The ache of longing fermented like dough, and with time, he found himself loving her even more.
Over the six years, he thought of her every moment, loved her every second.
After bidding farewell to his teacher, he was headed back to Dreamland to find her.
And now, he stood in his memories.
As the sun rose from the horizon, he walked toward the castle bathed in sunlight.
The castle was filled with jubilant vibes; colorful flags adorned every corner, and people sang joyously.
“Anything special today?” he asked a passerby.
“Today, the princess is marrying the prince from the neighboring country!” For a moment, he heard the shattering of his dream. He froze; six years of longing flashed across his face, falling like snow.
A full moon ascended the sky. When the church bells chimed, he slowly walked toward the chapel. Regardless, he needed to see her one more time.
People had gathered along the path from the palace to the chapel, waiting for the princess. He stood among them, waiting silently. When the princess appeared, hand in hand with the prince, the crowd erupted.
He fixed his gaze on her face, knowing this was the last time he’d see her. From now on, he’d leave Dreamland forever. He vowed to forget all memories, all pain, and the profound love.
As she walked past him, their eyes locked. Suddenly, he pushed through the guards, rushing toward her.
The guards unsheathed their swords, but it was too late. He stood before the princess, arms open wide. In that instant, he saw her startled expression.
“Don’t be afraid, I’ll protect you,” he said gently.
A sharp pain surged through his back, and he heard the sound of an arrow piercing his body.
Slowly, he fell at her feet. No one noticed that in the crowd opposite, an archer aimed an arrow at the princess.
He opened his eyes; she wore a wedding gown, smiling down at him. Beside them, angels sang blessings.
“Is this a dream?” he murmured.
“A dream is enough,” he said, gripping her hand.
A shooting star streaked across the castle’s sky, like a tear of happiness.
Behind every classic, there often lies a touching or beautifully romantic story. Listening quietly is as refreshing as taking a breath of sweet air, growing sweeter over time.
A piece of music, a tale. True love is the fusion of hearts and souls, a call and response from afar. It’s watching over each other, a pure and beautiful natural phenomenon, life’s most treasured memory.
“It’s truly wonderful, so moving. This is the best piano piece I’ve heard,” a girl’s eyes shimmered with enchantment.
“I feel like it’s even better than what Clayderman plays. The music is nearly stealing my soul. I could happily drown in these beautiful notes for a lifetime.”
At this moment, Sophia and Karen arrived at the elevator on the second floor, descending.
“Sophia, listen! It’s my favorite piano piece, ‘Mariage D’amour’!” Karen exclaimed excitedly.
“It sounds like someone’s playing live,” Sophia pointed to the crowd surrounding the hall below.
Rising on her toes, Karen tried to catch a glimpse but the elevator quickly reached the first floor.
As they arrived on the first floor, the music ceased.
After finishing his performance, Leo quickly stepped off the stage, maneuvering through the crowd, and exited the building.
Lost in the melody, the audience was so entranced they even forgot to applaud.
“Sophia, wait for me outside. I’m going to check it out,” Karen said to Sophia before rushing toward the crowd.
Sophia smiled wryly, shaking her head, and met Leo outside the entrance.
“Where’s Karen?” Leo asked.
“She’s gone to see the piano player.”
Just as Sophia finished speaking, Karen appeared, sighing in regret, “The piano player already left.”
“Let’s go too,” Leo suggested.
Not long after the trio left, a figure in white appeared where Leo had stood. She looked around anxiously but couldn’t spot the pianist from earlier.
Later that night, just as Sophia was about to fall asleep, her phone began ringing.
She picked it up from the nightstand, utterly speechless. It was so late, and Karen was calling her? Couldn’t she let people sleep?
Although she had her grievances, Sophia answered the call.
Before Sophia could ask if there was an emergency, Karen’s voice sounded on the other end, brimming with excitement, “Sophia, open TikTok! I found true love!”
Amused and exasperated, Sophia thought her friend had gone mad in the middle of the night.
“What does your true love have to do with TikTok?”
“Do you remember the pianist from earlier, the one who played ‘Mariage D’amour’? It’s gone viral on TikTok!”
Sophia rolled her eyes, amused. Karen was acting like an excited child eager to share a secret.
“Get to the point.”
“In that TikTok video, the pianist is my dream Prince Charming! If I hadn’t gone to the bathroom, I wouldn’t have missed him!”
“Sophia, I swear I’m going to find him and then marry him. Even if it’s like finding a needle in a haystack, I’m determined. I’ve decided, it’s him or no one!”
Sophia found her bestie could be quite neurotic at times.
“Come on, that’s definitely just a publicity stunt. Don’t be so naive, okay?”
“It’s absolutely not a publicity stunt. The video was taken by onlookers in the crowd, really amateurish. It only captured a silhouette. Don’t believe me? I’ll send it to you!”
Karen said and promptly hung up, then sent a video to Sophia on WhatsApp.
Sophia opened the video and watched. It was indeed quite amateurishly shot, only showing the back, the front face wasn’t visible.
From the phone’s speaker came a melodious piano piece, played really skillfully.
Sophia’s gaze focused on the silhouette on the screen. Why did it feel somewhat familiar?
Karen sent another WhatsApp message: “Did you see? He’s the man of my dreams. I have to find him and propose to him!”
Suddenly, Sophia found Karen ridiculously cute. Falling in love with someone based solely on a silhouette – even if it’s love at first sight, you should at least see the face first, right?
Another WhatsApp message, accompanied by a fearful expression: “Sophia, do you think I can find him? What if he’s already married? What am I going to do then? I feel like I won’t be able to fall in love with anyone else again.”
Sophia wasn’t in the mood to play along with her nonsense. She decisively muted her phone and went to sleep.
Early the next morning, Karen called again.