The Grand Duke watched his daughter, who was staring at the empty space. She had been like that ever since the crown prince announced that he was going back to his own empire. It seemed that his announcement shocked her terribly.

For the first time, the grand duke could not tell what the complicated look in her daughter’s eyes meant.

This time, Ingrid’s reaction was not an act. She was genuinely surprised by Aleric’s sudden departure. Will he come back? How about their agreement? Will he still honor it? But how will they be able to realize it if he isn’t here? Were a few of the thoughts running through her mind.

The worried grand duke called for her attention, “Ingrid.”

Ingrid looked at her father, half of her mind still far away.

“Do you... Do you happen to be interested in the crown prince of Aradhya?”

Ingrid’s mind, which had flown out, came back to her body.

“Will you promise not to get angry?” She asked, looked down, and played with her fingers.

Grand Duke Rasmus sighed. “My child, I know I told you that you have the freedom to choose whom you wish to marry, but can’t you pick a better man?”

“Papa!” Ingrid exclaimed, her cheeks turning crimson. “I didn’t even say anything yet! Besides, who could be a better candidate than him? He’s handsome, powerful, and a future emperor of the greatest empire.”

“I don’t need you to speak to know that you’ve already taken a liking to that crown prince,” he grumbled. “You’re always indifferent towards other men. You don’t so much as look at them, even when they desperately seek your attention. Yet, you were the first one to seek the crown prince during the hunting feast. And earlier…” the grand duke paused and took a deep breath. “You think I wouldn’t notice your hand pulling the crown prince cuff to get his attention?”

Ingrid bit the interior of her lower lip. It seems that the grand duke misunderstood her previous action. Well, it still worked in their favor. Now the grand duke believes that she does like Aleric to some extent.

“I wasn’t though,” she denied. “The sleeve of my dress was caught on the button on his cuff. I was just trying to pull myself free.”

“Ingrid, the crown prince’s clothes don’t have a button on their cuff.”

Ingrid held her breath so her checks would turn red, and then she spoke in haste, “Oh, look at the time! I remember that I still have some things to do. See you tomorrow, papa!” with that, she fled from the room at lightning speed.

/////\

Ingrid closed the door to her room with a sigh. Acting is really exhausting.

"You're really into this, aren't you?"

Ingrid almost jumped in fright. She glared at Aleric, who was sitting in her chair.

Ever since he started sitting in it, the maids and even Lily had avoided using it whenever they came to her room. When she asked them about it, they said that it didn't feel right to sit on it, like they would be punished for doing so.

"I thought you already left," Ingrid said with a raised brow.

"I couldn't without saying goodbye to my fiancée," he responded, his words flowing smoothly from his mouth.

Ingrid frowned. "I am not your fiancée."

"Isn't a fiancée a woman you are pledged to be married to? Are you saying you're backing out of our deal?"

Ingrid pursed her lips. She was annoyed that he had outwitted her and even more annoyed that she couldn't think of a rebuttal.

"So, what brings you here?" she asked, changing the subject. She sat in the chair across from him, crossing her arms.

"To say goodbye, as I said," Aleric replied. He watched the emotions play across Ingrid's eyes like a movie, some easily identifiable, while others seemed written in a foreign language he couldn't understand. “I’ve been gone for a bit too long, and some of my subjects are growing anxious. So I have to go back to provide them some peace.”

Ingrid noticed the sarcasm in his voice when he said his last sentence. She suddenly felt pity for whoever it is that the prince wants to provide some "peace".

“Whoever needs your explanation,” Ingrid muttered, looking away. She was trying to act arrogant and tough but ended up failing miserably. Instead, she looked the part of a spoiled brat that was overly loved.

For some reason, he didn't find her annoying for acting that way. But rather, he found it amusing.

“If you're worried about our deal, then you don’t have to. As I said before, I’m in need of your father’s assistance. Now that you’ve conveniently thrown yourself at me, how can I back down?’

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“I did not throw myself at you!” It was too late before Ingrid realized how loud her voice was.

She froze when they heard a knock on the door.

“My lady? Are you all right?”

“I’m fine!”

“Well, please call us if you need anything.”

“I will thank you!”

Ingrid sighed in relief and then glared at Aleric, who had a smug look on his face. How she wishes she could smack that grin off him right now.

“That mage from the kingdom of Serus said you were pledged to King Oliver for marriage; how did that happen?”

Ingrid flinched at the mention of the name that she never wanted to remember. “That ugly fart abducted me six years ago and told me he was going to marry me.”

The pieces of the puzzle in Aleric's mind began to fall into place. His guess was right: King Oliver was the reason for the squabble between the emperor and the grand duke.

Given Emperor Cecil's cowardly personality, he must have stopped the grand duke from marching south with all his might, afraid that the entire Learia empire would be implicated. If that happened, they might lose the support of the Serus kingdom, including its mages.

Aleric also thought that King Oliver was quite smart. The Learia empire was known as the number one gold importer on the continent, and most of this gold came from the kingdom of Serus.

On one of his previous explorations, Aleric incidentally found that Serus seemed more lenient in its requirements for lending its mages to Learia compared to other kingdoms. He wondered what kind of benefit Oliver got from this but didn't give it much thought as it didn't have anything to do with him anyway. However, he might have just found out the answer.

He looked at Ingrid, whose beautiful face was contorted with annoyance. Her perfectly proportioned lips formed a thin line, and her defined jawline tensed.

“By the way, how did you escape?”

Ingrid looked even more upset than before. She hated recalling that specific past, but still, she answered, “I did not eat and spent my days crying. They tried to use some sort of magic to force-feed me, but it didn’t work. So he..." Ingrid hesitated. “He said he'd allow me to return to my father. After all, I’m still too young. However, once I've grown, he will come back for me, and I have to go back to him obediently.”

Her hands trembled as memories of that day began flooding her mind. Even if she dies, she will never marry that old and ugly man!

“I find it weird,” Crown Prince Aleric said.

“Find what weird?”

“That your uncle seemed oddly determined to fight an all-out war with your father over a small misunderstanding,” he answered. “If things get worse, the grand duke might just decide to overthrow the current emperor. As I see it, your father is more than capable of doing that. Emperor Cecil most likely knew that as well, and with his cowardice, it is out of his character to provoke the grand duke like this.”

“It’s the empress,” Ingrid stated without hesitation.

“Oh, how can you be so sure?” Intrigue, Aleric leaned forward and rested his jaw on his clasped hands.

“During one of my attempted escapes in that ugly man’s palace, I saw him placing a pair of golden Phoenix earrings inside a black box. I heard the person beside him ask if it was worth giving away such a precious item, as it was one of a kind. I didn’t know what he said next as I hurriedly left. But after I was returned, I found those same earrings, hanging on the empress’s ears.”

The more Ingrid spoke, the more her serene eyes burned with intensity. Her lips, painted with soft shades of pink, held a subtle tension, an indication of her spilling emotions. And a faint flush, like the first blush of sunrise, graced her cheeks.

Aleric was bewildered. Ingrid was showing her raw and unfiltered anger towards the empress without any attempt to remain graceful. Yet, even when her face was painted with such an ugly emotion, it did not take away from her beauty but instead added a different kind of allure.

“Why didn’t you tell the grand duke about this before?”

Ingrid heaved a sigh, frustrated with all his questions. "Because if I did, my father would have done everything to destroy her regardless of whether there was any evidence. And there isn't any other evidence except for my testimony. And I'm too beautiful to be credible," she said, her voice tinged with frustration.

"They'd think I charmed my father into believing that the empress was guilty. That I'm abusing my beauty and power to frame a poor and sweet empress."

The crown prince's lips quivered, and his eyes sparkled with suppressed amusement. He tried to stifle his laughter, but his eyes betrayed him, glinting with mischief. In the end, he couldn't help but let out a small, muffled snicker that released his built-up laughter.

“Why, what’s funny?”

Aleric shook his head as he tried to keep himself together.

“What is it?” Ingrid started to get annoyed.

Aleric took a deep breath. “In all the kingdoms I’ve been in, I haven’t met one woman who is worried about being called a liar, all because she is beautiful. Most of them would use the charm of their beauty to win people, mostly men, to their side instead.”

“Tch, I hate men. I hate how their eyes look at me. It makes my skin crawl.” She crossed her arms tightly, her jaw set.

“Which makes you both naive and stupid.”

Ingrid snapped her head and glared at Aleric.

“Beauty is power, my princess,” Aleric said, ignoring Ingrid’s angry stare. “You said before that with beauty comes arrogance. But arrogance is not the only thing that comes with beauty, power too. Yet, for a woman endowed with beauty unparalleled, you are powerless against a mere kingdom; it makes me want to laugh.”

“Huh? You think a mere smile from me can stop that ugly king’s plan? Aren’t you the one being stupid and naive?”

“Do you know that more than half of the men in your father’s army joined because of you? They were so charmed by your beauty that they have pledged their lives to protect yours.”

Aleric stood up from his seat. In a blink of an eye, he was already leaning on Ingrid’s chair, causing the latter to gasp in surprise.

“Tell me, how many princes, kings, generals, and knights fell for your face?"

Ingrid looked away. "Who knows."

"Of course you wouldn't know, because you never looked their way," Aleric said sarcastically.

He grabbed her chin and forced her to look at him. His eyes traveled all over her face, as though he were memorizing every single detail.

"With the power of this face, you could have protected yourself from that king. Heck, you might have even been able to destroy him given the right circumstances. But you wasted all your pawns all because of your misused arrogance. Now look at you all, vulnerable and powerless.”

Aleric released Ingrid’s jaw and left, leaving her in her empty room, shaken. She couldn't sense the anger she felt in his voice. More importantly, she couldn't understand him at all!

“Wasn’t that too much?” Asked Vernon, who emerged within the shadow of one of the pillars in Ingrid’s terrace.

“It’s a waste for a beautiful bird to remain sitting in a cage. She needs to realize that she has wings.”

“But if she learns how to fly on her own, do you think she will still come to you?”

Aleric paused. “Well, that’s a problem for another day,” he said nonchalantly before vanishing into thin air.