"There we go." Sophie grinned at her children and jogged with them across the valley. "I''m also not that bad to be around, right?"


    Luciel and Jan happily panted and chased after her.


    The two boys liked the Alpha, but they were also happy about spending time with their mother alone. Both Luciel and Jan thought their mother spent too much time with Lnd and actually craved to spend more time with her.


    Sophie eventually stopped at a field of flowers and smiled brightly as she fell back on them. "Ah, these flowers are lovely."


    ***


    "What… is this feeling?" Nichs held a hand on his chest and thought his palms were incredibly sweaty all of a sudden. Below the hill he was currently, there was a valley filled with flowers.


    However, that was not what caught his eye at all. It was this person that he didn''t even know.


    Nichs Hannenbergh did not believe in love at first sight. It was a ridiculous thing to imagine for a Crown Prince who knew that appearances could deceive you and first impressions could make you prejudiced.


    However, when the young man looked over the hill and saw a beautiful woman resting in a bed of flowers and ying with two cute and adorable puppies… his heart leaped out of his chest.


    He never felt anything like this before. If love at first sight was real... perhaps, it was something like this?


    "Ahhh, I''m not dying am I?" Nichs muttered to himself as his stallion snorted at him. "Yes, I''ve seen women before this. I''m not a hermit or anything so why am I… like this right now?"


    Nichs felt his throat be dry and his head started to spin at the sight of her. Every little thing seemed to scream at him and he couldn''t turn his head away from her.


    His stallion neighed a little but he quieted down the noisy creature as he watched the woman below him. The crown prince knew it was rude to watch a woman from afar, he felt terrible in doing so, but he couldn''t take his eyes away from her at all.


    "Who is she?" he whispered to himself.


    Nichs didn''t think he was the type to be moved by appearances because he never batted an eye at princesses from neighboring kingdoms, daughters of dukes, and other important noblewomen… but this woman was different.


    She had an effect that was like none other than him and his heart was moved. Where did shee from? Where did she live? Thousands of questions ran through his head and he started to descend down the hill.


    "The best way to know is by speaking with her," Nichs said to himself as he gathered the courage to go down and meet with this incredible and intriguing woman.


    As far as Nichs was concerned, he could see that the woman lying down with the ck and grey puppies was someone bound to be free-spirited, exciting, and would be like a breath of fresh air.


    "Drats. What should I say? I saw you and so I went down to say hi?" Nichs muttered to himself and paused for a moment. He looked at his stallion and asked. "Do I introduce myself as the Crown Prince or will that scare her off?"


    He thought he heard herugh and refer to the puppies as her babies and just the sound of it made Nichs'' knees go weak. He was flustered beyond relief and his heart ached so much.


    Did she hear him?


    No.


    She wasughing at one of the babies who spat out some flower petals.


    Cute.


    However, this wasn''t bringing him anywhere closer to her, was it? All he needed to do was go down out of the hill and meet with the woman so why was he frantic and nervous?


    "What is wrong with you, Nichs?" he asked himself. "You''re just going to talk with her. No need to get anxious or hesitate at all, there''s no need to drag this any further."


    He said that but still did theplete opposite.


    "Ah, she''s really beautiful. Is she the daughter of some local baron here? A faerie?" Nichs muttered to himself.


    He took the opportunity to admire the strange woman for another moment and savored the sight of her unperturbed and undisturbed. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.


    If he had met her before, he was sure he would never forget her. She had this unique ashen hair with streaks of pink. Her frame was a bit petite but she looked very healthy and happy.


    Nichs felt his heart pound faster and faster at the sight of her. For a moment, he was dumbfounded.


    Once again, Nichs found himself swayed by her presence alone despite not even saying a word just yet with her. Somehow it almost felt like he knew her but that was a ridiculous thing to imagine.


    "I''m probably just associating a lot of things to her."


    All of the women Nichs encountered were dreadfully boring and preupied with a lot of notions of what it was supposed to be a ''proper woman'' who fulfilled her duties and simply bothered their husbands with endless desires.


    However, this woman resting in the valley looked at peace by simply resting underneath the rays of the sun. She looked content, happy, and everything that Nichs longed and desired for himself.


    "Okay, I''m finally going to do it." Nichs prepared himself to go down but he was suddenly beaten to it by the sight of a dozen men on horseback. "Wait. Who are they?"


    The crown prince finally realized where this woman hade from. There was another manor nearby the royal vi and it seemed the men hade from there.


    For a moment, Nichs was worried that they were bandits or thugs out to harass the woman. They all looked scary and ruthless. He was suddenly prepared to ride down the hill and rescue the woman.


    However, contrary to his expectation, she didn''t seem frightened when she saw the mening near.


    "Oh, they''re her bodyguards," Nichs muttered slowly to himself.


    Once the crown prince spoke, one of the men on horseback slowly met his gaze. Nichs blinked because he thought he had hidden himself well enough but he was wrong.


    His presence was detected.


    Did the wind carry his voice down below to these bodyguards?


    Before Nichs could even do anything, the woman and her two puppies were soon taken away without even giving him the chance to talk with her at all. The hope and happiness in his chest suddenly disappeared.


    What reced it was a sudden feeling of misery as Nichs watched the woman be escorted away. He clenched his fist and gritted his teeth, but he couldn''t look away from her even as she left.


    "Why… Why does it feel like I''ve let someone special go?" Nichs asked as he felt hot tears suddenly sting his eyes. The crown prince quickly rubbed his eyes and then turned away from the sight of the woman leaving.


    Nichs sped off back towards the royal vi.


    The crown prince waspletely unaware that this woman… Sophie actually had looked up at the hill. However, when she did it, Nichs was already gone as well.