Chapter 2

The king paused in his writing, and ink spread across the report.

He looked up at the woman kneeling in the study. His brows knitted together. "Arissa, have you heard about Louis' plan to make Nicola his concubine? Do not worry. My decision has not been made yet."

Arissa interrupted him with a sorrowful smile. "Your Majesty. I do not want to marry His Highness anymore."

She knelt heavily on the cold tiles. "I am willing to enter a marriage alliance to bring peace to both nations."

The king remained silent for a long time before giving a long sigh. "Have you really made up your mind? Northania is far away. If you leave, you can never come back."

"I have made up my mind. I hope Your Majesty will approve."

The king sighed again before writing the imperial edict and stamping the imperial seal on it. "In that case, I will prepare the best dowry for you. I will send you off in splendor one month later."

When she returned to the Crown Prince's residence, Arissa already felt so much pain that her vision blurred. She lay down, and the door pushed open.

"Arissa? You are awake?" Louis' voice echoed in the hall. Arissa turned her head and saw him standing in the candlelight. His black pants were still damp with night dew.

He saw her clutching her chest, and his expression changed slightly. He explained, "Last night, an assassin infiltrated the Crown Prince's residence. I failed to protect you, which resulted in you being stabbed."

Arissa almost laughed, thinking, "An assassin? What an excuse."

He reached out to touch her wound, then withdrew as if afraid of hurting her. "Does it still hurt?"

Arissa calmly shook her head. "No. It does not hurt as much as the stab I took for Your Highness on the road to exile."

Louis' hand froze in mid‑air.

In the desolate mountains, she had shielded him from a bandit's sword and nearly lost her life.

Silence filled the hall.

After a long while, he whispered, "Arissa, I asked His Majesty's permission to make you the Crown Princess in a month."

He paused and added, "At the same time, I will take Nicola as a concubine."

Arissa lowered her gaze.

She would already be on her way to Northania in a month.

"Is taking her as a concubine also revenge?" she asked softly.

Louis' expression faltered slightly. He grasped her hand after a long pause. "Of course. Only in this way can I keep her by my side and slowly torment her."

Arissa looked up at the handsome face before her.

How ridiculous. He acted so earnestly, yet she no longer wanted to play along.

"Your Highness can do as you please," Arissa responded calmly.

Louis was stunned. He had imagined her crying and questioning him. He had never expected such a nonchalant reaction.

A strange frustration welled inside him. He reached out to pull her into his arms. "Arissa, on the long 900‑mile road of exile, only you accompanied me."

His voice turned slightly hoarse. "I promised I would never betray you."

Arissa let him hold her. The familiar scent of sandalwood filled her nostrils. Once, this embrace was all she longed for.

"Do you love me?" she asked softly.

Louis stiffened. He whispered after a long pause, "Of course... I love you."

He was lying.

Arissa knew him too well. His fingertips always rubbed his cuffs whenever he lied, just like now.

She never understood why.

He was the Crown Prince. She was the Prime Minister's daughter. Nicola was the daughter of a Duke. The three of them grew up together, yet Louis' eyes were always only for Nicola.

When they were younger, the three of them played in the Imperial Garden, yet Louis' gaze always followed Nicola. At palace banquets, he always noticed first when Nicola's wine cup was empty. On the day the late king decreed Nicola's marriage to him, he drank all night with joy.

He loved Nicola deeply, and Arissa accepted that.

What did Nicola do? When Louis was demoted and exiled, she almost immediately sent him a betrothal annulment letter to declare a clean break.

That day, Louis stood in the rain all night, clutching that letter. His heart was broken, and his eyes were bloodshot, yet Nicola did not open the doors of her residence.

Arissa was the one who found him with an umbrella. She stayed by his side day and night, barely sleeping as she cared for him. She walked those 900 miles with him. Whenever he sobbed and asked her not to abandon him, she whispered into his ear, "I am here. I will always be here."

However, his heart was too cold to warm.

Fortunately, she saw it clearly and would no longer try to warm it.

Arissa chuckled.

Perhaps out of guilt, Louis felt a sudden tightness in his chest when he heard it. He was about to speak when hurried footsteps sounded outside the hall.

"Your Highness. Miss Mullery feels a terrible pain in her chest. Please hurry to see her."

Louis immediately released Arissa. His usually indifferent face showed panic. "Arissa, I will be right back. How will I get my revenge if she dies?"

His retreating figure disappeared into the night.

Arissa gazed at the swaying door and smiled softly.

He never returned.

In the days that followed, tales of the Crown Prince's affection for Nicola circulated throughout the Crown Prince's residence. He rebuilt the Stargazing Tower for her because she said she liked stargazing. He ordered fresh strawberries transported from faraway to make her smile. He even helped her with her makeup and combed her hair, doing everything loving couples would do.

"Miss. Those lowly maids dare to gossip behind your back, saying that your position as Crown Princess will sooner or later belong to Nicola. I will go and tear their mouths apart right now." Arissa's maid Helen Green's eyes reddened with rage.

"No need." Arissa calmly embroidered her wedding dress, the one prepared for her marriage alliance.

"Let them be." She was never going to be Louis' Crown Princess anyway.

One day, she pruned flowers in her garden and overheard several maids gossiping.

"Have you heard? Miss Mullery is pregnant. His Highness was so happy he gave the entire residence staff 3 months' wages."

There was a snap. Arissa's hand trembled, and the flower branch snapped in her grasp.

"Nicola is pregnant?" Arissa wondered.