Chapter 2 - Bitter Answer

"Please marry me." She grabbed those calluses and rough hands, holding them tightly and dearly. Her face was helpless and full of desperation.

"Your grace…."

Again, the hall went into dead silence before a riot broke out because of Lilia's confession.

It was serene, a kind of silence before the whole room screamed in all of their agonies due to overdue shock. Raphael himself even has to abruptly stand with his mouth gaping like a madman. Following Raphael, the young master of Oldenburg and Luke look stunned, and their mouths are also wide open, completely speechless with Lilia's confession, which was the three of the young men. The expression that Duke Oldenburg showed was priceless. He stiffened, his face turned pale, and he was completely frozen in place.

The duke's hand that was grabbed by Lilia, still there in place, his tired eyes looking down to meet Lilia's sparkling eyes that showed so much affection. Her face was red, and her lips were trembling slightly. The girl looks so determined yet scared at the same time, but she does not blink her eyes and continues to stare at the faint blue eyes in front of her. The Duke gulped hard; he still cannot comprehend the whole situation and is much in shock and baffled by the confession. His brain was working hard, so hard that the old man began to sweat a lot. The room is still silent after the loud "hah" a few seconds ago. As not mentioned, Raphael, Luke, and the young master have yet to close their wide-open mouths.

Apart from the shocked squad, the two young ladies who have stood quietly this whole time have a more normal reaction. One lady. Alicia might be shocked too, but she hides it well—much or less, she can see this comes from her friend. Beside her, the short lady with wavy ginger hair was trying her best to prevent herself from laughing out loud. Her shoulder was shaken so much that it disturbed Alicia, almost making the crown princess laugh too. She pinches the girl to make the girl stop shaking her shoulder; the effort is successful. She calmed down and quickly fixed her posture and expression.

"Your grace..." Lilia whispered with a wary expression. She clutched his hands tighter, making sure that the older man was still there, breathing and alive. The duke then snapped. He almost stumbled backward.

"Princess… I never imagined..." The poor old man cannot give a proper answer yet.

"Lilia, are you serious?! This is madness." Raphael looks furious, still surprised and confused, but for him, this is beyond normal. Everything about Lilia is never normal, but this is out of line for him.

Lilia let go of the duke's hand, and she side-glanced at Raphael, sharp and deathly serious.

"If you say that I'm crazy, say as much as you like, I don't care. What I care about now is your grace's answer", Lilia said, gazing towards the duke with affectionate eyes once again. The duke, still speechless, was cut again before he could respond to Lilia's confession, this time by his own son.

"Lilia... are you... in your right mind now? Are you proposing to my father? Not me or my brother, but our father?" Luke approaches Lilia and grabs her shoulder. The younger man looks confused and slightly angry. His blue eyes demand an explanation. Lilia saw the conflicted situation all over the hall now. Half of the audience was voicing their disagreement, and the other half was dead silent. Lilia looks grim for a moment. This is awkward. She might predict that it would not be that easy.

"Cousin, can you consider your decision once again? Why would you marry a man that is more suitable to become your father than a lover?" Raphael desperately tries to change Lilia's decision. He thought maybe Lilia was just smitten by some ridiculous things or she ate the wrong weird food on her way back from South inspection two days ago. He glances at his fiancé, who seems not to want to get tangled up in this situation. She still stood silently there, her gaze all focused on Lilia's thought. It's not that different from the young girl beside his fiancé.

"I was sane when I made this decision, why are you questioning me now? You said you wanted to help me." Lilia voiced her irritation towards Raphael, her mood changed, she feels suffocated by the duke's silence and fussy Luke, not to mention Raphael being all nags and barks.

"I will say it here! I want to marry Carlisle Oldenburg because I love him so much. I don't care if all of you keep questioning my decision. That's my final decision! More importantly, Raphael, your promise... you need to keep that promise!" Lilia screamed out all of her frustration, was in fury and desperation, and was also upset and heartbroken. She storms out of the hall without looking back, and the ginger lady quickly follows her and disappears behind the grand door.

"Lilia! That girl," Raphael falls back to his throne, feeling exhausted and rushed all over his body.

The hall was still much more awkward after Lilia's outburst.

"Brother Lu, Young Master, please bring father to the other room to take a rest, then take him home. This is a serious matter, so I want everyone to have cleared all their minds so that you can think about it with a more relaxed mind, please." Alicia bowed to her family and then approached Raphael. She puts her hand on Raphael's shoulder while her family members excuse themselves from the hall. Leaving just the two of them, Raphael sighs loudly, voicing his displeasure.

"You know about this?"

"I'm as blue as you, your highness, but I did see this coming, more or less…"

"Seems like Lady Osborne knew it all along."

"Yes, I do believe Lady Osborne is aware of this fact; she tries so hard not to laugh the entire time. It humbles me a bit seeing the Ice Lady behave like that, even in front of your highness." Alicia shares her thoughts with an amused tone. She is not that close to the lady, but she is aware of all her nicknames and her image.

"Truly, all the girls that were close to me were brazen and stunning, feels like they have so much power in their hands that it can make me a joke for them."

"Am I included?"

"You're the best among them," Raphael said in a seductive voice, smirking like a devil. Alicia was rolling her eyes.

"I'm relieved none of you got a heart attack, I'll bring some refreshments for you. Come with me." Alicia stretched out her hand, and Raphael grabbed it quickly. They leave the hall in a more calm mood.

Meanwhile

Lilia continued to stride to her room in the Cartellina chamber of Sorus Castle. She threw herself on her bed loudly, and the maid was surprised and terrified when their master suddenly behaved like that. Not one of them dared to get close to her chamber and was restless and weary outside the chamber until the ginger lady arrived there with short breath and a flushed face. The girl was running as fast as she could manage in her heels and her heavy dress. The maids brighten the moment, and they give the girl an honorable way to Lilia's chamber.

"She is inside?"

"Yes, milady... We are too afraid to approach her, thank goodness that lady showed up," one of the maids answered.

"Fine, I'll calm her down as best as I can... In ten minutes, bring us some refreshed tea and sweet snacks"

"As your wish, lady Evelyn," the maid hurriedly left the corridor. Evelyn, the ginger girl, opened the door quietly, and she was greeted with a red fluffy cushion being thrown at her. She caught it quickly before it messed up her makeup. Evelyn passively closes the door and approaches the girl, who curls up like a cat on top of her luxurious bed.

"What if the one that opened the door was The Duke and not me?" She asks in an indifferent tone.

"That can't be." Lilia's answer is muffled by the pillow.

"It might be... he looks like he wants to follow you when you leave the hall."

Lilia sat up abruptly with an excited face, happy and full of hope.

"Really???" She shakes Evelyn's shoulder violently.

"Of course not, the poor man is still stunned even after you leave the hall. Ahahahahhaa! Oh my gosh, I can't... I want to laugh so bad that my stomach hurts so much. Ahahahahhaa."

Evelyn answered and laughed loudly. Lilia let go of her shoulder and returned to her curled position.

"Dare you to laugh at me... I am the Archduke of Escheat's daughter and a knight."

"I even dare to mock you, so what?" Evelyn replied with a harsh tone. Lilia glances at her and pouts while continuing to throw pillows at her best companion.

"I hate you."

"Yeah, me too... Now stop throwing tantrums like a spoiled kid and face your reality."

"What? You want me to give up?"

"Why?"

"You said to face your reality."

"Yes, but I recall I never said give up."

"Then what do you suggest then?"

"Easy.. makes the duke fall in love with you."

"How.."

"Act shamelessly and seduce him, hahaha."

"If you want to joke, go now, I don't want to hear any of that."

"Yeah, sure. Just remember this one thing, you already set your flag, and it just needs to go through a little bit further, so keep pushing forward, no matter what the cost," Evelyn said with a cunning smile on her round face.

"Keep pushing forward?"

"Yeah, as you always do this entire time, keep pushing forward," Evelyn said as she stood up and smoothed her gown.

"Easier said than done, Eve..." Lilia scrunched her nose, unimpressed with her friend's idea.

"I assure you, the fish have already taken the bait, so keep being stubborn and persistent, and you will succeed." Evelyn picked up all the fallen pillows and threw them back to Lilia.

"Let me give you stronger motivation, imagine your privilege of bullying His Highness and the young master after you become the Duchess of Oldenburg."

"Privilege... Yeah, indeed," Lilia says, smirking and nodding in agreement with Evelyn after realizing her friend's intention.

"Right…" Evelyn walked away and took a seat on the couch across the bed. Her face was directed toward the window.

"Tomorrow you should visit the duchy," she said, still focusing her gaze on the outside scenery.

"That soon…." Lilia is combing her hair and fixing her smeared makeup as she sits across from her beloved friend.

"Won't it be awkward, I can't contain my embarrassment, Evelyn," Lilia grumbled while cupping her face.

"You saw for yourself what happened in the western hall. It's so messed up, I don't know how to face him from now on." Lilia protested, feeling frustrated and ashamed.

"You just confessed your undying love to a man who doubled, no, tripled your age with a loud voice. How can you act like the shy girl now, unbelievable..." Evelyn sneered at her with a mocking tone.

"How can you openly mock a royal right now, lady Osborne? You've grown too arrogant," Lilia replied to her mock with a colder tone.

"I am, after all, I, the aide of the crown prince and the closest friend of Princess Lilia Escheat, and... I need to live up to my nickname as the ice lady of Osborne county" Evelyn said with a mysterious smile.