The newly crowned prince of the Monakre Kingdom spat, "Why him? We can ask Duke Castaña instead! Anyone but him who betrayed Tori's expectations above all else." Venom oozed upon his words, but Cory refrained from replying to the feral prince who was beyond reason and who did not know the reasons behind Cory's actions. "Duke Castaña must not know about the young lord of House Larat playing mind games with Tori. He will immediately take action and it will draw the attention of the King. Tori worked hard for this just to be destroyed by the king's obvious favor to his firstborn. No offense, Prince Corean."Cory shrugged. It was a piece of common knowledge that his father favored the first prince as he was the only remnant of his beloved first queen. Corean never bothered with such trivial details. He was contented to keep his mother safe. But a cherry-eyed woman flipped his axis.The cerulean-eyed prince gritted his teeth. "Are you saying that the traitor from House Larat is with Tori,

At the stroke of midnight, no power plays and schemes in between them. Just two people stripped with masks and cautions. Corean did not want to stop and if this continued, he knew that this would not end with a deep kiss but much more. If he listened to his heart, he would have to risk her all over again. No, he could not let it happen. Not when everything was set into motion.Every nerve of his body protested as he distanced away from Victoria. He knew that he must not cause a backlash to his plan with Prince Yei Lin. I'm sorry, Victoria. Corean thought before he gave her a mocking smile that would seal their distance forever. "In the end, you are only a woman playing politics." "Is that so? Then why are you acting like a virgin noble lady? I should be the one doing that. Besides, you are my fiancé. You own my body, your highness."Cory kneeled on the bed and grabbed her shoulders with an insulting smile. His face was a few inches above her so Victoria had to tilt her head to mee

Pulling his hood, Cory went out of the carriage and he crumpled the message. "Give me a horse, now!"The knight rushed away, leaving Cory and the wondering coachman. But Cory knew that it would still take to get a horse. His train of thought was interrupted by the loud clacking noise of the horse's horseshoe."Hey, give me that horse."The widening eyes of the old coachman were the last thing that he did before Cory dropped a pouch of gold coins in front of him.CORY SAW it all. How Victoria bid her farewell to her vassals and how she walked with conviction into the merchant ship. All those times, his golden eyes followed her as he stood at the darkest part of the ship's deck. He discreetly followed as a guide walked with her to her cabin. Cory stayed outside her cabin, his back on her door with his sword on display. He needed to be alert, Merillia might send an assassin for Victoria. But the chances were slim since she would use this chance to corner her into a crime Victoria never

BLACK FEATHERS covered the black silk from her waist and down. Black diamonds formed into flower designs that swirled around her chest while black laces covered her arms to her wrists. The outdoor dress that Queen Aurina specially prepared an outdoor dress that Tori was wearing with the notorious black veil that covered her face for everyone to see."You looked hot. Hot in a way that the Sun God would like to fry." Sarcasm laced Crown Prince Allistair's voice as he watched her being adorned by her handmaidens.Duke Rowan Castaña entered her room after three knocks with Crown Prince Yei Lin in tow. The former brought an elongated box with him which earned the interest of everyone aside from the occupied handmaidens. The young duke went straight to Tori who was standing and surrounded by her handmaidens. "My ladies, will you excuse us for a minute?"As soon as the handmaidens left, the young duke opened the rectangular case. The two princes expected a sword but were left astounded when

THE SAD GOODBYE snapped Tori that to release Cory from those wretched shackles, she must destroy the enemy's root and stem. Walking away from his prison cell was one of the hardest things that Tori did. Steeling herself as she stepped away from him, Tori glanced at Duke Rowan Castaña. "Did you dispose of the bodies?""Disposed and replaced, Lady Tori. I planted my men as the second prince's new guards.""Good." I need to stall Lauren and Merilla's attention from Cory. Tori continued with her line of questions. "How is the Vervain's antidote going?"The young Duke opened the carriage's door for her. Even though he had become the Duke, the highest position along with the Rozenreff Duchy next to the royals, he never forgot to show his respect and loyalty to the first person who trusted him. Deep down, Duke Rowan Castaña knew that he would gladly lay down his life in order to protect Victoria Rozenreff. After all, his life was hers the moment he had performed the knight's oath with all