"Have you decided?" Crown Prince Aleric asked.

Ingrid's mind flashed back to a week ago. He had been sitting in that same chair, with the same predatory look in his eyes.

"What's there to decide?" she asked the crown prince, her back straight and her chin lifted. Her voice though cold was devoid of bitterness. "Haven't you already decided things for me?"

A cruel smile appeared on Crown Prince Aleric’s face.

"As you previously said, you wanted my father to let you use his army willingly. Is that correct?"

Crown Prince Aleric nodded his head and said, "That’s right."

"And the key to that is this marriage," Ingrid mused as she walked to the window and gazed at the beautiful garden below.

For the second time, Crown Prince Aleric had managed to enter her heavily fortified residence without anyone noticing. How he had done it, she still didn't know, but one thing was for sure: with his abilities, he could assassinate someone in their sleep if he chose to.

She looked at the cloudy sky, the light causing her eyes to dazzle like a beautiful jewel. "However, my father would never believe me if I suddenly said that I wanted to marry you, regardless of whether I said it was out of love."

"I expected that much. The grand duke is said to be a very attentive father." Crown Prince Aleric crossed his legs. "So what do you propose?"

Ingrid bit the inner skin of her mouth. How was this her problem? He’s the one threatening her into this marriage; he should be the one finding a solution!

"Before that, may I ask which country you plan to destroy this time?"

Aleric’s brow arched. The contempt in her voice was evident. Most people are indifferent to his exploits unless they affect them in some way. This is the second time that he has met someone who has expressed blatant abhorrence towards him despite having no connection to the people he killed or the countries he destroyed.

"The land where the sun doesn’t shine," Crown Prince Aleric answered.

Ingrid snapped her head toward Aleric. "Selite? But why? Don’t you know the situation there? That place has only one season: winter. Food is scarce, and people live in extreme poverty. So why bring war to such a place? You’ll gain nothing!"

Ingrid couldn’t hide the distress in her eyes. She knew very well how awful the living conditions were in that place. The kingdom of Selite is extremely reliant on exported goods to survive, as agriculture is impossible.

Furthermore, caravans are unwilling to do business in the kingdom as the risk is not worth the profit. Therefore, it was the kingdom's soldiers who risked their lives by setting out for the world outside in order to bring food back to their country.

"I heard you’ve made quite the number of donations to the Kingdom of Selite."

Ingrid raised her brow. "What of it?"

Aleric walked towards Ingrid and stopped when there was only a few inches of space between them. He cupped her chin, feeling the softness of her skin against her rough palm. "Do you know whom you’ve fattened with your generous donations?"

A frown graced Ingrid’s beautiful face.

Aleric was confused. It doesn’t make sense how she, who was beautiful and spoiled, could grow to be this kind and good.

He had encountered a lot of her kind before—women who are beautiful and spoiled by their parents. None of them grew to have an agreeable personality.

Those women aren’t even a match for Ingrid’s beauty or the love and riches she is showered with, so he expected that her personality would be more rotten than theirs. But none of the investigation results matched the bratty girl he imagined.

He expected to meet a hateful woman, but he met a maiden loved by the common people instead.

Aleric didn’t realize that he was staring for too long until Ingrid spoke. "I’m waiting; explain."

He let go of her chin. "Unfortunately, it’s confidential information not available to the rest of the world." Crown Prince Aleric grinned slyly. "As of now, you’re a stranger to me, so I can’t divulge anything to you. But perhaps, when we’re married, we can talk about it in slow whispers as we lie in bed."

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Ingrid turned as red as a tomato. "Y-you, how can you say something like that?!!"

"Something like what?" he asked innocently. "How are you already embarrassed? Once we’re married, we’ll do more than talk in bed."

"Your royal highness, I beg you to shut up," Ingrid pleaded while covering her flushed face.

Crown Prince Aleric burst into a fit of laughter, his voice echoing in the four corners of the room.

Ingrid quickly covered his mouth in panic. "Are you mad? What if they heard you?" she berated while looking nervously at the door.

If her father finds the crown prince in her room, he will surely come after his head. Only if it is that easy to take this barbarian head. Blood will be drawn, and innocent people will be dragged into a pointless fight. Just thinking about it is giving her a headache.

"Your hands smell like strawberries."

Ingrid pulled her hand away as though she were electrified and glared at Aleric. Why is it so hard to have a normal conversation with this crown prince?

"Anyways, when do you plan on executing your war plan?" Ingrid asked while rubbing her hand on her purple dress.

The crown prince looked at her, amused. "In two years, all preparations will have been completed. I’d like to get your father’s agreement before that."

"Then we’ll have at least a year to convince my father."

Aleric’s brow furrowed. "Convince him of what?"

Ingrid tilted her head to the side, a smile on her lips showing her set of pearly white teeth.

Aleric froze.

"That the oppressive crown prince of the Aradhya Empire, whom he despises the most, has smitten his precious daughter.

It was Ingrid’s turn to grin mischievously as she watched an expression she’s very familiar with dance around the crown prince’s eyes. It seems that he is not totally invulnerable to her charm after all.

In that moment, Aleric sensed a kind of danger he had never once encountered. Before he realized it, he had already taken a step back, causing a myriad of complicated emotions to appear in his eyes. For the first time in his life, someone managed to make him retreat. And it wasn’t some strong warrior or an army greater than his, but a woman. A woman so small and frail against him that if he wished, he could crush her neck before she could even scream. Yet he ended up losing to the temptation of her mere smile.

Aleric’s eyes narrowed. Ingrid Lennox may be even more dangerous than she seems.

"So that’s what you’ve decided?" he asked, wearing his usual arrogance, as though his previous reaction was a mere afterthought.

"My father hates you. More specifically, he hates your kind of people."

"My kind?" Aleric lifted his brow.

"Yes, your arrogant, self-serving, cruel, and malicious kind," Ingrid answered while staring straight at him. "War will ensue if you ask for my hand. So instead, I’ll ask for yours," she added.

Ingrid did quite a lot of thinking on the best possible way to do this without compromising her father’s safety. And this is the best possible solution she could think of. If her father believes that she genuinely likes Aleric, then he would have to agree, even if he doesn’t like it. After all, he promised that he would let her marry whoever she wished to.

This time, she will turn into the pompous woman they all believe she is.

"If that’s your solution, what do you need a year for?"

Ingrid looked away, but the fading glow in her eyes did not manage to escape Aleric’s gaze. "They say arrogance comes with the crown. The more powerful the crown, the more arrogant the wearer becomes. The same goes for beauty, your highness." She looked at Aleric as though challenging him. "With this face of mine, how much arrogance do you think I have?"

Aleric recalled the thick paper his right hand, Vernon, handed him last night. It was a list of the names of the men who tried to win Ingrid’s hand—all of whom had their hearts broken after they were mercilessly rejected.

Crown Prince Aleric knew that there was not one person in the world as arrogant as him. After all, he had the strength and power to back it up. So even though he hates to admit it, he very well knew the amount of arrogance she, who was unparalleled in her beauty, possessed.

Now he understands what she needed a year for. He smiled bitterly. It seems that assassinating the grand duke would prove to be far easier. "So what’s your game plan?"

"Game?" Ingrid chuckled. "This isn’t a game. This is a play that I write and direct, and I play the main character." She pointed at herself.

Aleric grinned. He pulled Ingrid by the waist and crossed the remaining distance between them. He ran the back of his hand on her cheeks, his eyes looking at her face as though he were memorizing every single detail.

"And what is my role in your play?" he asked in a husky voice.

Ingrid’s mouth went dry. That sly grin—he's obviously trying to get back at her for earlier. But she couldn’t back down, not when her pride was on the line.

"Careful with your hands, your highness; as you said, we aren’t married yet." She said her voice, tempting rather than reprimanding, all the while slowly pushing Aleric away. "Once I get the ring, you can place your hands wherever it wants, with my permission, of course."

"Then I look forward to it," he breathed, licking his lips before letting her go.

Ingrid shivered. The look of desire in his eyes made her regret everything she said. She swallowed the familiar fear that slowly crawled into her throat.

"Anyway, for this to work, you just need to be where I want you to be when I want you to be. I hope your highness can cooperate."

Her sudden politeness took Aleric by surprise. He noticed how she was clenching her hands so hard that they lost all their blood.

"Now, if your highness would kindly leave, I still have some things to do."

He didn’t ask her any more questions and left quietly. It isn’t in his nature to force people into answering—unless, they are criminals sitting in his interrogation cell. And with the way she is turning her back on him, she surely wouldn’t answer even if he asked.

Ingrid fell to the floor the moment she no longer felt his presence. She gathered her knees close to her and began rocking herself back and forth while whispering. "It’s okay. I’m okay. I’ll be okay."