The Crown Prince expected Celine to run into his arms the moment she got notified of his arrival, but her flower boys refused to inform her of his presence with one excuse after another.
His previous privileges as her fiancé were now lost, and he no longer had the right to meet her in private anymore, especially after showing interest in another Lady besides theirs.
What he truly didn't see coming was Lord Arclight being held hostage by the very same woman. His people were disarmed, their weapons confiscated. From the looks of things, there weren't heavy casualties.
'Had she gone completely insane?' The Crown Prince thought. Was this her idea of revenge? Cutting him off from his ally and eventually preventing him from saving his Bianca? Did she think that would change his mind and make him take her back?!
The worst part was that he would probably end up having to do so.
For Bianca's sake.
His Bianca.
The soft yet stubborn girl would try so hard to be unyielding even as she stood completely at his mercy. It fed something deep inside him, a power high he had never known before.
She haunted his thoughts and dreams from the moment he laid eyes on her. He couldn't quite tell how, but her very presence was making him feel more alive than he ever had been.
It wasn't simply because of her beauty, though she was undoubtedly the most exquisite girl he had ever laid eyes on, but because she was the first being who seemed to look beyond the Prince in him and treat him like a normal human being. Everyone else always tiptoed around him, trying their best to please him, but she was different.
If Celine thought this little ploy of hers would sway his mind, then she was sorely mistaken. It only proved that she had lost her mind and was willing to do anything for his attention, including endangering his people.
Nothing bad could ever happen to his Bianca. She had to be found and brought back. At all costs.
And if that meant that he would have to give himself away again…
So. Be. It.
Just this time, just this once, he would yield again. But the moment Bianca's safety was assured, he would continue to carve his own path─wealth, power, alliances─he would claim them all, so no one, not even his father, would be able to pull the reins again.
Until then, he was stuck here.
With dozens of soldiers, he was powerless against the Duke's private army.
That spoiled. Self-centered. Wretched. Woman.
Without her father's backing, she would be nothing.
NOTHING!
With a scowl, the Crown Prince ordered his men to set up a camp nearby and wait.
And wait.
For hours.
As the time passed, he could feel his patience wearing thin.
A man of his status shouldn't have been kept waiting for so long like this.
His authority was absolute, except when it came to that thorn in his side. A thorn that he wanted to pluck from his life and discard at the earliest possible chance.
No woman should have been given that much power, least of all her. The Duke should have known better than to let his daughter run unchecked. She needed to be kept in line. Subdued. Repressed.