It was the first time in her life that Graciela had met someone as brave as Ashton. Although many people considered her a weak princess, they didn't dare to speak carelessly to her when the king was still alive. However, this man, Ashton, dared to call her a pervert in front of the knights who were training.
"I'm really curious. Do you have many lives to be that brave?" Graciela asked, trying to get her hand out of Ashton's grip.
Ashton, who had no intention of letting Graciela go, continued to hold the crown princess's hand. Without fear, he said, "I'm curious too. Did you pretend to be blind yesterday? It seems your eyesight has returned because you touched my stomach. You must be tempted after seeing my good looks."
Those words created anger in Graciela's mind. Just as she was about to answer, a miracle suddenly happened. Gradually, her vision returned and now she could see the figure in front of her.
[Daily quest: meeting the male lead (Ashton Cerbera) has been completed!
You can check the items got in the 'menu']
The strange notification appeared, making Graciela believe her life depended on the quest. That meant she had to create a harem within a year if she didn't want to die. And the first man she would invite to her harem would be Ashton Cerbera.
It turned out that Ashton's arrogance wasn't just bullshit. As the man said, he had a face that would steal the attention. His seductive tan skin, eyes that were like melting gold, and his beautiful body were too precious to be skipped.
The ladies would at least look at Ashton once or twice, to make sure they had seen the most handsome man in the Kingdom of Canarium. Even Graciela lost her mind and stared at Ashton without blinking.
"Why are you looking at me like that? I expected Your Highness to be fascinated by my face," Ashton regaled himself when he saw the princess's reaction.
Unfortunately, Graciela had regained her sanity and stopped admiring how handsome Ashton was. "You're right. Your face attracts attention. Could you please let go of my hand, Sir?"
"Tch, you should be grateful, because I want to hold your hand! You are forbidden to wash your hands after this," Aston said as he released his grip from Graciela's hand.
Then the man yawned, looked bored, and was about to leave if Graciela had not grabbed his hand. He turned around to the princess with a lazy look. "Is there any problem, Your Highness? I must come back to train the knights."
"I want to ask you something. Can you help me by answering that question?" Graciela held back from cursing as Ashton slapped her hand away.
Ashton arrogantly brushed his hair with his hands and said, "You must wonder about my secret beauty. Unfortunately, I was born with this extraordinary face."
"That's not what I wanted to ask. I wanted to ask about someone."
"Ah, I see. But I should train the knights now. That means I don't have time to answer your questions."
"Then can we meet another time?"
Instead of answering the question, Ashton looked at Graciela from head to toe. It was his first time meeting the crown princess. Graciela had brown hair which looked boring because almost all the girls in the kingdom have brown hair.
However, the girl was blessed with blue eyes that were as clear as a lake in daylight. Those beautiful eyes brought Ashton to approach Graciela. Even though he was reluctant to get involved with the crown princess since people were gossiping he could stage a coup.
"I'll let you know if I have some free time, Your Highness."
Even though Ashton spoke like that, Graciela knew the man wouldn't make free time for her. The reason they never met was because of the gossip about the coup. Ashton and Graciela naturally avoided each other in order not to rise new gossip.
From now on, Graciela had to be prepared if strange rumors about her and Ashton spread. After all, she had to get the man to be attracted to her. She could have made a harem with other men. However, it gave Ashton a chance to stage a coup when she became queen.
"I would be very grateful if you would spare some time for me," Graciela told after a moment of silence.
Still, Ashton turned away while waving his hand. The man had no intention of taking the time to meet Graciela. He wished to live peacefully in the palace without getting involved in any gossip or conflict.
Today Ashton wanted to meet Graciela out of curiosity, and now that curiosity had disappeared. He had no more reason to meet the crown princess. Moreover, he heard rumors that Graciela was an attention seeker.
Ashton had been watching Graciela since he became a knight. Since the first, the crown princess was naughty and loved to seek attention. Even the horse-drawn carriage accident was planned by herself, for the sake of getting the attention of the busy king.
"Making time for her? Huh, that makes no sense! I don't want to be associated with the problematic crown princess," Ashton muttered on his way to the knights.
Meanwhile, Graciela stared at the man with a look full of anger. If there was no strange quest, then she wouldn't want to meet Ashton. She almost threw a stone at him if Lucy didn't hold her hand.
"Let's go to the palace, Your Highness. The wound on your head still hasn't healed. You should rest," Lucy gently pulled her lady away from the knights' training grounds.
Graciela had no good choice but to obey her maid's words. She had better rest and come up with a good plan to seduce Ashton. After the man bowed to her, she would come up with another plan to bring out Dexter Petandra to her side.
However, because Ashton seemed difficult to beat, Graciela chose Dexter as the first man she would invite to her harem. According to the novel, Dexter had a delicate personality and always accepted anyone who wants to meet him.
Ding!
Graciela forced Lucy to stop walking when she heard the sound. She was sure a system window would appear containing strange quests. Even though she already knew about it, she still felt anxious because she never expected what quest the system would give her.
[You have got new daily quests!
* Quest 1: meet Dexter Petandra secretly at night
Consequence: trap in a dream for three days
Time duration: 12 hours
* Quest 2: tell the king that you want to make a harem
Consequence: secret
Time duration: 12 hours]
Seeing the difficult quest, Graciela couldn't help but scream, "What the hell? Why do I always get weird quests? What a damn system!"
Lucy gasped in surprise when Graciela suddenly screamed while banging the air. They were walking down the halls of the palace and no one was there. It was a stroke of luck. If others discovered the crown princess's reckless attitude, then Graciela's image would be even more ruined.
"Your Highness, what happened?" asked Lucy, trying to calm down.
Instead of answering, Graciela squatted down and exhaled heavily. "Lucy, do you believe in black magic?"
"Of course. Black magic exists, but it's forbidden because it's so dangerous."
"I think someone sent black magic to me."
"Do you think that because yesterday you suddenly went blind?"
Graciela looked up, then shook her head weakly. "I can see again now. That's strange, isn't it? I wanted to explain a lot to you. But, I'm afraid you will report it to father."
"Wouldn't you like it if His Majesty the King pays attention to you?" asked Lucy, surprised by Graciela's unusual attitude.
"It's a special case. I don't want to be noticed by him."
"I understand. You can tell me. I promise I won't tell anyone."
Graciela knew Lucy always kept her word. That was why she explained without hesitation, "The black magic forced me to meet Sir Ashton and Dexter Petandra."
"Dexter Petandra...? You mean the strongest mage in our kingdom?"
"That's right. If I don't meet him, then that black magic will harm me."
"Then all you have to do is ask permission to meet Sir Dexter."
"I wouldn't be this frustrated if it could be done. But that magic wants me to secretly meet him at night."
Lucy didn't understand what type of black magic that haunting Graciela. However, she believed the crown princess was not lying to seek attention. It was not like what happened yesterday, where Graciela accidentally got herself into an accident because the king was busy and didn't have time to see her for two weeks.
"I'll help you," Lucy said seriously and made Graciela raise a curious eyebrow. "Tonight you can pretend to be me and come out of the palace. I'll stay in your room until you come back."
That excellent suggestion put a big smile on Graciela's face. She immediately stood up to hug Lucy and said thank you. They walked back and talked about their plans for the night.
At the same time, a man suddenly appeared from within the palace walls and smiled lopsidedly at the interesting show. That man was Elton Diospyros, the information guild leader, who had come at the request of a noble to find out about Graciela Canarium.
The nobles did often ask him to infiltrate the palace using magic and seek information about the crown princess's weakness. However, this time Elton found something interesting about Graciela.
"She's planning to meet Dexter Petandra tonight, right? I'm looking forward to it," Elton mumbled as he used teleportation magic to leave the palace.