Pity

The meeting ended within only a few seconds of disregarding and cold words. She knew that there was no choice but to comply with his orders, or he would be angrier, and she will have to suffer the consequences.

He called for Ralph to escort her to the entrance and to take her to her house, the Duke's residence. Not once, he let her say more than a few words to him. Not once, he turned to see her face.

"Have a safe trip, Miss Yves," Ralph helped her inside the carriage before she departed. He looked at her with a bit of pity, after all, she seemed to be a delicate woman, and beautiful. It was really a pity to have a father like that.

"Sigh…" He turned around and entered the gates. There was nothing to see anymore.

***

Angela looked at her hands and the ring her mother had left her before dying. Her eyes were vacant and lifeless the whole trip home, almost as if the dream she once had was fading. For a brief moment, she felt as if her most joyful fantasies were destroyed abruptly without warning. That everything she had done for the past years was a waste.

The feeling of a future filled with sadness was echoing in her heart, and she was scared. The bright sun she had waited for so long had faded.

The next few days, she tried to enter the Palace to meet him again. Though she didn't want to disturb him, she couldn't go against the orders of her father. He insisted on making the Crown Prince see her.

Also, she had a bit of hope. She knew that he was forced to marry her, and maybe he didn't like it. However, she encouraged herself with the thought that, with time, they will know each other better and slowly grow feelings. So she will wait patiently and work harder.

"Your highness, it is a pleasure to meet you again," she smiled graciously.

That day, he finally turned to see her for the first time. She was wearing a beautiful blue dress, highlighting her sapphire eyes.

If any other, they would fall in love with her without a second thought, her long blonde hair and her perfect face and figure were a lovely sight.

"Mmm," he nodded without showing a bit of interest.

She knew that he was angry, he kept tapping in the table with a furrowed brow. "I… I am sorry to bother you this time…"

"What do you want?"

"I…" she hesitated, his gaze was piercing and filled with resentment. "I wished to complete the customs of the Crown Princess."

He smirked, "didn't we agree before that it was not necessary?"

She wanted to say that she never agreed to that, but she had not the courage. "I think it will be difficult for me if I don't complete them, I wish to help you in any way I can in managing the Estate as one of the Crown Princess responsibilities. I hope you can give me an opportunity."

He looked at her and chuckled, "did your father ask you to do that?"

"No… I," it was her own initiative, but she couldn't say that her father didn't care about such customs. "Yes, my father agreed with me."

"Ha…" there was a sarcastic grin on his face "There is no need for you to come here and do unnecessary things, but if you want to learn, Ralph will teach you, though, it would be best for you to come here every day and retire to your house later. "

"But…" it was a custom to stay in the residence of the Crown Princess for the training. It was usual to greet the Prince every day before the wedding, thus, to return to her home would be seen as an insult in the eyes of the nobles. They will mock her and her father.

"I am doing this for your sake, Miss Yves, after all, once you start living here, there would be fewer chances for you to see your family," the man smirked.

Angela nodded, it was useless to insist when he was already looking at her with an irritated expression. Somehow, those eyes were giving her a strange feeling, as if he was plotting something terrible to harm her.

"I understand," she said, 'At least, I can see him if I come to the Palace for a few times. Maybe he will change his mind.'

There was nothing else she could do. His cold and indifferent eyes made her shiver in anxiousness. If she were to oppose him from the start, they won't have a good marriage in the future. It won't be wise to annoy him more.

However, after several days of coming to the Crown Prince Palace and learning from Ralph and the Housekeeper the ways of the castle, she never saw him even once. Even when she had to convey her greetings to him out of respect, and tradition.

She insisted on meeting him several times a few days before the wedding to deepen their relationship, but his schedule was always full, or so his assistant said.

"I am sorry, Miss Yves, but today is not good, he was called to the Palace."

She tried to understand and never said a word of complaint, even if she couldn't meet him once before the day of the wedding.

'It is fine, he is the Crown Prince, and he must be busy,' she thought as a way to comfort her damaged heart.

However, a week before the wedding, the Duke of Yves, her father arrived home with anger written on his face.

"You useless thing! How could you fail to seduce him?!"

"Father, I… I don't understand…"

She didn't know why her father was so angry at her. Even though he had never shown any affection towards her, he would always treat her with respect and courtesy.

"You! I thought the slutty face your mother passed on to you would be enough, but you are simply useless!"

Angela was stunned, he had never commented on her mother like that before. She only knew she died giving birth to her and some years later, he married her now step-mother Vanessa. Even if he were not the most caring father, he will never shout at her and insult her like that.

"Darling, what's going on?" Vanessa walked quickly to caress his chest and calm him down, or he would end up kicking the chairs and hitting the girl. "Did something happen in the court?"

"That bastard, he… he already has a lover."

"What? But the engagement…"

"He will go through it, he doesn't have a choice, but he is a scheming bastard, he will try to find a way to ditch the marriage later."

Hearing those words, Angela's mind was about to explode. The two elders were discussing fervently their following plans, but she was not in the mood to hear or say anything. Her heart was shattering with every second, and the hopes she raised up carefully wittered with the cold in her heart.