Chapter 47: Who Needs Who

They all stood up as the prince presented himself to her. His other knights were stunned at her beauty, but he didn't let it seduce her.

Among everyone in Deravon, he was one of the attractive men, thus he ended up getting the target of flirting and the daughter of the lords were trying to hit on him multiple times. But unlike his father, he was too focused on claiming the throne.

"What brings you here, Prince of Deravon?" She asked with her cold voice, that at first may sound sweet, but one could hear the authority in it. They finally concluded that she was seducing no one inside the room, not even the prince.

"I was… travelling." The prince paused in the middle of his sentence, not removing his smirk. Soon, he stared at her for a long time, long enough for the latter to know what he was talking about.

"Travelling?" Faliha asked, with a raised eyebrow.

"That's unusual for you to do… especially at this time." She added. "You should be crowned by now."

"Yes… it should be…" Danico was still in his smile, as everyone around them was clueless about their conversation. To them, it was just small talk between leaders. "But he's a stubborn old man, he wouldn't give it to me that easily."

Then, once again, they stared at each other, giving glances one after the other. The whole throne room became silent as both of them didn't say anything in the next minute.

"I see."

Finally, the queen broke the silence, as she was still wearing her poker face that didn't change since they came in. Then, she stood up from sitting and took a glance at the smirking prince.

"Well, let's hold a meeting after you rest." She declared. "It seemed like you've been travelling for so long."

After she accepted his request of talk with her, his smile got even wider. Everything was going according to his plan, and soon, he would take the throne.

"Indeed."

***

The sun was slowly setting in the west, and the time of the cold had finally come. Everyone thought that it was a refreshing moment for the people of Erimia, but the cold night can be compared to the depths of Mt. Malking, the snow mountain of the East.

And as they waited for the moon to rise up from the sky, Faliha was standing in a private room, with the same dress as before. It had the same wall and floor design as the throne room, but with no furniture and decorations can be seen. Only the ceramic tiles and the mud-brick walls.

Behind her in a distance was Danico, standing straight with confidence, now without wearing his armour. He was now in a white long-sleeved shirt, with frills added at each end, and was covered by merlot red tunic with golden trims. He had shown his umber pants and his pair of long black boots, perfect for a prince.

But the queen never bothered to look at him from the back. She has a husband that she didn't want to replace with anyone, especially to a son of an enemy, so she didn't need to look at him. They decided to talk after the travellers finished taking rest, and they knew now it was the time.

"Thank you for accepting my request, your Highness." He said with a deep bow, stretching his arms and legs. The smile wasn't removed yet on his face.

Faliha took a peek at what he was doing, squinted, but then, raised her head to remain the image of a queen. She had never met anyone outside the palace except for the lords that she recommended to supervise for the capital and the Miran port. So this is a new experience for her.

"So…" She started to speak, walking with great grace under the reflective floor. Her eyes were looking down on him as if he was her servant. "…I see that you need help from me."

"You know that it wasn't just for free." She added. "You must give something in return, or else, I'll decline."

But then, she noticed a wide smirk on the prince's face, like he just won a game of poker without even his turn yet. Because of this, she raised her eyebrow in both suspicion and curiosity.

"I think you have mistaken, your Highness." He said, now stopped bowing and raised his head. His smile was more visible, and it made his every opponent uncomfortable. He had been planning for this moment his whole life.

Ever since he discovered that his father wasn't easy to be stopped in his schemes, he prepared a strategy to throw him out of the throne. And in order to do that, he must do something at Erimia first.

"What do you mean?" This made her started to panic, as different ideas and possibilities came into her head. She was a warrior princess, as well as the sisters after her, known to be the women of the battlefield. But she had never been cornered like this before. This is a bad idea.

"You'll be the one needing help from me." He answered, giving her an even wider smirk.

"At what circumstances?" She gulped before asking, as now her heart was beating faster than before.

She didn't have her weapon with her but she sure could do martial arts. Unless he wouldn't do something suspicious, then she wouldn't do anything either.

"Do you know the feud between me and King Gandior?" He explained, now started walking around the spacious room, with both of his hands on his back. His smile was back to normal, looking around like it was his home.

She was still unsure what the reason he brought up the subject is but she still answered. Her face was filled with disgust.

"I've always been informative about that. I would like to see my competitor to fall down on its feet." She said.

This triggered his smile and widened once more.

"Well, he would like to end it all in one time. One of my soldiers here is a spy." As he said those words, the queen's eyes widened. She already knew the controversy between the prince and the king, but she never thought that he would willing to kill his son for his throne.

"Maybe two of them– that doesn't matter. As long as they'll kill me, you'll be in danger." He added, releasing more of his grimace, leaning closer to her. This made her even more worried about future outcomes. What does he mean by she'll be in danger?

"Imagine… a murder of a prince, son of a king, take place at another kingdom, not to mention a competitor." He explained, answering the question in her thoughts. Knowing what this conversation will go, she widened her eyes. The prince reached up for her ear, but far enough for the gentleness. "What will be the first suspect be?"

"You…!"

She hissed, gritting her teeth against him. Even though she had been a queen for years, she didn't expect for the prince and the king to be in this succession war, and she also didn't expect that her kingdom would get involved just for Danico's safety.

"Then, they will be war. Of course, Erimia is a strong nation, not to mention their queen was once a warrior princess." He continued explaining, even with the visible threat coming from her. "But you know very well… that you won't stand a chance against a kingdom more powerful than you."

"And it's also the same if you threw me out." He inserted, not even letting her think of any hope to escape from him. She also knew that very well.

If she will decline the prince's visit, which was being treated as offensive to the rights of his, Deravon will react, and the king will announce a war. He never liked his son, but he also didn't like Erimia either. He was just waiting for the right time where he can get rid of them without dirtying his hands.

"So… you'll need my help." He leaned closer to her, giving her an annoying smile. But she couldn't be able to do anything. She had been stuck without anything to think of.

"The pride… or the safety of your kingdom?" He added. "Which one is gonna be?"

The question kept echoing in her head, time after time. Satisfied with the queen's reaction, he chuckled and started walking away from her but never left the room.

"Did you plan all of this?!" She yelled, now clenching her fists. She hated to claim that she had been defeated without even her knowing about anything.

"Who knows, your Highness." He said. It was an honest answer. Of course, he wouldn't expect that his father would be sending a spy on his way until he noticed something suspicious while they were travelling. He just thought of it along the way.

But no matter how she hated him, she knew that he had potential. The experts claimed him as a prodigy, and his talent would only grow.

If she wanted to win the competition against other kingdoms, she would need him now that the king and he were forming a silent war right now. And this would be the time to form a partnership.

Danico was about to leave, smiling at his victory, which is the very first time he experienced in his whole life.

He had been stuck in the castle with just him blackmailing the maids and the knights, and of course, training his swords skills, but besides that, he had never done anything.

As he was about to reach for the knob, he heard her voice echoing inside the room.

"What do you want me to do?"