Back at the manor, Rowan wasn't too concerned about being the topic of everyone's discussion. Now that Syryn's name had been outed as his partner, Rowan took it in stride. It was bound to happen when he put in Syryn's name as a candidate for priesthood and marriage partner to the champion. Still, he had heard some of the wild rumours and was shocked by how outrageous they were. 

A few malicious folks painted Syryn as a brothel born child who used his good looks to climb up in life. They slandered the mage with stories about he seduced so and so into his bed and stole their virtues and money. A bard went on to compose a dirty limerick about Syryn's beautiful body. If Rowan was being honest, the limerick was delightful. It was just the part where random strangers recited it that he had a problem with. 

Syryn too had heard it and it made him laugh. The line that described his full buttocks was the truest. 

"I'm glad you're not upset by the bullshit that's going around," Rowan said to the smiling beauty who was chuckling over a new piece of gossip that Rowan relayed to him. 

"Why would I be?" Syryn replied. "They're all lies and I get you in the end. Seems like I've angered many jealous people who wanted to see you with Lillith." 

Rowan was quiet. He had been thinking about talking to the princess. The blond had been avoiding her so she would not have false hopes about them. It had been the same in the first timeline. Rowan had kept his distance till she was chosen and he accepted the marriage. Now, as a person who used to be her husband, Rowan still cared about the headstrong woman who would one day realise that love could not be forced no matter how hard she tried. 

"Ryn, I'm going to the palace this evening. I have to meet Lillith," Rowan said to the mage. 

"Sure, don't do something you wouldn't want me to do," Syryn replied, smiling. It was rare these days but he wasn't feeling lost and depressed. 

Rowan kissed him on the forehead, not knowing that it might be the last few days of peace before their lives changed dramatically. 

"Lillith isn't a malicious person, Ryn. I think I owe it to her to say a few words before the ceremony takes place." 

The mage nodded. He trusted Rowan in this because if the blond wanted Lillith, all he had to do was let nature take its course. To see Rowan fighting for a future with him was eye-opening. It was through Rowan's actions that even the amnesiac Syryn began to have great faith in the man. 

____

"What? Rowan is here to meet me?" Lillith said with wide eyes. A female attendant had just rushed into her room to announce that Rowan was requesting an audience with none other than the princess herself. 

"Yes, your highness!" The attendant beamed. Everyone in the palace knew just how much Lillith loved the anti mage. "Rowan Windwalker is asking for you." 

Lillith could not contain the excitement in her heart. Did Rowan finally realise they were meant for each other? "Oh, Eos! Is this the sign?" She breathlessly whispered. 

"Lili! Why are you spacing out? Change into a different dress!" Her best friend Guinevere exclaimed from the fainting couch where she was sprawled.

"What's wrong with this one?" Lillith asked. 

"Nothing. But if you're meeting your future husband, you have to look like a dream!" Guinevere then pointed to a newly made dress that was hanging in the open closet. It was a white lace dress with baby pink flowers on it. It was elegant, chaste, and gave out a pure aura to its wearer. "Put this on quickly!" 

Lillith nodded. "You're right!" 

___

Rowan was sitting on a bench in the garden by the fountain when Lillith arrived looking radiant in a white dress. She smiled at him and it took him back to the past when they were married. The marriage was based on a foundation of respect for each other but not love. Rowan did not pursue relationships outside their marriage but he could not love her as she had wanted him to. He had tried his best to give her the happiness that she had deserved but Rowan failed. Lillith only wanted his heart and that was the only thing he couldn't give to her, not because he didn't want to but because his heart had a will of its own. It remained cold and unwilling to be given away to anyone. 

"Princess, good evening," he stood up and greeted her with a smile. "I apologise for taking your time-"

"No," Lillith interjected. "Rowan, you don't have to be so formal with me." 

It felt like history was repeating itself. Lillith had said the same thing to him in their first timeline. Rowan swallowed the nostalgia and sorrow that rose up like a wave. He hoped that this time, Lillith would meet a good man or woman who could love her like she deserved to be loved. 

"Princess, please take a walk with me," Rowan told her.

Lillith nodded, looking shy but also happy. What was Rowan going to tell her? Could it be that he wanted to say something about their future together?

The Royal Palace had turned many acres of forest into a gorgeous garden that didn't just grow shrubs but also tree flowers. It was like Elysium's mini version of the village of flowers. To their left bloomed buds of big yellow and orange blossoms grew while to their right climbed purple-flowered vines on white trellises.

Rowan set a slow pace so that Lillith wouldn't have trouble keeping up with him. The blond had been told by her before that he often walked far too quick and left her behind when they were taking walks. 

"Princess-"

"Please, call me Lillith. Dispense with the formality, Rowan. It's high time you realised we are equals." 

"Alright, Lillith," Rowan replied, drawing a sweet smile from the princess. She was delighted to hear Rowan say her name like that. 

But Rowan, he felt like the scum of the earth. Lillith looked so happy and here he was about to crush her hopes into little pieces. He wished it didn't have to be like this but there was no recourse for it. The truth was that he loved Syryn and he had to break Lillith's heart now by telling her that there was no future between them. If he could make a wish right now, it would be that Lillith would have never fallen for him. Rowan wasn't blind to the feelings that many other women had for him but this was a woman he had shared one lifetime with in marriage. It was more personal.