The Crown Prince

Lavit's forest expedition, as the name suggests, is a special project to explore a mysterious forest filled with monsters and strange magic. Although technically the area was still part of the royal territory, the forest could never actually be cultivated. Because no matter how many times the kingdom tries to conquer it, the forest always has a way of resisting human civilization that interferes with their lives.

The last expedition was carried out when Arina was still 10 years old, so about 8 years ago. And it is said that at that time there were many soldiers who died because they were attacked by monsters and this-that magic. It didn't even end there, the prince's grandfather, the previous king also had to sacrifice his life in that forest. And his last message was a warning that the forest should not be disturbed anymore.

But the human name is forgetful by nature.

Unknown who fueled the king, 3 months ago he suddenly ordered his troops to go on another expedition to the forest. Not even half-hearted, he also ordered the planning to be taken seriously and arrange it into a long-term expedition—2 full months. It's just that instead of going alone, the king sent his two princes to lead the expedition.

What a kind father. For whatever reason, he should be grateful that his two children returned safely. And as for the results of the expedition itself, other than bringing along some medicinal herbs that could prolong the life of the king and queen, it seems that the forest still hasn't been completely taken over.

"Prince Alexander." Greet Helen while bowing deeply. "Miss Arina is already waiting for you in the garden."

But as if he didn't want to enter yet, the man with wavy hair smiled strangely. And instead of looking at Helen, he turned his gaze to the maid beside her, Sei.

"How's Arina today? From 1-10, what mood would she be in?" He asked then. "Does she look like she's going to throw a glass at me if I accidentally say something wrong?"

Sei immediately became silent awkwardly, but then Helen replied first, "If just from her smile, her mood would probably be at 10 today."

"Is it true?" He asked suspiciously. 'That kind of thing is oppositely suspicious…'

"Hey, Luis, give me the box." He then asked the assistant who was beside him earlier.

Even though it turned out that the bespectacled man actually showed a confused face. "What box?"

"Jewelry box! The necklace? I told you to bring it!" He asked again, but his assistant still pursed his lips stiffly. "Ugh, Luis you damn. If Arina kills me, it's your fault." He grumbled. But because it was already useless, he immediately prepared his heart and finally walked into Almira's residence.

And there was her fiancée, drinking tea peacefully in a flower garden that was still less beautiful than her. She seemed to smile as soon as she saw the prince had come, but in his head Alex could already imagine that Arina was cursing him in her heart. 'You really dare to come here again', or something like that.

But Alex ignored that and started to widen his smile. "Wow, as usual you look very beautiful. The orange dress looks really good on you." Praise him right away.

"I know. This is the dress I hate the most. I purposely wear it because the prince's coming today." She replied, and the prince just sat down while forcing himself to laugh.

Both of them want to immediately stop acting as a pair of fiancés. But as several staff were still watching from afar, they still both turned their cheeks upwards. "But you really make time to come here, is the prince not busy?" Arina said again.

"To my beloved fiancé, of course I can spare any amount of time." Reply Alex, who could see that Arina almost threw up hearing that. "Or well, since you haven't been to the palace in a while, I thought maybe I should be the one to come here sometime."

"That's because recently there have been a lot of people in the palace. I can't calm down because everyone keeps watching me."

Prince sipped his tea a little. "Yes it is. Since the priests' inauguration ceremony is approaching, everyone has become so busy." He said, which was oddly enough to put on a smile like he looked relieved about something.

"Thank goodness you already know." He suddenly continued. "I actually wanted to talk about that, but it's good that you already heard about it." 

Stopped eating her sweets, Arina raised an eyebrow when she returned Alex's gaze. "...Hear what?"

"About the woman who is said to be the incarnation of the high priest." He immediately answered. But because his fiancé was silent, Alex folded his lips flat again. "Ah, it seems like you haven't heard of it…"

"..." Arina was silent for a very long time because she was busy chatting with her own voice. But the word 'incarnation of the high priest' did not seem like a good news to her, who was a dark magician.

'A divine being like that only appears once every few hundred years, but it has to be now?!'

Although it was difficult, somehow Arina managed to calm herself down, so she returned her gaze to Alex. "…But you came to talk about that? Why?" She asked suspiciously. "You want to tell me to be careful or something?"

Because even though that reason made sense, it felt a bit too much of a hassle if he had to come to her house in person.

And just as she expected, Alex didn't answer right away and instead chose to take another sip of his tea. Only after playing with his lips for a moment, Alex seemed to lean slightly towards the table and started to speak softly. "Well, actually I was slightly hoping that you might want to... You know, eliminate her first. She'll be in town in a few days."

Not caring anymore about her surroundings, Arina immediately blatantly scrunched up her face in disgust. She might be set in hell, but this man definitely won't go somewhere better.

"No need to be so worried." Alex said again. "I heard that she only has the mark, but her current magic ability isn't that great. So if you take care of her before she sets foot in the palace, I can take care of the rest easily."

"And why does a prince like you feel threatened by such a lousy priest?"

"The first reason, of course, is because she threatens your very existence. If anything happens to you, I'll be sad, you know." Answered the prince lightly. "But the second reason… That's because it looks like my brother Felix is planning to make that woman his partner."

Immediately understanding everything, Arina sighed softly. Of course it's a matter of the throne! Because if you have a high priest as a partner, of course, prince Felix's position will become stronger and increasingly threaten Alex's position.

"Will she accept him though? Everyone knows your brother is terrible."

"Yeah, but even I can persuade you to be my fiancé." Alex's reply instantly made Arina sharpen her gaze.

That's why before Arina started emitting fire from her eyes, Alex continued. "But it's fine if you don't want to, I can send my own people. Just… In case you change your mind, you can tell me."