Kiss Me Not

"What happened to him, Will? He is not Cedric at all! He seems like a completely different person" Olivia uttered in between her sobs.

"Miss Olivia…"

"Stop being formal when Cedric is not around!" Olivia scolded. Will used to call her by her name but whenever they were around Cedric he would always address her as Miss.

"I think it is how the Prince told you. I wish I knew something but I can\'t seem to read him as well," Will commented carefully, making sure he would not have a slip of tongue.

"Who is she? The one he likes now?" Olivia asked.

"Her name is Brione Yu. She\'s quite a popular actress and model. You might have seen her in some of the international movies she\'s acted in," Will simply answered. There was silence which implied that Olivia had indeed seen Brione on screen but he was not sure if she had seen Brione in real life.

Olivia pursed her lips. She knew who Brione Yu was but not personally of course. She had often seen her on the television and the billboard ads of the cosmetic brand she was endorsing. She liked Brione so much that she even started purchasing that brand of cosmetics.

Who wouldn\'t like Brione Yu? A beautiful and talented woman capable of bringing out different emotions in people whenever she performed on stage or onscreen.

"I can\'t believe this. How did they come to know each other when Cedric never steps out of his island?! He\'s not interested in the entertainment business either!" she exclaimed while wiping her tears and trying to compose herself.

She suddenly felt small compared to Brione but she could not believe that Cedric would throw all the years they had been together… All those good and wonderful memories they had together.

"The Prince saw her by accident when he went to country D to attend a conference," Will answered.

"He travels?" Olivia asked again because she knew that Cedric was not comfortable with traveling. He used to only do it when he was visiting her, that too using the family\'s private plane. Cedric hated the crowd and exposing his identity as a Prince, so most of the time he would keep a low profile.

Now that Will thought about it, he and Cedric traveled to country D with Cedric wearing his usual disguise. So it was no wonder that no one misunderstood him as Gavin, who was popular in that country. It might also have to do with the fact that they only stayed there briefly for about three hours if he remembers correctly. That was when Cedric sneaked out for some air and found Brione.

"Should I just give up now, Will? I know something is very off but I can\'t pinpoint what it is. By the way, when will you and Cedric return to the island?"

Will honestly wanted to answer, \'Tomorrow morning at most since the man seems to can\'t be parted with Brione if not only because he thought his father is very ill.\'

Instead, he said, "I\'m not sure Olivia. It would be better if you ask him. I don\'t have any instructions from him as of yet. You know how he sometimes makes decisions spontaneously."

"Will, answer my question. Should I just give up?" Olivia asked again.

Cedric did not contact her for an entire year but she never failed to check on him. However, his father, The King, said that Cedric was very busy studying and doing a lot of work as he would transfer the throne to Cedric very soon.

Olivia respected that, so she did not disturb Cedric but she was disappointed that Cedric did not even bother to visit her once after that year. And now he seemed to have turned into a cold person towards her. She was hurting badly and she knew that the best thing to do right now was to give up but she also felt that things were not as simple as they seemed to be.

"Please inform me when you will go back to the island. I want to go with you just like old days. I miss the palace and everything about the island," Olivia added when there was no response from Will.

"You won\'t give up?" Will asked. He intentionally did not answer her question before because he didn\'t know what to say. He too could feel something was wrong.

What if Brione was right? What if Cedric is Gavin? Then Olivia would still have a chance but where was Cedric? But there was another thing… What if like Dr. Cain said, this Cedric was the real Cedric and the changes in his personality were just his alter ego or another side of him which he had not shown?

Will exhaled loudly. He was feeling dizzy because of all the questions inside his head.

He looked at his watch to check the time because later tonight, he was expecting the result of the DNA test he had requested. With that, they would find out if The King and the current Cedric were related to each other by blood or not. It was one of the first things Cedric had asked him to do and it was not an easy task since they had to do it confidentially in another country untouched by the power of the Royal Family.

"What\'s with the sigh? I don\'t know what to do yet so I cannot answer if I plan to give up or not. For now, I will just observe the situation and be with him like I used to before… as close friends…" She said the last two words with much difficulty as she found it hard to breathe after saying it.