"Pardon?"
I felt my blood drain from my face as I clenched my fists tightly, cursing the king in earnest.
That damn scheming king! If I knew this would happen, I would have willingly go to the royal palace everyday!
I shut my eyes close and took a few deep breaths, trying to will myself to not let my emotions get the best of me. I still need to somehow swat these pests away after all. I unclenched my fist and opened my eyes, locking my gaze with the first prince's.
"It is such an honor to receive such consideration from His Majesty. Please send my deepest gratitude to His Majesty, I very much appreciate the kind gesture..."
The first prince smiled amicably, his eyes forming a slight arch. "His Majesty will surely be overjoyed—"
"However," I cut off the first prince's words as I drew my lips into a polite smile and gave him a hard stare. "this humble subject does not want to impose on the princes. I apologize for causing such a disturbance on both your highness, the first prince, and his highness, the crown prince."
I lowered my head and bowed respectfully, my hair softly cascading down to the front. "For both his highnesses to come here in our humble abode despite such busy schedules, I'm afraid I am feeling quite a deep sense of guilt. If His Majesty wishes, I would have come to the Royal Palace by myself instead."
Silence ensued between us. Now that my head became clearer, I noticed that the surroundings had become quiet. A deep sigh rang out as I still kept my head lowered, waiting for the first prince to speak up. However, instead of the first prince, the crown prince's voice boomed. "Raise your head, Lady Amarizi."
I raised my head and glanced to the crown prince. "I know our visit is very sudden and unannounced, but it is not something that the lady should be guilty about. Even if this was ordered by His Majesty, it is still out of our own volition that we came here today."
My eyebrows slightly rose up as I met the crown prince's strangely calm eyes. I didn't know he is also able to act like a proper prince. Even so, how ironic for that crown prince to say he volunteered to see the person he despises.
I opened my mouth to retort, but before I could voice it out, the crown prince spoke again. "Before you get any funny ideas, let me just inform you that I didn't do it because I want to be with you. Rather, being with you is one thing that I abhor the most."
Of course. This damn bastard would never pass up an opportunity to aggravate me as if his life was on the fucking line if he didn't. How foolish of me to think he could be a proper prince.
"Then, his highness can just stop paying this humble subject a visit. I would very much appreciate it also if you would."
"Are you a fool? How many times do I have to tell you that as much as I want to, I can never afford to do that!" He retorted through gritted teeth, his eyes trembling. "...I can't."
I felt an oncoming headache as I tried to take in and make some sense out of this bastard's words.
Who the heck is really the fool here right now? It is common sense and the most natural thing to do to avoid the person you despise! So, why is he so damn persistent on seeing me?! What does he get from being like this?
Argh. This bastard is really hurting my damn brain! It seems like I will end up not going anywhere if I keep this conversation up with this bastard. I averted my gaze away from the crown prince with furrowed brows, only to stop midway.
Huh?
My eyes darted back to the crown prince before returning to the first prince. To say I was confused is an understatement, I am completely clueless about the scene in front of me right now.
Why is he... Is the rumor between the first prince and crown prince not entirely true perhaps?
I involuntarily flinched when my eyes suddenly met the turqouise ones of the first prince. I shot him an inquisitive gaze, only to receive a subtle smile from him.
I unconsciously glanced to Ageon's way, only to see him already looking at me with a hard stare. I averted my gaze out of reflex as I suddenly felt a heavy pressure upon me. A prickling sensation spread all over my skin as uneasiness crawled up inside my heart as well as anger.
I do not like it.
The heavy silence continued to ensue until Deltix stepped up to speak. "I am fully aware that our presence is not entirely welcomed by my lady as we do not have an amicable relationship to begin with. However, I assure you that we only have the pure intention of improving the relationship between my lady and the crown prince as the prospective crown princess."
"Just as what his highness stated, I am merely a prospective crown princess so I do not see a reason why his highness have to go through such lengths as I am only just one of the many candidates. Shouldn't his highness, the crown prince, exert more effort into getting to know the other possible candidates?"
Deltix let out a small smile. "Indeed, you are right about that, my lady. You are only one of the candidates for the crown princess position. However, you are still considered as the most suitable candidate for the position. So, is it not natural that we prioritize the candidate who is the most suitable for the said position?"
I kept my mouth shut as I couldn't refute his words. The first prince was right. Even though I did manage to change my status from the crown prince's fiancée to a prospective fiancée, it wouldn't change the fact that I will still be the most suitable fit for the position. The kings's actions today delivered it very clearly to me.
So, even if I do forcefully let them go back to the royal palace with their own feet now, I highly doubt that the king will let go of this matter easily. I guess I have no choice, but to accept it.
"How long do your highness and his highness, the crown prince, plan to accompany me?" I should at least be aware of how long will they be doing this for, so I can at least prepare how long will I be putting up with them.
"If there is no such events that requires our immediate attention, then we will be accompanying the lady until the harvest festival. However, there is a high possibility that we might only be able to accompany the lady up until a month or two prior the harvest festival as our presence may be needed for the necessary preparations."
The first prince gave me a small smile as I count the remaining months before the harvest festival. 1...2...3...4...wait...! Is he telling me that I have to see their irksome faces every single day for god-knows-how-long hours for the whole period of 7 months?!
Dread filled my insides as I scrambled my brain in desperation. Hold on a minute, they said they might leave before the harvest festival so...maybe they will accompany me for around 5 months?
I mentally pulled my hair out of frustration. As if dealing with these two shitheads for two less months will make it any better!
Ah, shit. I really need to seriously start coming up with another plan to cleanly wipe off my damn name in the prospective crown princess list, or else, an even worse nightmare will come haunting me!
This fucking rotten luck of mine...!
I snapped out of my thoughts when I saw a shadow loom over me. I glanced at the person in front of me, his back turned towards me. El?
"It is completely understandable that his highness, the crown prince, is going to spend some quite a long time with Alyn. However, I do not see the need for his highness, the first prince, to come accompany her also."
Listening to his words, I silently nodded in agreement. Elderon was right. If it was for the sole purpose of improving the relationship between that bastard and me, then the first prince's presence was not really required here.
Deltix seemed to contemplate Elderon's words for a short moment before letting out another smile.
"Well, Sir Goniuva is not wrong. However, am I not allowed to spend some time with my brother's possible fiancée? Wouldn't it be better if I get along well with Lady Amarizi sooner in case she were really to become my future sister-in-law?" He glanced at me, smiling, "don't you agree with me, my lady?"
This guy is so damn confusing! Aren't you the one who is adamant on telling me to keep my distance away from the crown prince?! What is this two-faced bastard planning to achieve?!
"I didn't know his highness has such a fickle mind," I blatantly shot back, offering him an amused smile. Deltix let out a soft chuckle. "Your words wound me, my lady."
"Is that so, your highness? Then, I hope his highness' gracious self will pardon me for my rudeness."
Deltix let out another chuckle before Elderon cut in to speak. "You can just spend more time with Alyn after she becomes the crown princess... That is, if she really do become one."
The once bearable atmosphere turned heavy again. I tried my best to keep my lips from curling upwards. As expected of my favorite character! I'm so proud of you!
"I guess that is for the future to tell."
Ageon glanced at Elderon as Elderon gave him a cold glare. Derrin glanced at Ageon with wary eyes while Deltix lips curled upwards, bobbing his head up and down in delight.
I stared at Ageon, blatantly giving him the stink eye, only to see him giving me a dubious smile.
You... Are you seriously siding with the first prince right now?!
A/N: AAAAH I'M BACK OMG ;-; IT'S SO GOOD TO BE BACK Y'ALL! I MISSED WRITING THESE DORKS SO MUCH. IT'S BEEN SO LONG SINCE I'VE WRITTEN A CHAPTER SO IDK IF THIS CHAPTER IS SATISFACTORY 😭 HOPEFULLY, I CAN PUBLISH ANOTHER CHAPTER NEXT WEEK AND SLOWLY REGAIN MY WEEKLY UPDATE 🤞 To those who patiently waited for this story to update, thank you so much for waiting and I'm extremely sorry for letting you wait for a very long time! Have good day loves! You guys are the best ❤️