Celena glanced down; although she could not see the mischievous glint in the man's face, she could clearly hear and feel the prince's playfulness. As he gazed up at her, the former crown prince clasped her hands in his, eagerly anticipating her response.
Prince Quentin's proposal left Celena speechless. She inserted her free fingers into her ears to make it seem as if she misheard him because the notion was so ridiculous.
"Excuse me, Your Highness, did my ears deceive me?"
"No, my dear," answered Prince Quentin. "I am kneeling down here, genuinely proposing for your hand in marriage."
"I thought you said you wanted to recruit me in exchange for my freedom."
"Yes, and on our way out of the mines, I fell in love with you while holding your hand, and in that instance, I said to myself, I want you to be mine."
Celena was taken aback. She freed her hand immediately from his grasp and said, "Are you really Prince Quentin?" After realizing that the person who spoke was clearly deranged,. Celena stepped back, her face contorting into a grimace.
Regardless of how much she can 'see', she still cannot identify a person or verify their identity by merely listening to their voice for the first time. But she had encountered Prince Quentin briefly before she was sentenced to the maize, but she could not remember what he sounded like. Even if he had people convincing her that he was really the prince, they might still be conspiring against her just to win her over. If he brought witnesses to prove his identity, it is worthless to her.
"I see. Now you have trouble verifying my identity. You don't believe me? Why don't I give you a hint?" The fictitious crown prince remained kneeling while he said, "Brother, I will give you the crown 👑 as you desired." Prince Quentin repeated the dialogue that he once spoke to his brother before the death of the Emperor.
Celena's eyes widened in astonishment. "It was you! It was really you!" Celena recognized that voice in that sentence; it was the last thing she heard before she was discovered hiding in the castle.
"You drank the spiked wine 🍷!" Celena said to him, surprised.
"I did." Prince Quentin confirmed.
"You knew I was there the whole time?"
"Yes, I did.
"You should not have been alive. How did you survive?" Celena remembered that she spiked both glasses with the intention of killing both the crown prince and the second prince at the time.
Prince Quentin remained quiet, and Celena finally said, "You were the one who hired me."
"Why didn't you ratted me out there and then?"
"I didn't want you to be in trouble for something that wasn't your fault. Your sister and the guild both used you.
Nothing makes sense to Celena now. The only thing that she could think of was that he had the antidote, and the person who had the antidote was most likely the one who hired her from the assassination guild.
Prince Quentin stood up, took one step ahead and kneeled down once more. "Young lady, never before have I ever encountered a woman who willingly kept me hanging. Your answer to my proposal?"
"Of all the things you could have offered me, why do you want to marry a blind criminal whose background and heritage are unworthy of a prince's consort?"
Prince Quentin continued to kneel down and take her hand to kiss it once more. "There are several reasons, which I will explain to you in my carriage, but I need you to agree to marry me now."
"What if I refuse?"
"Then my men will send you back to the mines, where you will live the rest of your life struggling to survive with the poison in your body."
"Poison? What are you talking about?"
When the royal guards apprehended you six months ago, the emperor gave them instructions to allow you to consume the poisonous drink that you spiked us with so that you would die slowly but horribly in Endromeda.
Celena's expression turned even more bewildered. She knew she was severely weakened in the mines; she tried to escape from the mines before, but every time she walked for too long, she would get dizzy. She never thought she was poisoned.
"Apparently, the effects of the poison vary with different people. I administered the antidote this morning, which can probably last you another six months to live."
Celena's brow furrowed in suspicion of his offer.
"So, what say you, my love? Marry me? Or die?"
A surge of bitter emotions washed over her as she was forced to be bound from one form of slavery to another.
"After six months, you seemed to be holding up pretty well, as most slaves here couldn't last a month. With your pretty, petty frame and gaunt-looking face, one would think you would die in a few days. Moreover, you were poisoned." The prince added.
"Yet, here I am standing upright in front of you."
"Barely my love, don't forget, you were unconscious and I nursed you back to health. I could turn this around and claim you regardless, since you owed me your life and you failed your assassination mission. As a gentlemen, I ought to at least give you a choice to work with me or against me. Your choice."
Celena quavered with rage that she had demonstrated weakness in front of the prince. Her chest tightened, thinking that she could never have the chance to speak to the crown prince, much less have him kneel down at one foot to be proposed to. All she needed now was a ticket to get away. Run away from the god-forsaken place, change her identity, and start her life anew. 'This might work,' Celena thought. 'All I needed was to leave this place, steal the antidote and runaway.'
Celena then grasped the prince's hands, gave him the most radiant smile that she could muster and said, "I do!"
Prince Quentin smiled at her, delighted to have this feisty, blind manhunter as his bride. Once Celena agreed verbally, a wolf appeared behind the stony wall and shifted into a man with a clerical collar. His hand held the Holy Scriptures and said, "May I request the bride and the groom to place their hands on the Holy Scriptures?"
"Wait, now?" Celena was astounded by how quickly their relationship evolved. She was completely caught off guard by a third person's voice, for she did not sense any other human being besides the prince.
"Of course, I wouldn't want you to run away from me." As Prince Quentin said, a wisp of golden white smoke circling their hands bound them together like an invincible chain, locking their hands in place.
"I now pronounce your husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."
"Aren't you going to ask me more questions?" Celena desperately asked the priest, "What happens in sickness and in health, or in good times or bad?"
"You placed your palms on the Holy Scriptures, which contained all the vows of marriage. You are good to go, your highnesses." The werewolf priest announced this, immediately shifted back into his beastly form and vanished behind the rocks.
Prince Quentin's eyes shone in amusement. He then proceeded to slide a ring onto her finger, and another surge of power flowed through her body that overwhelmed her so greatly that she staggered, struggling to stand firm.
The prince quickly stood up, caught her in time, and said, "Shall we proceed with the negotiation in the carriage?"
"What other negotiations are there since I am being forced to marry you?" Celena scorned at the situation that she was being hoaxed to become a wife in less than 24 hour notice.
"My dear, you consented; please do not forget that."
Upon saying that, he whisked Celena off her feet and carried her like a princess to the royal carriage.
"I can walk just fine."
"No, you can't." As the prince walked up the invincible force field staircase that sent him up to his golden carriage hovering in the air, "Your carriage is up in the air?" Celena gasped as she felt the breeze become warm as the Prince ascended higher into the sky. There it was, a floating golden carriage befitting the newlyweds.
Prince Quentin kept quiet and placed her gently on the seat of his carriage, signaling his coachman to leave Endromeda. The carriage hovered across the skies as it flew away from the mines. Celena, who sat beside the prince, looked outwards the carriage window. Although she could not see, she could feel that a new day has come for her in the most unexpected way.