IN DISBELIEF

"What?" The Crown Prince uttered, in shock as he didn't expect the answer coming from her mouth. Seeing that the Crown Prince's usual cold demeanour faltered as she let go of her words, a grin crept into her lips, enjoying how his pride cracked right in front of her.

"You want me to repeat it? Are you deaf? Alright then, since the country's beloved Crown Prince is deaf, I shall repeat it. I do not want to associate myself with you—"

Before she could even finish her words, the crown prince furiously stood up from his seat and growled at how obnoxious her words were, to the point that she was rejecting a royal decree that was passed on by the Emperor.

"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW WOMEN WANT ME?! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MANY WOMEN COVET YOUR POSITION?! YOU'VE GOT SOME NERVE TO REJECT A MIRACLE! ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?!" He shouted at Felicia who was calm despite him intimidating her.

"Your Highness, you sure are talking as if you own the world. You're thinking of me as if I am a dog that will chase you for all eternity. You're a narrow-minded man who only thinks that everything is yours. Accept my rejection, Your Highness. I am not one of those women who's willing to chase you." She said, feeding herself with the refreshments in front of her.

Jeez, why react violently when all she said is that she loathes the idea of marrying him? That doesn't make any sense at all. Isn't he the first one to bring up the idea of annulling their marriage since he doesn't like her at all?

"Hah! I see why Alexander calls you a ludicrous woman after all. You're a foolish person, unreasonable and absurd. You're not even that beautiful! You're antagonising everyone in this manor. Helena is better than you." The Crown Prince told her, chuckling as he still is in disbelief.

"Oh my, Your Highness thinks too highly of Helena. As expected of you." She said as she began to stand up, looking at him in the eyes without batting her eyelashes.

"Then why don't you beg and plea to annul our marriage? So that I will never see you again. You're making me sick after all." She said as she bowed her head and curtsied to him.

"May the blessings of the Goddess befall unto you, Your Highness." She said, stood up normally and left the room with a wide smirk as she saw how his face was exasperated by her straightforward remarks.

"WAIT!" The Crown Prince shouted as he began to approach her, grabbing her by the wrist and turning her to face him. His grip on her wrist was so tight that she couldn't help but hiss at him.

"What do you want, Your Highness?" She asked with a low voice, looking at him as if she was piercing him with knives all over his body. Seeing how her emotions changed from taunting to being cold, Constantine couldn't help but feel a bit scared of how fast she could change her emotions.

"Are you really sure that you want to annul this? most women would be begging to have your position! Reconsider your decisions in life, Felicia! With power, you can rule the world!" He said in a frantic mood.

"Why are you trying to persuade me, your Highness? You can persuade one of your other "women" instead. I have no thoughts of becoming your woman after all. Or maybe, you can ask Helena. You've been calling out her name, haven't you?" She said, chortled.

"Are you speaking like this out of jealousy towards your sister? It's heresy! If anyone heard you, you'd be burned at a stake! That frank mouth of yours needs to know the limits! You need to limit yourself, Felicia!" He said as he pulled her even tighter which made their bodies clash with each other.

'But Felicia's been burnt already." Rachelle thought, thinking about Felicia's ending in the book. But now, she's Felicia so what happened in the book definitely won't happen here.

"Your Highness, didn't you come here suggesting we should stop this I don't know, plaything? Why are you so mad about it when it was you who told me you wanted it?" She asked as she pulled back her hand, stepping back after pulling herself harshly away from him.

Constantine's face fell as he retracted from his actions and stared at her in silence, eyes filled with skepticism. He was perplexed as he couldn't comprehend her behaviour at all. He was just staring at her as she massaged her wrist.

"You're not serious... Right?" He asked which Felicia finds confusing as hell. The first thing he said when they arrived here was to stop whatever this called, an arranged marriage but here he is, trying to woo her into thinking that she should've been obsessed with him.

"I am. Do tell the Emperor that I don't want to become his doll when it comes to playing house with you. I'd rather marry a commoner than have someone filled with pride and narcissism." Felicia replied as she opened the door and went out.

"Tell the Duchess that the Crown Prince is ready to eat his lunch. I won't be joining everyone else since I'm preoccupied with the words he just said to me." Felicia said towards the standing maid, awaiting the two of them.

She wiped her non-existent tears from her eyes and left the parlour, running away. Seeing her weird behaviour, the maid then peeked through the door and saw the Crown Prince, still standing as if he wasn't in his usual self.

"Your Highness." The maid said as she entered, bowing her head slowly to show respect to the royal blood. "The Duchess Tyren has invited you for lunch." She stated, keeping her gaze on her feet.

"No. I'll go back instead. Please tell my chauffeur to get my carriage already. I'll be leaving." Constantine said as he strode away from the maid, leaving her inside while gnashing his teeth in annoyance.

He's enraged with Felicia's atrocious personality. To think that she's going to become an Empress someday, that's definitely not good for their harmonious country. To think that he's marrying a witch makes him even more infuriated. She's hard to deal with!

"Y-your Highness... What a surprise!" Constantine stopped striding as he turned around and saw the woman that he hadn't seen for a while. It's as if all of his bad thoughts disappeared from his mind as he immediately turned his eyes upon the beautiful woman in front of him.

"Helena! Where have you been?" He asked as he approached her and grabbed the books that she'd been holding. "What are you doing? This is heavy, isn't it? Here, let me help you." He said and took the books from her arms.

"N-No! I can't let you carry them... you're a prince... I'm just a lowly being..." Helena said, agitated as Constantine held the books in his arms. Seeing how cute Helena was acting right now, Constantine chuckled, feeling light because of how gentle and bashful she was.

"No, let me instead. I can't let a woman like you carry them. And who said that you're a lowly being? You're the daughter of the Duke!" He said as they started to walk away.

"Uhm... I'm not telling you..." Helena said, looking away with a sad expression in her eyes that made the Crown Prince's brows furrowed. Who has the gut to say that Helena is lowly knowing that she's the Saintess?

"Tell me. Someone needs to learn a lesson." He said with a growl, vexed with the thought that someone called this lovely being someone with no position.

"I really can't tell you, Your Highness. She might get annoyed with me again. It's because of her that I've been punished severely by the Duke and was only allowed to eat a meal for a day." She said, tears glimmering in the crook of her eyes.

This made Constantine extremely conscious as she told him about how unjust it was for her to get punished. "She? Is it Felicia?" He unconsciously asked while he was trying to calm himself, not trying to strike fear in Helena who was being gentle and sweet.

"N-No! Certainly not... Sister... Sister is good to me after all... I-I just don't understand..." She said, shaking her head while wiping her eyes as her tears slid down.

That damn woman! Not only is she vulgar with her mouth, but she is also wicked! She's trying to pollute Helena with her rude attitude.

"Don't associate yourself with her, Helena. She's far too vile. Stay out of her sight for your own good." Constantine said as he entered Helena's room without asking for any permission. Even Helena let him in without making a scene.

As Helena entered the room, she looked out of her door, trying to look for anyone who was trying to keep an eye on her. When she deemed that no one followed them, a smirk appeared on her lips as she closed the door with a satisfied face.

Meanwhile, Felicia who was hiding at the corner, grinned at how Helena was still acting like it wasn't her fault to begin with. What a sly snake, ruining her image once again. She didn't learn her lesson very well.

"Should we just let them be, My Lady? What if something happens between them?" Olivia asked as both of them followed Helena and Constantine. Assuming that Helena will sneak out from her probation, seems like she is not only trying to view herself as a pitiful being, but she's also trying to take advantage of the Crown Prince.

"Let them be, Olivia. Soon they will notice that the Crown Prince still hasn't arrived. Let's head down to lunch, shall we?" She said with a devilish curve on her lips as she began to walk away from Helena's room.

And he dares to accuse her of heresy when he was the one who had the guts to visit the Saintess with suspicion. What a hypocrite. As expected of someone who collaborated with Helena just to kill Felicia. He cannot be trusted.