Several hours went by after Langrion, Chibi, and Khailis rejoined the prince’s official envoy, but Khailis was still deeply troubled. No matter how much she thought about his majesty’s ‘perfect plan’ in her mind, it still sounded all wrong.
She tried to reason out with Langrion on the way back earlier, but it was no use. He looked very resolute in his idea of marrying the girl in the tree trunk.
“Marry her? Are you crazy?! ” she exclaimed, but Langrey was not bothered even for a bit.
“Why couldn’t I?” he replied with the matter-of-factly tone he uses when he is being obnoxiously stubborn.
Khailis could not believe her ears. “Seriously, your highness! Do you even know this girl?!”
“Well, that’s the least of my worries for now.”
“Well, does she know about this grand plan of yours? Did she agree to this?” By the looks of the intensity and amount of screaming that took place inside the tree trunk earlier, Khailis did not think that t
Shia’s sleepy, droopy eyes were greeted by so much wet, lopsided kisses all at once, but her body felt far too weak to react. In any case, the kisses didn’t seem threatening at all; it was rather warm and comforting like a big, hot towel during a cold night, and she began to relax a little bit as more and more kisses were planted on her face.In a few more moments though, there was a bit of a commotion, and Shia heard someone drag away the thing that was warming her face.“Chibi!..” Shia heard a low exasperated voice said. “You big doofus! Your highness will catch us at this rate!”After sometime, and perhaps in an attempt to dry and tidy her up, Shia felt a soft cloth brush against her cheeks, and she swiftly caught the hand that held it.The owner, instead of yelping in surprise, sighed.“Very well,” she heard the female voice spoke in a low whisper once again, “you don’t need to grip my
“Be my wife,” he repeated the words again with an icy resolution in his voice.Any woman would have easily swooned over if they had heard of what he had said. Shia might have cried or laughed herself out if everything happened under normal circumstances, but none of these things were real. Everything that has happened to her since yesterday felt far too unreal to Shia.She let go of his hold against her right hand and pinched her own cheek as hard as she could. The pinched skin was far too painful that she gave a loud and sudden yell. That felt real! This must really be happening!As she rubbed her fingers against her swollen cheek, another fact began dawning in to Shia, and she felt even more mortified. The lady referred to this boy as ‘his majesty’ and ‘the prince’ several times during their conversation earlier... Could it really be that she is face to face with the royal heir to Gascone’s throne? Bad rumors have freq
Shia could not believe her ears. ‘How could he?... How could he think of sleeping together in such a light and impersonal manner?...’ she furiously contemplated as she began to step outside. It also sounded as if he was expecting it to be some kind of business transaction. “Indeed... The way that most royals think can be quite revolting!” Shia muttered under her breath as she tried to quicken her stride. Shia furiously slapped away the opening of the tent and would have stomped farther, but she immediately jumped when, just a few steps away from the tent, she was greeted by a throng of servants who all quickly gasped and curtsied when they saw her. “Our heartfelt greetings from the Royal Kitchen, My Lady,” one of the woman at the head of the procession said, “We come bearing the royal dinner for you and for the Imperial Highness. May you enjoy it immensely!” Shia could see that several servants and helpers were carrying numerous piles of different-sized pla
“You did not take it,” he repeated while pointing his fingers outside. Shia could not quite understand what he meant. He repeated his gesture and pointed outside the tent to the direction where the servants have just left. His voice sounded even louder and more matter-of-factly than before as he spoke, “I proposed to you by the river side, remember? You said yes, so now you are wearing it.” Shia’s mouth hung open in utter surprise at the make-believe story she is hearing. She realized how ‘thoughtful’ his majesty really was of her. Seeing how he had put this ring on her while she was passed out, he might have already assumed that Shia will meekly follow his absurd idea just because he is the prince and he can get away with it. Now that they were alone, Shia only wanted to do either one of two things: slap his face one more time or punch him in the stomach for putting on a ring on her finger without her consent and assuming that she will agree to be his make-believe f
By the time that Shia had finished her bath and walked back into the bedroom in a fresh set of warm and clean clothes, his majesty – Langrion – had already been sound asleep at his side of the mattress. This made Shia heave a sigh of relief. Although the prince already mentioned that he did not mean to use the words ‘sleeping together’ in a shameless manner, it might all be empty words as far as Shia was concerned. On top of him being a prince and probably getting all that he had ever desired in the world, Shia must admit that his face and his body are quite tempting to look at. Therefore, it won’t be surprising if he had always his way around several women at this age already. Who knows, right? Royalty or not - holding a man’s hand in the night might lead to one thing or another if Shia isn’t cautious enough. With this thought in mind, Shia placed her prized dagger underneath her pillow where she could easily reach for it and forced herself to get some sleep.
Shia’s heart beat went wild when she saw the blonde and gruff-looking head of the Imperial Guards emerge from the bushes opposite of where she stood. He then charged straight to Marmie. Shia was feeling quite stunned herself, but her quick instincts kicked in. She did not think twice as she hurled herself in front of the girl who was too wracked in fright to avoid the knight’s apparent attack. “No!” Shia screamed on top of her lungs. She tried to pull out her dagger from inside her boots, but it was not there! Shia bitterly remembered that she had left her precious dagger safely underneath her pillow inside his majesty’s tent. She had no choice but to come forward from the bushes unarmed. Praying hard that the sword of the blasted knight would miraculously miss her somehow, she tried to shove the girl’s body away from the attack. The knight, Lord Bragford Fincher, saw her come in haste between him and the servant girl. Their eyes met instantly, and sh
Langrion looked back at the silver streaks of hair that framed the face of the wide-eyed girl, Shia, who was crying her eyes out in front of her with such compassionate eyes. She had asked him a series of questions that pried at his own morality, making him feel how useless he had been as a prince and as a cursed one all these years... Honestly, he didn’t know which ones of her words had pierced his heart most painfully – the fact that she thinks that he likes or even enjoys deciding on the fates of people or the fact that she thinks he is her family’s cold-blooded murderer. Either way, her words had positively stung his spirits so badly that he did not know how to respond to her. He had quite definitely run out of words. The girl, however, was unfazed as she continued to press on.“Aren’t cursed ones people too?...” she said. Perhaps these ones were the hardest words to swallow in Langrion’s opinion. Utterly speechless, Langrion started to hold he
Shia returned to the tent where he found the prince still calmly sitting down on the small table with his food still untouched. It looked as if he was waiting for her to come back, which she did sooner than anyone would have expected. Shia eyed the back of the prince’s dark hair suspiciously. It did not look like he was even a bit alarmed about the news that Marmie turned up dead just a few hours after the ruckus at the kitchen and before she was to be taken to the Capitol. Shia slowly sat down and joined him on the breakfast table with her brown eyes intently fixed on his majesty’s face. “Aren’t you going to ask me what I saw?” she inquired. “I have no need for that. They will soon make a report of what happened,” he said rather coldly. Shia felt a little confused as to how the prince could easily go from being sensitive and delicate to being stiffly cold, heartless, and unfazed in a heartbeat. She tried to look at him straight in his rig