"Therefore, marrying Marquess Daedalus would be more beneficial for us."
Amelia listened in distress as her father started bragging about how she should accept Marquess Daedalus' proposal to become his third wife. Even though it was only a few months ago that her father respected her so much when she was chosen as a candidate for crown princess. But when she fails and returns to her parents, her trash father starts setting her up with various scary men.
Marquess Daedalus is a man almost the same age as his father. Not to mention, he is also famous for having a cruel personality, even towards his wife. Marquess Daedalus married beautiful women just for decoration. When he was done playing and having fun, the man would throw away the women like used toys.
Marquess Daedalus' first wife died of illness, while his second wife, who was from Commoner, was declared missing and could not be found again. Many said that Marquess Daedalus was bored with his second wife. So without anyone knowing, the man killed his wife to silence her forever.
Now, that kind of man wants to marry Amelia. Amelia wanted to reject a proposal from such a man. However, it seemed his father had other thoughts this time.
"Father, can't I just choose another man? I'm almost become the wife of a crown prince. Apart from Marquess Daedalus, there must be someone out there who wants to marry me."
"Then, is there a noble of at least Marquess level who can propose to you? There is no one from the Alison family who is of marriageable age other than their female relatives who would be engaged to Marquess Alister. Meanwhile, Marquess Philip was too afraid to go against his wife, so he refused to marry other girls. The only man who can marry you is Marquess Daedalus. You will marry Marquess Daedalus, and my decision is final."
Amelia's hands clenched tightly when she heard her father's final decision. Amelia felt like everything was starting to fall apart since King Dillion decided to marry Alexius to the princess of a small kingdom. Amelia cursed Melisa in annoyance while hatred grew stronger in her heart.
Without Melisa, she might have changed her status to become a crown princess. Without Melisa, she would not have been forced to marry a man who was much older than her and had a bad personality.
"Father, please stop this carriage this instant!"
While cursing Melisa's existence, Amelia kept looking outside because she couldn't let her father see that she was being stared at with hatred. And during that time, he accidentally saw Alexius on a street that the man shouldn't have been on. Amelia reflexively raised her voice to ask the carriage that was carrying her to stop immediately. His father also reacted swiftly. Even though he was confused about why his daughter, who had remained silent suddenly shouted, he still followed what Amelia wanted according to his instincts.
"What's wrong? Why do you suddenly want to stop?"
Without answering her father, Amelia glanced at the place where she last saw Alexius. Even though Alexius could no longer be seen when Amelia took a second look, the mere existence of a royal knight was enough to confirm her guess. Amelia was suddenly curious about Alexius' purpose in coming to that place. Because she thought that Alexius might be able to help her persuade her father to stop forcing her to marry Marquess Daedalus, her desire to follow Alexius began to grow greater and greater.
"What do you see?"
Curious about what made his son suddenly excited, Amelia's father also looked out the window to see what his daughter was seeing.
"Father, I'll get off here. I can come back later by myself. Therefore, you may leave first, Father."
However, before the man had time to turn around, Amelia's words had already caught his attention again. The man furrowed his eyebrows clearly, a sign that he didn't like the direction Amelia had just given.
"Why do you suddenly want to go off?"
"That marriage, I will consider it after I go back."
The man narrowed his eyes when Amelia suddenly made a tempting offer. Persuading Amelia to marry properly was a bit difficult. Therefore, Amelia's offer seemed too good to ignore.
"You won't use this opportunity to escape, right?"
It's only logical that the man suspected Amelia's intentions. But Amelia firmly shook her head. "You know that I can't go anywhere, Father," she replied honestly.
"Okay. You can go."
Even though Amelia's father was initially suspicious, he no longer asked many questions because he was sure that his daughter's life was in his hands. Amelia hurriedly got out of the horse carriage after that. The girl took the time to salute her father and only moved back when her father's horse-drawn carriage had left.
"Humph!"
After her father left, Amelia rushed to the right place to meet Alexius without the others knowing. The girl entered a narrow alley to look for an entrance other than the one guarded by the knight in front. Amelia thought that if she met Alexius first before the knight found out, the knight would not throw her out for bothering Alexius again.
"Your Highness, how can you still think about having a relationship with me when you already have a future wife?! Plus, the woman you hurt is the woman who saved me at that time. Oh my... what have I done all this time... "
"Isabella, you misunderstood! She was the one who suddenly appeared in our lives! Moreover, our marriage was only done by agreement for each other's benefit. She and I signed an agreement that we would only marry until I was strong enough to protect his kingdom without this ridiculous marriage."
Amelia immediately covered her mouth tightly when she could hear Alexius' conversation with a girl while she was trying to find another entrance to the house that Alexius entered. Amelia's desire to approach Alexius was dashed when she accidentally overheard the conversation. For some reason, Amelia had a feeling that she would gain more benefits if she secretly listened to the conversation.
"Married is still married, Your Highness. You shouldn't do this when you have accepted the marriage. From now on, it might be best if we never meet again."
"Please don't say that!"
From outside, Amelia could hear Alexius' voice suddenly screech, followed by hurried footsteps before everything suddenly returned to silence. Amelia waited nervously about what would happen next. After a quiet pause, Amelia finally managed to hear what Alexius was saying to someone whom Amelia had concluded was Alexius' real lover.
"I just love you, Isabella. Please don't tell me that you're going to stay away from me. I can't live without you. You know that too."
After Alexius' soft words, Amelia heard sobbing not long after. Gradually, the moaning sounds were interspersed with Isabella's refusal when Alexius wanted to touch her. But over time, the sobbing disappeared and was replaced by the sound of kisses that became increasingly hotter.
"You're the only one for me. You don't need to worry about Melisa, Isa. When she signed the agreement, she also promised that she would protect our relationship for the sake of her kingdom."
"Ugh..."
When the sound from inside gradually turned into heavy breathing accompanied by the typical sound of someone making love, Amelia finally left the place with red cheeks. However, different from her expression of despair before, Amelia's expression was filled with an evil mind this time. Amelia couldn't believe she had just heard a big secret by accident. With that secret, she could destroy the two people who had ruined her life at once.
Amelia smiled with satisfaction when a new plan suddenly came to mind.