Victor Marshrider

The door 'creaked' as it opened wider showing me the room's view.

It was a shabby room with very little furniture. The floor carpet was torn here and there.

It looked even messier than my room in the other world!

"If you are to keep your room this way, of course, Flora would choose Edward!" I muttered as I entered the room.

With just a glance, I could say the target was not there in his room. Therefore I chose to look around that untidy room once.

In most of the spy movies I have seen, the spies would keep records of information they have gathered in a diary or somewhere. Also, there would be photographs, maps, notes, whiteboards, etc in their room. But this guy's room didn't have any evidence causing me to doubt his works so far.

"Does he work for the Dagresh king or just here to have fun?" I wondered as I looked around.

But suddenly I heard a thud sound from behind. I turned and witnessed a door opening. It must be the room separated for his bath.

A man entered the room from the bath drying his hair with a towel, wearing only his trousers. I have never seen a half-naked man in my life before. I have seen a few in photos and videos but not like that. Not in reality. Therefore, what captivated my attention first was his slightly tanned, well-toned muscular body.

The next thing that caught my attention was his height. The man I saw was even taller than the people whom usually I consider tall. He was even taller than Edward, possibly reaching six feet and three inches. That would make him one foot taller than me! I had no idea what did they feed him in Dagresh.

In the novel, Dagresh was a villainous country so the people of Dagresh were always described as magnanimous and ghastly. On the contrary, this man was neither. He was good looking. Maybe because he is the second male lead.

His hair was black and that was rare in Astrana. Other than that I couldn't say much about his face since he was still drying his hair with the towel.

Since he was so focused on what he was doing, he didn't see me at first. I was still standing there with a bouquet in my hands.

Once he has done with the hair drying, he threw the towel on a chair beside him and turned to his box luggage. But in the midway, he saw me, and I saw his face too.

He indeed lived up to his fans' expectations.

His long bristly eyebrows furrowed once looking at me. Those eyebrows themselves emitted a sense of manliness and dominance. His fierce hazel eyes were so different from what I've seen so far. It contained a mixture of green, brown, and gold colours. Though they were nowhere near red, they created a flame-like hallucination when I looked deeper into his eyes. Due to the little shade of green in his eyes, it was more like a flame that tried to destroy the greenery. It was indeed spine-chilling.

His nose bridge was quite similar to Edward's straight and sharp nose. There was a visible dryness in his sensuous lips. He hadn't shaved for a week or two. Still, I could see his chiselled jawline, and perfect chin through his peppered stubble.

His look was not that of a typical handsome guy. It inclined more towards the unruliness than nobility. He was not the most handsome one out there. It was still Edward. But something about this guy overpowered Edward when it came to seductiveness.

Still, he was not my type.

He didn't seem shocked because of my intrusion. He calmly and carelessly took a glance at me as if he is trying to evaluate me!

His gaze fell on my face, then clothes and finally the bouquet.

I could see that uninterested expression on his face, as he now turned towards his box luggage. He opened the luggage and tried to grab a tunic as he spoke his first words in an appealing voice!

"Not interested! You may leave!"

I was confused at first. Is it the line people usually say when they are met with an intruder in their rooms? What the hell is wrong with this guy?

As I thought more, I understood what he meant. The flash images of what I've seen when entering that inn came to my mind!

'What the hell? What did he think of me?', I couldn't stop my nose from flaring and getting redder in anger.

"Is this how you people are trained to treat an unknown woman?" I scornfully asked.

"You should get out!" he replied.

I was incandescent then. He had already talked too much!

I stepped forward. He turned to defend himself, hearing me approaching. I immediately pressed the bouquet in my hand on his face!

With that, he stumbled a bit and stepped behind.

'1...2...3...', I started to count inside my head and when I said three, he let a sneeze out!

'Success!', I thought!

Yes, the strong and brave Victor was allergic to pollens, and that is the reason for me to bring this bouquet to his room! This was a secret Flora discovered later in her stay in his castle! Thus, as of now, it is a secret only I know!

I could satisfactorily observe Victor's face turning red immediately as he continued to sneeze without a pause.

He sat on the armchair behind him!

I had already known that he would struggle at least for an hour if he inhaled pollen! It was going to make my negotiations easier.

He sneezed for five minutes, non-stop! It was indeed a pity to see him that way. His eyes had already turned misty. It was hard for him to breathe! He seemed exhausted!

I clicked my tongue a few times and spoke with fake sympathy on my face!

"Did I go overboard?" I asked him as I took his sword placed on a table in my hand.

He looked at me with already red eyes. If only his eyes had the power to burn people, I would've turned to ashes by then.

"How is everyone doing in Dagresh?" I purposely poked his sore spot to make him understand that I'm the one in power!

This indeed worked. The look in his eyes changed. It was more like confusion now.

"What do you want?" he immediately asked, knitting his long, black brows!

Since these Dagresh spies brought a bad reputation for me on the second day of my arrival and since he treated me badly on our first meeting, I chose to get revenge, at least for a few minutes.

"What do I want?" I kept thinking as I walked across the room playing with the sword.

I turned to him, to see that he was still looking at me with angry, confused eyes.

I looked at him up and down, in the same way, he did to me a few minutes ago! I squinted my eyes, showed my dissatisfaction on my face, and continued, "Not interested"!

He understood what I am playing.

He sighed as he sat straight on that chair. "Who are you?" the anger and confusion in his eyes seemed to have faded.

"The princess who went crazy overnight!"

He nodded, then with a frown asked another question!

"What is your highness doing in my room?"

"I just came to check how well Dagresh duke is doing in Astrana!"

With this, I could silence him for a minute.

"I'm not going to be of any use to you, your highness!" he said, viciously looking at me with watery eyes!

That was a fancy way to say that he wouldn't confess!

I do know that. I can't convince him to take my side just by using this. He will not agree to anything I say since he was created with loyalty as a characteristic. The best choice I got was to make him surrender first, then negotiate his loyalty.

It could be hard for anyone but as someone who knew his weakness, I must be able to convince him!

"Victor Marshrider, you are in no power to make decisions here!"

He frowned. I could say that every nerve of his body wanted to kill me. His brain must be planning the best way for it. If only he was not under the hold of allergy, I may be dead by now!

I could only smile!

"Don't even think about it, Victor! If you lay one finger on me, all your two hundred and ninety-eight spies would die!"

He was taken aback this time. The amount of information I had known about his network must have worried him.

"If you know everything, just kill me!"

"Of course, I would love to!" I said. "But, you are of more use to me!" I said.

He looked away with hatred in his eyes. Of course, it's not going to be easy to convince him. Thus, I chose to attack more of his weak spots.

"My brother, Edward, would do anything for Astrana. What do you think he would do when he knows about your spy network?"

"...." he kept looking at me with fiery eyes.

"Also, your so-called king! He has been signing peace treaties with my father while keeping a spy network in Astrana behind his back. Do you know what my father does to traitors?"

"...." I could see Victor's eyes reddening in anger.

"Your country is not in a position to fight back Astrana army. I believe you know this too!" I randomly lied. But I was not fully wrong. In that period, if Astrana and Dagresh were going to fight, Dagresh would be the one to lose!

"Dagresh would be annihilated within a month!"

"No!" he spoke breaking his long silence.

"No! Don't... Don't tell the king!"

This was what I needed. I can never tame him unless he surrenders himself. I too knew that he would do anything for his loyalty. If I had to be more specific, his character's major aspect was loyalty.

I was planning to make use of this to survive.

"Why should I listen to you, Victor?" now I talked as if I have no problem in letting the king know everything.

"Princess, I know you have something in your mind!" he replied.

I was indeed taken aback by his confidence. Though he was not in the position to talk to me this way, he was smart enough to catch the fact that I needed him for something and direct it towards me.

"You're sharp! Expected from the duke of Dagresh" I smirked.

"...." he turned his head away in hatred once again.

"Pledge your loyalty to me!" I said.

His eyes widened in shock.

I knew that this was something he would do only for someone important to him. He had originally pledged his loyalty to Flora, out of love in the novel. I too knew that once he did this, he would consider it as a lifetime promise and wouldn't ever break it.

That is how he is. Although it was extremely selfish of me to ask him to do this, I got no other options to survive.

"...." he still seemed to be thinking.

"Victor, you are destined to stay loyal to me this lifetime. There is no escape for you! If you ever plan to break this promise, I'll make sure to kill everyone you care about!"

"...." his blood-red eyes and frowns gave me chills. But I didn't show it on my face.

"I'll start from your spy subordinates, then your citizens!" he kept looking at me.

It seemed that what I'm saying was still not enough. So I attacked the sorest spot the novel suggested.

"Also, I'm aware of your friendship with my maid, Flora!". With this, his eyes widened and his frown loosened.

I tilted my head and looked straight into his eyes, "I'll make sure to kill her too!"

He seemed so shocked this time! "She is innocent!" his lips moved.

"But I'm not!" I said. "Anyone who associates with the spies is a traitor in my eyes!"

He looked at me with so much disgust and anger in his eyes.

Though it was giving me goosebumps, I continued to look at him as if I didn't care.

I walked back to the door confidently, with my arms crossed over my chest, then turned towards him.

"If you agree to my terms and conditions, meet me at the Eastern dungeon tomorrow evening!" I told him as I carelessly walked out of the room. Once I'm outside, I immediately made sure to lock the room with a key.

He was still not in the condition to chase me, but I was too scared and my heart was beating off the chest. I breathed twice then ran out of that Inn as fast as I could. I only stopped once I reached the dungeon area. My two soldiers were already there, waiting for me!

When they saw me, they hurried towards me and asked if I'm alright. I was not. Still, I maintained my straight posture and instructed them on a few things. With that, I chose to hit the sack that day and sneaked back into my chamber again!