---- shouldn't have fallen for me." The engagement party that followed went off without a hitch. Theodore played the role of the perfect fiancé- gentle, attentive, and considerate. But my heart felt tangled and uneasy, all because of his quiet declaration: "You shouldn't have fallen for me." After the party ended, I sat alone in the garden, lost in thought. Iheard footsteps behind me and turned. To my surprise, it was Benedict. He sat ona stone bench three steps away, his tone unusually calm. "Why are you sitting out here alone? I thought you'd be over the moon, getting to marry Theodore." Since I had returned to Arcadia, we rarely spoke to each other so peacefully. ---- I rested my head on my hand and answered, " Theodore said... I shouldn't have fallen for him." Benedict gave a short, scornful laugh. "Don't believe a word that comes out of his mouth. "T've always been the reckless one, and he's always been the serious type-holding himself back, weighing every move. But I can tell-he loves you. "TJ see it in the way he looks at you. It's the same way I look at you." I looked at Benedict, amused and curious. "T thought you came out here to badmouth Theodore and convince me to run away with you." He chuckled and plucked a leaf from the tree nearby, fiddling with it in his hands. "Do I seem like such an idiot? "Theodore loves you a lot," Benedict said. "So much so that he believes he's not good ---- enough for you. You're in the prime of your youth, vibrant and full of life, while he's already past thirty. "He's afraid that one day you'll wake up and grow tired of his aging face, his stiffness, his silence. "That you'll look at him and think, 'So this is the man I married?' He'd rather remain the unreachable moon in your heart than become a stain on your sleeve that you want to flick away." I pouted. "Then why did he agree to marry meat all?" I asked in frustration. "Unlike me, he actually speaks-just says all the wrong things." I crossed my arms. "At least your rejection was honest. Now I might not marry any Bradford at all." Benedict's eyes crinkled as he smiled. "Always so dramatic." "you've loved him for years, you think you can just walk away? At Grandpa's party, I thought you ---- were looking at me... only to realize you were staring at the empty seat beside me where Theodore should've been." Suddenly, he leaned in conspiratorially. "I'll teach you a trick. I guarantee it'1] set Theodore's cold heart on fire." I tilted my head and looked at him warily. "You're not going to sabotage me, are you?" Benedict grinned. "If you didn't love him, I couldn't care less if he could get his true love. "But Sansa... all I want is for you to be happy."