Chapter 1521: After Story: There Are No Shortcuts In Love [Part 1]

Derek sighed for the umpteenth time as he stared at the stars in the sky.

He sat crosslegged on the cliff overlooking the vast sea, the sound of waves crashing on the stone below reaching his ears.

In the past, the only thing that could be seen in the sky was the moon and the occasional shooting stars that heralded the deaths of Wanderers.

But now, a blanket of stars twinkled at him from the heavens, as if to tell him everything was going to be fine.

Unfortunately, even this beautiful scenery wasn’t enough to ease Derek’s mood.

"I messed up," Derek muttered before taking a sip of the can of beer in his hand.

It was then that he suddenly heard someone speak behind him, which almost made him jump up in fright.

"What’s wrong if you mess up? Those are part of life’s precious lessons."

When the young man turned around to look at the person behind him, he saw an old man holding a can of cola cola and a bag of potato chips.

Derek stared blankly at the old man, whose approach he didn’t even sense. The nearest city to the cliff he hung around was three hours away by car, so he wasn’t expecting to see anyone in this secluded place.

"Wait... I know you." Derek blinked. "Aren’t you the priest who performed the wedding ceremony for Zion and his wives?"

"That’s right." The old man, who was also Stella’s grandfather, James, replied with a smirk. "Can I sit beside you?"

After confirming that the suspicious old man wasn’t that suspicious, Derek nodded to agree to James’ request.

"Thank you." James sat cross-legged on the ground before opening his can of cola cola. He took a swig of it.

He exhaled softly, as a solemn sigh escaped his lips. He glanced at the starry sky before shifting his attention to Derek, who had resumed drinking his beer.

"You look heartbroken, young man," James said kindly. "Don’t tell me you plan to jump off this cliff after you finish drinking your beer?"

"I’m not suicidal," Derek answered. "I’m just here for some alone time to think things through. How about you, gramps? Why are you out here in the sticks?"

"I also need some alone time," James replied with a sigh. "I got scammed a while ago."

Derek blinked once then twice before shifting his attention to the old man. He couldn’t believe that someone actually tried to scam this defenseless old man, who couldn’t do any wrong in his eyes.

If only Derek knew James, he would not be sympathizing with him.

In fact, if his grandson, William, was in Derek’s place, he would first ask his grandfather if he was pranking him or not. James was the Bandit of Lont, a con-artist, and at times, a scammer.

For a scammer to be scammed... that was next level scamming!

"Gramps, who scammed you?" Derek asked. "Whoever it is, I’ll help you deal with him."

"Thanks for the offer, but he’s actually from a world that is millions of light years away," James replied. "You’d be long dead before you could even step into that world."

For a brief moment, Derek wondered if what the old man was drinking was not cola cola but actually wine or beer. He was just trying to console him, but why did he suddenly talk about something that only drunk people would say?

"Gramps, is that beer in your hand?"

"No. This is cola cola. I can’t drink beer and travel across the multiverse at the same time. My great granddaughters will nag at me if I do that."

Derek was starting to wonder if he was talking to a crazy person.

But before he could tell the old man to go home, and take a proper rest, James started eating his potato chips with a vengeance.

"Um, out of curiosity, what’s the name of the person that scammed you?" Derek asked. "That way, I won’t be scammed by the same person."

"Well, I guess it won’t hurt if I tell you his name." James shrugged. "His name is Leone Frontera, the Great Chieftain of the Aslan Tribe."

The name Leone Frontera as well as the Aslan Tribe didn’t ring any bell to the young man. However, he made sure to remember the name for future reference.

"What did he scam from you, gramps?" Derek inquired. "Have you reported it to the police?"

"Report it to the police?" James chuckled. "I don’t even dare to report this to my grandson. If he knew I got scammed, he would only laugh out loud and ask me to take him to Leone so they could be friends."

"Huh?! Your grandson will befriend the person who scammed you? What kind of bullsh*t is that?"

"I know, right? But it’s the truth. My family is weird."

Derek sympathized with the old man, and the two hit it off. They drank beer and cola cola together, snacking on whatever they had brought with them to pass the time.

The young man even opened up to his woes, and James listened to it with the experience of someone who had faced many challenges in his lifetime.

"I don’t think she hates you," James said. "You really like this girl, Mildred, right?"

"Yes," Derek replied. "And I thought that she liked me too. That’s why I confessed to her. But she only ran away after my confession without even giving me a reply."

"But she didn’t say no, right?" James stated.

"But she ran away. Isn’t that the same as rejecting my proposal?"

"Maybe she just got too embarrassed to give you an answer so she ran away?"

Derek blinked once, then twice, before trying to recall the exact scene that happened several hours ago.

He had groomed himself properly, wore a suit, and invited her to a fancy dinner. The dinner went smoothly, and after that, they took a stroll in the city side by side.

Derek had tried to propose to her during dinner, but he got cold feet mid-way. Because of this, he decided to gather his courage to confess to her then, and there.

He even knelt on the street, with people stopping to look at him and Mildred as he made his proposal.

She remembered Mildred looking around as people gathered to watch Derek’s proposal. A moment later, she ran away without saying a word, leaving Derek kneeling on the ground with a small opened box in his hand.

Inside of it was a wedding ring.

Yes.

Derek’s definition of a confession was a proposal for marriage!

When James heard his story, he couldn’t help but say "Kids these days jump over the proper steps. Back in my time..."

Now that Derek had calmed down a bit, maybe he had rushed things too much.

Instead of dating each other first, he jumped to marriage right away.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! I’m so stupid!" Derek covered his face with both hands, making James laugh.

"Derek, there is no shortcut to love," James said calmly. "Marriage is the culmination of the love that two people have for each other. Of course, not all marriages are done due to love. Some are contractual marriages, some are arranged, while others just marry on a whim.

"Some of these relationships work out, while some don’t. But you... you jumped the gun before you can even properly confess your feelings to her and ask her to become your girlfriend!"

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Derek shouted in embarrassment, while still covering his face with both hands. "I was wroooooooooong! I was stupiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiid!"

If he could only go back in time, he would have slapped his old self before telling him exactly what he shouldn’t do after his dinner date with Mildred!