Meanwhile...

  The Crown Prince stared at the stack of documents on the table and then at the woman standing in front of him, "…"

  He couldn't persuade her to follow him back to the capital and couldn't leave empty handed either. If he asked his father for an imperial edict to summon her, it would be admitting that he couldn't handle her on his own.

  And to make matters worse, she had been parading him around in the streets. He moved his working space to the town, but this woman wouldn't stay put. Always going somewhere to meddle in the affairs of others while her staff managed the Rochefort's affairs for her. Her reputation was at an all time low right now and it was dragging him down as well.

  “You looked so bored yesterday so I thought some work would be a good way to get you involved in something. That's what men love to do right? Work, work, work," Celine said, showing another stack of papers across the table toward him, "My attendants don't even have time to serve me tea or meals properly anymore because they are so busy with all these papers."

  "..." The Prince went through a few pages: arguments over firewood storage, candle budgets, a leaking roof, compints over the price of fish at the market, a request for a new water well... These were the mundane affairs of some small towns in the Rochefort Duchy.

  "Did you even read any of these?" The Crown Prince asked and looked up. The yer of white powder covering her face, her dark red lips, and then the blue eyeshadow around her eyes… So vain and so preoccupied with her appearance that she couldn't be bothered with the duties of her own house.

  She tilted her head, "If I did, why would I be giving them to you to deal with?"

  "I'm not your servant to deal with these for you," he said and tossed the papers back onto the table.

  Celine took a sip from the teacup in her hand and raised her eyebrow, "You are not my servant. You're not my guest. You are not my friend. You are not my lover. You are not my anything, and you still expect me to giggle and bat my eyeshes like an idiot for the Crown Prince who had lost everything except his title? You can't even keep your father's favor, and you are still trying to intimidate me?"

  “...” His eyes widened, just for a second. Did someone in the pace tell her about the fight between him and his father? No, she was just making an assumption. She didn't know. His face hardened and his eyes turned cold. “If you are trying to use this scheme to make me fall for you, it will never happen. A fake. A cheap imitation of the real thing. That's what you are."

  "I know your type too well, and believe me when I say that If I wanted you all for myself," she paused, "That would require you to meet a few of my standards first. Not fancying little girls would be a good pce to start.” She met his gaze, unimpressed, “My respect for you doesn't equal my desire for you, Your Highness. So, please, don't insult me by thinking I'd ever be desperate enough to seduce you."

  He was speechless for a moment, confusion written all over his face. Did her family's influence get into her head? Did she become so power hungry that not even his title was enough for her anymore?

  She pced down her cup and straightened up, "I just wanted to clear some things between us before I die. Now, I can go in peace."

  He frowned, "Die?"

  She showed him the royal decree from the King. Treason, conspiracy, murder, assault, the list of crimes was endless. If she didn't show up to the trial, she would be considered guilty and executed.

  The Crown Prince went silent. The King was getting impatient and wanted to get rid of the problem as soon as possible. He had no intention of letting Celine escape again.

  "He finally caught me," Celine chuckled bitterly, "My time is up."

  "..." The Prince opened his mouth to say something, but her sudden ugh cut him off.

  “This is hirious." She leaned in, pcing her palms on the table, just enough to unsettle him. "It's fake, but something tells me that you almost believed it. I've wondered about your true intentions for the past few months, and now I know for sure. How does it feel to know that we are reted by blood?” Studying his expression, her half-sweet smile widened, “Shall I start calling you, my cousin dearest?"

  His eyes immediately turned sharp in alert and his voice even sharper, "Don't get too full of yourself, or you will regret it. You can't touch the throne no matter how hard you try," he said, trying to suppress her in the way only he knew.

  Scary, intimidating, and ruthless Crown Prince, that was what everyone knew him as. He wanted to see her flinch, tremble in fear, and cower, to remind her of her pce. But would it work against someone, who had mastered the art of knowing exactly how far to push, how close she could get to the edge without falling over it?

  "Oh, I'd rather sit on the p of a dirty peasant than on that ugly chair," she said, her eyes fshing with a hint of mockery, "You should focus on protecting your own position, Your Highness. If he gets hold of me, a new heir will be born. The throne will not be yours to cim, and everything you've done will be wasted."

  His fingers twitched, calmly pulling out his gun and pcing it on the table as a warning. "I should just kill you now, then. It would save me a lot of trouble."

  "Does killing your family members run in the blood? You are truly his son, no wonder you have his temper too." She said, creating some distance, her mocking tone turned into something darker, "I was taking it easy on you because of our blood ties, but I'm starting to regret my choices again."

  "..." The Crown Prince's face twisted as he tried to contain his disbelief. What the hell was this about?! Did she really fawn all over him because she viewed him as her retive?!

  She walked toward the exit, holding the handle, "That look on your face reminds me of my twin brother, except he was more handsome. And smarter too. And more charming as well."

  Ridiculous. The Crown Prince tried to recollect their time together, and realized that she had indeed been pying him the whole time. His face burned with humiliation, reddening all the way to the tips of his ears. “Is this what you were aiming for, from the beginning? Turning me into your ckey? Forget about it,” he said coldly, “I'm not someone you can use however you please.”

  "You've already served your purpose." She waved her hand dismissively over her shoulder, driving the st nail into the coffin, "Whoever marries you will have the worst life. I feel sorry for the unlucky woman."

  "Same to you." He gritted out, "If you ever find a man who'll be willing to put up with you."

  ‘Shut your mouth! Don't wish bad things on my man!’ she screamed in her mind, smming the door shut after her.

  · · ─────── · ???· ─────── · ·

  Celine hugged her shoulders to warm herself up, recollecting the tongue that licked her bruises, the hands that embraced her. It instantly brought her comfort, and she closed her eyes to savor the feeling.

  She didn't know why her rationality was stone dead on her and Lucian taking a rest instead of cuddling the hell out of each other. It was a once-in-a-blue-moon event, and her head decided to get in the way of her heart at the worst possible moment.

  She almost melted at the memory of the warm, fuzzy sensation of his nose nuzzling the back of her head. How did she survive it back then? How did she have the willpower to push him away?!

  Did she build some immunity against him again? She remembered when she would get tongue-tied by just looking at him. And then one day, she suddenly stopped feeling nervous. Her body didn't feel like it would go into a meltdown at any second. For a while, she could finally breathe and think clearly.

  She hit her head with her fist, wondering if there was a way to go three months back in time and get to experience it again. She swore she wouldn't let it go to waste the second time.

  If his revenge included these little treats from heaven, she needed more of it, but the chances of that happening were slim. She would have to do something about it.

  Trying to make amends with Lucian didn't work, as Celine had found out.

  Lucian was extremely vengeful since he was a kid. He didn't forgive, he didn't forget.

  She showed the same cruelty the tanner did, and she knew it. He wouldn't stop until he destroyed her. That was the kind of man he was.

  He seemed to obey the King, and was even taking orders from the Crown Prince. Was that the only way to make him submit? It had to be.

  He didn't respond to reason.

  He didn't respond to threats.

  He didn't respond to affection.

  The only thing left was authority, and so she would get it.

  ╔═══ Author's note ════╗

  How do you like the pacing so far?

  Is it too fast or too slow?

  I would love to show Bianca in the next chapter.

  I’m honestly so jealous of authors who can make my insides tingle just from two characters having some forced proximity. I didn’t realize how hard it is to write a slow burn that actually burns until now. ??

  Don't you find it funny how Celine never used the “cold shoulder” tactic on Lucian? She's completely clueless that he actually craves her attention. ??

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