First Capture Target

"Young miss, his highness, the crown prince has arrived," a maid announced. 

If it was the real Scarlet who heard this right now, she would be hurrying her servants into dressing her up in a pretty-princess-fluttery-lacy dress.

My personal maid, Fiona, who's older than me by five years, curled my hair before placing a red ribbon on the top of my head. I stared in the mirror to look at the girl, my character, in front of me. Child Scarlet looked so innocent and adorable as I continued to stare at her — my face, the only thing that captured my gaze was a pair of ruby red eyes; her eyes brimming with knowledge of life. Ah, was it because I am inside her?

As I strode down the hall, I scanned my surroundings. The walls were filled with portraits belonging to the Trancy ancestors. They all have one thing in common: red eyes that burn like fire. It was the unique trait of the family.

Upon arriving at the living room, there I saw a young boy, taking a sip from his cup of tea with elegance. He has golden-blonde hair, eyes glitter like gold reflecting the sun. His skin was so fair and despite being at the same age as me, he's actually taller than normal boys. I could say that he's very handsome instead of cute. He was wearing something like a classic European suit fitting for a prince derived from the Middle Age. His appearance looked a little cold, not befitting a child. 

According to the novel, this world's Scarlet and the prince's grandfathers were best friends. They swore to marry their own children together to strengthen their bond but since they both had sons, they decided that their grandchildren would do that instead.

Since I was not Scarlet herself, I don't believe in love at first sight. She was a woman who was blinded by love that she ignored everything around her. Sometimes, too much love can be a poison too. Well technically, I would want to avoid him knowing I'll soon be killed by him. I have to stay away from him if I want to value my existence and avoid a very painful death. That was the smartest choice.

In the game, if a player took Alyn's route, Scarlet would be killed by Alyn— her fiancé. Why? She loved Alyn too much and since she felt jealous of the main character (MC), she tried all means to kill her.  Alyn broke off their engagement and because of this, Scarlet went out of control. She was about to strike the MC with a dagger but Alyn was there to protect her. Scarlet took the dagger back saying she would rather kill him than let the MC have him. Because of this, Alyn didn't have a choice but to capture her. She was brought through trial and was burned to death. His knights and friends were a witness to this scene.

In the game's introduction, his famous line towards the MC was: "You brought color in my dark world. I find everything around me dull, lifeless, and boring but when I met you, you amused me so much that I can't help but fall in love with you."

It was as if Scarlet's backstory flashed back to my eyes, having a character review. She truly was a crazy woman but… at the same time, I couldn't help but pity her. All she wanted was to be recognized, to be loved by the people she thought were her family.

Alyn Randall Estheim, the second prince of the kingdom of Clover. In the game, his older brother died in a battle and he ended up being the next king of the kingdom according to the royal decree.

As any well-raised child from a known family, it was natural for me to greet him with an elegant curtsy and a few words of acknowledgment. Young Scarlet has been attending etiquette lessons and ever since I woke up into this world, her memories served as my manual. 

"Your Highness," I said politely, seasoning my gesture with a faint smile.

The young Alyn took a glance at me before he continued sipping on his tea. His arrogance was befitting his appearance.

The maids left us alone in the room for privacy. Were they expecting us to have a kiddie talk? Nope. Not happening. I am a grown woman—well, at least my mental age is but considering that noble kids are being educated at such an early age, it was no surprise to see them act like grownups.

I sat down on the sofa and took a piece of macaroon prepared for us on the center table. We were not talking. I will never initiate and probably neither will he? I continued eating the food on the table while he took a sip on his tea and then stared at me.

"I would like you to know that I don't agree with this arranged marriage," he finally spoke up.

"Don't worry. The feeling is mutual, your highness," I replied without gazing at him as I took a piece of sandwich and ate it happily.

Alyn didn't say anything after that but instead, I felt his stare at me. 

I lifted my head and met his gaze. I placed my half-eaten sandwich on my plate and took a napkin, lightly tapping my lips clean. Then I straightened my back and looked at him.

"I do not agree with this either. But I think it would be better if we keep up with this engagement. If we ask our parents to break off the arrangement, they would surely find someone else for us and that would be troublesome. I don't wanna risk being engaged with someone else. Since our feelings are mutual, it is best if we use this to our advantage. In the future, if you happen to fall in love with someone, I won't hold you back and I am more than willing to break this engagement for your happy-ass sake."

After I let him know what's in my mind, I took the sandwich and continued eating.

Surprisingly, I suddenly heard a chuckle and it surely came from him. I paused from eating my sandwich to look at him and he seemed amused as he stared at me. 

What? Did I say something funny?

"How interesting."

Uh... Why did he say that? Stop looking at me that way! You creep me out.

Although I realized that a six-year-old child should not be saying deep things like that, I want to keep my distance. I want to draw a line to every character that will give me a slow, painful death.

"That plan is good. Since I have found an amusing person, that proposal will work well. For a dumb-looking person like you, you can surely spit out some useful stuff."

Wait, did he meet the MC already? According to the game, he should meet the MC for the first time in Rosse Magical Academy, right? I'm confused.

"O... Okay…" I decided to ignore the insult part. "I don't have to say anything else so we'll leave it this way?"

He chuckled once again before he finally stood up. "I should take my leave now. I will be visiting again tomorrow."

You don't have to. How problematic. Am I going to see the face of my killer that often? This was a nightmare!

"Okay." I stood up and bowed at him. "Take care on your way back, your highness."