Anybody But You

13

Chapter Thirteen

Vibe: Deal With It by Ashnikko

"My darling future princess," Narcisse spoke down to her from his perch on one of the arches windowsill, "what brings you to the capital today? Another meet and great with your little friends?" His face clinched unhappily as he called out to her.

Alice chuckled, "Not at all, my darling future prince." She curtsied sarcastically, "just a friendly reminder that my threat from earlier—"

"You mean your bluff?" The young prince snorted, ridiculing her.

She continued, ignoring him, "It's not such a bluff anymore. You'll soon see the results of my hard work." Alice promised, leaning against the cream coloured archway just below where he continued to perch. Closing her eyes she basked in the warm sun.

"You know, you're really starting to piss me off, Alison." He warned, rolling to his stomach as he leaned down towards her and blocked the comforting sunlight that had been dancing on her skin. His face turned red as the blood rushed down to his head while he glared at her upside down.

Unbothered she hummed, "It was a new concept to me, I admit. But do you know who nobles will listen to more than their own business partners?" She smiled sweetly as he stared at her.

Clearly annoyed, Narcisse quickly jumped off the windowsill, making a show of his presence as he spread his arms in wait, "you have my attention."

Her smile darkened as her voice of honey rolled off her deceitful tongue, "their precious little brats when they finally show some initiative on getting into politics." She let out a laugh under her breath, "Daddy, I was talking to a friend the other day and you wouldn't believe what they told me. Apparently they're super close to one of the Prince's and he tells her all these things, daddy. We have to make sure our family is voting for the right prince because one of them hates nobles and what they stand for—they even talked about trying to make the class system less rigid. "

Because again, nobles weren't nobles by being good people—and Alice knew well that this characteristic was passed down onto the next of kin. Thus, a prince with morals, was a nobleman's worst nightmare. While it was perfectly acceptable for friends to praise a prince with high morality in public, behind doors it was an entirely different topic. And why would your child lie about something they felt shame in thinking?

It was almost too simple for Alice.

Narcisse's face went pale as he watched her perform the play she rehearsed, all for him.

"Do you want to know how they respond, Narcisse?" She bit her bottom lip as she smiled, not waiting for a response. "They ask their precious little child to keep an ear out, and to tell them what that friend says next. They even ask for names." She hummed in thought, " What do you think? Should I drop a name, Narcisse? Do you think that's necessary?"

Narcisse finally exhaled again as he let out a laugh, his shaking hand yanking through his messy hair as he grasped the dark roots. "You fucking bitch." He looked at her, hate in his eyes as he sneered. "I should end your life right now."

"If you do," Alice spoke calmly as he reached for the dagger at his side, "how could I tell that one person I got the name wrong?" She shrugged, "It would be an awful shame if in my absence I wasn't able to correct them and they ended up telling their noblemen friends what name they heard the rumours were about." She paused, "Or you could take a risk and kill me now—maybe I haven't yet said the name Prince Narcisse to anyone..." With a giggle, her eyes flickered warningly up to his, "I honestly don't remember, but I'm sure it's not too late for me to fix it if I did. Or was it tomorrow or maybe even next month that I was going to tell someone—"

"Alright! I get it—you're untouchable, right? Just shut up already." Narcisse's face was morphed into one that revealed his anger and frustration; realizing that finally, Alice had captured him.

That was the look. Alice licked the back of her teeth, practically salivating from how delicious Narcisse's hopelessness was. He was like an angry wet kitten.

Almost purring herself, she finally spoke the words that made all her extra hard work over the last five months worthwhile "So what do you say about that deal?"

~*~*~

A.N.

Alice just casually capturing the crowned prince in her claws like it's just another day is a mood. 1/5 ✔️

Thank you for reading! I worship ashnikko—she is my manic side.

The book is long but also a really quick read, I'm writing chapter 70 something and it's crazy how this seems like it just occurred yesterday in Alice's journey yet also forever ago. It's only been like 6 days for me since I started writing the book, but I'm already having nostalgia lmao