Married To The Enemy Kingdom's Illegitimate Prince-Chapter 91 — Calling Her Name

Scribbling through the page before him with his quill, Lucian’s mind still couldn’t settle on the answer Cynthia had given him to his question. He surely didn’t expect an answer however, it was too brief.

Her brothers had taught her swordsmanship yet, her level was far too high for some basic self-defense just as she explained to him.

And men in Eldoria don’t let women use swords.

Conflicted between his own logic and Cynthia’s words, he didn’t know what to think anymore.

"Your Highness!" Dylan barged into the room, holding a few papers in his hands, causing Lucian to gaze up from his paper.

"What is it, Dylan?" Lucian asked, not wanting to bother lecturing Dylan about basic manners such as knocking right now.

"I have a report for you! It’s about the reparations costs for the market."

"Go ahead," Lucian crossed his arms, waiting for the man before to do what he had come for and leave.

He needed time alone whenever he thought about something related to Cynthia or else his judgment would be clouded by stereotypes, rumours and much more. For once, he wanted to try to think on his own about the woman who lived under his roof, the one who waited for him late at night without even letting him know about it, the one who tried her best to make their relationship work despite his cold demeanour towards her.

"Well, the grand duchess suggested using the duchy’s funds. I think it’s a good idea. However, we could also combine it with funds we have for the knights and then—"

"Wait," Lucian raised his hand, interrupting Dylan.

"Yes?" Dylan paused, lowering the documents he was reading.

"What do you mean by using our funds? Shouldn’t the king send us some help? After all, all this happened because he decided to create Erion here instead of relocating this place. He knew it was filled with danger because of the demons!"

"Y-Your Highness," Dylan gulped, blinking at the grand duke who slammed his hand furiously on his desk. "I will try to contact His Majesty for more assistance. For now, we need to do some damage control. The commoners are ready to burn down this place anytime," Dylan sighed, clenching the papers in his hands.

"Right. Go ahead with this. However, make sure this won’t cause any issues among the employees and knights at the duchy. We can’t afford to anger more people while trying to fix one thing."

"At least take a look at the calculations. The grand duchess made them," Dylan grimaced upon saying her name. He wished to call her all kinds of names however, he knew the grand duke would only get furious at him.

That woman surely cast some black magic on His Highness for him to go around telling people to call her grand duchess unlike before when he didn’t care!

Dylan mused, handing the documents to Lucian.

After looking through them, Lucian nodded in agreement. The calculation was flawless. It had the exact amount the duchy could use without having to cut the employee’s pay.

"She... it couldn’t be her first time doing this, can it?" He wondered, reading the documents once again, assuring himself he wasn’t the one who saw wrong.

It really is flawless.

He mused, a faint smile forming on his lips. He was unsure if he made the right decision to hand over the mansion affairs to her before but after seeing this, he was reassured that she could handle that much.

"This is perfect. Follow it through fully with Glain. No one is allowed to change anything written on this paper."

Dylan nodded, before bowling and exiting the hall.

***

"Your Highness," Arisia called out in a low tone, raising her hand to knock on the door.

Before she could do so, the door creaked open causing her to flinch.

"My, were you startled?" Cynthia chuckled. "Come in," she gestured towards the table she had asked her maids to set up.

"No, no. I was just about to knock so..." Arisia giggled, taking a seat at the table.

"How have you been enjoying your stay here, Your Highness?" Cynthia demanded, taking a sip of the tea brewed by Anni who stood beside her.

"It is great here. I can go wherever I want!"

"Really?" Cynthia scoffed, her voice filled with irony.

Princess Arisia. As nice as in the rumours.

All Cynthia knew about Princess Arisia in her past life was about her calm yet cheerful, mischievous yet kind nature. However, she couldn’t deny that the young lady before her was indeed such a woman. She could still find positivity in the chaos Erion put her through. She could have died that day inside that building yet she kept smiling as if nothing had happened. Additionally, she kept quiet about the conversation she had with Cynthia.

She isn’t as stupid as she might look...

Cynthia’s lips curled with a smile, her gaze softening at Arisia.

"Yes! I can go outside as much as I want because there aren’t many servants here and it’s easier to walk around because the air isn’t suffocating," Arisia grinned brightly, taking a sip of the tea.

"Oh! I apologize! I talk a lot," she gasped, covering her mouth as if she had made a grave mistake.

"No, it’s alright. I am just not talkative but I enjoy listening to you, your highness."

Arisia’s cheek flushed a slight pink, her nose slightly red. She merely never had anyone listen to her nonsense, yet the grand duchess was willing to hear them. Her smile only turned wider, unable to contain her joy.

"Can I... call you by your name?" The princess hesitantly asked, lowering her gaze, unable to make eye contact.

She knew she was getting ahead of herself however she couldn’t hide the fact that she had appreciated the grand duchess greatly since their first meeting. She felt a connection between them and she couldn’t help but want to get closer to her the more she interacted with her.

"These brothers and sisters surely want to call me by my name around the same time too," Cynthia chuckled inwardly.

"Sure, Your Highness."

"Then..." Arisia paused, hesitating before softly whispering. "Cy-Cynthia."

Cynthia placed her tea cup on the table. She hadn’t heard her name pronounced so carefully by a Selvarian before. Their accents were different and some names were tricky and pronounced differently in Eldoria and Selvarys yet, the princess managed to say it properly unlike Lucian who clumsily managed to pronounce her name in his Selavarian accent.

She must have practiced a lot... Did she expect me to agree right away?

Cynthia’s jaw tightened, the smile on her face fading, recalling that the lady before her would die soon. The lively voice which pronounced her name so beautifully would be silenced soon and she wouldn’t be able to stop it.

Unless I try to discover the cause of her death... but then my plans...

The silver-haired young woman clenched her fists, shaking her head. She couldn’t let her emotions get the better of her once again! She needed to stand strong if she wanted to ruin the ones who turned her life into a living hell.

"What are you thinking so deeply about?" Arisia asked, noticing Cynthia spacing out.

"It’s nothing. Let’s enjoy the weather while it lasts."

While you’re still alive.

Cynthia thought to herself, the words caught in her throat like needles.

"You read books like this, Your Highness? How unexpected. You must be such a romantic!" Arisia picked the hook that Cynthia had been reading earlier while waiting for her arrival.

The book title was: [Ways to Make Someone Love You]

"Ah... yes," Cynthia hesitantly nodded. She didn’t expect the princess to show interest in this book due to its plain red cover merely with a clumsily written title on it.

"Might I take a look inside?"

Cynthia nodded, forcing a grin. She left a few notes there because that was her guide to make sure Lucian would eventually fall in love with her. As silly as it might sound, she couldn’t remember what love felt like. She needed to constantly remind herself of how it feels by reading books, to engrave it in her mind because she could no longer feel it.

Since she will die soon... I can at least let her do as she wishes, right?

Cynthia mused, trying to keep her smile to mask her internal tension.

Arisia’s lips almost touched the corner of her lips upon hearing Cynthia’s approval. She began turning the pages, reading the table of contents

[How To Make Someone Love You.]

[Contents:

1. Show Genuine Interest

2. Be Your Authentic Self

3. Build Trust

4. Make Them Feel Valued

5. Examples of Compliments

6. Share Difficult Times

7. Spend Quality Time Together

8. Be Kind and Compassionate

9. Respect Their Privacy

10. Lingering physical contact

11. Tips on how to pursue them

12. Note: Patience

[13...] ƒree𝑤ebnσvel-com

]

Arisia blinked at what she just read, not reading the content tables further, her gaze slowly moving upwards towards Cynthia who sipped on her tea nonchalantly.

"This must have been written by a man," she chuckled awkwardly. She never knew such a book could exist.

"Perhaps," Cynthia chuckled.

"I doubt you bought it from here."

"Well, it’s an Eldorian book. Though, the author seems to have written the common language just fine, unlike other Eldorians."

"Ah! Actually, Your Highness... I’ve been wanting to ask you something."

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