The crown prince of Orilon, Oscar Stoneshire, was a fascinating existence.

Black hair, golden eyes, piercing gaze. Mysterious, handsome, and cold as ice, melted only by the female lead. But currently, he was just ten years old.

I had met him a few times, but we’d never really spoken beyond formalities. When I was really little, I vaguely remembered that I might have had a crush on him, because his face was simply stunning. That was a long time ago, and I didn’t see him often as we grew up because of the many lessons he had to take in preparation of becoming king. He must look even prettier now.

These thoughts ran through my head in a flash as I saw the individual in question across the royal garden. My friends began chattering immediately.

“My, isn’t that His Highness?”

“Where? Where?”

“Is that him, beside the daffodils?”

“Oh, I think that’s him!”

“Don’t stare, girls.”

Though I could barely contain my own excitement, I had to lead my girls. The first step to dominate a man was to get him to come to you. We continued our walk, elegantly speaking to each other and paying the prince and his entourage of servants no mind.

I sneaked a glance at him in the corner of my eye, something Mother taught me to do without being noticed. From the side profile, it was definitely him, and he was looking in our direction. My heart sped up at its implications.

“Do you know him, Lady Valentina?”

“Ah, we’ve met.”

I was so distracted I couldn’t even fully appreciate the round of awe that arose from my followers. In the novel, I didn’t fall in love with him at first sight until I was fifteen, when he came to our castle and my teenager self saw how gorgeous he was. But with everything I was changing, why not this too?

It was a great thing, actually. During their childhood, the male lead grew attracted to the isekaied villainess that suddenly became nice, and paid no attention to the real female lead when the novel started. A classic plotline I would love to follow.

I took out my handkerchief from the cute handbag I carried and dabbed at the non-existent sweat on my brow, ignoring the fact that it was winter. When I put it back, I barely placed it in, and with one knock of my elbow against my bag, it fluttered right out onto the ground, begging to be picked up. Mother would be so proud.

My friends knew better to pick it up, and understood my intentions. We walked extra slowly, making it easy for even a snail to catch up, until the voice I had been waiting for called.

“Excuse me, is this yours, Lady Valentina?”

I turned around, smiling. For all my attempts to prepare myself mentally, I stopped breathing.

He was the living definition of beautiful, a true male lead. I was used to myself, Damian, and my mother, but he was on another level, attainable only through God’s favouritism. Despite his cold appearance, he shone bright. I stared until I managed to recollect myself.

“Yes, thank you very much, Your Highness.”

I delicately took the handkerchief from him, exercising all the sweetness I had worked so hard to mimic. I needed to act nothing less than a saint.

“I’m delighted you remember me, Your Highness. We haven’t seen each other in a while.”

“I’ve been busy.”

His expression wasn’t as unreadable as Zoe’s, but cool courtesy hiding bored uninterest, like I wasn’t worthy of his attention. I felt a stab at my heart from this picture perfect prince.

“As have I. A pity, really. Shall we go on a walk, then?”

He couldn’t have ‘accidently’ met me, there were no coincidences in the castle. There must be a reason, and I intended to uncover it.

“Will I not bother you and your friends?”

“My friends are planning to head back, actually, but I would like to stay out a bit longer.”

My friends agreed emphatically and they were speedily on their way, hiding their grins and giggles. I watched them leave with a sly smile, a promise to reveal all afterwards.

“Then, let’s walk.”

We went through the garden, our servants a distance behind to give us privacy. It had snowed again, a thick layer of white covering flowers and shrubs, some natural, some kept blooming by magic. It was beautiful, but not as much as the boy by my side.

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My heart couldn’t help but pound. This was the first time I was alone with a boy outside of family, in both lives, because my past life was never allowed to have a boyfriend. I ran Mother’s instructions inside my head, following them to be the most graceful lady there ever was.

We made small talk, and I wasn’t satisfied with his short and cool replies. If he was as close to his sister as I was with Damian, then he would have surely heard her talk trash about how shallow I was. I wanted to have a deep discussion with this mysterious prince and show him how amazing I was.

“Your Highness, what do you think of existentialism?”

Alarm bells rang from my past life’s experience, positively appalled, but I couldn’t fathom why. It was a lovely topic for children to discuss, excellent for getting to know more about each other.

“It is interesting.”

That was the goal. I smirked but managed to make it pure before he saw. ‘Interesting’ was what I needed to be, more than the female lead. I took charge of the conversation.

“Do you think life has a purpose?”

“Certainly. It’s why God created us.”

“Yes, but what do you think it is? How could our purpose be from God, if he has given us no commands, other than to live righteously?”

“It depends. Our purpose could merely be to live as we wish.”

We had what I considered a profound talk, quoting past philosophers and sacred scripts, at least on my part. It felt ironic, given that I knew our creator was a mindless author who likely wrote a perfect female lead as self fulfillment. Ever since I realized that, I had been questioning existence, and it was nice to talk about it with another.

I could tell with pride that I was gradually gaining the prince’s attention, though he was still cold and distant. He wasn’t falling in love yet with this one conversation, only the female lead was capable of that. However, a connection was definitely being made, as it did when heartfelt thoughts were shared, for his responses were gradually getting slightly longer.

“Of course, it is possible that God meant to simply create the world, and wishes for us to defend it for him. He sent the saint, after all.”

Aha. I caught his quick glance my way, filled with significance. So this was why he was here, because there could be no secrets kept in the castle.

“He is truly wise. I believe whoever he chooses to be the next saint will surely be a kind saviour.”

I purposefully met his eyes confidently. I didn’t know his exact intentions, but to him, I would be the virtuous saint, one that would make a good queen one day.

“Doubtlessly, she will bring peace and happiness.”

“I agree with all my heart. In fact, I think she can contribute to Orilon in many ways.”

I was too subtle with that one and I didn’t know if he understood me, but it wasn’t like I could tell him outright to marry me because I would be a great queen. One of the complaints he had with me in the novel was that he wanted to marry someone he loved, not for politics.

“I’m sure she can.”

In the end, he wasn’t my friend. He was the forbidding prince, barely human until he met the female lead, and the one that could one day order my execution.

I didn’t care for his love, that would be asking too much, at least that was what the rational part of me thought. My ambitions were leaping again, begging me to reconsider. If I was going to marry him anyway for his crown, why not obtain his heart too? Without doubt, I was capable.

The sun was beginning to set, so we headed back to the castle and parted.

“Good day, Your Highness. I hope we meet again soon.”

“As do I, Lady Valentina. Good day.”

His words sent warmth through me, and I found myself smiling. Undeniably, I was starting to develop a childish crush. The question was, should I let it continue?

I strode through the castle halls, heading to Father’s chambers, for whatever my conclusion was, I wanted to act right away.

The prince wouldn’t be satisfied with a wife he didn’t love, and he definitely wouldn’t want one that didn’t love him. If I loved him, it would be a terrible weakness and a distraction from my actual goal, his crown, but it could improve chances of him loving me back. However, Valentina of the novel loved him dearly, but he still didn’t care for her.

The best option would be if I were a dense villainess female lead that made all the original male leads fall in love with me without trying. But I had to try very hard just to keep up my reputation, so that wouldn’t work.

“Father?”

I knocked on his door. A servant answered.

“His Grace isn’t here presently. I can tell him you called, my lady.”

“All right. Tell him to send for me when he gets back, no matter how late it is.”

“Yes, my lady.”

It was good, since I hadn’t made up my mind yet.

The easiest thing would be to have him fall in love with me. Could I risk a love potion? No, the royal castle was on enemy grounds, and the royal family had poison testers. It would be too dangerous.

I went back to my room and had dinner as usual. It was getting late, and Father still hadn’t called, so I had Zoe prepare me for bed. I couldn’t sleep though, so I sat in my bed with a novel I didn’t bother reading as my thoughts raced.

Ideally, the prince would love me first, and my affection can wait until after we were married and the female lead was disposed of, but that might be too much to hope for.

The key was that I needed to get my priorities straight. Survival, glory to our house, and power. To ensure that, a clear head unmuddled by love was necessary. But it wouldn’t hurt to love the boy I planned to marry, as long as all my decisions remained logical.

“My angel, are you still awake this late?”

“Father!”

Father came into my room and stood next to my bed. He kissed my forehead.

“What has been keeping my angel up?”

“I met the crown prince in the garden today. I want to get betrothed to him.”

Father’s eyebrows shot straight up, like one might do when his daughter revealed she had already decided who she wanted to marry at the tender age of nine. He frowned and stroked his chin.

“Oscar, is it? He’s a nice young boy, I suppose. We can talk more about it later, but you should sleep now.”

“Yes, Father! I love you.”

I knew that Father would give me anything I wanted, no matter how outrageous my request. I smiled and kissed him on the cheek.

“Good night.”

“Good night, my angel.”

I slept well, knowing that I was one step closer to snatching yet another love from the female lead. I existed because God was in my favour, and happiness awaited me.