Under the Oak Tree: Season 1 -Side Story-

by Suji Kim

All the bitterness in Riftan’s heart seemed to evaporate like magic at the sight of her.

His heart twinged as he realized that she longed to be held. He felt her loneliness so acutely that he almost mistook it for his own. He, too, had leaned on the necks of foals to soothe that same longing.

Had he been allowed, he would have bent the girl over his knee and given her a good spanking for acting so recklessly.

“If you let your pride

destroy the chance for you to rise in the world, that makes you the greatest fool.”

She had infiltrated the innermost corners of his heart. Knowing how easily he could fall under her spell again, he should have done everything in his power to avoid her. Before he had lost the ability to love anyone — before his shell had hardened — she had already taken root deep in his heart.

Yet, his only concern had been trying to prevent this small paradise from shattering.

Riftan found it baffling how a person could have eyes for anyone else in the presence of Maximilian Croyso.