Married To The Enemy Kingdom's Illegitimate Prince-Chapter 23 — Tempting Offer

"You seemed to have been making me drink the potions without my permission while I was unconscious. Why are you hesitating now?" Cynthia raised an eyebrow, a smirk forming on her lips.

"You..." Arlot sighed, unable to continue his sentence. He knew all too well that what he wanted to say would come out rude.

After drinking four bottles of potions, Cynthia curled her lips.

"I should be fine in a few hours," she thought.

"How long will it take for you to recover?" Arlot demanded, putting the small bottles back into his pocket.

"A few days," Cynthia paused for a second before turning her gaze toward him. "You should leave now. You have been absent for too long. You wouldn’t want that person to start looking for you, right?"

"... I’m leaving. You don’t need to threaten me like this," Arlot sighed, mumbling a few words before vanishing into a violet light that appeared behind him.

Inhaling deeply, Cynthia fell back onto her bed as Lucian’s voice slowly grew louder in her mind.

"I’ll take care of you until you recover."

You act so nice sometimes, Your Highness. Anyone could be deceived. I won’t lie, I was tempted by your offer... but there is no way I will fall for your sweet words again. This time, I will be the one to make you fall for me and only then will I be able to take my revenge.

Resolute, Cynthia clenched her fist.

Upon realizing the movement of her hand, she rose abruptly from the bed and stepped onto the ground.

A smirk formed on her lips.

"Now, now. It’s time for drama," she said melodiously as she walked around the room, her legs still heavy from not having moved them for a week.

Hearing a loud bang, Philip rushed toward the Grand Duke’s bedchamber. As he tried to open the door, something seemed to be blocking it—or rather, it was locked.

"I clearly instructed the nurse not to shut the door unless when changing the Grand Duchess..." As Philip pondered what could be happening, another loud noise was heard.

"I need to inform the Grand Duke!"

Once he reached the Grand Duke’s study, the middle-aged servant knocked on the door.

"Come in."

"Your Highness..."

***

With quick steps, Lucian walked through the hallway. He didn’t feel particularly worried, even though the butler had told him about the strange sounds he had heard. After all, a villainess like Princess Cynthia probably wanted attention.

She didn’t appear to be the kind who could sit idly without causing any commotion. After all, he had witnessed it a few times already.

Although, out of guilt, he had suggested taking care of her, he kept thinking about why she didn’t accept. Surely, it would have helped her to seduce him.

Eldorians aren’t shy about using women to lure their enemies. Otherwise, why would King Alistair send his sister into enemy territory? He seemed like a man who doted on his sister... But men will forever be men.

Lucian scoffed.

Arriving in front of his bedroom, he tried to open the door.

"Ah." He remembered what Philip had told him.

"I tried to open the door, but it seemed as if it was locked from the inside. The nurse is nowhere to be found. Rather... I didn’t look for her."

Lucian sighed.

"What am I to do with such people in my mansion?" he mumbled before slamming his sturdy shoulder against the door.

It didn’t open.

Another loud bang and the door creaked open.

He didn’t blink an eye at the scene before him.

Princess Cynthia was lying on her bed, staring at the ceiling without a care in the world, as if she hadn’t noticed him entering the room.

The dark-haired young man looked around, hoping to find a glimpse of the nurse he had appointed. However, there was no one in the bedroom.

"What were those noises?" he demanded, his voice as cold as ice.

"What noises?"

Lucian raised an eyebrow, his expression clearly stating what Cynthia could interpret: Are you seriously asking me?

With a soft chuckle, she replied in a sarcastic tone, "Perhaps while I was trying to get a glass of water, a few of them broke."

Lucian silently stared at the ground. There was indeed broken glass on the ground.

Hearing no response from the other party, Cynthia finally locked eyes with her husband’s emerald gaze.

"Why aren’t you speaking?"

"There is nothing for me to say. However, try calling a nurse instead of creating a ruckus. I doubt your brother would pay for the loss."

You don’t change, do you? Always bringing up my brother. Be it in my past life or this one.

Cynthia bit her tongue, trying to control herself from speaking harshly to Lucian as she would usually do if it were anyone else. She needed to keep calm and remain elegant—exactly what Lucian liked in a woman.

"I apologize," she grinned.

Lucian remained silent for a few seconds. Then, he inhaled deeply before exiting the room.

"Ah! I didn’t even get the chance to be dramatic," Cynthia gasped once the door closed behind the tall young’s broad back. "Well, I’ll have to think of something else..."

***

"Your Highness," Philip knocked on the door hesitantly.

A faint "come in" was heard, and the man slowly creaked the door open.

Followed by a group of maids, the middle-aged man entered the bedroom.

Cynthia, who had managed to sit up despite her aching body, raised an eyebrow at the sight of uninvited servants in her private room.

Well, technically, this is Lucian’s... Are they here to get his belongings? He hasn’t been in this room for a while. Am I occupying his bedroom longer than he expected? Well... it doesn’t sound bad... overtaking his room is one step before overtaking his whole existence, isn’t it?

As Cynthia pondered, Philip coughed to clear his throat before speaking.

"These are your new maids, Your Highness," he gestured toward the five maids who stood behind him.

Yesterday, when the Grand Duke left his bedroom after meeting with the Grand Duchess, he instructed Philip, who was waiting outside with a worried expression. He told him to appoint more maids for the Princess of Eldoria due to her current state.

"My maids?" Cynthia raised her eyebrows.

The middle-aged man nodded while the group of servants hesitantly bowed, greeting the Grand Duchess. It was still hard for them to acknowledge the Princess of Eldoria as their mistress; however, they had to follow the orders of the head maid and butler if they wanted to keep their jobs.

Cynthia carefully examined the five women.

One of them appeared to be in her teens, while three seemed like young adults, and the other one was a middle-aged woman.

Although they all looked distinct in terms of hair colour and eye colour, their uniforms were the same, as were their gazes filled with contempt toward her.

"Where is Elise?" Cynthia grinned, pretending to search for her maid. "Isn’t she my personal servant? I haven’t heard from her since I woke up."

"Well... Elise..." the butler hesitated.

"Yes?" Cynthia grinned widely, her violet irises glimmering dangerously as the sunlight behind her cast a halo around her thin figure.

Updat𝓮d from freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.co(m)