10 Don't Kill the Messenger

I've crushed the twentieth paper and threw it into the bin. I was alone in that room. Since I was annoyed with the whole world, I told all the maids to stay out of the chamber.

Thus I was alone. Also, I was worried at the same time. Even though I was on my right mind then, there is a high possibility that these people would drive me crazy in the end. I crushed the twenty-first paper as I sat with my hands on my head.

'I need some positivity or else I would lose this battle,' I went to the balcony. From there I tried to look around. This was the place that poured some positivity in me the last time. So I stayed there for a while. But this time, I didn't even get an ounce of it. As I was going to return with tired eyes, I momentarily saw two men standing at the other side of the lake.

Those two figures far away looked a bit familiar. I immediately squinted as I focused carefully. I could see that the two of them were looking in my direction. Since I'm already there the two got excited as they moved here and there without an idea of what to do next.

This amount of excitement proved to me that it was my valuable soldiers.

Since the area of the palace is allocated for the princess, I needn't worry about other royals witnessing the scene. My only worry was about the people appointed by the queen. I looked around the area and made sure no people were watching me.

I waved at my soldiers and to my surprise, they waved back to me. Then I signalled them to come and got a thumbs up from them in return. I continued to wait for them for a few minutes. Finally, I saw them on the back lawn.

Once I saw them, I beamed and waved at them again. I was happy that they were safe. Also, they would help me deal with Victor too. I was happy.

They happily waved at me again.

I immediately hurried back inside the chamber and started to write a letter to Victor. In the letter, I have asked Victor to meet me in my chamber that night instead of going to the dungeon. As someone who had been spying on the royals of Astrana, he should be able to enter my chamber. Even if he couldn't, I'd be fine as long as he doesn't go near that dungeon. Also, I strictly mentioned not to hurt the one who is carrying the letter for me! I finally scrolled it and sealed the letter. To make sure that it was from me, I picked two fresh flowers with pollen from the vase beside me and tied them with the scroll.

'He is smart. He would understand,' I was confident.

I took another paper and wrote instructions for my soldiers in it. Once finished, I hurried back to the balcony. I crushed the second paper and threw it at my soldiers. One of my soldiers picked it up from the ground and opened it. . He read it then scratched his head in confusion. The other tilted his head in confusion then looked at me.

I pointed to the scroll in my right hand with my left index finger. I lifted my eyebrows as I nodded to make sure they understood the mission. The two imitated my facial expression with a thumbs up.

I took it as a 'Consider it done!' and threw the scroll at them. One of my soldiers caught it successfully. The two left with strong determination on their faces.

I too happily returned inside my chamber.

It was extremely hard for me to wait for the night. I was not sure if the message had already reached Victor or not.

The only thing I was sure of is that I'm already in need of him.

If I need to have some freedom, I should be the one to control the queen. Since it is not possible for me to directly control her, I chose to control the one controlling the queen instead. It was none other than the shaman.

To hunt the shaman down, I need Victor.

The sun has set and the moon has arisen. I somehow managed to send all my maids out earlier! I've already locked my room as well. Still, he has not come. I chose to stay awake till midnight since it was a life or death matter to me.

He didn't come.

When I was about to close my eyes and slip into my sleep, I heard a 'thud' on my balcony. I was wide awake. I stood up and hurried to the balcony but before I could go there, a tall man entered my chamber from the balcony.

We all know it is Victor, don't we?

Victor was wearing a scarf covering his lower face and head. It could be called a mask that exposed only his forehead and bright eyes. He didn't show any hesitation to enter my room. Even before I could realize it, he was already standing in front of me, stopping me from going forward.

He calmly started to remove that scarf, exposing his straight nose, stubborn lips and perfect chin. Unlike the time before, his hair was combed but still looked messy with a side-swept fringe.

He was indeed handsome with a mask but he looked more handsome without one.

'Ah, these imaginary people!' I couldn't help but get jealous of his perfection. Also, I was jealous of Flora two. She got two perfect men doting on her.

"Your highness!" he slightly bowed with a frown. It was so obvious that he didn't want to greet me, still, he did.

"Have you decided?" I asked as I walked and sat on an armchair beside my table.

When I looked at him once again, I could see that he was still standing at the same place, clenching his hands and looking down the floor. It showed his helplessness. If only he had a choice, he wouldn't be here.

'Come on! You're already here. Why are you being melodramatic now?' I thought as I sat with one leg over the other and calmly placed my chin on my palm.

"If it's that hard for you, go back to your nation and prepare for the war. You're wasting my time," I said.

He turned in my direction.

"Your highness," he sighed. After a pause, he looked at me with determination. I sat straight since I knew he would say the words next.

"I..." he said. I nodded once as I expected the next word!

"I... pledge..." he paused. I nodded again with wide eyes.

"I... pledge... my..." he paused again. With that, my patience flew away.

Why the hell he is behaving like a teenager whose going to profess his love? I stood up.

"I'll count to three. If you are still unable to take the oath within the time, then war it is!" I strongly stated as I tilted my head.

He looked at me with fiery eyes once again. Everything I did annoyed him and every word leaving my mouth infuriated him. Of course, how dare I am to treat the great Victor Marshrider this way! I could say that was what he had in his mind. But if I didn't dominate these people first, they would treat me like trash one day then threw me away. After all, I'm just an extra in this novel.

"Arrogant," he mumbled. He was still looking at me but this time, his fiery eyes changed for some reason.

"One!" I stood up from the chair and implemented my words.

"Outrageous," he mumbled as shook his head with knitted brows, showing how difficult it was to accept my behaviour.

"Two!" I ignored him and continued raising my voice.

He squinted his eyes once then started to walk towards me with strong but steady steps. Though I was a bit confused and scared, I didn't step back. If I did so, he'll think of me as a scaredy-cat.

"Thr..." before I could finish, he grabbed the backside of my head and pulled me closer. Since he had laid his hands on me I widened my eyes in fear. "What an insolent brat," he said then without any warning, sealed my lips with his!

At that moment, my world went blank. Suddenly, all the formulas I had learnt in algebra which I struggled so much to remember and forgot a long time ago started to float in front of me. Trigonometry followed. I could understand the severity of the shock my brain was having at the moment from these images.

'What's going on?' I tried my best to understand the situation. This was something I didn't have in my plans. He never did this when he pledged his loyalty to Flora. He never kissed her. To be precise, he had never kissed any woman before.

But what's wrong with him now? Is it some kind of a mutation? Did I break him?

I came to my senses. I involuntarily struggled, still he made sure that I don't slip away. I got a hold of myself and gathered all of my energy, then strongly pushed him away.

He broke the kiss, still, didn't let me go. Good for him, cause at that moment, I wanted to punch him on the nose. If only my hands were not under his hold, I would have broken his nose.

Victor would look terrible with a broken nose!

Though my hands were not freed, I got my lips back. I can survive with that at that moment. When I was about to swear, he spoke, in a crystal clear voice!

"I pledge my loyalty to your highness! Also, I would never break this promise in my lifetime!"

Then he released me.

I looked at him with wide eyes. I could still feel that strange feeling on my lips. I tried to wipe it off with my sleeve once.

"What the hell? Do you have a screw loose?" I asked.

"This is how we pledge loyalty in Dagresh!" he smirked.

I clenched my hands. I couldn't hold on to my composure anymore.

"Is your country that barbarous?" I immediately asked.

"Indeed, it is better for you to not mess with us!" he replied.

"You harassed me, the princess of Astrana! You won't get away with this!" I was incandescent.

"I'm aware of my crime your highness. Punish me!" he simply said as if it was nothing.

"You deserve to be whipped a hundred times!" I said.

"Then can I kiss your highness again if I got whipped for two hundred times?" he asked.

That moment, I clearly understood that this nasty piece of work was doing everything to irritate me.

For the last time, I wiped my lips with my full strength causing them to bleed a little.

"You very badly want to see a dead Flora, don't you?" I asked him.

I could see his jaws tightening.

"That's so lowly, your highness!" he immediately protested.

"It is you who acted lowly, Victor! It's you and Dagresh!" I said.

"What do you mean?" he frowned as I had dragged Dagresh into the conversation.

"You're representing a country that betrayed us! After signing the peace treaty, we never thought about sending spies to Dagresh but you did. Even though I knew everything, I let you and your spies live. You should be grateful"

"You didn't do it out of kindness. You had your reasons," he said.

"Still, that doesn't make you a saint. You're at fault and you're trapped because of your king, not me. To be honest, I'm much better than you who is leading a bunch of betrayers," I replied.

"..." this time, he couldn't help but tightly zip his lips. According to the novel, he was also not happy with Dagresh spying on Astrana but he had no choice but to lead them since it was the king's order.

"Besides, they hadn't taught you how to respect a woman," I said.

He looked at me once, then averted his gaze.

Out of all those characters in the novel, I chose him as my alliance. He ended up as a big disappointment. This guy broke my trust and heart then.

What I used to like in Victor was his respect for women. But now, it seems like I have generalized his respect to Flora as respect to women. I was indeed disappointed. At that moment, I couldn't hide the redness in my eyes.

"You wanted to overpower me, didn't you? And this is all you got?" I didn't flinch but asked him directly. He tried to say something but I interrupted.

"Shame on you!"

He continued to look at me with wide eyes. Maybe it's a new concept for him. Maybe forced kisses were acceptable in that romantic world. Maybe there was nobody to teach him what was right. But none of those was my business. It was my goddamn first kiss and he took it so lightly.

I was angry and at the edge of the world.

"Get lost!" I said. "I won't kill your people, so don't ever appear in front of me."

With that, I hurried back to the room attached to my chamber and shut the door behind me.

'He is not the one I'm looking for. He is not my saviour,' I made up my mind.