A Letter

The small crown made of pink flowers looked extremely strange on his head. It made him look like a giant with a cold face.

"Mommy, it did not fit well." her face crumpled when Tyrone who was lost for a second touched the crown.

That was the first gift his precious daughter has given to her.

"It is perfect, precious. It is the best gift I have ever received." He kissed her forehead and then kissed her both cheeks but he still did not feel that it was enough so he kissed her again until she started struggling.

"Daddy! Your stubble is itching me." she rubbed her cheeks with an uneasy look when he frowned. He touched his cheeks and felt guilty over it.

"Since you like the crown, you can keep it. I will make a bigger one for you tomorrow. And i will make sure that it is your favorite pink color.'' His favorite pink color? His eyes immediately darted to Cassey who was not expecting her daughter to speak so much.

She flinched at her place and then turned to leave when she felt his eyes narrowing at him. But before he could say anything, she held Penny in her arms and then gave him a provoking look when he gritted his teeth.

"Then I will see you at dinner, daddy." The moment his daughter smiled at her, he gulped the anger and grinned back.

He was going to be a good father first then he would find a way to strangle that woman.

Taking a deep breath, he walked back to his office chair where Damien was waiting for him. Dami did not dare to speak. He kept looking at Tyrone's forehead with an agape mouth.

"What is it?" Dami flinched at the cold voice.

"We have received the letter from the royal family, my lord." He placed the red and golden envelope with black seal of the dragon on the table, making the room even colder.

"Send the best wine with an expensive gift telling me that I am busy and could not join the dinner." he replied without opening the invitation, "do not let the words go out, Damien. The presence of Cassandra and Penelope should stay hidden as long as it could." he warned his assistant and knight who gulped.

"But master, the royal family asked for the criminal a long ago. If they come to know that we are hiding the criminal who caused us defeat, the suspicions of you will arise again." It had taken them months to convince the royal family that they did not leak the secret information.

The whole duchy had to face the trial and the whole staff bore the insults of being a traitor.

They have been humiliated in the royal court and by the public. They were looked down with disgust.

If not for the hard work of their master, they all would have died with their families. They had suffered so much just because of a woman and yet Tyrone was trying to save her.

"The royal family will take it as only treason, my lord. I request you to think about it again." If possible, he would have personally dragged Cassey and thrown her in the prison but he knew he could not do that.

"My daughter needs her." he said through gritted teeth, "i know that i am waging all of your lives on stake. But I need a few months' time." his voice turned, pleading that Dami felt guilty instead.

"Our life is yours from the start, master." he kneeled, instantly bowing his head, "it would be an honor to die for you and I would still be following you in my next life." he swore with all his heart.

"But I am worried about your life, master. The royal family is unforgivable! You have already lost.." he paused when he felt the eyes of Tyrone getting colder.

"But I will try my best!" Tyrone nodded. Dami stood up and left the room when Tyrone stared at the letter again.

They have lost that war! The whole empire would have been ruined if not for the saint who came at the last moment and saved them with her light. She was able to convince the other empire for a truce.

They have a five year truce that will end soon. After that, they would sit and negotiate again, if things went well, the truce would extend. If not, a war was set on the stone.

But his trouble was.. The saint was adopted by the royal family as their daughter and now holds the position of princess. He did not care about it but.. She had shown her feelings for him again and again.

She wanted to marry him and the royal family did not want to upset the princess since she could be very important for the negotiation. The other empires seem to be afraid of her powers of light.

So, he was pressured by the royal family to marry the princess. He was hiding so far with the excuse that he was already married and he could not marry another woman without getting divorce.

That was the only reason they entrusted the task of finding Cassey to him. They would let him bring Cassey home for a while and ask her to divorce him.

After that, they will drag her to the stake and hang her to death. The moment the royal family would find her presence, they would kill her and he had to marry the princess!

"You better stay hidden Cassandra, or you would be responsible for your own demise!"