CHIEF KEIRAN Arin was sitting comfortably on a couch inside a luxurious cabin beside a similar-looking petite woman. The girl, who was around her age smiled at Tori the moment she stepped foot in the room. The chief looked behind her, and when he saw that the second prince was not with her he visibly let out a breath of relief.The royals and the northern tribes have a strained relationship, huh?Tori curtsied in front of the two who were relatives. "Blessings to the northern tribe, Chieftain Keiran Arin, and his companion.""Please take a seat, lady of the empire. You must have heard how savage the northern tribe folks are."Sitting gracefully before them, Tori took notice of the lack of tea at the center table. She missed Lily's concoction."Nonsense, Your Grace. If we're talking about nasty rumors, then I am a contender myself."The girl perked up from Tori's answer which made the chief flinch as if he knew it would happen. "My brother is such a paranoid, yeah? My name is Akasha Ar

CLUTCHING HER furred scarf around her body, Tori opened the small window of the cottage she was staying inside the Arin Tribe's territory. The moment she opened her window, the raven immediately flew inside her room. Around its neck was a message holder.Only the Information Guild uses this type of communication. Mostly, nobles use owls to convey long-distance messages. What could it be? Tori pondered.The raven tilted its head as it seemingly looked at her which was weird enough for Tori, who was not yet used to this type of message. In her past life, she was used to the internet. And as Victoria Rozenreff at the capital, she was used to Lily or Rowan conveying her messages even the secret ones. For Tori, it felt so… so primitive.Tori opened the message holder and saw a small rolled-up parchment. Upon reading it, she realized that it was indeed from Lady M who informed her that the king delayed the Vesta challenge just like Tori intended. In exchange, she only had one week to unify

TORI WAS now getting used to the wintery state of the Arin Tribe in her third morning in the place. She was in the middle of brewing her Chamomile Tea when a familiar firm three knocks interrupted her. Not bothering to open the door, she continued with what she was doing as she replied. "Come in!"Tori poured another round of tea into the second teacup for her favorite guest. She did not glance at the person who entered the premises of her room. Instead, she proceeded to sip her kind of heroin. The familiar thud of the footsteps became closer until the silhouette stopped in front of her. Finally looking up, Tori greeted her guest with a polite smile. "Please have a seat, Your Grace." Tori gestured to the empty seat in front of her.Chief Keiran, who had a solemn look on his face, took the seat in front of Tori without even bothering to glance at the served delights and tea on the table. "Your messenger brought a message from the warriors last night."My dearest new pet has finally com

Tori felt the heels of Merilla's sandals piercing her scalp as the lunatic traitor added brute force to her head. She closed her eyes but Tori never yelped in pain. Instead, she let out an insulting laugh as blood from her wounds flowed to her forehead and then to the floor. "Did I hit your sore spot, Lady Merilla? With your wit, you can be an asset to the first prince yet you stayed in the aristocratic faction. Before I arrived, Prince Corean's candidacy to the throne was almost close to none yet you did not leave him for Prince Lauren. You had a lot of chance yet you remained by his highness's side. You love the second prince so you chose to be his aide. You wanted him to recognize you. And perhaps, you are hoping to bring back my head as a prize to be recognized by both the aristocratic faction and your beloved unrequited love. Poor Tessa, she won't see what's coming until it hit her until you betray her too."Afraid that she could crush Tori to death, Merilla kneeled to grab her h

Victoria kept tracing her fingers to the contours of his chest. His ragged breathing betrayed his emotions; Cory wanted to give in. But it took one glance for Corean at Tessa's location to snap himself. "I am an obsessed person. If you want to be my queen then you need to surrender your heart to me." Corean uttered those words knowing that Tessa was listening to him. The latter would report this to his brother, Cory was sure of that. Laughing from his declaration, Victoria took a step away from him. Cory immediately longed for her touch. At a good distance, Cory saw Victoria's toothy grin turned into a venomous one. He missed that look of hers. "Never forget, Prince Corean Shuia Eckrett. My hands are your saving grace. Though I think I need to educate you again so I will show you how it feels if I choose to abandon you."Taking a step towards him, Victoria grasped his neck as she whispered her words a good millimeter from his lips. Cory could smell her cheery scented breath that he w