WHO ARE YOU?

"ARE YOU crying?" Nikolai asked Rufus Quinzel in disbelief. "For goodness' sake, don't do it in my presence. Go home to your wife and cry in her arms."

"I'm not crying," Rufus Quinzel denied in a cracked voice. It was obvious that the duke was trying his best not to cry. He was failing, though. "Your Majesty, your son is a thief. How dare His Royal Highness steal my precious daughter from my family this early?"

He couldn't defend Nero this time, so he just sipped his tea.

"My wife and I know that this day would come ever since our precious Hanna declared that she wanted to be the future Crown Princess," the duke continued with his whining. "But no parent would be prepared for the day their little princess would be taken away from them."

"You're being dramatic, Rufus," he said while shaking his head. "It's just an engagement– the children won't get married yet."