Faced with the beautiful eyes she had seen before her death, Esha was frozen in place.
In order to not sow discord between her and any of the capture targets before the events of the game took place, she had made sure to avoid any and all contact with them. It was a difficult feat, considering her duties as a Marquess' daughter. On many nights, she would lay on bed fake coughing a fit, holding a hot rag to her forehead before mother came into the room. There may have been a few times when she had purposefully fallen from the tops of trees too.
So although she had prepared for this moment since she was a child, in front of the real deal, the practiced words she had prepared for years went down the drain. Her chest was stuffed full of fear, distress, and miscellaneous aspects of other unidentifiable emotions. Perhaps they were other variations of fear.
She felt so small in the large study. It made her feel so much susceptible to an attack; the space, the unfamiliarity, all of it. Books lined the walls, but most of them were about five inches thick and were unlikely to contain anything about dragons and fairies. A large window encompassed an entire wall; the thought of having such a thing in her own study, made her feel uncomfortably exposed.
Standing in front of that window, was her fiancé.
His Royal Highness, Crown Prince Nikos Alistair Aurum, had the textbook appearance of a royal heir. He had sparkling rich blue eyes which complimented his sunshine yellow hair. The golden strands framed a defined jaw; his high nose bridge and strong brows spoke of his aristocratic heritage.
In the portraits distributed to the public, his full lips were always quirked in a small smile— looking friendly, ready to play with a gaggle of orphaned children at any time. The illusion had been perfectly crafted for the masses. Reality was far different; Prince Nikos looked at her with pursed lips and hard eyes. A detached and slightly contemptuous expression marred his beautiful face.
She suppressed shaking as a shiver went down her back. She hadn't even bugged him throughout their younger years as her virtual counterpart did, and yet it still seemed as if he already hated her. It was as if he held the fact that they were engaged as a crime against her.
In the coming days, the otome game was going to commence. She needed to wash her hands clean off this engagement and then watch the events unfold from a safe distance.
Her life was far more important than any handsome man. Although she didn't see this world as a game, the slightest possibility of herself being threatened was an immediate no in her book.
"Oh!" Realizing that she had been silent for the past few beats, she hurriedly curtsied. Thankfully the courtesy lessons she had suffered through for the past ten years weren't useless. The action was elegant and refined. A pity that those grueling classes she had endured would be for naught.
She internally winced at the thought of mother and father. When they learned of what would happen here today, they might be pushed to the point of disowning her. It wasn't like she asked to be the villain, but she was—so she could only make the best out of it.
"Your Highness, thank you for granting my request of meeting you today." Her melodic voice was apologetic.
"Lady Esha, you are to be my future life partner. Granting such a simple request from my bride to be is something I'm happy to do." He spoke smoothly, his deep baritone causing ripples down her spine. There was a part of her that wanted to laugh at his words. Politics really trained the tongue well to paint a different picture.
If she had expended all her efforts to avoid him, then he had expended no effort to see her.
She bowed her head, "My visit today is about that, Your Highness. If I may, would you listen to another request to make."
Prince Nikos smiled. "It is only right to spoil my fiancée. Speak." She wanted to wrinkle her nose at his definition of spoil.
Esha kept her head lowered, "I ask for Your Highness to annul our engagement."
A thick silence descended in the study. A rueful smile graced her face; at least her voice had firm. There was really no reason for him to be mad. At most, his pride would be hurt, but he wouldn't kill her for that, right? If he did meet out any punishment, she hoped he would be sensible enough to only target her.
She waited for his response.
His silence spoke volumes.
With every second that passed, it seemed as if the room went down a degree. Gulping, she lifted her head. The sight of him standing still sent extreme warning bells in her head. If she had been scared of him before— that was nothing compared to now. Although Esha wasn't unfamiliar to the domineering bearings of nobility, this young man's presence was unlike anyone else's.
As expected of the next king.
She stared intently at his face; hoping to see a tell of his emotions. Behind him, the sun somehow approached a point in the sky that hit his figure at an optimal angle. The way that the light and shadows contoured his face brought about an ethereal beauty.
Her heart was sputtering with anxiety, but a weightless fluttering undeniably resided in her stomach. She cursed herself; indignant that she was attracted to her downfall's pretty face. This wasn't the time for her to be affected by the appeal of a capture target.
The Crown Prince raised a groomed brow. A chuckle escaped his lips, sparkling sapphire eyes trained on her. Esha's heart skipped a beat at the sight of ridicule and displeasure that shined through them.
"Am I so abhorrent that at first meeting, my fiancée already wishes to terminate our engagement?"