the rope to make it run even faster. Their friends weren't letting themselves lose though and keeping themselves just behind their horse.
"I knew about that already. I recall meeting her as a beast five years ago." Lisa replied, looking around the forest that they were passing by, checking if something had changed after six years.
Leo smiled upon hearing that. "So you really remember everything now."
Lisa nodded her head even though couldn't see her face. "But will she stay like that forever? I mean, is there any way to make her human again? It's not like it bothers me that she was already a beast. I just, of course, prefer that she was a human. But it doesn't mean that I'll hate or leave her because she's now a beast. I just wanted to know." She explained, defending her intentions even though no one asked her to.
Leo couldn't help but giggle at Lisa's ramble. "Don't worry. I understood what you were trying to say. And to answer your question, there's actually a way to turn her back into being human again."
"What is it?" Lisa impatiently asked, growing nervous as she waited for Leo to answer her question. She mentally swore to herself and to G-d that whatever it was, she would do her best just to make Jennie human again.
"Through true love's kiss." Leo simply said, smiling widely, knowing how Lisa would react to that.
Lisa furrowed her brows, confused like what Leo expected. "What do you mean by true love's kiss?"
"Just like what it literally means. Your Highness just needs to be kissed by the person who truly loves her, then she will be back into being a human again."
Lisa arched up her brow while tilting her head, still not sure if she understood it well. "You mean?"
Leo glanced at her as he gave her a bright smile. "It means that you are the only one she needs to turn everything back into how it used to be."
Lisa was stunned at first. At first, she thought that Leo was just messing with her. Maybe Leo was just teasing her. But when she saw that Leo was serious, her lips automatically stretched into a smile, feeling giddy at what Leo said.
"Then leave it to me."
Because it was a long way back to the castle, Leo let Lisa catch up with the things that had happened for the past six years.
Leo told Lisa what happened after Lisa died and how Jennie turned into a beast. He mentioned the conditions why Jennie couldn't approach Lisa and helped her remember everything that happened. He also tells her that they are now humans and that they turned their backs on their original identities because they didn't want to leave Jennie alone.
He reveals that Jennie lost her magical powers and the ability to not age. And when Leo was finally done letting Lisa catch up, she became even more eager to see Jennie again. She missed her more and was hurting for Jennie because of all the hell that Jennie suffered for her.
Knowing everything that had happened for the past six years made Lisa love her more.
When they had finally reached the castle, Lisa immediately jumped off the horse and ran inside the castle while screaming her lover's name at the top of her lungs. She no longer needed to hold and lift the sides of her dress because before she got onto the horse earlier, she ripped the end part of her dress so she could move freely. Her friends can only shake their heads at Lisa's childishness, but they really can't blame her. They hadn't been together for years so how Lisa was acting right now was justifiable.
Lisa first checked Jennie's room. She burst open the door, shouting the three-syllable name, but to her dismay, Jennie wasn't there.
Then Lisa decided to check for Jennie in her room but still failed to catch a glimpse, even just her shadow.
Lisa was growing impatient the more doors she opened, the more steps she took and the heavier her breathing was becoming. She felt a knot in her throat as she ran her hand through her hair, forgetting for a moment her half-halo braid.
Lisa desperately searched for Jennie in every corner of the castle but Jennie was nowhere to be found.