Folwin was a handsome prince, but he liked to hide his green eyes with his curly hair, and because his hair was silver in color, he kind of looked like a silver sheep from a distance.
He was currently reading a book that talked about the customs of dwarfs. Folwin didn't find the topic that interesting, but he loved reading books, so he still continued reading it.
The library was really big, and it was filled with thousands of different books, but the only person who really used it was Folwin.
The servants were too scared to enter it when he was there, which was almost always, and his siblings would rather spend their time playing around than reading books.
But Folwin didn't mind it that much because he enjoyed being alone.
The only thing that he was a little dissatisfied with was that he had to play chess alone.
The chess that the elves had was a little different from the one on Earth in a sense that the board had squares that needed to be captured, and the more squares the player captured, the stronger his pawns would become.
It sounded pretty complicated, but once a person tried it, he would find out that it gave the chess pieces more freedom, and the overall game became more enjoyable for both players.
But Folwin didn't have "both players". He only had himself because he would always destroy his siblings when playing against them, and they would refuse to play with him ever again.
So he practiced by challenging himself, but the game always became boring when he was playing against himself because he knew how the opponent would react since he was the opponent.
That's why he spent more time reading books and absorbing the knowledge from them like a sponge.
"U- Umm… Hello…"
Folwin was in the middle of an interesting paragraph when he was suddenly interrupted by a soft female voice.
He frowned, and after inserting his bookmark inside the book, he shut it and placed it on the table.
Looking to his right, he noticed a girl with silver hair and blue eyes. She was wearing a formal green dress, and there were big circular glasses on her face.
He also noticed that she was holding a book, and after reading the title, his frown eased up.
"Forced affection, huh? This is one of my favorites, so do your best not to damage it."
A smug voice came out of Folwin's lips as his gaze, which seemed to always look down on everyone, landed on the bespeckled girl.
"Y- Yes!"
Staring at the girl who was clumsily trying to salute him made Folwin chuckle.
He had never seen such a doofus before, but somehow it made him happy instead of angering him.
"Princess Valindra, eighteen years old, isn't in a faction but is on friendly terms with the servants. Her mother was a bitch that dared to run away from our father, and she was justifiably executed. Am I right?"
Folwin smiled and looked at the girl in front of him, who he already knew was Valindra.
He had gathered a lot of information about his siblings, and he remembered all their faces and all their names.
Folwin was not only very smart and knew a lot of things, but he also had a great memory, so remembering everyone was easy for him.
Of course, he didn't actually go gather this information, but he would rather send someone else from his factions to gather it for him.
'This fucker dares to call my mother a bitch! The only bitches here are you and our shitfaced father!'
"W- Wow! You know so much about me, e- even though we've never met!"
Valindra held her anger inside because she had already learned not to show her inner emotions on her face and continued acting like a naïve, shy girl.
"So why did you talk to me?"
Tapping his index finger on the table, Folwin narrowed his eyes as he stared at her. Valindra didn't appear dangerous, but he was still wary of her because she wasn't in a faction yet.
"I- I noticed that you are playing chess alone… Can I perhaps… Umm... N- Never mind! I am sorry!"
Valindra pointed at the chess board that Folwin had on the table, but she acted as if she was too shy to continue talking and turned around to walk away.
"Wait! Come play with me."
Folwin knew what she wanted to say, and after she heard him, she turned around and nodded.
Sitting down in front of him, Valindra noticed that Folwin was staring at her face.
He thought that it was breathtaking to look at, and her blue eyes were so deep that one could get lost in them.
"Y- Your turn."
Hearing Valindra's voice all of a sudden, Folwin blinked and looked down at the chess board.
He didn't realize that Valindra had already played, so he looked at the position she had decided to place her pawn in, and after evaluating all of her possible moves, he also moved his pawn.
At first, Folwin would move his pieces and then continue staring at Valindra, trying to make her blush, but as the game progressed, he had to start focusing his attention on the game.
They continued moving their pieces, trying their best to capture the enemy king.
Valindra played more defensively, but Folwin was very aggressive and tried to break through her defense at every chance he got.
Finally, Folwin placed his queen on a square that checked the king and was covered by another chess piece, which meant.
"Checkmate."
A smug smile appeared on his lips as he placed his elbow on the table and started supporting his head with his hand.
"…Ohh…"
Valindra acted disappointed as she hung her head down, but deep down, she was playing only defensively on purpose.
That was also the main reason she lost because she never actually tried to attack.
"You know, the way one plays chess can say a lot about that person."
Folwin got up and walked around the table with a smile.
He then sat down on it and after grabbing Valindra's chin, he lifted her head up so that her gaze would meet his.
"S- So, what does this game t- tell you about me…"
Valindra, who had applied some blush on her face before coming, kept averting her eyes, which made her appear as a cute bunny and Folwin as a big bad wolf.
But that was exactly what she was going for because she knew from the books, which she had seen him read, that Folwin liked girls that were easily manipulated and were weaker than him.
He was also a sadist who liked punishing girls, and according to the books he read, he loved being in absolute control.
That is why Valindra was acting like a shy girl, because that way she could capture his heart and shatter it into pieces.
"I can tell that you are shy, reserved, quiet, and that you enjoy being punished."
He smiled at her and pushed his thumb into her mouth.
"Suck on it."
Valindra did her best to suppress the urge to bite his finger off and did as she was told.
While she was lightly sucking on his thumb, Folwin felt himself getting more and more excited.
The feeling of being in control of a princess made him want to own her, and an extreme feeling of possessiveness arose inside him when he saw Valindra doing what he had ordered her to.
He never really wanted anything in his life other than books, but after meeting someone who was this easily manipulated and even enjoyed it, Folwin wanted to tie her up and lock her inside his room forever.
"B- Brother Folwin?"
Valindra noticed how his pupils started to shake and how his breathing became heavier. There was also a blush on his face as he kept imagining all the things he could do to her.
So, she took his thumb out and asked him, trying to look worried for him even though in reality she had no sympathy for a scum like him.
"Huh? Ah! Let's stop for today."
Folwin quickly jumped off the table and walked back to his seat.
He always wondered how it would feel to fall in love, but if that was what he was feeling right now, then it was like a dangerous drug, and he was becoming addicted.
"O- Okay! Then I will go now. Umm… Bye bye."
Valindra bowed at a ninety-degree angle and then weakly waved her hand.
This made Folwin salivate because, after seeing how cute she acted, his possessive thoughts started taking over his mind.
'Lock her up, and then she can be mine!'
It was like he had a small devil on his shoulder whispering into his ear.
'No! I am still a prince, so I can't create a scandal at least until I become the king!'
But he also had an angel that tried to make him think about what he was about to do.
'Then, once I am the king, I will make her mine. She will be my toy, my plaything, she will be mine, MINE, ONLY MINE!!!'
He started laughing to himself when Valindra left, and his motivation to become the king that he had been slowly losing over the years instantly returned to him.
After being surrounded by books that he loved, he stopped caring about the throne, but now that he had a goal, he wanted to try his best and become the best candidate for the throne.
Meanwhile, Valindra had already abandoned her previous image, and she was walking back with an expressionless face.
She was relieved that the clever Folwin bit the hook, but before reeling him and Arun in, Valindra needed to make one more prince fall for her.
The missing piece in her grand plan that she had yet to obtain was prince Jassin.
Entering her room, Valindra first rinsed her mouth with water because she felt disgusted that her tongue had touched Folwin's finger.
Following that, she washed off all the make-up that was supposed to make her appear like she was blushing.
Then, after changing her clothes, she went to train her spear skills with Raeran and eat lunch.
Valindra finished everything in the evening, and after she returned to her room, she took another bath to wash away the sweat that had accumulated while she was training her spear techniques.
After the bath, she first dried herself off and then started applying a bit of makeup that made her beauty stand out, but not too much makeup, as that would just ruin her face.
She also wore a white dress with blue decorations and blue earrings, making her look like a goddess.
Her hair was braided into a ponytail, and she had the ponytail placed on her shoulder.
Perfect was the only way to describe her. After all, she had to look her absolute best because she had an important party to go to.
And it just so happened that one of her half-brothers and her last target, Jassin, was also attending the same exact party.