Chapter 7
594 Words
The following days were complete torture. I had to put up with the prince, and I had to keep lying to my sisters about whatever was going on between us. Whenever they asked, I always told them there was nothing — that we were just friends. I knew they wouldn’t stop asking, but I couldn’t exactly tell them I wanted nothing to do with him. I just prayed he would eventually get tired of me.
One afternoon, he summoned me to his office.
I groaned in frustration and forced myself to head there.
What does he want now? I thought.
I gave a gentle knock, and he told me to come in.
“Good afternoon, Your Majesty,” I said.
“You know there’s no need for formalities,” he replied.
“I just don’t want to seem disrespectful,” I answered bluntly.
“I wanted to inform you that after the announcement of our engagement, I’ll be heading back to my kingdom to prepare for the official ceremony,” he said.
My emotions twisted the moment he spoke. I was relieved he’d be leaving… but also crushed at the idea of actually being engaged to him.
“I’ll be staying for two more weeks in this kingdom,” he continued. “After that, I’ll come back for you. So I hope you won’t try anything foolish.”
“I understand, Your Highness,” I said.
He stared at me, and his expression darkened. I blinked in confusion.
“Did I say something wrong?” I asked. “Your Majesty, you look… unusually gloomy.”
“How many times have I told you to call me by my name?” he said.
“I’m just not used to it, Your Majesty,” I teased.
He got up from behind his desk and walked toward me with slow, deliberate steps. I instinctively stepped back until he boxed me in, placing his hands on either side of me, leaving me no way out.
“If you enjoy teasing that much,” he said quietly, “then I suppose I should tease you too.”
Before he could say anything else, a knock shattered the tension.
“Who is it?” the prince said, sounding irritated.
“Please, Your Majesty, it is me — Princess Amy,” my sister’s voice answered. “I was looking for my sister, and the maids told me you had summoned her. I just wanted to know if she is still there or if she has left.”
The prince leaned close to my ear, his voice lowering.
“I’m guessing you haven’t told your sisters about… us,” he murmured. “I wonder if I should let her in and show her the position we’re standing in.”
“You wouldn’t dare,” I whispered.
“Oh, I very much would,” he replied. And I knew he wasn’t bluffing.
“If you don’t want me to let her in,” he added in a slow, taunting tone, “then you need to give me a kiss.”
My stomach twisted with panic. “You’re impossible,” I muttered under my breath.
Before he could push the situation further, I grabbed him by the collar and gave him a quick kiss — more out of desperation than anything else. My face burned with embarrassment and irritation when we pulled apart.
“She left a moment ago,” he said with a smug look.
“Thank you, Your Majesty,” Amy called from the other side of the door, then walked away.
- Writer
