"What did you say?" Zadhea couldn't hear his mumblings clearly.
Just as Heidith was about to repeat his words, he got interrupted by a voice came from the entrance.
"Well, well, well. I hope I'm not too late."
A middle aged king appeared in front of them along with his giant troop of soldiers. He looked so powerful and strong, making some people shudder on a summer day.
"Who's that?" Zadhea mumbled in a daze. Why did he look so scary?
"He's dangerous." Heidith replied, grabbing her wrist. "Don't worry, my lady. I'll protect you."
His words made her almost roll her eyes. However, she didn't dare to act recklessly.
'The most dangerous one here is you,' her mouth itched to say though.
"I asked Who's that!" She repeated, annoyed. Why no one warned about that man beforehand?
At that moment, the anonymous king stood in front of the couple with a not-so-sincere grin.
"Congratulations on your engagement! Your marriage will strengthen the power of both the countries. Even though it's..." He paused and smirked at Heidith.
"...Loveless."
"Tsk!" Heidith clicked his tongue loud enough for the king to hear.
"They know eachother since childhood. So you can consider them as childhood sweethearts. In that way, this marriage can be called as a love marriage," King Foneth quickly explained without giving his son the opportunity to say something bad.
"It's a political marriage," King Edwin denied.
The people looked at King Edwin with a frown. Even the anonymous king was stunned. Heidith also looked surprised and maybe... displeased?
"But you can see there's love..." King Edwin clarified his words with a smile, pointing out the way the couple held their hands.
Zadhea blinked and glanced at the direction her father just showed only to find herself holding hands with the stinky prince!
Damn!
She tried to break free from his clutch but Heidith tightened his grip on her wrist.
Who said they were holding hands? He was obviously clutching her wrist forcefully!
Others became satisfied with King Edwin's actions except for the anonymous king. He became silent and disappeared into a corner. probably, embarrassed.
"I'm sorry!" Prince Heidith loosened his grip on her wrist. "I had to do that."
"Understood." Zadhea shook his hand without thinking twice. "Now shoo! I need some privacy."
Her words amused the prince. "I can't, dear." He said with a teasing smile. "Bear with me for a little longer."
Zadhea let out a loud sigh. "What a torture."
The prince vigorously nodded his head. "Indeed."
"What did you mean by indeed? Did you mean I'm a torture?" Zadhea asked him with a murderous gaze.
Heidith didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
"What did you mean by what a torture then?" He asked back.
"You are boring." Zadhea yawned.
She wasn't giving him face at all.
Heidith narrowed his eyes. It was the first time someone said something like that to him. This girl was super arrogant. Who did she think she was? He wanted to light up the atmosphere by treating her warmly. But look at her! All she knew was how to provoke him!
He wanted to give their relationship a chance. He wanted to get close to her, get open up to her. Maybe... Even though he didn't love or like her, he still thought they could at least be friends.
Perhaps, he was wrong.
This girl was too arrogant. She was exceeding his limits.
"I'm hurt," Heidith meekly murmured with a wrinkled forehead.
Zadhea blinked her eyes. She couldn't believe what she just heard.
"What did...?" Before she could finish, Heidith cut her off by saying, "You're heartless. You are a true meanie. You don't consider others' feelings. I will never let myself fall in love with a person like you. I can't harm myself."
Zadhea wanted to laugh out loud. He was so childish!
"Then don't. It's not like I like you too. I also don't want to harm myself by falling in love with you," She said back, pretending to be angry.
Tsk, he was so cute. It was a pity that he was the damn male lead!
Heidith's lips slowly curved into a smile. "Really? What if one day we regret our words?"
"We won't..." Zadhea paused. "Wait. I don't know about you. But, for me, I definitely won't. Now, please excuse me."
She clutched the hem of her dress, ready to leave but turned to him again. "It's a waste talking to you. Shall I take my leave, your Highness? I don't want to waste another second with you."
"It's too bad. I enjoyed talking to you, my lady. Sorry for being boring. Next time, I'll be better."
"I don't wish for another time with a person like you." Zadhea glared at him. "You are an annoying bug."
This time Heidith became serious. "Wait, princess! Aren't you joking? Why are you so angry with me? What did I do wrong? Please let me know."
"You did nothing. It's just..." She looked into his captivating green eyes. For a moment, she almost got hypnotized.
"No special reasons. It's just your face makes my blood boil. You are irritating and boring." She quickly blurted out before leaving.
Heidith squinted his eyes. He didn't know why he felt like she was lying, she was acting.
'Princess, you are terrible at acting!'
'I know you are lying!'
'But what's the reason?'
'Why the cold shoulder?'
'I'm handsome as hell. How can my dazzling face make someone angry? Humph!'
Derek stood beside him and whispered, "What did she say just now? Why do you look so upset?"
Heidith sighed and truthfully answered, "She said my face makes her blood boil and I'm boring."
It took Derek a whole minute to digest his friend's words. When he did, he faced another problem. He couldn't laugh out loud like a psychopath in front of nobles. Because of forcing himself to restrain his laughter, his fair face became red like tomatoes.
"Goodness! Where is she? I wanna hug her!" He exclaimed. "She's the best! Even I don't dare to say such things but her... A true heroine!"
Heidith rolled his eyes. "Don't you dare approach her."
Derek smirked. "Still protecting? Don't tell me you like her."
Heidith sneered at his words. "Are you crazy? Why would I? I'm not that dumb."
Not that dumb to fall in love with an arrogant witch like her!
----------------
"Do you know who he is? Why everyone is scared of him?" Zadhea questioned the moment she found her bestie. She was talking about the anonymous king who was now busy with drinking wine with other guests. There were many maidens beside him, ready to serve him anytime.
Evelyn nodded her head as her gaze fell upon him. "I know. He's King Sarchain. He's the reason behind everything. Because of his threatenings, Kingdom Edwina faced many problems. Because of that, our kingdom had to collaborate with Kingdom Rodwef. That's how we ended up with the marriage thingy. Maybe King Foneth wanted to be a part of our kingdom with PEACE. That's why he wanted his son to marry you."
"What happened to the villainess? She didn't get the chance to marry the prince, right?"
"Yeah. The male lead conquered Kingdom Edwina. He became the ruler of both the countries. Not only that..." Evelyn looked around and deliberately lowered her voice. "He won King Sarchain's land as well. Needless to say, he got his head."
Zadhea nodded understandingly.
"Hey, look! There's the female lead!" Evelyn suddenly exclaimed, tapping Zadhea's arm excitedly.
"I told ya, I told ya."
"Wait, I can't see..." Zadhea squinted her eyes.
"Look at the maids!"
"Maids???!!!"