The Princess Secret Affair

The Rancher

The sound of horses' hooves could be heard moving away from that small shack the next morning. Darling was seen standing by the house's door, watching as three men, including Silver, rode away on three horses. She chose not to wake up her husband when the young man bid farewell, as he was still peacefully asleep beside their child.

Silver tightly gripped the reins attached to the horse's neck, leading the way. It was still twilight when his phone received numerous messages from workers and his two siblings, all concerned about his failure to return the previous night. He promptly responded, arranging for a pickup as soon as possible. By that time, the rain had already stopped.

As he traveled back home with the two trusted farmhands, he recalled the encounter with Darling earlier. Coming out of the bathroom after fixing himself, he was surprised when she met him right at the bathroom entrance. Due to the narrow space in the alley in front of the door, he inadvertently pinned her against the wall.

For a moment, the world seemed to stop when their eyes met. He observed her eyes, her aquiline nose, and the perfectly shaped lips. He could even catch a whiff of her breath, fragrant even though she had just woken up. The parting of her lips seemed to invite him to kiss them. After a short while, he snapped out of his trance upon hearing Rudolfo's movements, adjusting his sleeping position beside his child. He was about to walk away but was halted when Darling grabbed his arm. He quickly turned towards her, revealing a mixture of surprise on his reaction.

"S-sorry, s-sir..." Darling immediately withdrew her hand after facing him. She spoke hesitantly, clearly nervous and apologetic.

Silver stood there, waiting for what she would say next.

"I-I just want to apologize for what happened last night," she said in a soft, almost whispered voice. Occasionally, she glanced at her sleeping husband from where they stood. Being careful not to be caught in such a scene.

He didn't immediately respond to the woman's statement. The truth was, even though it still lingered in his mind until now, he never expected the woman to confront him about it. He admired her courage to open up about the matter. He intentionally stayed still last night, giving her the impression that he was asleep and unaware of what happened.

“Oh, it’s nothing. Just don’t mind it," she chuckled, dismissing the situation.

It was the first time he saw her smile, an image that lingered in his mind. A few minutes after the short exchange, his ride arrived.

“I think I will be fine from here,” he said to the two men accompanying him. He deliberately slowed down the horse to let them hear his words. “I believe I know the way home. Can you just find Thor for me? I'm afraid he might have wandered out of the ranch," he added, shifting his gaze between the two.

“Yes, sir!” they almost simultaneously replied. The men quickly turned, heading in different directions towards the vast expanse of trees that met their eyes.

While Silver continued his journey on horseback, making his way home. He decided to address some important matters today.

“Sir! I'm glad you're home. Where did you spend the whole night?” an elderly woman greeted him, taking care of cleaning the stable where he had entered the horse.

“I stayed with a family who offered me shelter, Auring,” he replied, locking the gate of the horse enclosure. “Where's Kanor?” he asked her.

“Thank goodness you're all right; we were all worried last night,” she continued sweeping. “Oh, Kanor? He's currently at the vegetable garden. Why do you ask?”

"I would like to ask if he could go with me to town," he said. "Please inform him that we'll leave after I finish showering," he added, turning away from the elderly woman.

"Yes, sir!" she responded.

From the rear part of his ranch house-style home, he walked through the rear veranda to take a shortcut into the large and tall wooden house. This was the property he inherited from his parents, the house where they all grew up as siblings.

He is Silver Salazar, the second child of the scientist couple who both died in an accident, which, eventually, after a long time, they found out wasn't an accident at all. His parents were killed by their business partners, and all of this was revealed by his younger brother, Copper. Unbeknownst to them, Copper had long been secretly investigating about it.

When he was still small, he was a very shy child. He always stayed in one corner and was content even without the attention of the people around him. He was a good child, obedient and respectful, but that wasn't enough for his parents to make him their favorite child back then. Nevertheless, he was okay with it. After all, he didn't lack anything. His parents provided for all his needs and wants. Along with the toys and animals on the ranch, she spends the whole day doing just fine even without seeing her parents and two siblings who often quarrel, especially when their mommy and daddy are not around.

Of the three of them, unbeknownst to his two siblings, he was the most affected by the loss of their parents. While most of the attention was on Copper, who was the favorite and vocal about his feelings. As for him, he quietly mourned back then. Even though the pain he felt was heavy in his chest from what he was going through, he always kept it hidden. He learned to keep everything to himself and quietly face life.

Although not talkative when he was a child, he grew up with many friends. In fact, he was close to all the staff on the entire ranch. Being with them, he grew fond of taking care of animals and planting various kinds of plants. This was a major reason why his parents gave him the entirety of the vast hectare of land they owned, along with hundreds of animals they raised.

"Where are we going, sir?" Kanor asked when he got into the Ford Ranger pickup truck.

The man had just finished getting ready, and his hair was still wet as he quickly put on his hat. "I'll need your help in buying materials for house construction," he said again, immediately starting the vehicle.

"Is there something wrong with the farmhouse, sir?" his companion inquired.

"Nothing at all. We just need to fix another house. Later, I'll take you with me to see what you think other materials are needed. And as soon as we complete what we need, load the workers to help fix it. The house is small, I think we can finish it quickly. We just need to complete the construction before another storm comes," he explained while driving and looking at the road ahead from the tall and large vehicle.

Kanor just nodded.

Due to the debt of gratitude he felt for the couple who rescued him last night, he decided to have their shanty renovated. While lying down last night and unable to sleep, he already formulated that plan in his mind. He decided to give their house a full makeover.

They spent over an hour in the town's hardware store to complete everything they needed. Each item was loaded into the back of the black truck, but due to the sheer volume of materials, it didn't fit in the vehicle. Hence, they requested the workers to stay and wait for another truck that would pick up the rest. It would follow along with the other workers.

He continued alone in the direction towards the home of the family who helped him last night. While driving, he was focused on the muddy and bumpy road, which was further narrowed by the stems of plants and trees broken by the recent heavy rain. As much as possible, he wanted to avoid the large potholes filled with dirty water, but due to their number, he just let the tires of the vehicle pass through them. After a few moments, he suddenly heard a piercing scream. He looked for it, and when he looked at the left side mirror, he saw a woman who seemed to be bathing in mud. Her face, including the front of her clothes, was covered in dirt.

"Oh, sh*t!" he suddenly cursed.It seems that he might be the reason why the woman looks like that. He winced. How could he notice the woman when she was hidden among the plants on the side of the road? He accidentally splattered mud on her while passing by. Because of that, he immediately stopped the vehicle, got out and approached her.

Meanwhile, Darling was pissed at the driver of the vehicle that had just passed by. She acknowledged that because of her petite stature, the driver might not have seen her, but why couldn't he have driven more slowly through that area? She couldn't help but express her frustration by wiping her face with one hand when she saw the vehicle stop and a man get off.

"I'm so sorry, Miss. I didn't mean to. I just didn't see you," the young man quickly explained.

They both stopped almost simultaneously upon recognizing each other. Because of that, Darling turned away from the man, trying to control her irritation. In truth, if he didn't know the driver of the vehicle, she would have yelled at him already.

On the other hand, Silver was briefly flustered, thinking about what he could offer the woman to use to wipe her face. He looked inside the car to check if there were any facial tissues. When he couldn't find any, he simply took off his T-shirt.

“Here, you can use this!” he handed the garment to the woman.

Darling took it and began wiping herself. After a moment, thinking that her face was clean, she turned towards the man but suddenly turned away again when she saw Silver topless. It was only then that she realized the cloth she used to wipe her face was actually the man's own clothes, which explained why it smelled so good.

“Something wrong?” Silver asked as Darling turned away again.

“Nothing, sir,” she replied. “Thank you for this, but you can't wear it anymore because I already dirtied it,” Darling added.

“That's okay,” he said. “Come, let's finish cleaning your face,” he turned the girl towards him, took the shirt, and gently wiped the remaining mud from her face. It felt weird, but he sensed a certain subtlety during that moment. He stared at her smooth face, occasionally brushing it with his fingers.

Darling, on the other hand, couldn't look straight at the man. She looked up at him, but her eyes wandered everywhere. She admitted that the situation was awkward, but somehow her irritation towards the man quickly disappeared.

“Sorry again,” Silver apologized, still hesitant to mention her name. “Where are you headed?” he asked after finishing what he was doing.

“I'm going home, sir. I bought medicine because Rudolfo had a high fever when he woke up this morning. I think he caught a cold last night, so I need to get home quickly for him to take his medicine. Usually, he's the one who goes out to buy things, so I'm not familiar with the right way to and from the market,” Darling explained.

“Do you mean you walked to and from the highway?” Silver asked.

“Yes, sir.”

Silver felt pity for what he heard. It was quite a distance. “Come on. I'll give you a ride to make sure you get home safely. After all, that's where I'm heading too,” he offered.

“Really?” Darling replied, somewhat confused. She was about to ask why he was going back to their house when she saw the man going ahead to open the car door.

In the next few minutes, they started navigating the muddy road. They didn't exchange words inside the car. It seemed like they were avoiding each other, allowing themselves to be entertained by the country music playing on the truck's radio.

However, the car suddenly stopped after a while. The man looked at the tires from both side mirrors and found out that they were stuck in a deep hole on the uneven road. Because the materials at the back were too heavy, every time he tried to drive, it only created deeper holes in the ground, causing the two tires to sink even further. He got out to check and look for something to put under the tires to help lift them. He also checked if there were any usable materials. He saw some sandbags and took two to place them in front of the sunken tires. He tried to start the car, but it only resulted in a flat tire, with sand spreading in the wet soil, which didn't help at all.

Silver sighed in frustration. Why did this have to happen now, especially when he was with this woman?

"Are you okay?" Darling asked, sensing his frustration.

"Yeah. I just need to call for help," he said, going out to make a call to Kanor to explain what happened. After hanging up, the woman spoke.

"I'll just walk, sir. Anyway, our house is quite close. I just really need to get home quickly to give Rudolfo his medicine," she said, taking the initiative to leave.

"Huh? Are you sure?" he asked, expressing concern that she would have to walk a long distance again.

"Yes, sir, it's no problem."

Silver quickly thought. "Okay, I'll accompany you," he said.

"Are you sure? The road is muddy," she hesitated.

"It's okay," he assured her, already getting off and turning to open the car door again.

Darling felt embarrassed about what the man was doing, but she didn't say anything. She just handed him her extended hand, but for some unknown reason, the man didn't grasp it well, almost causing him to fall from the car. Fortunately, Silver was quick, and he managed to catch her. However, due to the slippery ground, they both fell into the mud with Darling on top of him.