Kiss Me Not

Coming back to the present, Cedric tried to push Brione as gently as he could and whispered, "Get a hold of yourself Miss Brione. I am not that Gavin guy… My name is Cedric, the Prince of this country. I am not the man you are referring to as Gavin. We are two different people. You met me last night in the garden, remember? This is me, Prince Cedric, without the mask I wore last night."

This time he panicked a bit when he witnessed Brione's expression. Her eyes were still brimming with tears, staring at him in disbelief.

She cupped his face and insisted, "No! Something's not right here. There must be a reason you're doing this! You are definitely my Gavin! I grew up with you so I will definitely know if it's you or not. Please stop doing this Gavin. You may have your reasons…

I will listen to everything you say okay? So please don't say that you are not Gavin. Tell me what's going on? Why are you here? Explain everything to me. Is it something confidential? Is it something you must hide? Wait, don't you remember me? Did you get amnesia and lose your memories because of that accident on the ship? I'm so happy that you're alive and you survived that incident."

Cedric's face darkened as he fell into deep thought, hearing these words from Brione triggered something within him.

"Your highness," Cedric's head bodyguard, Kevin, interrupted his thoughts when he approached the area two meters away from him. His bodyguards were everywhere, quietly looking out for him. But Cedric signaled Kevin to disperse from his sight.

Cedric sighed and helplessly looked at Brione. The woman was obviously not convinced that he was not Gavin. He eased the atmosphere by giving her a formal smile and said, "Let's go back to the palace first. We need to treat your wound and put an ointment on your bruise. I'm sure you can't afford to have any scar on your skin. Your fans will hate seeing it, especially me..."

"Can you walk or do you want me to carry you?" Cedric added when he thought about how good it felt when he carried her. He wished that all those feelings from Brione were for him and because of who he was and not because he was mistaken as the man she longed for.

Realizing what she was doing, Brione quickly composed herself and wiped the tears on her face. But she still couldn't take her eyes off the man in front of her as she whispered, "I don't know what's going on and I'm really confused right now but I'm sure you are Gavin. My heart tells me that you're my Gavin… The man I love..."

Cedric heaved a sigh and said, "Didn't you hear that man from before addressing me as 'Your Highness'? He's Kevin, the head of my security team. So I'm telling you once again that I'm Cedric and not Gavin. Let's continue our talk properly over breakfast. I'm sure you are exhausted from running and probably hungry."

Brione was not convinced by his explanation. Yes, she did not know what was going on but she could feel it in her heart that the man before her was Gavin! There must be some reason he's hiding his identity and she would make sure to find out about it soon.

She was finally back to her senses and could feel the stinging pain of the wound on her knee. Her face contorted due to the pain so she bit her lower lip to calm herself.

Cedric noticed how she cringed her face so he mumbled with a frown, "This won't do. Let's go back as soon as possible and I will carry you whether you like it or not!"

Without waiting for Brione's response, Cedric immediately moved and lifted Brione up in his arms. He was surprised when Brione didn't protest, instead, she wrapped her arms around his neck and made herself comfortable. Nevertheless, he liked it a lot as a roguish grin appeared on his handsome face.

Why did Brione let the Prince carry her in his arms so easily? Simply because she wanted to look at his face closely and see what other differences there could be between Gavin and the Prince except for their hair color?

'Wait…' She had recalled that Gavin's hair was originally golden blonde which he later

changed it to black color as he grew up saying that he preferred it black.

She grew up with Gavin so she definitely knows every detail of Gavin's face like small moles on his neck near his jaw. One could only notice it if you looked closely since they were like three tiny dots on his neck.

Brione did not waste any time and inspected his neck closely and intently, not realizing how rude her action was. She continued touching the Prince to her heart's content.

'There's no moles. Where are they?' she confusedly thought. She couldn't be wrong. If they were simply doppelgangers or twins, she would be able to instantly tell and feel it. Was her instinct wrong this time as she was just desperate and her longing for Gavin in the past year?

'But moles can easily be removed,' she thought, not letting herself down. She just felt that there was something fishy about this whole situation. Everything couldn't possibly be just coincidence, especially meeting the Prince whose face was the same as Gavin's. Something was suspicious.

"Aren't you done yet? I will give you enough time to inspect me from head to toe once we're in my room if you want. But of course, it won't be for free since you would be inspecting a Prince and not everyone can do that," Cedric amusingly teased.

He knew Brione was trying to find something that would prove that he was that Gavin. He too was curious to find out about this Gavin.

As he thought of this, he felt another jab in his heart. Who would have thought that he would be drawn to a woman like her so deeply that he was getting affected by the simplest of things she does or says, like being compared to another man?