Something To Tackle You With

Silence occupied Prince Nicien's chamber for a while as his gaze was already fixated on the fire torch logo once again. However, Imayne didn't speak up no matter how much time had passed.

After what seemed to be forever, the Prince's finally shifted his gaze to the woman who was still on her knees. "I already made myself clear and said everything needed to say through the letter that Rafe delivered three days ago," he said in a calm yet cold voice. "Why don't you tell me, Imayne? Are the leaders really worried or... are they still struggling to accept this decision I made?"

"Master -"

"If anyone is still unclear, then bring them to me," Nicien Vamieres deadpanned. "I won't tolerate any disobedience in the guild."

Imayne sensed the anger beneath the Prince's calm voice and thinking of it as the best decision, she maintained her silence for a while.

"Please calm down, Master," she finally said, pleading with the Prince. "It's true that the leaders are still struggling to accept this but they are also worried at the same time. Everyone knows what will be the effect if you went through with the marriage."

It wasn't easy for her to say these and if any other members of the guild were in her place, they won't be able to say anything. It must be why they sent her here to meet the Master.

Well, there must be one more person who will dare to be even more daring than her. Rafe.

Nicien Vamieres observed Imayne for a while before he said, "It seems like you're also feeling the same, Imayne. Is that why you come here without even letting me know beforehand?"

"If I inform you, you won't let me come here," Imayne replied, bravely. Despite still being on her knees, she was now looking up at the Prince who had his gaze on her. "You know very well that no matter how severe my reason is, I can't come if you order me not to. That's the rule."

"You just admit that you broke the rule," Nicien Vamieres pointed out. He briefly glanced at the door before he continued, "You said that you make sure to know if I'm alone before you come here but... what if my mother comes in right before you show up? She often comes here regardless of the time and you know very well that I can't just let her leave like I dismissed the ones who work for me."

With the Prince bringing up the Supreme Princess, Imayne can't say anything and she had her gaze lowered again.

"Leave now," Nicien Vamieres muttered in an obviously tired voice as he rose from his seat. "Tell everyone that if anything goes wrong tomorrow, they will have to pay for it with their lives."

"Your Highness... "

Imayne's voice trailed off when she noticed the Prince's sharp gaze. Nicien was always so calm and emotionless that Imayne rarely noticed him expressing anything through his face. As such, it was a rare sight!

"If you belong to the Varian Guild, don't address me that way again. Ever." His voice was eerily low yet the warning was very clear to the one at the receiving end.

"I apologize. I was a little out of my mind and -"

"Leave." Nicien interrupted in a cold voice. "We will talk about the rules you broke later. Tomorrow should pass without any problem first."

Imayne didn't make any movement for a while but she knew very well that she didn't really have a choice. She rose to her feet and bowed before she turned around, but...

The Prince suddenly walked past her and cautiously glanced at the shelves that served as the cover to the secret path.

"Is anyone else being sent here?" Nicien Vamieres asked Imayne with his gaze still fixated on the shelves.

"No. It's just me."

Though Nicien wasn't expecting this, he didn't raise his guard that much. He knew very well that only people from the Varian Guild knew this secret path unless... there was a traitor. Though there was always a first in everything, the Varian Guild didn't have any record of treachery since it was founded 18 years ago.

All the members had the same goal and they lived for that. No one was forced to join the guild.

The fact that Prince Nicien was the Master of such a guild wasn't known by anyone who didn't belong to the guild. The Supreme Princess might have her suspicion but... nothing was proven.

Nicien Vamieres stood still before the shelves and waited. In less than a minute, the shelves were separated once again and this time, it was a young man who was standing on the secret path. At the sight of the Prince, the young man promptly bowed.

"Rafe," Imayne called out when she saw her friend who also belonged to the Varian Guild. "Why are you here?"

There was no response but Prince Nicien understood what was going on.

"It seems like he comes here on his own without even receiving an order from the leaders," the Prince deadpanned and returned to his seat.

The young man named 'Rafe' quickly walked behind the Prince and then got down on his knees while Imayne stared at him. It's obvious that Imayne was wary of the Prince's reaction.

"I can see that those leaders terribly fail in maintaining order in the guild," Nicien Vamieres remarked while staring at Rafe. Hearing this, Imayne quickly got back on her knees.

"Please forgive him, Master. I will take him back to the -"

"Forget about it," Nicien Vamieres interjected and Imayne's voice died.

The Prince briefly glanced at Imayne before he turned his attention back to Rafe and said, "You're already here, so why don't you just spill what you want to say, Rafe? However... it should be good enough for me to understand your reason for acting out of turn."

His words were followed by silence and Nicien Vamieres could feel his patience running dry! However, just when he tried to speak up again, he heard Rafe.

"You know why I'm here, Master," the young man bravely started. "If this marriage happens, the King will finally have something to tackle you with as the relationship between the two nations will depend on the marriage. I can't understand why you insist to fulfil this alliance marriage while knowing that."