The sea breeze scattered their hair, her pleated skirt fluttering like blooming gardenias in the wind.
He crouched down, gently tucking her disheveled hair behind her ears, one knee on the ground, the epitome of a gentleman at that moment.
“Aurora, I’ll tell you my full name, but not now.” Now was not the right time. He wanted to present himself as a perfect man before her.
Aurora, somewhat understanding, replied, “Then you must come find me.”
She simply enjoyed playing with him.
“I’ll do what I promised,” he said with a gentle smile, while she pondered the many things he had promised over the past few days, not knowing which one he meant.
“Then do a pinky swear with me.” No matter what he was referring to, she would never forget him, the boy in the white shirt.
“Alright.” The boy extended his little finger, hooking it with the girl’s, their fingers intertwining once again.
Aurora looked into his eyes as the sunlight bathed him.
In the sunlight, he looked so pure and impeccable. The plain white shirt that seemed ordinary on the son of a crew member looked so good on him.
“Aurora, wait for me.” He gently kissed her on the forehead, his lips somewhat cool.
Before she could react, he strode away, quickly disappearing into the bustling dock.
The mischievous boy in the white shirt from her memories, who had saved her life, however, was just a passerby in her life.
At first, she waited early for him to come for her, but as time marched on and years passed, the playful nature of a child took over, and his image eventually faded from her memory, only to resurface years later when she saw a movie.
In “Titanic”, after the ship hit the iceberg, the heroine Rose and the hero Jack found a piece of driftwood.
The driftwood could only support one person. Jack placed Rose upon it, himself cold in the water.
She then recalled a similar scene from her deep memory, though it had been too long, and she could no longer remember what the boy looked like.
The childhood promise was also long forgotten. He had not come for her after leaving, and she had forgotten him.
Memories flooded back like a tide. The boy on the deck merged with the man before her, awakening a long-forgotten memory.
“It’s you…” Aurora, hands over her mouth, looked at Julian in disbelief.
He hadn’t changed much, just matured a bit from those years. If he hadn’t reminded her, she would have completely forgotten.
All the memories of that night flooded back. On that stormy night, she clung to him like an octopus.
He held onto the driftwood with one hand, holding her with the other, telling her not to be afraid while waiting for rescue.
Julian slowly extended his little finger and said, “Aurora, I’m back.”
It turned out he still remembered the promise back then. Aurora loved making a pinky swear, as if really nothing would change after making it.
Looking at his long fingers, she slowly extended her hand, their fingers entwined as before.
He pulled her into his arms. “You once said you’d marry me, and I’ve never forgotten you, yet you had forgotten me, even falling for my nephew. You heartless woman!”
His voice carried a hint of grievance. Aurora, still in a trance, couldn’t help but laugh at his childlike remark.
“Could you let go of me first? I can hardly breathe.”
“You held me just like this years ago, nearly choking me to death,” he said as he slowly released her, looking at the woman who had now blossomed into a striking figure.
Though traces of the young girl he once knew could still be seen in her eyes, her personality had undergone a dramatic change.
“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?” Aurora was still reeling from the shock that he was the boy from years ago.
“I didn’t tell you fifteen years ago because of my ambiguous identity. I wanted to appear before you when I was a better man. Three years ago, I didn’t tell you because I wanted to see if you would remember me. And as expected, you had completely forgotten me,” he said, his tone full of frustration.
Aurora felt even more wronged. Back then, unlike the mature Julian, she was just a child concerned only with frivolous pleasures.
How could she take his words seriously? Besides, she often played house with other children, and such talk was normal.
She had never taken it seriously, so it never weighed on her heart. Yet, he had cherished the memory for fifteen years, waiting for her to grow up.
“I-I was just a child then,” Aurora managed to say, feeling a sense of guilt.
“That’s a good excuse. Otherwise, I won’t let you off the hook. Weren’t you supposed to treat me to lunch?” Julian suddenly relaxed his hold, speaking in a light tone as if nothing had happened.
Yet, Aurora was curious about what had actually happened back then. How had his ship capsized?
She had been too young to consider such things back then. In her memory, that patch of ocean was vast and devoid of any reefs or undersea mountains.
Besides, where had he gone afterward? Since he had never forgotten her, why hadn’t he come to find her? And the third crucial question lingered in her mind.
“You just said that you and Hayden fell for the same girl. What did you mean by that?” Aurora was filled with questions.
“Call me ‘My Prince’,” Julian teased, his demeanor echoing his childhood self.
From childhood, he had known her weaknesses, remembering how she used to follow him around, pleading for his company.
Back then, her voice was sweet, and it delighted Julian, but their recent meetings had been marked by harsh words or cold stares.
“My Prince…” It seemed impossible for her to say his name. She was no longer the naive child she once was.
“Not sweet at all,” he remarked.
“My Prince!”
“Can’t you say it affectionately?” Back then, he didn’t tell her his true identity, but now things were different. He could be his true self before her.
“My Prince.” She had never called another man so affectionately since growing up, a blush tinting her cheeks.
Seeing him smirk at her, she punched him lightly in the chest. “Alright, I’ve done what you asked me to do. Now it’s your turn to answer my questions.”
“Okay, but I’m so hungry I can barely speak.”
“You bastard!”