PAST

ROSE 13

ARES 17

The Cattaneo princess remained afraid and wary, people were not always kind, and assuming that everyone was good because they have sweet-talked you can be lethal. For the next few days after she met Ares, Rose maintained a safe distance.

What if he was merely engaging and indulging with her because he was nice and she was his sister's friend but in reality he hated her. What if he was disgusted with her? the thought brought nothing but pain and agony to the innocent girl who felt her heart breaking.

It was morning when she sneaked out after having breakfast, Ares was in a meeting so he had sent a female guard to give Rose a hearty meal of whatever she loved, the black-haired beauty was moved by his kindness and told to thank Ares in return from her side.

When the guards watched the thirteen-year-old girl bouncing in the gardens from one rock to another and plucking red strawberries they turned a blind eye and minded their own business.

Rose was content, she searched the whole garden filled with creepers and plucked the biggest and juiciest of the berries, till now she had a handful of those so she decided to ask a nearby guard for a basket.

"c-can I have something to keep these?...please." the guard bowed when he saw her palm filled and the things overflowing her dainty hand.

The said the blue basket was filled with fruits after an hour and had become too much heavy for her to carry so Rose decided it was best that now she returns to her room and sleep for a while.

The idea sounded perfect and she hummed a euphonious melody while walking as her white frock swayed with the wind.

The breeze was light and the season cloudy, with every inch of the ominous sky being covered with a blanket of clouds Rose stopped at the wooden bridge to look at the reflection of passing clouds in the lake, the swans were nowhere in sight, most likely they were under the bridge in their nest but what attracted the girl most was a big white lotus flower in the middle of the lake.

She looked around and none of the guards were at this inner side of the mansion, the girl who never got into trouble before decided to be a little rebellious that day and went down the bridge, taking off her shoes she dipped her toes in the water to check the temperature.

The artificial lagoon was shallow and was not at all enough to drown her, also her dress would not be dirtied if she would be careful.

The girl stepped her foot inside the water raising her dress above her knees to stop it from getting wet, with cautious baby steps she went further in the middle towards the lotus she wished to have.

When the desired bloom floated near her she was too excited to notice the mud beneath it making her feet slip as she fell down in the mud with a heavy thump. The mafia prince was searching for her when he saw a white visage from far away in the pond and the pretty princess lose her footing, Ares ran towards the girl.

"Rose!" Rose was blank for a moment, all dirtied by mud with soil splashed on her face ,flock all stained, her ears started ringing as soon as she heard Ares's call. She did not even dared to look up as tears filled her eyes.

The water sloshed and Rose trembled in terror, now he would not be nice to her, he would truly hate-

"Baby" Ares cupped her face gently, wiping off the mud on her cheeks and nose.

"Here, don't cry doll. You almost made it there." The man plucked the big white lotus from its floating leaves and kept it infront of Rose, who looked at him in utter surprise, the shame washing away. Those dusty cyans had nothing but concern and longing.

"Y-You got dirty for me?" Her voice was a whisper as she saw his shirt no better than her own dress.

"Absolutely not! I saw a fairy in pond and wished to catch hold of her. My intentions are pure evil." Rose giggled forgetting every little insecurity as Ares spread his arms to welcome her into his hold to take her out of this mess.

_______________________________________________________

"Half of your berries belong to me now." Rose gasped as Ares took a handful of her hardwork washing it in the sink.

Her hair was wet from a fresh bath, clothes new and fresh while Ares changed too. Rose pouted when he also took the lotus from her hand washing its petals, before she could protest he cut down the dark green stem placing the snow lotus on her shiny black head making her look as if she descended from a ancient tale.

A flash made Rose blink in surprise as she realized Ares has taken a photo of hers with the flower at the top of her head which was bigger than her face.

"See, I caught the fairy."

Rose blushed at his compliment while he ate the strawberry appreciating her.

"This one is juicy" She nodded shyly as he kept the berry infront of her mouth as she took a bite.

"You broke the rules again....are you ready to pay for your sins." the girl slowly chewed on the fruit inside her mouth as her cheeks turn pink.

"O-Ok"

"Let me kiss your head then."

__________________________________

"Clean them well." The pouting lips and mahogany eyes watched Ares who talked on phone with Aurora to reassure that Rose was very well with him.

It has been three months and Aurora was unable to travel due to her contracting flu, the doctors had advised the girl that travelling under such conditions might worsen her health. After Ares talked with Rose's parents assuring them that he will take care of her very well in Switzerland only then did Rose was allowed to extend her stay.

Whispers from other side of the call seceded and Rose pointed an accusing finger at Ares. After the incident of her falling into the pond and Ares holding her crying face to sooth her feeling of shame, the girl was confident enough that he did not hated her, instead he spoiled her rotten thus now the stubbornness had decided to come out.

"I don't wanna clean." her cherry cheeks were squished together by the masculine man who kissed her head making her blush and hmph in return, Ares chuckled when he saw the innocent doll using a thin cloth wrapped around her one delicate finger to cleanse the interior of the guns despite complaining endlessly.

"No matter how much you try...I don't want to."

"Then how is my fairy going to learn about the weapons?"

Since the children of caporegimes and mafia members had more to learn than the rest of the common households, there was a system of education created, 7 months of training in school was compulsory while the rest 5 months, the clan heirs and heiress's were allowed to go around the world and attend meeting and meet influential entities to solidify their own statures and then present a report on everything they learned to the head office in school upon returning.

In three months Rose had learned Spanish and Greek as the elite languages, learned to shoot targets up to ten meters with excellent precision, all the while going through the rigorous exercise of walking etiquette with as many as five books on her head. Although she might have to make a report for all of this when these five months were finished and at the same time teachers excelling in their fields might test her skills yet the angel was confident with how well Ares has taught her.

"B-But they are scary!" she complained relentlessly with glazed chocolate irises, she was accustomed to Beretta 92FS, which was a simple pistol of Italian origins yet Ares had soon replaced it with SIG Sauer P226 pistol who did nothing but scare the sweet princess.

"But my fairy does wants to learn doesn't she or is it something else......are you fine darling?"

It was not a kind of spoiling where Ares did everything and Rose must simply sit like a doll and observe instead a kind where he will cook for her and ask her to wash vegetables, where he might teach her ballet yet for returning the favor would ask her to dance to his tune of violin.

Rose was not too good at ballet, not that he was going to tell her.

There was a sense of equality in the entirety of his adoration and possessive approach towards her, thus even though Rose was ordered around the entire day to basically stick to his side, she could not make herself have any complaints. Usually no matter what he said the fleeting flower stuck to his side pretending to be his assistant and helped him in doing various work thus today Ares felt something was out of the place.

"I feel a bit dizzy......." Her head had been aching since the morning yet she did not wished to worry Ares thus resorting to being a brat...once she was inside her suite she will get a rest and be well, that was what Rose told herself over and over.

Those words were spoken in a whisper, Rose was feeling fatigue when she woke up and took a medicine on her own in order to not disrupt Ares from his work and as soon as she felt a bit better she thought to follow the prince like usual.

"Baby your face....why is your face so red my love?" The tone started as of a question but when he saw Rose's eyes drooping dangerously the mafia prince could not help but feel terrified for once in his life.

She was trying to speak yet no words seem to escape her throat as black dots danced in her vision.

Strong arms came around to pick the fragile girl up in his hold as his heart thumped erratically, what has happened to his fairy, she was aright yesterday...he has been too hard on her......it was all his fault. The man's frantic actions alerted the servants making them wide eyed.

Was this the man who was the Dark Prince of Styx?

He at this moment certainly looked more humane than ever.

"Call the doctor at once!" Absolute fear engulfed him when Rose who was feeble till now but still had energy for holding his shoulders for support passed out the other moment with her fingers slipping down his chest.

"R-Rose" Pulling her inside his suit the man laid his pretty princess down on the bed while taking off her shoes to make her more comfortable. The temperature of the room seemed to drop as the man had an increasingly fearsome aura looking at the girl who was so fragile as if she might blow with the wind when the doctor was rushed in by the servants.

"Nothing to worry about, Miss Rose had a sudden fluctuation in her blood pressure and it dropped severely low, that might have caused her to faint. I have given her a very mild injection to boost recovery, It is better advised to give her three nutritious meals a day and orange juice is much preferred. Homemade meals with nutritious content must be your daily diet, its strange that Miss fainted this way despite that...but please be assured she will be alright soon, I will take my leave my prince."

The doctor wanted to hurry out soon as he saw the dark look looming over Ares and the murderous aura seemed to make him feel like things were going to be a little complicated yet the sharp tone made him stop.

"You must stay, check Rose time to time in my presence." The doctor was hired as the personal physician by Waylons thus there were no areas of unprofessional behaviors, despite feeling like he had been called in a lion's den, the white collared man who had spend thirty years practicing medicine simply bowed and left with a servant by his side.

Although the servants were rarely reprimanded, it was majorly because of the selection. An amount of money which was equal to an year of the wage of regular servants in the rich mansions was what Waylon's awarded per month plus the bonus that was given every once in a while.

Yet there were absolutely no chances of making a mistake.

"What did you feed her in morning today?" The chef trembled as the greyish blue irises looked at him with venomous intentions. He had a meeting outside thus his lunch and breakfast differed from Rose.

"Sir it was tomato sandwiches and cheese pasta."

"Even after knowing that my princess is still in her growth years you still give her only these. Get out of my vision this instant!"

_______________________________________________________

Unaware of the mayhem Rose slept like a tiny flower bud that has yet to blossom its scented petals.

When the Cattaneo princess was born she was merely 5 pounds in weight, barely breathing with that small body, so fragile that her mother, Sierra was afraid of even touching her thus once she learnt to crawl her father, Vincent had installed her entire room with sponge mattress so she might not hurt herself.

Hearing those stories Rose felt that she was pampered but she did not have any thoughts about how she might be treated in future since mafia women did not loved, did not married according to their will and not even expressed their real emotions...mafia families had a strict code to follow so when she fluttered her long lashes open, squinting her eyes from the sunlight coming, rubbing them with closed fists.

The clock infront on the side table displayed 10 AM in morning making her even forget that she was sick and hurriedly climb out of the bed. If it was home she might have had an earful and would be punished with an hour of standing in the etiquette posture which was considerably not much.

Legs tangled in the velvet sheets made her stumble before two arms came to stabilize her body and held her body in those muscular veiny arms.

"Ares!"

"Go to sleep" The tiny angel was again dumped on the bed where she bounced twice before blinking in confusion.

"But Ares.....I-Its morning already"

"Oh is it? Its still night for you though. You fainted on me yesterday and from now onwards you are not falling sick on me anymore so go on ,sleep." Saying those words a purple blanket was wrapped around Rose making her look like a chocolate roll with her arms not able to move and only the small fragile head with shiny black hair visible.

Ares picked her up before settling the fluffy pillows beside her head and making her sit partially.

"I am so sorry-" Rose did not recalled of the incidents of yesterday earlier but now when Ares said she did remember falling in his hold before black covered her vision. She was going to apologize before a spoonful of vegetable rice was pushed in her mouth making her cheek swell like a chipmunk.

Ares pretended as if the girl was not glaring at him cutely and made her drink the orange juice slowly with his hands.

"Can we bargain-" another spoonful of chopped kiwi and peeled pistachio dry fruit was inserted in her mouth making her groan adorably in protest.