As time went on, the adults eventually went to another room to socialise. Likely to talk about business or to bring out some alcoholic beverages. The teenage Princes also seemed eager to drink and since the whole purpose of this gathering was to help us get to know each other, Anastasia and I were eventually left alone.
As the Grand Duchess went with the others she warned Anastasia with a quick 'Be Good' before she closed the door behind her and instructed any servants outside to leave us be.
Once the adults were gone, Anastasia's obnoxious behaviour returned.
"Honestly the Grand Duchess must have lost her mind to have me engaged to some stupid peasant" she scoffed loudly, "all you have is money."
I went to pour myself more tea and disregarded her words.
"I've seen you on the cover of a newspaper once or twice, and Aunty says you're a genius, but from where I'm sitting you don't look smart."
I sat in silence and continued to help myself to some cakes, for a while longer, I brushed aside all of Anastasia's dumb comments. It was obvious that she was trying to start a childish fight, but then she said the most ridiculous thing,
"I will never accept this engagement, if they think I'm going to settle for someone with looks like yours they must be greatly mistaken. I'm far too pretty for you."
"Ha" a wry grin appeared on my face, I had expected her to make up many excuses but to say she didn't like my looks...even I thought I was gorgeous. The Kang Ho from the novel may have not realised how handsome he was but I very well knew, and I often used it to my advantage.
Not to toot my own horn, but I was very fortunate in the looks department in this lifetime, not that I was too bad before.
"If you can find someone with a better appearance and qualifications than mine I might consider absolving this engagement, but I doubt you can. And, looks aside, you're the one that needs me not the other way around."
I glanced up from my tea to see that her ears had turned red with anger, and her green eyes had become small gems as she squinted at me, "We don't need you, my family is great and powerful! I come from a long line of monarchs. People look up to us, but because of this engagement with you, I heard some maids this morning gossiping that 'my family had fallen'. We don't need your useless wealth!"
She was like an angry little pixie, her pretty face was flushed pink and her chest was rising up and down as she breathed harshly. Seeing her my only response was to laugh. I laughed and laughed, my chuckles only growing deeper while I saw her grow visibly angrier.
I laughed until she walked around the table and grabbed me by the collar, "Do you think I'm funny!? Do you think my family is a joke!?"
I paused and I stared at the small hands that grasped at my suit, "But you are a joke and so is your family."
"You dare!"
"Do you really think those maids were saying your family had fallen because of me? Of course not. They were always thinking it, it's a fact. You live here, you've seen the buildings, surely you know the condition of your family far better than I do."
"You shut up!"
"You must have been to your friend's homes, or gone to gatherings, and realised that you're becoming destitute. Calling you royal at this point is the joke."
"You bastard!" She shook me and I started to laugh again.
"You're right, I am a bastard child" I smirked and grabbed her pale wrists. I pulled her on top of me as I positioned her fingers around my neck.
"Now if you're really angry, you shouldn't be grabbing me there, you should grab me here."
I wiggled my brows in the same annoying way she'd done earlier and dared her to do something with my eyes, expecting her to run away from me in shock, but surprisingly her grip tightened around my throat. Her hands were so small and soft, she didn't know the right technique and she wasn't all that strong, but she still tried her best. In her small selfish rage, she used her weight and pressed down on my neck.
At first, I lay there bored, but then the pressure gradually increased.
My face began to turn a sickening colour and my eyes started to bulge. The lack of oxygen caused me to feel dizzy as her palms pressed against my oesophagus. My mouth fell open and I had to fight the urge to moan with excitement.
This....I wasn't expecting this. For a Princess, she had a lot of rage inside of her. I thought she was just spoilt...but she was more than that. She was a lot more fun than I thought she would be.
As she strangled me I saw that her eyes were clouded over and a warped grin had appeared on her face. She was completely in a trance.
I felt my vision becoming hazy, and that's when, unfortunately, I had to stop her. If I fell unconscious and she continued like that I might have died, and I wasn't in the mood for that, not that day at least.
I raised my knee and kicked her off of me, she hurtled to the ground and landed beside the sofa with a thump.
Coughing and gasping, I got to my feet and walked around towards her. She was staring at the floor with dull shock. She reminded me a bit of Yong Myeong after she had tried to suffocate me; that expression of disbelief [1].
Why do people get so shocked when they give into that natural violence within them, is it that unbelievable?
"Hey" I croaked, I rubbed my sore neck and waved at her, but she continued to stare at her hands, "I said hey" I sharply kicked her.
She recoiled away from me as she held her stomach and gasped out in pain. I leant over her and smiled sweetly, "Don't ignore me when I'm talking to you, don't you know what you just did to me?"
Her eyes shook, she looked at her hands and then at the fresh red marks around my neck that were slowly turning yellow, blue and black. "You did this to me" I pointed at it.
Thick tears slid down her cheeks and she started to cry, "I-I-I-I'm sorry, I blacked out I shouldn't have done that!" She began to cry more but I excitedly shook her shoulders.
"Why are you crying, that wasn't anything wrong...In fact, you should rejoice, because when given the opportunity not many people do what you did. You're special, you're a real go-getter."
"Are you crazy, I strangled you don't you realise that!?" The regret and fear in her eyes had been replaced with a new expression of repulsion.
"Yes and Yes. But I think you're also crazy. You're the one that strangled me."
Her eyes widened and her expression became more complex. Interestingly she didn't continue to cry, seemed to just accept the situation. She then buried her face in her palms and stated, "I shouldn't have done that."
"From how you're acting this doesn't seem to be the first time. Do you get in trouble for your anger a lot?"
she nodded quietly and then mumbled, "Sometimes I just see red and I blackout...and I become a bit of a monster...my doctor says it's caused by PTSD[2]."
I carefully sat down on the carpet next to her, "PTSD? What's your trauma?"
She gave me a curious side-eyed look before saying, "I was in the car when my parents died. I was trapped in the backseat...It took them hours to cut open the door and get me out. I was stuck with their cold bodies the whole time....apparently the stress from that is making me have...outbursts."
"You must have a lot of fun during those outbursts"
"What!"
"I mean you were smiling the whole time," I stroked her soft blonde hair and curled it around my finger, "we both know that strangling me was the most fun you've had all day."
"You're weird."
"But I'm not wrong."
[1] He is referring to Chapter 16
[2] Post Traumatic Stress Disorder