Nicomaine holds my gaze. "I agree. But you said earlier we were going to convince him to—" She cuts herself off, lips pressing together, realizing she nearly said something she shouldn't.
I sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose. Should've left her at home. Does she think she can't trust me? Irony's funny like that—because right now, she's the one I can't trust.
"Yeah, I said we'd convince him to decide on his own—but clearly, that's not working." I shoot her a look, emphasizing the words to 'convince him' so she gets that I'm covering for her mistake.
I hope she'll get that this conversation with the prince is also part of my plan of doing what she wanted to happen.
Nicomaine wants the prince to acknowledge her as a potential crowned princess for the future like what our father wants but she doesn't want it to be obvious because she said she wanted it to come from the prince personally and not because she wanted it.
She scowls, shooting a glance at Nicolo. "Stop it, brother. You're making it sound like we want the crown prince to defy the king."
I put my hands to my forehead as I take a deep breath. My sister is giving me a severe headache.
The whole point was to make it look like we're just concerned about the Rebels—not pushing Nicomaine as a candidate. I was supposed to suggest her name when the time was right.
But if she continues this conversation, we will lose that chance and what's worse is I will also lose my opportunity to talk with Nicolo about Dreymore!
"You are the one who is not helping at all," I said as I pointed to her. "I told you to let me handle the talking and don't interfere!" my voice is getting loud a bit.
I put down my hands and saw Nicolo shifting his gaze between us. He even lifts both his hands to try to stop us from arguing but like old times when we argue in front of him, he can do nothing.
Nicomaine bites her lip and then glares at me. She leans in, jabbing a finger into my chest. "I'll talk when I want to, Nicodeim."
I hope Nicomaine can read my way of looking at her because I am reminding her that if she loses this chance, then it will be her problem alone from now on.
I take a deep breath again. "Nicomaine, listen to your brother, okay?" I said calmly. "The prince might be in the same position as we are and I know you wanted to help him, but what makes him different from us is the fact that he is a prince."
Now I've done it, Nicomaine was about to cry. Her looks towards me mean, 'I thought you were going to persuade him to pay more attention to me but you ended up agreeing with his belief that was wrong and not about me.'
I thought she wouldn't let the prince see her side like this. But I guess I went too far to provoke her.
My bows wrinkle. "Nicomaine…"
"You two never change," Nicolo muses, shaking his head with an amused smile. "Still bickering like children. It's oddly nostalgic."
When he said that, Nicomaine immediately bowed her head as she put her hand on her legs. I know from her reaction that she now comes back to her senses and realizes what she did.
"Nicomaine," Nicolo calls her attention but she remains her head down. The prince continued speaking, "I know your intention in visiting me even before was because you wanted me to feel important to you and I appreciate that. Thank you for being always there for me," he said.
Then his gaze shifted towards me. "Nicodeim, I know that deep inside your words, you just don't want me to be taken advantage of. And I also thank you for that."
Nicolo is always like this. Nicomaine and I always forget who we are even when we are in front of him and he spoils us. He doesn't point out our mistakes but rather sees the bright side of it.
As I look at the prince, my mouth is slightly opened and my eyes lock on him. But the moment I remembered that Nicomaine already ruined our original plan, I closed my mouth and showed him a smile.
"It's not like what you think," I said as I lifted my brows. "I'm just trying to do something that will favor me in the future…"
There is a moment of silence between the three of us after I say that. It made me get the cup of tea on the table that the maid prepared for us to at least lessen the awkwardness.
After I take a sip, I put down the cup and continue speaking. "Nicomaine and I indeed intend to help you with your current situation, but I am trying to hide my other goal with visiting you today…"
His brows towards me become narrow. He didn't speak so I continued explaining, "If Rebels achieve their goal and you don't become the crown prince, then it will also affect us… especially me as the next heir of Duke Nicomar."
I know exactly what the Rebels are planning and I am using it to execute my plan to control the prince to act in a way I want him to act. If I can't change his belief, then I'll just make use of it as my way to win him over.
Nicolo bit his lip and looked at me intensely. "Tell me exactly what you want…"
Indeed, Nicomaine already exposed our reason for visiting the prince today. So there is no point in hiding it now. But the event didn't turn bad on me, I still can make the prince move the way I wanted.
I took another sip of my tea and then smirked at him while putting the cup down. "That's how I like it, talking to my cousin about business…" I fixed my posture as I looked at him directly. "I want you to take my sister as your crowned princess."
Nicomaine stiffens, eyes widening. "Excuse me?" Her voice is sharp, but I don't miss the flicker of shock behind it.
She wanted me to endorse her to the prince as a potential crown princess badly, now she'll act as if she didn't know anything about it? Why are women hard to understand?
He rubbed his forehead. "Ah… well, Nicodeim, you are putting me again into a situation that I can't decide on my own," he said.
"Come on, you said to tell you what I want, right?" I crossed my arm. "Besides, I'm certainly sure that the advisors will look for a suitable wife for you in the future once you become the crown prince. And quit the act, I know that you are secretly in love with my sister…"
When I said that, his eyes widened and immediately looked away from me. He suddenly loses his composure there. My sister did the same thing.
I sigh. "Wonderful. First politics, now matchmaking. Truly, my skill set knows no bounds."
I guess my intuition is right as I judge his actions in Nicomaines's backstory. They were in love with each other but Nicolo ended up rejecting my sister maybe because the advisors told him to do so.
As he looks at me again, he clears his throat before speaking again, "I… I know I told you to tell me what you wanted…" He smiles politely before continue speaking, "But why did you suddenly come up with this? Where is this idea coming from?"
I smirked and shook my head. "I can see that your brain can't function well when it comes to my sister," I commented. "Well, let's just say I know much about the Rebel's moves so before they could do anything to shake your position, I need to do something to stop their success."
The information I am talking about actually came from the series but of course, I can't tell them that. I know they will believe me if I just said that I am gathering information regarding the Rebel's moves if ever they doubted my words.
"Now I understand why you said you were worried about me earlier it was because you know what the Rebel is doing as of the moment…" Nicolo said and he even nodded.
I smirk. Finally, we're getting to the real game. "Yes," I confirm, leaning back. "The Rebels are propping up the Duke of Eldermoor— because they want his son on the throne."