Gentle Prince

"My!" The Prince widened his eyes as he looked at his brother and… blushed. Did the man just blush? Cassandra blinked in surprise. The Crown Prince was older than Prince Hunter, right? He was probably in his early thirties.

And he was blushing because she was talking about shameless acts.

Maybe she had become so used to the people outside of Zealandia, that she somehow found this action a bit cute.

"I—I never thought that — " The Crown Prince cleared his throat. "I should leave. I—I was going to inform you that it is starting. The hunting event will begin soon… I—should go."

Cassandra's jaw dropped.

She watched as the Crown Prince rushed out of the tent as if… someone was trying to kill him. What was that? Wasn't that a bit overboard?

Cassandra lifted an eyebrow. At first, she had thought it was cute but now she knew it was fake. His acting was good but as someone who loved to watch the films nominated for the Oscars, she knew what good acting looked like. She turned her attention towards Prince Hunter who was… staring at their hands.

When she realized that she was still holding him, Cassandra immediately smiled. "What?"

"You are one daring woman."

"Thank you."

"That wasn't a compliment."

"Everything coming from you sounds like a compliment." Finally, she let go of his hand. "The hunt is starting. And I am still bent on riding with you."

"I have never met someone so annoying."

She squinted at him. In fact, she had never met anyone as deadly as this man. Sadly, her visions weren't so clear. It wasn't like the vision that she would have about a certain fire, or about Almera's doom. Those visions never changed at all.

However, everything about this man was constantly changing, which made her confused. To her, he was like a puzzle—a deadly one. "The king knew that you killed your previous wives, am I right?" And yet, here she was, still trying to figure out his identity.

"Does that matter?" he asked.

This man had already shown her that he was a dark one—twice.

At the same time, he was showing her that he could make decisions. She had been trying to annoy him, and he had never once lost the ability to weigh the consequences of his actions.

He was smart and calculating.

How could a dark one act like that?

But what if the dark ones had always been sane? What if… some parts about them were hidden just like how everyone thought that Lycans had never existed until now? Just like how most people had never heard of the term 'Sybill?'

As someone who was hunted by the dark ones, Cassandra felt that she needed to know more about them.

She met his intense eyes. There it was again. He was staring at her like he wanted to open her head up and see her brain. "You know… And yet he agreed to have you marry me." Was the King hoping that Prince Hunter would kill her?

Damn!

This political stuff was making her head hurt. It reminded her of a game of chess. Sadly, she was being treated like a pawn. But she was definitely up for the challenge of saving herself.

Prince Hunter turned his head away. "You saw my eyes." That wasn't a question. She wondered if it was his intention to show his eyes. Perhaps it was something that he could not control.

"So?" Sadly for him, she wasn't planning on backing down. He was deadly, yes. But so was she. For some reason, the feeling of always wondering if he was going to kill her was a bit riveting.

In fact, just staring at his intense eyes was both exhilarating and frightening. She found herself liking it.

Cassandra thought she saw his eyes turn scarlet again. "Was that intentional? Or is it something you cannot control?" she asked, curious.

His brows wrinkled. "The hunt is starting…" He blatantly ignored her question as he walked out of the tent. "Stay close to me." He stood by the entrance of the tent and turned towards her. "Why are you still standing there like a damn statue?"

A flush of adrenaline surged through her body. "Ah? Does this mean you…" Did he know about the horses?

"Don't take it the wrong way. I don't trust you. Who knows what kind of words would come out of your mouth if you meet the crown prince again?" The muscles in his jaw tightened. Then he glared at her and left the tent.

"Hey! Wait for me!" Cassandra ran out after him. But her steps immediately halted after bumping into a wall— his back, it turned out actually. "Aw!" Cassandra took a step back as she rubbed her forehead and glared at his broad back. How could it be his back? For a second, she had honestly thought it was a tree or something.

"Watch where you're going,"he heard him say before he turned around. The gentle look on his face made her stiffen. Before she could say anything, he started rubbing her forehead. "Does it hurt?"

"What?"

"It seems that Lady Cassandra is hurt." Prince Hunter leaned forward and gave her forehead a peck. "Does it feel better now?"

What the hell?

Cassandra felt like she was looking at a different man!

"I— "

"Ah, how about I carry you towards the – "

"No!" Cassandra interrupted him before he said something crazy. She looked at the people around them and lowered her head, avoiding their gazes. "I'm fine. Thank you."

"Are you certain?"

"Yes." She forced herself to sound as meek as possible while she gritted her teeth silently. This fox! Couldn't he at least warn her if he wanted to act sweet and gentlemanly around her? "Thank you, your highness."

To her surprise, Prince Hunter suddenly held her chin, lifting it up until her gaze met his gentle eyes. "Are you sure you don't feel uncomfortable?"

"Positive!" She gave him a sweet tightlipped smile.

"Good."

This time, he lowered his head and kissed her… on the cheek.

Thank god, it was just the cheek! Imagine if he had kissed her on the lips and she had… responded?