It's been three days since Cecilia arrived in the Philippines and it was eventful. After she stayed in Manila for one night (where she saw the secret surveillance His Majesty deployed to watch over her, so she secretly left Manila), she proceeded to Tagaytay since the place is on her number one list, and boy, it was really amazing.

She didn't expect the people around her to be so hospitable and they even find her amazing how she could communicate with them in Tagalog fluently. Talk about taking Filipino language lessons for three years. Her hard work finally paid off.

Not just that, they didn't even let her feel left out. They treated her like one of them and she belongs with them, not just a foreigner that just came in the Philippines for the first time. (and also, she didn't even feel like she's a goddamn Crown Princess from another country).

Until now, Cecilia couldn't figure out how she managed to convince her dad to give her a month of freedom. She even thought that he wouldn't agree on her proposal and he would just restrict her or even ground her. But the moment she said she wouldn't back out of the engagement or even the wedding with Duke Rowan, he agreed just like that.

She shrugged. He really wants me to marry that duke, huh?

She couldn't help but sigh as she read a certain Tagalog romance pocketbook that she bought from the bookstore the other day. The story is all about a rich heiress who fell in love with a poor farmer. It was cliché in her opinion, but she didn't know why she was so fascinated by the rich girl-poor man trope like this. Although she was still struggling a little while reading the Filipino novel, she still loved to read it.

Maybe because she could relate herself to the female main character.

"Here's your order po," a waiter spoke to her as he put a bowl on her table.
"Oh, thank you-" Cecilia stared at the bowl in front of her. It was a light colored soup that has a bone of some sort and has a fat attached to it. It has a cabbage, corn on the cob, scallions, onions, garlic, ginger, and fish sauce of some sort. She had no idea what's the food in front of her. "A-ah, ano... can I ask what is this?"

The waiter looked confused the moment she asked him but he still managed to answer her. "Bulalo po iyan, Ma'am. That's what you ordered from Leslie's Espesyal menu. That's one of the best-selling food of Leslie's. Your Tagaytay vacation will never be complete without trying our Bulalo."

"Oh, that's good to hear! Let me have a taste." Cecilia managed to have a scoop on the Bulalo's soup and tasted it. Her eyes sparkled the moment she tasted the soup. "Wow, it was so good! Masarap!"

"Mabuti naman po at nagustuhan po ninyo," the waiter told her as he put a plate on her table. "This is also one of the best-selling desserts of Leslie's. This is the Turon De Leslie."

"Woah, by the looks of it, this looks delicious." Cecilia flaunted a grin towards the waiter. "Salamat." Thank you.

"Enjoy your food po," he said and left her to eat.

Cecilia indeed enjoyed her food a lot, up until the last scoop.

The princess, disguised as an ordinary person, spent her day going to the tourist spots in Tagaytay. The first tourist spot on her bucket list is Picnic Grove where she first tried cable car riding. Then she went to the Sky Ranch Tagaytay where she first tried to ride the Ferris Wheel, much to her astonishment.

It was ridiculous that at the age of twenty-two, it's her first time riding on one. No one could really blame her for it. She came from the royal family where they have tight security measures and their movements are monitored all the time for their security. She couldn't get out that easily even though she usually sneaks out of the palace. When she was a kid, she couldn't experience going to amusement parks like normal kids, one thing that she envy the most when she usually listened to the palace maids that they usually have outings with their lovers, families, friends, or even children.

Cecilia couldn't help but slightly get teary-eyed, recalling her experiences being a kid who couldn't experience a proper childhood because of her status as the Crown Princess of Eshasea, the heir to the throne, the future queen.

This is the freedom she's been craving all her life, and now, she's finally enjoying and savoring it.

Lastly, she went to one of the famous tourist spots of Tagaytay, the Taal Volcano, and Lake. The first time she saw the said place she felt so captivated by the beauty of the place that she couldn't help but take lots and lots of pictures. She even took a selfie herself yet she wasn't satisfied with it.

She looked around, trying to find something or someone perhaps. I badly need someone to freaking take a photo of me in this scenery!

A man caught her attention, just standing a few meters away from her. The mab was wearing a white polo tucked properly in his slacks and his jet-black hair was slightly messed up because of the wind. He was silently looking at the Taal volcano.

Cecilia didn't know how to approach the man because she felt like she was intimidated by his aura. But, he's the only person near her and the only person she could ask a favor to.

Ah, nevermind his aura! I should definitely ask him! It's just one photo!

"U-umm, e-excuse me?" As Cecilia stepped closer, her breath hitched. From afar, his sharp profile was captivating, but up close, he was breathtaking. His unreadable gaze held a silent depth, pulling her in without a word. The elegant slope of his nose, the sculpted lines of his face, and those lips—soft, full, and dangerously tempting—made her heart stutter. He was a mystery written in shadows and beauty, and for reasons she couldn't explain, she longed to read every line.

He gleamed under the sunlight, like a Greek god. But he wasn't Apollo—radiant and warm. No, he felt like Hades—dark, powerful, and utterly untouchable. And she wondered to herself why she thought of such.

It seemed like the guy was waiting for her to say something by how his brows were slightly creased. Immediately, she cleared her throat and asked. "Ca-Can I take a picture of you—No! I-I mean, can you take a picture of me with the Taal Volcano scenery?"

The man stared at her in silence, as if he was reading her that she couldn't help but feel a bit conscious about it. It took a second or two for him to outstretch his hand to hold her phone, much for her to feel excited. "Oh my gosh, thank you!"

The man moved away from her just to face her and aimed the phone at her. She immediately posed in front of the camera and the former took her pictures.

Click!

"Wait! Uh, can you take another photo po kung okay lang?" she immediately asked the man when he was about to return the phone. The man was silently staring at her but she still begged for him. "Please? Isa na lang po talaga. Just one."

The guy looked down at her phone before positioning it again. She widened her smile and heard her phone camera's shutter click. She, then, walked towards the guy who had just given her phone silently and left.

She looked at the pictures that the man had taken for her and she felt so enthralled about the results. The photos were totally gorgeous and on point. He applied the rules of third in photography to her photos even though he was just using her phone.

Is he a professional photographer?

Before the man could even leave, she immediately ran after him and held his arm. "Sir, wait lang po!"

The man turned his head at her, staring at her in silence. Cecilia didn't wait for him to say something and she fished out the souvenir that she bought earlier from Sky Ranch from her bag. It was a Ferris wheel keychain with the name "Ceci" attached to it.

"The pictures that you took for me... those are really beautiful. I don't know how to thank you but... I hope you'll accept the keychain. Err, you can just remove my name if you want to. It's personalized from the shop and detachable. Hahaha!"

The man looked at her again. She could see how the side of his lips curled up.

"Thank you, Ceci."

Cecilia was stunned on her spot as she looked at the man's back. She stayed there until she couldn't see him anymore and that's the time she realized that she was staring at her the whole time until he left her.

Holy mother of cheesecake, I could feel my ears melting because of his voice. Is it possible for someone to have such a deep voice or is it just deep because he was whispering? On top of that, he's so handsome and mysterious.

Oh my gosh, snap out of it, Cecilia! You're here for a vacation, not to simp on someone's face and voice, you know?! You're so embarrassing.

She sighed as she looked at the photos that the man took for her on her phone. "Such a shame..."

I couldn't even manage to ask his name.