Chapter 1522: After Story: There Are No Shortcuts In Love [Part 2]

"Have you calmed down?" James asked.

"...Yes," Derek replied.

Now that he had time to reflect on what he had done earlier, he finally understood why Mildred reacted that way.

He was like a baseball player preparing to swing. But instead of swinging his bat, he decided to run to the bases instead!

It was like putting the cart before the horse!

"Gramps, what should I do?" Derek asked.

James crossed his arms over his chest and looked at the young man with a calm gaze.

"What should you do?" James smirked as if the answer was common sense. "You should apologize, obviously."

"Right." Derek lowered his head in shame.

"But before that, you need to think carefully about what kind of apology you’re going to make," James added.

Derek blinked. "There are different kinds of apologies?"

"Of course there are," James replied. "A bad apology will make things even worse. Especially with women. You have no idea how many times I’ve suffered during my younger years when everyone, including their sisters, mothers, and grandmothers, were blowing me kisses."

Derek looked at James with doubt. However, since the old man was giving him some advice, he decided to just turn a blind eye to his delusions!

James, who had no idea what the young man was thinking, cleared his throat before speaking in a solemn tone.

"Listen carefully, Derek. There are two things in this world that men should never underestimate."

"What are they?"

"A woman’s anger," James replied. "And her ability to remember every stupid thing you’ve done in your lifetime."

Derek felt a chill run down his spine. "A-Are you sure, gramps? Women remember everything?"

James simply nodded. As the All Father, he knew what he was talking about. The old man then stroked his beard as if recalling painful memories from long ago.

"Back in my day, I once made my wife very angry," James said fondly.

Derek immediately became curious. "What happened?"

"I tried to reason with her." James shrugged.

"And?"

"I ended up sleeping outside the house for a week."

Derek’s face twitched. "What did you do, Gramps?"

James scoffed. "Boy, let me tell you something. Dragons are easier to deal with than angry women."

The old man suddenly looked at Derek with a serious expression. He intended to impart words of wisdom to the younger generation. That way, they could fix their wrongs before things got worse.

"Imagine this," James said. "A young man once asked Santa Claus for a dragon to become his mount."

Derek blinked in confusion at the sudden change in topic, but still listened carefully.

"Santa told the young man that taming dragons wasn’t easy, so he asked him to wish for something more realistic instead."

James paused for dramatic effect before continuing.

"So the young man said, ’Then I want women to say exactly what they mean, stop expecting men to read their minds, and forgive us immediately after we apologize.’"

Derek slowly nodded. For some reason, he could relate to that man’s wish. "What happened next?"

James patted Derek’s shoulder with a sympathetic look on his face.

"Santa asked the young man what color he wanted his dragon to be. Because that wish seemed more realistic than his second wish."

"...."

"...."

Derek stared blankly at the old man. A second later, he buried his face in his hands. "I’m doomed."

"Yes," James replied without hesitation. "But since Mildred hasn’t stabbed you yet, there’s still hope. Maybe try calling her and apologize on the phone?"

Thinking that the idea wasn’t that bad, he pulled out the phone from his pocket and tapped its surface. But the phone didn’t react.

He tapped it a few more times, and even pressed the power button to make it work.

It was then that Derek remembered that his phone battery was already very low after he went to this secluded place to think.

"My phone is dead," Derek said with a sigh. "Any other advice, gramps?"

James stared at him for a few seconds before letting out a long sigh. "There is only one thing you can do, then. Apologize face to face."

Derek blinked. "Right now?"

"When do you plan to do it?" James replied dryly. "Next year?"

"But what if she’s still angry?"

"The question isn’t whether she’s angry or not. The real question is whether you’ll survive long enough to apologize properly."

Derek pouted. "Gramps, you’re not helping."

"I am helping," James said. "I’m preparing you mentally."

The old man took out another can of cola cola from who knows where and opened it with a pop. He then took a sip to moisten his throat before continuing the conversation.

"Listen carefully, Derek. Women are emotional creatures," James said. "But some of them are attracted to those without emotions like Zion. Fortunately, when he met my great granddaughter, he had mellowed out a bit. But let’s not talk about him. Let’s talk about you.

"If Mildred didn’t care about you, I’m sure she wouldn’t have accepted your invitation for dinner in that fancy restaurant. That means she at least likes you enough to go on a dinner date."

The old man paused a bit, then a smile appeared on his face.

"If you had taken her to a place with more privacy and confessed your feelings, she might not have felt as embarrassed as she had been earlier. Just in case you forgot, you, her, and the rest of the Hero Party are celebrities.

"I’m sure news of what you have done will be on the front pages of tomorrow’s newspapers. In fact, before I came here, I already saw your confession on a news flash."

Derek’s face lost all of its colors after hearing the old man’s words. Merely thinking that his confession and the fact that Mildred ran away was broadcasted to the entire world was enough to give him PTSD.

"Don’t even think about going anywhere to hide," James stated. "If Zion was here, what do you think he would do?"

"Blow up the network station that aired his confession?"

"... You know what? I can see that happening."

The two men quieted a bit. In that silence, they suddenly heard the sound of a helicopter approaching their location.

At first, Derek and James wondered what a helicopter was doing at this time of the night.

To their surprise, the helicopter landed dozens of meters away from them, sending gusts of wind in their direction.

It was then that a young man and a young lady stepped out from it.

The man was none other than Zion, and the lady was none other than Mildred.

"She had been looking for you frantically after she saw your confession was broadcasted in television," Thirteen said calmly. "You weren’t answering your phone, so she asked me for help to find you."

"My phone is dead," Derek replied. "I just found out a while ago."

"I see..." Mildred nodded in understanding.

Thirteen then took out an ice box beside Derek and opened it up. Inside were beverages.

Some were alcoholic, some were not. He also took out a basket filled with sandwiches and placed it down as well.

"Gramps, let’s go," Thirteen called out to his grandfather-in-law. "The third wheels should disappear now."

James smirked and gave Derek a pat on the shoulder as encouragement.

He then walked with Zion toward the helicopter. A minute later, the helicopter left the scene, leaving Mildred and Derek on the cliff.

At first, only the sound of waves crashing beneath them could be heard. But Derek gathered his courage and apologized to Mildred.

"I’m sorry," Derek replied. "I shouldn’t have done that. I should have picked a better place for my confession."

Mildred nodded in agreement. "Yes. You should have chosen a place with less people. You really made me feel embarrassed earlier. Make sure to pick a better location when you try it again next time." 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Derek blinked. "Did you just say next time?"

Mildred didn’t answer, averting her gaze.

Derek suddenly felt like laughing. But instead of laughter, tears came out of his eyes instead.

He thought that everything was over. But to his surprise, it seemed that his own fairy tale had only just begun.