The Man Who Looks Like an Angel
I stared at the flowers that shamelessly spread their lovely petals before me and I cannot help but feel amazed at them. Oh, they smell so good! These creations, whoever the Creator is, are very beautiful for me not to notice. That’s why I always spend my time in gardens. I just love seeing beautiful and aromatic flowers. Walking towards one of them, I let my nose touch one red flower in particular. However, before I could smell its aroma, I felt something tickle my nose.
“Achoo!” I sneezed. I shook my head. It must be the pollen. I felt bad. No matter how I love these creatures, I cannot fully enjoy them because smelling them would stir my allergic reactions to pollens.
“Pfft!” someone burst out.
Rattled, I looked around and spotted a man on the side who was trying to stop himself from laughing hard. However, he was already laughing while looking at me, which made me embarrassed that I turned red. I know that even without seeing, my face and ears are starting to feel warm anyway.
“I…” the man said and then continued laughing. “I… sorry. My lady, please allow me to show you how to properly smell a flower.”
Without waiting for my answer, he walked towards me, picked the red flower that I fancied, and then took more flowers without pollen in them. He inserted the red flower in the middle, then carefully placed all the flowers a little further from my nose.
“Now, smell, my Lady,” he said, and then used his other hand to wave the smell of the flowers towards my nose.
I smiled and followed his advice. My eyes widened, obviously surprised that his seemingly ridiculous idea worked. I didn’t believe him at first, thinking that he was just playing tricks on me, but his idea worked a bit. Although I wasn’t able to smell only the flowers that I liked, I was able to smell the sweet fragrances of all of them. I closed my eyes and let the sweet feeling brought by the sweet aroma linger in my senses. My world seemed to have stopped turning as if I was in heaven. Oh, how I wish I could stay in this state forever.
“Not too much, my Lady,” the man’s voice cut my daydreaming. “You need to come back to the real world.”
I felt a little angry at him for cutting short my beautiful dream, but the moment I opened my eyes and saw his face, my mouth dry, and I couldn't find any words to say at all. The rays of the sun are lighting his back, and they seem to have illuminated his face in much detail that he looks like an angel to me. My jaw dropped. Gosh, I must really be in heaven to see such a sight as this!
“Come again?” his voice cut my thinking again. “You were whispering something, my Lady.”
I flinched. Don’t tell me that I verbalized what I was thinking about seeing him as an angel! Immediately, I shook my head and blinked thrice. It’s time to go back to reality.
“T-thank you, sir,” I forced myself to act normal. “I love flowers, but I cannot put them so near my nose. The moment I do, my nose gets tickled, and I sneeze. I’ve always wandered in gardens and had many allergic reactions, but thanks to you, I was able to smell flowers so near today. That was amazing! If only I had known I could do that before…”
He smiled and handed the flowers to me.
“My name is William,” he said after I took the flowers with my left hand.
“It’s Irene,” I said and smiled back at him, not taking my eyes off his crystal-clear green eyes. “My name’s Irene.”
Without taking his eyes off me, he knelt on one knee and took my right hand with his, then brought it near his lips. Slowly, his lips touched the back of my palm. I was not prepared for the feeling that a kiss brought. I felt as if some force saturated my whole body and I shook a little. Thank goodness he was still busy kissing my hand and that he didn’t lift his head or else, I would feel ashamed of my body’s reaction towards his simple gesture.
A little while later, he lifted his eyes then locked them with mine again.
“It was a pleasure meeting you, Lady Irene,” he whispered but loud enough to hear. “I’m thankful that I heeded my guts to come here in the garden or else, I would have missed that beautiful sight of you enjoying the flowers here.”
Reminded of the embarrassing moment I had before him, I can feel my face and ears getting warm again. For sure, my face is turning red as it always does in moments like these.
“T-the pleasure is mine, Lord William?” I said, making sure that I was addressing him correctly.
“Yes,” he just replied, and then we continued staring at each other’s eyes.
I don’t know but this is the first time that I have felt so drawn to a person, most especially a man. In the past, I was nothing like this. The only men I allow near me are the servants in our castle and my dad. Aside from them, I withdraw from the others, save this handsomely dashing man before me who looks like an angel at the moment. I swallowed. Why does he really look like an angel to me? What made him so different from the other men that I met before?
“Lady Irene! Lady Irene!”
Hearing that voice from my personal servant, Lanie, I cut my invisible string at this man and shook my head to remind myself to come back to the present.
“I…M-my personal servant is calling me. I need to get back inside,” I said shyly and bowed my head. “Pleasure to meet your acquaintance.”
He smiled and then bowed his head in acknowledgment of what I said.
“I-I must go first,” I said. “Please excuse me.”
“See you inside, My Lady,” he answered.
Hearing that, I turned my back and hurried inside the palace. Hearing how Lanie calls for my name, she must have been instructed by my parents to look for me again, as usual.
