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They know that you could get a better job and family elsewhere so easily. They need you to think you’re not worth more than they’re giving you. They need you. You do not need them.”
As selfish as it was, he did want to see her face the first time she saw the royal city. He wanted to be there when she was commissioned as a seamstress and witness her joy. He wanted an eternity of memories with her, the good and the bad, because what did it matter if they parted again years from now so long as he got to be a part of her happier memories, and he was sure he could stand to face the statue now so long as she was with him and the future of them together was so promising. He—
He understood perfectly now what everyone had been saying—what was the point of suffering a lifetime without love when he could live and breathe and love for decades and decades with her? This night with her was already better than all his years spent wondering how she was. This was love.
“I’m the grim one. That frown doesn’t suit you.” “Why bother with looks that suit me when the only person I wish to look won’t?”
He would find her again.
“It must be hard to not remember someone who loves you, learn to love them again, and then find out they’ve forgotten you. Thinking about it feels like someone walking over my grave.” And, oddly, so weirdly that he couldn’t shake the feeling, made him feel empty, as if he had missed two steps while going down the stairs. “One of the people who lost his memories said something about how forgetting was worse, and I don’t understand,” said August. “You can’t be sad about something you’ve forgotten.” “Can’t you?” Father mused. “Feels more like fear, then. Fear that there’s something just around
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“Why would I want to live in a world in which I never knew her? Never saw her happy? Never got to take a small part in the journey of her life? Why would I not want the many wonderful memories I have of her? Knowing her changed me, and losing her changed me as well. That’s life, boy. To not have known her, to lose my memories of her, would be to lose her all over again and to lose myself. Grief and pain aren’t gone once a wound scars over, are they?”
“People who’ve never lost anyone will say anything to avoid thinking about mortality,” Father said, huffing and patting his shoulder. “I am sorry if I made you think love was dangerous, but it’s not, and I want grandchildren. So do whatever it is you need, bathe, get dressed, and be on time tonight to meet your wife.”
He picked up the pocket watch, disliking how light it felt despite knowing Nathalie had probably used its working parts to repair other, less weathered watches. With the right replacements and care, it could probably be repaired. “I guess finding your owner is my next mystery to solve,” he said, and put it back into the box. This was such a good step forward, and he should have been celebrating or at least been in the mood for it. But he still felt, deep in the pit of his chest, that he was missing something crucial.
He wanted to be in love, but it felt as if something in him were already missing, as if a physician with careful hands had cracked open his chest and cut out his heart before stitching him up. His heart was beating, but it felt hollow and distant. Like his chance at love had already run away with it.
A glint like glass caught his eyes. At the back of the ballroom glided a young woman. She was alone, eyes so wide that he could tell how sky blue they were from across the room. She spun to take in the palace, pale blue dress swirling around her legs like waves, and he caught a glimpse of her wide, pleased smile. Her joy lit the room like a star. He couldn’t recall the last time he had been that happy. August broke protocol, stepped down from his place, and quickly made his way to her. Maybe he could find what he was missing.
Que hermoso!!!!!!
There was something familiar about the tilt of her head and blue of her eyes.
He would’ve given her a greenhouse, the royal gardens, or any number of state secrets if she asked right then.
“The stars feel closer,” she whispered, staring not at the sky or the water but at him. They had abandoned the waltz long ago, but he kept her hand in his. With a gentle tug, he spun her away from the fountain. “An odd thing for a star to say,” he said. “Here one is, glittering in the garden next to me, and you haven’t even noticed.” She let out a soft laugh and glanced at him through her lashes. “Don’t stars burn? If I were a star, I’m afraid the garden would be nothing but ash.” “Perhaps I prefer cinder to roses.” He pulled her closer as they walked across a short bridge.
This was Ella, his Ella. He had found her.
Five days must have been more than enough, because he was falling in love with her all over again right now.
“I didn’t realize you thought that until you were leaving, or I would have mentioned it,” he said. “I’m not the Ella you met last night,” she said. “She was a dream.” “She seemed very real to me, and I quite like this Ella before me now,” August said, leaning in so that only she could hear him. “I’m not always how I was last night.” She laughed. “I’ll keep that in mind, but I like this version of you, too.” From behind him, Lady Tremaine made a disgusted noise in the back of her throat. “And between you and me,” whispered August, “I think we’ve met before.”
was the confirmation he had been waiting for. And all his old fears—of loving someone and losing them—felt so dull and insignificant now that he knew he had survived it with Ella. They had forgotten each other completely. And loved each other the very moment they met again.
“I’ve had dreams like this, but I always woke up before she was taken away or I kissed the prince.” “Well, if it will make you feel better, we don’t have to kiss and can take in her departure fully.” August sat down next to her. “You’re not alone. You don’t have to be alone ever again if you don’t want. If you need my help, you have it.”
He would forget her every day of his life and fall in love over and over again if it meant he got to hear her laugh like that.
“Hard to think I could forget you.” “That’s my line,” he muttered, and she laughed. “It does imply that we were taken with each other.” “In love, Your Highness,” she said. “It means I loved you and you loved me, and even if that weren’t true, I love you now.”
Slowly, August leaned down and pressed his mouth to hers. She responded as if it was the most natural thing in the world and curled a hand around the back of his neck. The kiss was sweet and soft, chasing away all his thoughts like a warm summer breeze. He pulled away, kissed her lips lightly again, and said, “I love you.” And then, like the morning sun burning away a fog in his mind, he remembered everything.
Things like this—being granted a wish by a fairy, secretly meeting the prince, forgetting true love, the wicked stepmother being caught in her schemes—only happen in fairy tales.” “Well, yes, my darling. We’re why they’re called that.”
why did the town’s memories return when we kissed?” asked Ella, looping one of her arms through August’s. She squeezed. Despite her reassurances, he still felt terrible. “Yes, the kiss,” said the fairy, lips twisting into a wry grin. “Was it only a kiss?” “You!” Ella’s eyes lit up, and she prodded August in the chest with her free hand. Her smile was infectious. “You said you loved me!”
“Wear it and remember that you shouldn’t give up love to avoid loss.”
And he loved her, each and every her that she would ever need to be.
“Loving and forgetting and loving you again has been one of my best adventures. I would do it all over if you accidentally made a wish.” “I’ll be sure to save it for a boring week,” she said, and kissed him.
