Devil's Prisoner of Love by Prefer

Chapter 366: Something Odd

The courtyard was filled with plum blossoms. Although in other seasons they were mere trunks, once winter set in, the fragrance of the blossoms filled the air.

"These plum trees seem to be arranged in some sort of pattern," Aurora noticed that some areas were densely planted while others were left bare.

"My mother lived in that house over there. From that angle, the plum blossoms in winter form the shape of a heart," Julian stated this fact lightly.

"So your father was quite thoughtful," Aurora remarked again.

"Yes, he really cared for my mother. He knew what she liked and would buy those things to please her. If he had lived in ancient times, he surely would have been considered a foolish emperor," Julian conceded without denial.

"In a couple of months when it snows, let's come back to see the plum blossoms bloom, shall we? I'm suddenly really looking forward to seeing what they look like," Aurora mused at the romantic heart-shaped arrangement of the plum trees.

"If you like, I can have someone plant plum trees in our yard too, along with peach, pear, and apricot trees-anything you like," Julian turned around and gently pulled her into his embrace.

"All I want is to be with you. Being with you is the happiest thing for me," Aurora embraced him gently.

"Julian, your father isn't as bad as we imagined. He just loved your mother at the wrong time in the wrong era," Aurora said with a slight smile.

"It's not like that, Little Bunny. It's not that he met my mother in the wrong era. If you truly like someone, no matter their status, the setting, or the age difference, liking someone is just that-liking them. My mother never liked him from the start. In her heart, she only saw him as an elder, or perhaps a like-minded person. She respected him, was grateful to him, but never loved him."

"Yet, he selfishly wanted to possess her. No matter if he sent her expensive jewelry, tailored high-fashion dresses, or crafted many surprises to suit her tastes, all she ever wanted was freedom. Is love really just about keeping a woman by your side? If he had let my mother be free, perhaps I wouldn't hate him as much. It was he, and the Alvarez family, who drove my mother to her death."

hugged Aurora tightly, a trace of pain flickering through his eyes as she

a painful past while protecting her by Hayden's side. Even after he had gained power and status, these things only made

three years ago she had bumped into him in the Montgomery family castle, his

shall we? From now on, let's just live peacefully," Aurora wasn't speaking well of the Alvarez family out of sympathy, but rather she was doing it for Julian. She didn't want him to carry the weight of the past any longer and hoped he could step out of the shadow of hatred and

you know? That winter, they accused me of stealing earrings, and while he was not at home, several adults pressed me into the snow right here under this plum tree. That day, the plum blossoms were blooming beautifully, bright red as if they had been soaked

one day I would take everything from them, especially what they feared losing

of this, the hatred in his eyes deepened. Aurora had also experienced these

feel better,

just need to stand by my side,"

uninterrupted enjoyment. The next chapter is just a click away, exclusively available on our

to dissolve the hatred in his heart, but now it seemed that his hatred was deeper than she had imagined, and

you to see it, the place

grabbed Aurora's hand and ran to

only plum blossoms, the backyard was much more spectacular, containing every kind of flower imaginable. From the rarest to the most common, and flowers that bloomed

away, that old man took over her work. Every tree and plant here was personally tended by him. When I was bullied as a child and didn't dare tell my mother, fearing to upset her, I

crafted little boy naively talking to the flowers, and

was a block of ice to outsiders but

I was young, I treated everything as my friend," Julian said, scratching his

about your childhood. You know all about my past, but I know nothing about yours,"