192 Chapter 192: Two dull hearts

His voice echoed inside her mind as her eyes took in the beauty before her eyes. 

The meadow.

Her precious place stood before her in its dignified beauty. The place where she visited, where the memories with her brother breathed.

The place that she thought lost was now standing before her in its mighty glory. The entire meadow remained untouched as if the battle weeks ago didn't happen. Her lips trembled when she saw the baby's breath flowers swaying in the cold breeze on top of a pile of snow. 

In the middle of the meadow, stood the white pavilion with pale pink flowers gliding all over the corners. 

Her feet involuntarily moved as she walked in the pathway clear of snow. Her royal blue cloak trailed behind her, giving off a beautiful contrast against the snow.

'Everything was the same'

Hazel stopped in the middle of the field and looked around her. Her lips curled up as she bent down towards a flower and touched it carefully.

"It's all the same" 

The only difference here would be the presence of snow. Snow laid on top of the pavilion, all over the ground making the ground look white with a little bit of green.

She squealed excitedly making Usui laugh. Usui watched as Hazel excitedly walked in the snow, her boots sinking into the snow leaving small footprints. She stood in the middle of the field and inhaled deeply.

The fragrance of the flowers and a distinctly neutral, watery freshness invaded her nose. A cold breeze immediately attacked her making her smile brightly.

"Brother, I'm back" 

She giggled as she twirled on the spot, her cloak circling her with specks of snow flying off from her clothes. She opened her arms and closed her eyes as she twirled in the middle of the sea of flowers.

Usui's breath hitched when he saw her laughing happily and twirling like a child excited for Christmas. She looked like a blue rose blooming in the middle of the flower field. Her blue cloak in contrast to all the white around her. 

His feet unconsciously moved towards her, his eyes glued on her excited face. He was happy to see her laugh freely for the first time. He stopped in front of her and asked, "Did you like it?"

Hazel paused as she turned towards him, breathing heavily. Her chest heaved as her cheeks carried a flush. Her nose was a little red from the cold but her eyes shone brightly from the happiness she was experiencing.

She nodded her head excitedly, "I love it"

Her eyes glanced around her before her eyes laid on him. The one who made this happen. Her vision blurred from the emotion she was feeling.

Was it thankfulness? happiness? 

She didn't know but her heart was filled with this strange emotion. She felt like her heart would explode from all this sweetness. Her eyes welled up as she looked at him. 

He wiped the tears which escaped her eyes whilst smiling gently at her. Hazel closed her eyes as she grabbed his hands cupping her cheeks.

"Thank you, Usui"

Usui shook his head as he pulled her towards him. Her face buried at the nape of his neck as he wrapped his hands around her waist.

"This is all I can do, Precious"

Feeling his cloak getting wet, he sighed with a small shake of his head.

"What would I do if you cry every time I surprise you?"

Hazel chuckled as she wrapped her hands around his back and muttered, "Never throw a surprise again"

Usui chuckled as he dropped a kiss on top of her head and said, "Nice try, love"

He pulled back from the hug and gazed at her, "How will I tease you if I don't throw a surprise?"

Hazel narrowed her eyes and hit his chest making him laugh out loud. He quickly kissed her cheeks and said, "I love to see the happiness in your eyes."

Hazel bit her lips to prevent the smile from displaying on her face. She raised her eyebrows and pointed at her tears, "You think tears are tokens of happiness?"

Usui hummed as he smiled widely, "Tears of joy"

Hazel shook her head as she chuckled softly. She shoved him away and turned around, gazing at the pavilion. A smile blossomed on her face as she hurriedly walked towards the stairs. Walking up the stairs, she felt nostalgic for some reason.

Biting back her tears, she touched the pavilion with her shaky fingers. Taking a deep breath, she glanced inside and saw the bench unoccupied. Tilting her head, she asked Usui, "Do you not plan on coming in?"

Usui who was observing her, chuckled before he walked towards the stairs. When he entered the pavilion, he saw her sitting on the bench and gazing at the flowers. He sat beside her and immediately Hazel looped her hands around his arm. Usui looked at her amusedly before shaking his head. 

Hazel leaned her head against his shoulder and said, "You know, this place holds a lot of meaning"

Usui nodded and kissed the top of her head, "I know, Precious" and leaned his cheek against her head immersing in the calmness.

Hazel let out a smile as she gazed at the snow-filled area and snuggled closer to Usui. Usui bit his lips as he peeked at her through the corner of his lips. 

He looked down at his hands, fidgeting restlessly. Taking a deep breath, he slowly said, "Did you know, Freya?" Hazel pulled back and gazed at Usui who smiled calmly.

"I never knew anything about love. My life was plain and black until you came in and made it colorful."

Hazel chuckled as she nodded her head. 

"Rumors fly around in a speed invisible to the naked eye."

Usui chuckled.

Hazel continued, "It was hilarious when we heard about how you abhorred woman, and yet when you arrived here, you were the complete opposite."

"What do you mean by complete opposite? I dislike women now except you."

Hazel laughed, "Am I not a woman?"

"You are but you are my woman. Not anyone"

Hazel giggled and wondered where he learned to sweet-talk. Usui looked at her and asked curiously, "So you investigated me before I arrived in this kingdom?"

He raised his eyebrows when he was met with silence, "Wow.. so you were pretending to not like me."

Hazel rolled her eyes as she said, "Don't forget about Rin's ability."

Usui asked in surprise, "What? Did he see me?"

Hazel sighed as she looked down her hands and said, "He had a snippet of you arriving and the upcoming battle with the demons. The prophecy of the upcoming battle was one of the reasons why we came early but never did we think that the ministers would arrange for a groom competition."

Usui nodded his head. 

"Didn't Rin know?"

"Rin always had his visions in the form of dreams earlier so it was easy for him to not notice his powers. But now, he can see the snippets while awake making it very dangerous."

Usui nodded his head remembering his predicament related to him. And, now that he thinks about it, it was Death who met him and swallowed him whole but luckily he managed to escape its clutches.

He shook his head and asked, "So what did he say about my visit?"

Hazel looked at him curiously and said, "That you would become an irreplaceable piece in my life. That you would be the one stopping me"

"Stopping you? Stopping you from what?"

Hazel shrugged. She didn't know and she didn't care what laid for her in the future. After all, the future wasn't certain.

Usui frowned, "Well, I won't be stopping you from doing anything unless its death." 

Hazel rolled her eyes and continued.

"Well, after that it was easy to find out whom he was referring to as your name traveled among the royals. The most wanted prince." Usui grimaced at her choice of words.

"You were in demand and many were willing to share their information about you. Even after hearing about all your glories, I wasn't moved at all." Hazel threw him an apologetic look as she continued, " I wasn't ready to make anyone part of my life. So when you rejected me in front of the crowd, I was elated instead of being furious."

Usui laughed, "You must have thought you escaped from my clutches."

Hazel chuckled, "Yeah... If I had known that you would fall for Freya, I would have never appeared in front of you as Freya"

Usui laughed, "I should be glad that Rin didn't mention whether I will be irreplaceable for Freya or Hazel."

Hazel smiled, "It doesn't matter anymore. You have become irreplaceable to me."

Usui's eyes shimmered as he laughed, "I'm glad I changed that" 

Hazel smiled at him, "So we became each other's savior?"

Usui grabbed her hands and played with her fingers as he mused, "You could say that" 

He looked at her and slowly intertwined their hands. 

"Two dull hearts joined to form one interesting heart making the other's life enjoyable"

Usui leaned forward and kissed her forehead, "You saved me from the curse, Freya"