Love far surpasses fear

Freya heaved an internal sigh at that moment as she walked towards the girls that had been selected. From the crowd of spectators she could feel an intense gaze on her body but when she looked for where it was coming from it was nowhere to be seen.

That gaze was coming from Captain Austin standing on the third floor of the restaurant nearby.

He normally wouldn't care for whatever was going on here and would be at his office. But today he was very much interested in it because of someone he had been seeing in his dreams for the past few nights.

He dreamt of her face hovering over him but when he reached out to touch her she would disappear and he would wake up. He wanted to achieve that in real life but like a rare earth stone buried in the core of the earth, he couldn't even see her.

He thought that she would undoubtedly be ousted in the first selection because her type of personality wasn't attractive to most men. Naturally, his aunt Dour, the head maidservant to the queen, would pick people who the crown prince would find alluring. A woman who would attract a man with just one gaze and for most men Freya wasn't that, well, in his mind at least.

But things didn't turn out the way he expected. Now he regretted not speaking to his mother's sister in advance.

Freya felt the gaze on her disappear. She looked up once more glancing around for anyone leaving but there was no one. Just as she turned her gaze back to the podium a sharp pain stabbed into her toes as someone stepped on them with their heel.

Her first reaction was to cuss but she held her tongue recalling the type of place she was at.

"Sorry sorry sorry," said a very cute girl with a lovely pink gown and a face of an angel. Her expression was honest and her apology sincere so Freya couldn't get mad at her.

"It's fine," she said and the young lady beamed like cherry blossoms in March.

"Hello, my name is Rose Mayarn and you are?" she asked but before Freya could respond there was a commotion up front as the man every girl was gathered for appeared but just like before he was wearing his mask with a deathly aura that could scare away ghosts and demons.

The crowd bowed before him saluting their crown prince but he didn't seem to care much. He walked over to the head maidservant to the queen and asked her for the list.

Matron Dour took a subtle step back her throat burning where she had been strangled before. She didn't want to give him the list of girls lest he weed out the ones under their sphere of influence but what choice did she have?

She handed it to him and just like that he turned on his heel and left. He could have asked his subordinates to bring him this list but he had to put on a show for his father.

His father was adamant that he should care about this and show some interest in the selection of his wife. So instead of doing something else very important, he was here getting a list filled with five hundred plus names and could only put a few names to their faces.

With the list in hand, he walked away but the aftermath of his arrival remained at its peak. The young women were trying to maintain their ladylike composure but they couldn't hide the excitement in their eyes.

The girl called Rose couldn't contain herself. She turned to Freya and squealed under her breath like a pig before saying, "Eeee did you see him. He is so handsome. I really want to be one of the lucky ones. I want to see him more," she said but Freya remained unmoved and calm.

Despite her dislike of the royal family even she had to admit the crown prince had a strong presence that couldn't be ignored. When he came on that platform just now everyone was mesmerised but for Freya, it was like she was in the presence of a predator forcing her to remain still otherwise he would notice her and attack.

Rose could see her lack of enthusiasm but she couldn't help herself chattering nonstop about the almighty prince that slaughtered enemies of the bordering country with his long blade sword.

Meanwhile, Roan had reached the training grounds of the palace and tossed the scroll to one of his men issuing a command, "Find out which of these names are linked to influential families."

The tall brawny man caught the scroll with ease and said, "Yes your highness," before striding away.

Roan unsheathed night terror and as though excited of seeing the light the blade trembled slightly. He stared at the blade admiringly only for a familiar voice to disturb his reverie.

"Your Highness!" called out a sweet voice with an alluring charm that made it difficult for most to resist but to Roan, it was a source of annoyance.

He ignored her as he continued to beckon one of his men to step forward. Like he already knew the drill the man stepped into an attack stance his eyes fierce like he was truly getting into battle.

Isabella took a step back in fright and couldn't help but yelp. "Your Highness," she cried out softly while pinching her silk handkerchief tightly the worry in her eyes genuine.

Roan didn't even give her a second glance. There was no uncertainty in his amber eye as he tightened the hold on his long sword.

'Those who are weak die and those who are strong thrive,' he repeated to himself before intercepting a wild slash from his opponent's claymore sword. He seized his opponent by the wrist and with considerable force he struck his opponent's chest with a palm strike.

The man staggered a few feet but steadied himself before lunging forward attacking the crown prince. Roan was ruthless in his attacks but he still had good measure. A fight Roan could have ended ages ago was prolonged until the Keres mercenary was sweating profusely and breathing heavily underneath the hot sun of Odasal.

"Get some rest," he said as he sheathed his sword. The man bowed before him his face happy like he had been granted the greatest gift. Everyone wanted to be the crown prince's sparring partner to improve their skills thus to him this was the happiest he had ever been.

Unfortunately, this gruesome fight didn't deter Isabella. She was terrified at the moment but her love for Roan far surpassed her fear.