Lu felt a surge of possessiveness wash over him. e was his target. If anyone was t her down, it would be him, and him alone.

  "Allow me to do it," he said, slowly letting go of the Prince's wrist, "Lady Bianca is insecure as she is, and she might not take it well to have Yhness so close and touchy with your ex-fiance," he said, "I'm a single bachelor, I don't have much to worry about," he added with a smile, keeping his tone respectful.

  The Prince's eyes fshed with appreciation, but there was also a glint of suspi in them. "I'm gd you uand my situation," he said, stepping aside, "You may proceed."

  Lu was fast. His fingers worked to uhe strings, loosening the corset, allowing e to breathe easier.

  Nobody would have ever thought that the two had been lovers at one point. There were no lingering touches or wandering eyes, not a single sign of affe, or even aowledgment.

  It was like ba the days, when he made a deal with a certain girl to gain education only the noble had access to. It was the first step that would have paved his path to a better life. Or so he thought.

  Lu gently tilted her up, leaning her back against the bench so she wouldn't be slumped awkwardly, then grabbed a cloth napkin from the table. He soaked it in the jug of water, squeezed it out, and pressed it to her forehead.

  There wasn't much he could do anymore auro the Prince's side, waiting for the doctor to arrive.

  How many times did she get sid nobody was there to hold her hand, or make her feel better?

  'Really? Am I gettiimental now? What happeo my resolution to make her pay for what she did?'

  When did a street ur with the shrewdness of a devil, and silver tongue of an angel like him turn into a fool, who couldn't see through a woman's manipution, and got pyed like a fiddle?

  When did she bee the sole reason for his existence, his goal, and the purpose?

  When did he start to believe that she genuinely loved him?

  Was it the promise she made to him, the oath she took, or the vows of loyalty she procimed? To never look at another man the way she looked at him; to reat another man the way she treated him; to rust another man the way she trusted him; to never speak to another man the way she spoke of him.

  He was damo the bone. Madly, hopelessly and helplessly drowning in his love for her, and the worst of all, he made the same voromises, the same oaths, and the same decrations of love and loyalty.

  She was studying in the Academy at the time, and he was building up his own business, its reputation growing by the day, reag her in the form of products she'd found on the market.

  Glory of The Snow was his first brand's crest, a flower with blue petals and gold ter that could grow on the highest mountains, and survive harsh and freezing temperatures. Their feelings mirrored the flower’s resilieo thrive year after year from the same root, and bloom agaie all odds.

  Instead of letters, she sang to him in her own voice, crossing the great distahat separated them.

  The rumors about how she treated all men like dirt beh her shoes, that she had the heart of a stone, and the soul of a witch, sounded like sweet fessions of love, and the most heartfelt words of adoration. So naturally, he would take her side whenever she defended herself against their accusations.

  The secret codes they had developed were their ways to unicate, without anybody notig. The signs in her paintings, the patterns on the fabrics. Everything had a meaning, a meaning only they uood.

  e stirred, frowning, before her head snapped up suddenly, her breath ing out in short, shallos. Her eyes darted around, sing the surroundings, the pani them slowly dissipating when her gaze nded on them.

  "Yhness, I knew you would e bae," she quickly recollected herself, grabbing the book and standing up cheerfully, her words scratg at Lu's heart, "I couldn’t leave until I showed you what I found. Look."

  She made a rge step to get closer, but her legs buckled under her, and she lost her baumbling forward.

  The Priepped back to avoid the collision and cursed in paihe sharp er of the book nded on his feet as e fell onto the ground.

  Her arms were outstretched, the impact between his feet and the book caused the book to slip out of her grasp, and o Lu's feet.

  Lu woke up from his stupor a down to pick up the book, stealing a gaze in her dire. She covered her wide smile with her hand and looked up in panic.

  "I apologize, Yhness! Please, five my clumsiness," she apologized in a shaky voice, her hands trembling, "Are you hurt, Yhness?" she asked in a worried tone.

  The Prince's fiwitched slightly before curling into a fist. He removed his shoe and sock to see the damage she had caused. His toenail began to turn bck almost immediately after the impact.

  "Oh no, this is a disaster!" she excimed, her eyes widening, "Yhness, please, don't be mad at me," she pleaded, tears filling her eyes, "What should I do? I have caused an act to your person," she wailed, bowing before him. The stress was getting to her, her breathing turning ragged, "Please, have mere, Yhness."

  Without a word, the Prince slid his foot bato the shoe. She started to hyperventite, and before he could punish her, she fainted, her body going limp as she colpsed.

  “...” A vein throbbed on the Priemple, "Get up."

  No response.

  "Are you deaf? I said, get up."

  Nothing.

  "Pretending to faint won't gain you any favour." He outstretched his hand, about to grab a fistful of her hair, but stopped when Lu coughed slightly, reminding him that there might be people watg. He quickly posed himself and slid his sod shoe ba.

  "Yhness, the doctor has arrived!" his guard announced.

  The maids and personnel who stayed in a carriage outside also showed up, rushing behind the Prince's guards.

  They all looked nervous and genuinely worried for her well-being. The three "boy toys" others liked to mouch, were the first to jump to her aid.

  Their pretty faces and slim figures were deceiving. One could even mistake them for young women. One seemed to be her personal chef, another her personal physi and the st one was her personal assistant.

  The "physi" was the oo che her, and gave a report to the Prind Lu, "Lady e has a high fever, and her body is in a weakeate. She needs rest and medie. Excuse our impudence, Yhness, but we have to depart.”

  "Wait," the Priopped him, gesturing for the pace doctor to examioo.

  The doctor checked her temperature, her pulse, and the color of her tongue and nails (ign the blood uhem), and then stood up. "Yhness, Lady Rochefort's fever is indeed very high, and the cause of her unsciousness is dehydration and stress," he said.

  "She woke up for a while just a few moments ago," the Prince said, "Are you sure it's not just another act?"

  "Her fever must have dropped when she woke up, but now it's back to its peak. I'm afraid that she won't wake up again any time soon. Yhness, Lady Rochefort really is unwell," the doctor said.

  "Very well," the Prince said, his expression turning grave, "Take her away."

  They bowed and lifted her carefully onto a stretcher, leaving Lu and the Prio their own business.

  · · ─────── · ???· ─────── · ·

  "Your ex-fiance really seems to adore you, and I see she has your best is at heart," Lu ented, returning the thick book to the Prince, "Will she be alright?"

  "You are too naive if you think that was anything other than a performao gain sympathy from others," The Prince's mood soured further, "She always made me visit her whenever she got sick. To abandon all my work and responsibilities and stay by her side."

  "Your reaade it seem like she used to throw herself at you quite often," Lu said, trying to lighten the mood a little.

  "Are you mog me?" the Prince chuckled. Not many people would dare to jest in front of him. It was quite amusing, really. "There’s nothing more annoying than a woman in a gaudy dress, drenched in heavy perfume and caked in thick makeup, throwing herself at you. Other women are bad enough, but she takes it to another level entirely."

  "Still," Lu replied, chug softly, "you ’t really bme them for being drawn to you. It’s not hard to see why someone might go to great lengths to catch your attention."

  The Prince scoffed, his expression turning slightly better, "What's worse is her father bming me for her health problems. Apparently, it's my fault his precious daughter acts like that. It's because she doesn't feel loved enough. He dotes on her beyond belief and spoils her rotten."

  Doted and spoiled rotten? Lu remembered the strid harsh training she was forced through. The tless hours of lessons in dang and music, the hours she spent in front of the mirror, trying to perfect her appearance.

  And on top of that, there was the duchy she had to manage under her father's name. She had to learn how to deal with finances, agriculture and security.

  It made Lu see the nobility in a different light.

  The three years at the Academy was the freest time she had ever gotten in her life, and this guy here was acg her father of having him pamper and dote on his daughter?

  If Lu's daughter was even half as hardw and dedicated to her duchy as e, he would've shoved her into a room full of gold and treasure. That little girl would have probably dema herself sidering the womb she would have grown in for nine months.

  Lu shook away his old dreams that suddenly resurfaced out of nowhere. It wasn't his pment. He had his own agenda, and he wasn't here to defend e's honor.

  "If there is something I do to help, just say the word, Yhness," Lu said, "It looks like she will pose a problem if she's not dealt with accly," he tirying to sound as friendly as possible, "Showing affe toward another won't make a stubborn woman like her ge her ways. I believe the best course of a would be to marry her off to someone else."

  He tinued, his lips curving upward, "But who is willing to have such a troublesome woman as their wife? And who has the power to force her father's hand in this?"

  "How about you?" The Prince suggested, throwing a joke back at him.

  "Me?" Lu shook his head and ughed, his deep voice carrying quiet humor. His tall, well-built frame leaned back slightly, the mplight atuating the sharp angles of his face, "Not even in my wildest dreams would I marry a woman like that. Not even if you offered me the throne. No offence."

  "aken," the Prince chuckled. Standing just as tall as Lu but with a mraceful, polished, almost princely air, he added, "I wouldn't wish her on my worst enemy, much less my ally."

  ╔═══ Author's note ════╗

  Whoever is clig on those little red hearts for this poor author, thank you so much. ??????

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