Renaria Lutheria was so shocked when she saw the gifts. She did not expect Prince Vaughn to send so many. Although she was yet to meet her son-in-law, she already liked him a lot. She could tell and feel that this son-in-law was someone who may have been in love with her daughter for quite some time now.
She could not tell exactly when, but it was not recently. On Renaria's estimate, Prince Vaughn may have been in love with Zenia for a few years already. This, of course, was something that she would not dare tell Ovid, her sons, and her daughter. She knew that in due time, these men in Zenia's life would never let Vaughn off when they finally discovered how the Crown Prince was able to snatch Zenia using their current predicament. It was like hitting two birds with one stone.
Renaria liked the way Vaughn's mind worked. She just hoped that he was smart and patient enough to withstand Zenia and her mischievousness. She sometimes wondered how she was able to give birth to such a daughter. She acted more like her brothers. In fact, she resembled Ovid's ways more than Zander did.
"Please tell the Crown Prince that we received the gifts graciously. Zenia is not at home as of this moment but I will make sure that she receives them." Renaria smiled at the courier.
"It is our Crown Prince's wish to create a good impression on his in-laws and wife. Rest assured that the entire kingdom is looking forward to this wedding. The people of Tissuria are anxiously waiting for the arrival of our Crown Princess." The courier bowed and took his leave.
"Crown Princess of Tissuria…" Renaria thought to herself. "Will Zenia be able to play the part well?" She shook her head and went inside.
Renaria noticed that some boxes were specially labeled with Zenia's name. One particular box had a letter attached to it. Renaria knew that it was Vaughn's personal gift and message to Zenia.
"Put this box inside your Young Miss' room," Renaria instructed one of the Anisen Manor's maids.
The shadow guard that was assigned to monitor the Anisens waited patiently for Zenia's arrival. From his position, he could clearly see what's going on in Zenia's room. Suddenly, his subconscious played Vaughn's reminders in his mind.
"Don't peek at her when she's changing or I'll gouge your eyes out. Don't look at her when she's sleeping or I'll gouge your eyes out. Don't…"
The shadow guard wanted to cry but he couldn't. Vaughn had his own, vicious means to extract the truth from anyone. He also never reneged on his promise before. The shadow guard knew that when their Crown Prince found out he disobeyed the order, he could say goodbye to his eyes.
The shadow guard sighed and wished that he had a less taxing assignment. He was assigned to monitor Zenia's every move, but there were a lot of things that he was not allowed to do. He would rather fight off with hundreds of beasts in the mountain than guard Ms. Zenia. None of his comrades wanted to trade jobs with him.
It was already very late at night when Zenia finally returned to the Anisen Manor. The shadow guard that Prince Vaughn had assigned became vigilant.
"Young Miss you're back! The madam is waiting for you at the parlor." The maid greeted and informed her.
"Did something happen?" Zenia was a bit nervous. Her mother rarely called for her and whenever she did, Zenia would often go to her mother's room and discuss things there.
"Madam did not say anything."
"You may go. Tell mother that I will see her after I freshen up and change."
"We will prepare your bath water now young miss." The maid bowed and left the room to prepare Zenia's bath.
Zenia removed her coat and neatly placed it on the rack. She noticed the box on her bed and there was a letter along with it. She detached the letter from the box and recognized the seal – it was the seal of the Crown prince of Tissuria. The shadow guard became more vigilant and never dared to take his eyes away from Zenia. His master explicitly told him to take note of Zenia's expression upon seeing the box.
Zenia sat on her bed and opened the letter. She unfolded it carefully. She was surprised to see that Prince Vaughn had beautiful, neat handwriting. Her brothers and father were unfortunate to have lousy handwriting.
Zenia started reading Vaughn's letter.
[My Dear Zenia,
I don't expect you to believe every word I am about to say to you but know that this letter contains all my sincerity. I cannot wait for the day that we will spend the rest of our lives together.
I vow to only have you as my wife and woman, and I will never take in any concubine. You will be the only one in my harem and the only one who will bear my children. I promise to give you the best possible life, although I cannot be certain that it will always be smooth. I will never allow anyone or anything to harm you.
We've met before, although you may not remember it. If I'm not mistaken, we've already met thrice and all of them were accidental encounters.
Let me be honest with you. When we met for the first time, you have already taken my heart. I did not waste any time to come find you and know more about you. I know that the honorable Ovid Anisen and the great Zander Anisen tried their best to conceal everything about you, including how you look.
Forgive me for being straightforward and brazen, but I admit that I took advantage of this political marriage to fulfill my life-long desire and that is to marry you. I intend to pursue you seriously after I solved our kingdom's conflict, but this opportunity came knocking at my door.
If ever you are not satisfied with me after being together as married couple, I will personally ask my King to allow us to divorce. I will definitely regret it, but your happiness is more important to me.
I hope you will like my present and I can't wait for the day we get married.
Yours Sincerely,
Vaughn Pernell]
Zenia's brows scrunched up and had no idea how she would react. It was her first time receiving such type of letter. She had to admit that the content was to her liking. This Prince Vaughn should not be bad at all. Perhaps marrying him would be a good thing.
She especially liked the idea that Vaughn had no intention to take in any concubine. Zenia decided that she would believe him for now and divorce him later in case he reneged on his promise. Based on Vaughn's letter, Zenia was able to deduct that Vaughn was very capable. She admired the way he gathered information about her.
"We need to strengthen our defenses and must fortify our fortress. I must tell this to father and big brother." Zenia thought to herself.
If Vaughn was able to infiltrate their defenses, their security was not tight and strict enough. What could be the flaw? Zenia always believed that no one would be able to gather information about them without getting noticed. Was there a mistake in their formation or Vaughn was a genius?
"Young miss the bath water is ready."
"I will be there in a minute. Please prepare my nightdress."
Zenia took a glance at the box on her bed before she went to her bathing area.
The shadow guard was not able to read Zenia's expression while she was reading Vaughn's letter. He could not tell if Zenia was touched or not. If it was any other girl, she should have been moved to tears or beamed with joy. Zenia remained indifferent from start to finish.
The shadow guard began to feel pity for their Crown Prince. He had never met anyone as unfeeling as Zenia. It was true that Zenia was beautiful, although she could not be considered as the most beautiful in the entire continent. But, her beauty seemed to intensify the more you look at her.
The shadow guard shook his head as if trying to clear away any unholy thoughts in his mind. He was a man after all, and he had been watching Zenia for quite a long time now. He knew that it was not right to harbor such admiration on his mistress, but it was his master's fault.
This was also one of the reasons why he did not want to continue monitoring Zenia. After guarding Zenia for a long time, he finally understood why their Crown Prince fell for such a woman. He had seen too many women in his life, and he thought they were all the same. But, it was the first time that he encountered someone like Zenia. She knew what she wanted and she was never afraid to face anything.
The shadow guard quickly returned to his position when he heard the creaking of the door in the bath area. He saw Zenia had already changed into her night dress. He felt the thumping of his heart and tried his best to suppress his hidden desire.
Zenia looked so fresh and innocent. There were no traces of her Asura-like appearance when she entered her room earlier. Zenia looked at Vaughn's letter once more.
"What's this?" She thought to herself when she noticed a blue pigment at the corner of the paper.
She picked up the letter once more, and she was shocked at what she discovered.