White Flowers

"I thought I told you to piss off," Meliora grumbled as she walked ahead of Kaid and the rest.

Lucie and Ashtarte just glanced at each other and gave a knowing smile.

"I thought you missed me?" Kaid replied with his silvery tongue.

Meliora, pissed off at his response, turned and glared at him. "Only a fool would miss someone like you," she lifted her chin haughtily and declared.

[Master, you do know that talking to him this way won't solve anything, right?]

'Why? It's not as if he is a god or something. Why should I be careful?' she snarled internally.

"So, are you calling yourself a fool?" Kaid bit back with a smirk painted at the corner of his lips.

Meliora stopped in her tracks and turned to face him. She was about to speak, but her lips parted and closed when she met the icy blue glint in his eyes.

"I don't know what you would gain from following me—but I have to register for this stupid selection so I can be a possible candidate for your king's bride," she explained, plunging her fingers into his chest at each beat of her sentence.

"Ohh~," Kaid dragged out as if he had just realized something, but then he just grinned at her.

"What are you 'ohh' for? Get the hint and leave," she snarled at him, inching her face closer to him. Her veil fluttered in the wind.

Kaid was mesmerized for a second as he inched closer to her and tapped against her nose through the silk, earning a gasp from her lips.

The veil fluttered once more, and her face peeked through the exposed area, which was just enough for him to see her burning red cheeks.

'Beautiful,' he exclaimed internally. At least he was the only one who felt that way, since everyone else had been treating her awfully because of it.

Meliora felt ignored, so she slapped his hand away, her cheeks bright pink.

"Lucie, Ashtarte. Let's go, the registration hall shouldn't be far away," she instructed as she turned to walk away.

Lucie and Ashtarte chased after her, while casting Kaid a pitiful glance.

The latter didn't know what he did wrong. He pressed his lips into a thin line and then chuckled. 'Remember, it's slow and steady, Kaid.'

He tried to remind himself, but her small plump lips and brown eyes flashed vividly in his mind. "I must be damned by the gods," he breathed out in a gruff tone.

Kaid felt this was wrong though; he had only just met her not too long ago, so how could he like her to the extent he wanted to dig into her past?

Kaid never knew this wasn't just a crazy obsession.

****

"Get in line, everyone!" the royal guards instructed, not giving the noble ladies the slightest regard.

"How rude!"

"We didn't come all the way here to be treated like this."

Some ladies began whispering to each other, quite angry that things were not going their way.

While some obeyed the command and formed a straight line, they didn't have a choice because they were also forced to come here.

The ladies who whispered among themselves saw this line and stopped their bickering so they could join the line.

"Sometimes I wonder why there is so much hatred between both countries," Ashtarte sighed in distress as she shook her head.

She never liked politics, but she suffered from the tyranny of both countries. Thinking about it made her narrow her eyes at the guards.

"That doesn't concern me one bit, let's just join the line," Meliora sighed with Ashtarte. Her one problem didn't concern politics.

If she had no choice but to survive, it would be better that she go for the concubines' selection and leave this damn place.

She turned to Lucie and Ashtarte, giving them a nod. They returned the nod, and Meliora marched toward the line, not knowing that someone was already aiming for that part of the line.

Meliora stood behind the person in the line, with her hands crossed and looking as bored as ever.

"That's very rude of you to do that," the girl who didn't reach the line quicker than Meliora suddenly snarled.

Her brows furrowed to form a frown.

Meliora turned to look at the lady and scanned her from head to toe. "And who are you?"

"You! This is Count Alfonso's daughter, Lenia. You are being disrespectful right now!" the maid beside the girl named Lenia shouted at Meliora, glaring daggers and pointing her finger.

Lenia raised her chin proudly, waiting for Meliora to apologize and seek forgiveness. 'She must be so ugly that she has to hide her face behind a veil. I am so beautiful that no woman could match me, and she dared to be rude?!' Lenia thought in her mind.

But Meliora just lazily gazed at Lenia and her maid and gave a little yawn.

"How dare you?! This is Princess—"

"Oh, shut up, Lucie! This role doesn't fit you. I will do the talking," Meliora said as she waved her hand, dismissing Lucie's words.

Lucie pouted but relaxed calmly. "Like she said, I am the abandoned princess of the Clariant Empire in which you stand. Whether or not I stand in this line is none of your business," she snarled at Lenia, who flinched. "Now get lost, or stand behind the other people who had come."

Meliora gestured toward the line that had formed behind her, and Lenia's maid gasped in surprise.

The other noble ladies had turned to look at the commotion, and they began whispering to each other, mostly talking about Lenia's lack of awareness in not recognizing that Meliora was the one.

Meliora simply didn't care; she ignored Lenia, who gritted her teeth and stomped away.

Ashtarte, who stood by her side, gave Meliora a long stare, confused. Even if she had not seen Meliora for a very long time, she knew perfectly that this wasn't how Meliora behaved.

"Master, why did you have to mention that you are abandoned? Now all these noble ladies who take pride in harming others will come for you," Lucie declared, and Meliora rolled her eyes.

"Then let them come," she replied.

She didn't realize that Kaid had been watching her from a tree close to the line in which she stood.

He was the only one who could notice her mood dampening because of everything.

"She does hate such events. Now I am more interested in finding out what she will do next." He smirked, his eyes still fixed on Meliora, who crossed her arms impatiently, waiting for her turn.

[Master, if you keep looking like that, you will form wrinkles on your face.]

Crucifix nagged, and Meliora groaned, "I already have a scar on my face, why should I care about just a single wrinkle?" she mumbled.

*****

After getting her name down, the next thing to do was to test magical skills and then go for the final registration, which was collecting the tag.

Meliora decided that while she waited for her name to be called, she would sit under a tree, and maybe take a nap.

But she never predicted that they would come to disturb her sooner than ever.

Three ladies dressed in fine silk and jewelry marched toward Meliora, whose head was pressed firmly against the marble table.

"May we join, Princess?"

"Aish, remember, it's Abandoned Princess!"

"Oh, don't say that, she will hear."

The three ladies bickered among themselves, obviously to spite Meliora, but Meliora just thrust her hand up without moving and flashed them the middle finger.

"Huh?" The first lady, who led the other two, frowned. She pressed her lips into a thin line, her brows raised.

"What do you mean—"

"My lady said fuck off!" Lucie suddenly yelled at the three ladies, but they didn't seem to understand, and they stood there speechless.

Lucie fumed, but Meliora raised her hand, signaling for Lucie to stop.

Her shoulders trembled as she slowly raised her head to reveal her laughing face. It turned out that Meliora couldn't help herself because of what Lucie said.

She straightened her back, threw her head back, and continued laughing while holding her stomach.

"Oh my God! I can't stop myself from laughing!" She wiped tears from her eyes, still laughing.

"What is the meaning of this, you outcast!" the second lady snarled from behind, and Meliora's throaty laugh died down in a matter of seconds.

"Outcast?" Meliora asked coldly.

And it was at that moment, the lady who spoke knew what she did wrong.