e ed herself in the bighter areated into the dining room, sitting behind the table.

  'Great, just great.'

  There was anuy who wao see her tied and whipped now.

  She was a woman. Not a horse. She wasn't meant to be tied and whipped. She was meant to be loved and adored.

  But here she was. Throwing all the ces of getting any of that away because of some stupid promise she made to some stupid guy from her stupid past.

  e stabbed her fork into the banana ihe bowl. The banana lost. Its mushy corpse was brutally murdered.

  She really thought her life was over. What could she do against the royal family without anyone’s bag? She would either end up as a cattle to be bred, milked, and sughtered; or a vict to be hunted and captured for the rest of her life. A Rochefort heir on the run was a dangerous Rochefort, no matter the gender.

  So, she gambled. She gambled on Lu. On his feelings, and his heart.

  She wasn't raised to be kind and passionate, selfless and g. She didn't have all the time in the world to wait for him. She needed results. Fast.

  Love was a good motivator, but hate? Hate was easy to feed, easy to keep alive. It didn't need watering, or attention. It could survive and thrive on its own.

  The more motivation Lu had, the better. She needed him to be motivated. To be hungry. Hungry and desperate like she was.

  She broke Lu, and he came back to break her. It was a fair trade, wasn't it? An eye for an eye. A tooth for a tooth. A broke for a broke.

  e stabbed another piece of banana, murdering it too.

  'If we went his way, we would still have tinued our little secret affair, but until when? Until we turn old and gray? Until death do us part? He is a man and has all the time in the world. I don't!'

  e took a deep breath, 'He just loves to watch me suffer, doesn't he? He is enjoying it. He knows nobody would want a bride who is past her prime. Nobody wants a bride who is known to have affairs. Nobody wants a bride that doesn't have a shred of innoce left in her body.'

  Lu k for a long time, through her academy life, he watched and enjoyed as she brought herself to her doom. He let her tio destroy her own life aation, a her tio be a disgrace.

  No matter how high he climbed, it was never enough for him. The fear was always there ─ fear that he wasn’t worthy to stand beside her, that his presence would only make her more of a ughingstock. A mert of humble ins had no pext to e Rochefort.

  He was always doubting his worth. Always doubting his strength.

  e stuffed the mushy banana into her mouth, 'I was supposed to be married and pregnant by now, and look where I am. The audacity! He promised to protect me, but he lied. He lied to me. He let everyone hurt me. He let everyone mock me. He let everyone humiliate me, a everyorample on my dignity. He made me like this, and he knows it. He made me like this, and now he dares to mock me like the rest?'

  He didn't care about her reputation, about eople thought about her.

  He didn't care because he had her, and it was enough for him.

  He chose his fort zone, and the safe path while she was the only oaking risks, being exposed, and being vulnerable.

  Five years. For five years, she had been deying the marriage with the Prince. Five years of buying time, and five years of using all kinds of excuses to break the e.

  She was getting old, and nobody took kindly to unmarried women, not even her father.

  'He wants to punish me, does he?'

  'He wants to see me cry, does he?'

  He should be grateful that she wasn't the oo hunt him down and skin him alive!

  'Now that he is a big shot, he thinks he mess with me? Me?'

  e hated how they had to hide and sneak around like they were doing something wrong, something bad. She roud woman, and she would have been a proud wife and a proud mother if he hadn't left her hanging.

  If she hadn't done what she did, it would have taken Lu thrice the time to reach where he was now.

  He thought the Rocheforts were all mighty, and that she would tio hold the fort until he was ready to ask for her hand in marriage?

  Well, the world wasn't going to wait for him. Despite all the power, all the money, and all the influence, she was just a woman, a woman whose time was tig and running out.

  Someo there before Lu, and she could do nothing about it. Someone else was going to be her husband. Someone else was going to be the father of her children.

  e gritted her teeth and swallowed whehought about what happened five years ago, pushing in another spoonful. She felt like she was going to throw up, but forced the fruit down anyway. She o be able to run, and hunt, not be sickly and bedridden. Not be weak and useless like her mother, who would y in her room and cry all day, every day.

  She put up a front to keep the Rochefort's dying might, and at the same time, put up a front so those vultures couldn't get their cws into her. She made them think she would meet her own and Rochefort's downfall because of her arrogance, and ignoranot knowing it was to protect herself from being killed like the rest.

  She pyed her cards well, but she could not keep this facade forever. They would soon start to notice that the Rochefort was still going strong, and would start to wonder why and how.

  'He wants to see me miserable? Is that it?'

  The four aides shuddered at the dark and gloomy aura emitting from their dy. She looked like she was ready to it murder, and her face promised violence.

  "Lady e? Are you alright?" Graham asked.

  "Never beeer," e said, chewing. The fruit tasted so bad. The more she ate, the more she was vihat her stomach was trying to kill her, "Graham, have the ake a soup," she said.

  "What kind of soup?"

  "Something to wash down this taste."

  "The taste of the fruit, Lady e?"

  "The taste ret. I want it out of my mouth, Graham. Out."

  Graham bowed areated to the kit.

  e covered her head, leaning against the table. Her eyes were too dry to shed tears, but her heart was weeping. She hated being sad and miserable, and she was angry at herself fiving someohat power.

  "Get ready to depart, Seb," e said, waiting for her soup to arrive, "we are leaving in two hours. Tell everyoo pad be ready. The sapphire mine isn't going to miself. I'm sure the workers are starving for their paychecks, and the nobles are starving for some jewels."

  Seb bowed and turned, "Right away, Lady e."

  · · ─────── · ???· ─────── · ·

  Exactly two hours ter, everyone was lined up and ready. The carriages were packed and the horses were waiting.

  Maya curled in the er of the carriage and closed her eyes, falling asleep almost immediately.

  With nothing to do, Patch also looked for the most fortable spot ihe carriage ao sleep to serve energy.

  e was still staring outside the window when they departed. The raven on her shoulder was grooming its feathers, its shiny bck beak occasionally peeking over her shoulder to steal some food from her outstretched hand.

  · · ─────── · ???· ─────── · ·

  Lu pyed with the lighter in his right hand. It looked like a round pocket watd also opened like one. He couldn't stop his fingers from flipping it open, closing it, and opening it again. The sound it created matched the rhythm of his thoughts, helping him rex and ahem.

  Click, click, click.

  He was thinking about some faster means of travel. The carriage was too slow, the horses needed sta, both wasting an incredible amount of his time on the road.

  He needed a fast way to transpoods, a faster way of unication, and a faster means of transp troops and supplies.

  The lighter tis clicks.

  The only thing he could think of in the past was a flying ship, which could avoid most obstacles, and fly over mountains, rivers, and forests. A fantastical dream, perhaps, but he could not help but imagi.

  Lu started by studying different ship and cart designs to uand the basics. He hired the best craftsmen and alchemists, determio at least build a faster carriage.

  They focused oires specifically. After trying out several ideas, they ied a soft and bouncy material that could absorb shocks and help with speed, which was the beginning of a rubber tire.

  Lu quickly capitalized on the eology, and rubber pntations began t up across his nd. It became one of his most profitable exports and an industry in its ht. Not only was rubber used for the tires, but it could also be made into protective armor and clothing, as well as household items.

  The carriage suddenly jerked, the horses neighed loudly before stopping.

  "My Lord," the an called, "There's a rockslide up ahead. It will take a while for us to clear the road, but there's ane group behind us, we ask them to lend a hand."

  ╔═══ Author's note ════╗

  Nerdy Lu is such a cutie. ??

  ╚════════════════╝