Trap

Prince Noore entered the mansion with Lumos, who immediately had one of the royal guards inform the princesses of his highness' appearance. Considering the fact that Prince Noore was set to wed Princess Qamari, Lumos did not see any harm in letting the two meet. He was unaware, however, of the fact that Prince Noore's true motive in accompanying him to the mansion was Princess Nari.

In the living room of the aquamarine mansion, two girls, one in dark-blue and the other in pink, sat beside the window facing the peach blossom tree and lush flowers growing in the courtyard, as each did their own thing.

Princess Nari was shifting through a bundle of fabrics in various colors and designs, trying to decide on one that would complement her look on her wedding day. As an event that will happen only once in her life, she wanted to look her best even if the man she was marrying was not to her taste. She picked a bright red dress with a pink peony standing proudly on its wide sleeves and back, its tail-end dragging on the floor.

Looking at the dress with the exquisite peony design and red background, she instantly fell in love with it. Hugging it to her chest, she turned to Princess Qamari and asked with sparkly eyes.

"Cousin, how does it look?"

Stopping in the middle of her reading, Princess Qamari turned to see her cousin holding a red dress in front of her chest with sparkly eyes.

"Good." She said and went back to the parchment in her hands.

It has been more than a day since the evening of the banquet, and Princess Qamari who wanted to get an occupation before her wedding has been quite busy. Since dawn, she had been sifting through old and new parchments of the trade system, herb regulation and collection, and the requirements to obtain the right to practice medicine professionally in the empire.

And she was shocked by what she saw. The women in the empire had a lot more rights than she had expected. For example, the immediate hiring of an individual depended on the ability and talent of the person. If one had the ability and talent the position and post for hire needed, they would be immediately hired regardless of whether the person was male or female. This unexpected surprise had made her feel as if a huge burden was lifted off her shoulders because now, she only needed to display her skills in order to find an occupation that would provide her with the independence she wanted. If something happens in the future, she would have something to lean back on.

After finishing the parchment on hiring qualifications, she ecstatically picked up the ones detailing the medical shops and centers in the imperial capital, unaware of the displeasure on the face of Princess Nari.

Princess Nari could not understand what her cousin's problem was. There were only 14 days left until the day of their wedding, and yet her cousin was bent over old parchments instead of picking her wedding dress and accessories. It's fine if she is not interested in finding a dress, but she could not even make a little bit of time to help her choose her dress. Even though they were not that close in the Jinn kingdom, at least in this foreign empire, they should be sticking together as they only had each other. Thinking again of the fact that her cousin was going to marry the gentle and kind Prince Noore, she could not help feeling wronged.

Nothing seemed to be going right for her since her entrance into this empire. What she wanted was to marry a dependable and kind prince charming, but instead got an arrogant ice-cube.

At this exact moment, the royal guard sent by Lumos to inform the princesses of Prince Noore's appearance arrived at their courtyard.

"Your highnesses, Prince Noore is here for a visit." The guard shouted from outside.

"What is he here for?" Princess Qamari wondered with a slight frown on her face, displeased at the sudden intrusion.

"Prince Noore is here. Where is he?" Princess Nari asked with surprise before a pleasant smile spread across her face. Throwing the fabric in her hand away, she quickly got up and shyly tidied her clothes.

"He is waiting in the guest hall. Sir Lumos sent me to inform your highnesses." The guard replied.

"Good, good. Lead the way. It is not good manners to keep our guests waiting." Replying impatiently, Princess Nari went out of the room, not even waiting for Princess Qamari to follow.

Princess Qamari, seeing her cousin's 'more than ordinary' interest in Prince Noore, frowned. She could not understand Princess Nari's fascination. What did she see in that hypocritical man that she could not even see past his mask? Not only was the two-faced man dangerous, but he was also not worth trusting. Sighing resignedly, she went after Princess Nari.

Following the guard, the princesses soon arrived at the guest wing of the mansion.

Seated in the main seat, Prince Noore was chatting with Lumos about the warrior examination of the Amayan kingdom. Upon the princesses' entrance, Lumos stood and bowed, furtively glancing at Princess Nari as he recalled the item he bought earlier.

"Soon, she will be mine." He thought triumphantly, before withdrawing from the hall.

Unbeknownst to him, Princess Qamari caught the gleeful gleam in his eyes as he was lifting his head.

"Now what is he planning?" She thought wearily.

Seeing Princess Nari looking at Prince Noore with lovestruck eyes, and thinking about that Lumos with unclear intentions, she could not help but wonder if her cousin had a calamity-attracting spell cast on her. With the way things were looking, it was only a matter of time before misfortune struck her.

"Princesses, I apologize for suddenly coming unannounced. But I was near the area when I met your royal guard and feeling it inappropriate to pass without greeting the both of you, I accepted his invitation to stop by. I hope I have not interrupted your highnesses." He apologetically said.

"As a matter of fact, we were quite occupied." Princess Qamari indirectly pointed out his lack of manners in appearing unannounced.

"Your highness, please do not mind my cousin's words. You have not interrupted anything important at all. We were just selecting our wedding dresses. Well, at least I was. My cousin was just sitting, boring over old parchments, so you do not have to apologize at all. In fact, we should be thanking you for deeming us worthy enough to visit. Please do sit down and accompany us for an evening tea." Princess Nari swiftly interrupted her cousin upon seeing the embarrassed look on Prince Noores' face.

Prince Noore breathed in relief as Princess Nari saved his dignity. Seeing Princess Qamari's repeated attempts to embarrass him, dislike sprouted in his heart. Looking at the large, innocent, and admiring brown eyes of Princess Nari, he felt even more confident of his plan succeeding.

Stepping forward, Princess Nari blushed shyly as she motioned for the prince to take his sit before sitting directly next to him on his left. Princess Qamari, left standing, looked around at the empty hall, frowned disapprovingly at the two, before sitting down next to her cousin.

"Your highness, what kind of tea do you prefer? Although I cannot claim to be a master, my tea brewing skills are not half bad." Princess Nari took the teapot on the table, set out a cup, and sweetly said as she brushed a tendril of her hair behind her ear.

"I do not have any preferences when it comes to tea. Why don't you surprise me, your highness." Prince Noore softly replied, looking at her with gentle eyes.

Princess Nari's heart skipped a beat as Prince Noore looked deeply into her eyes. Blushing slightly, she nodded her head before picking jasmine leaves to brew a jasmine tea.

The two completely ignored Princess Qamari who was Prince Noore's future Princess Consort.