Are You Crazy?

'This ungrateful little girl! Recalling her agreeing to the promise that they will learn to trust each other first then talk about their marriage and then now she's debuting early like parading herself as someone available.' Prince Joaqin was somewhat angry, feeling aggrieved for whatever reason. He prided himself as someone who is a very good catch for the ladies and so he couldn't accept that he was always outrightly rejected like this. Even when he made a flashy entrance with his Knights of Honor, she did not even bother to come greet him herself. Even when he was searching for her, he was only disappointed to see her paying him no mind at all. They did not see each other for so long and he thought they were quite close because their letters to each other never ceased. Was he the only one excited to see how much she's grown over three years? Therefore, he just stood there, staring at Lady Melanie who met his gaze with the same amount of fierceness. 'She truly knows no fear. I bet she does not even know I'm upset.'

For a moment, the entire yard not too far from the main hall seemed to be covered in frost and the temperature dropped. Even the Knights of Honor who stood at the distance can feel chills from their stern eye to eye confrontation.

Many tried to looked out discreetly and tried to steal glances to see what was going on but the Knights of Honor were good at securing the premise of where they now stood. However, it wouldn't stop the others from speculating about their relationship. Only they can see the two facing each other.

The tall and bulky teenager in front of Elijah had deep-set features and looked stunning in formal attire. His aura reminded one of the most superior rulers. He truly deserved to rule over this world. On the other hand, the slender young lady was a dazzling beauty whose charm could bring down an entire city. She was graceful and elegant even just standing there doing nothing. Fiery and beautiful in her red dress. Facing each other, they made the most stunning picture. When the wind blew, their clothes flapped in the air, giving the onlookers an ethereal feel. It was such a beautiful picture...

'That was weird...'

'Why did the second prince immediately took Lady Melanie out of the hall? It was as if he was here just for her. Were they... that close?'

'The prince doesn't usually interact with people he is not close with. Maybe the lady and the prince are --'

'Was it Von Diovre Dukedom who will actually marry the prince and not the Franchesca Dukedom?'

'How about Lady Bernadeth? Was it not known to everyone in the empire that she was soon to wed the second prince?'

'Both have equal beauty and charm but Lady Bernadeth is a genius who truly deserved the prince.'

'Did Lady Melanie seduce the prince now that Lady Bernadeth was not around?'

'The prince never looked at Lady Bernadeth that way. He never even seeked her out personally.'

'Did the prince truly came here just to congratulate Lady Melanie on her debut?'

Lots of speculations surrounded them but none have affected the two. Those hostile with lady became more hostile. Those who loves juicy rumors wanted the scoop. While every other teenage girls in the yard found it an eyesore as they were all overwhelmed with jealousy! Only Duke Orvin was thinking of Melanie's safety. He was totally uncomfortable of the setup. He wanted to take his daughter out of the prince' sight this instant.

'Tsk. So frustrating!' Duke Orvin thought bitterly. However, he knew his daughter will handle it well.

Leo and Caleb, who came out of his hiding spot to greet the prince, also exchanged looks.

"Truly unbelievable." Caleb commented and Leo agreed while nodding. "We'll have to adapt to the circumstances, then."

While everyone was coming up with their own speculations, Prince Joaqin finally spoke in an arrogant and taunting voice. "So we meet again, little girl. And you really even dared to do it. Do you really hate me that much?"

'Huh?' Elijah was confused as to where the hostility is coming from. They were okay with the last letters, were they not?

That unmistakably impatient tone and contemptuous expression made her frown back at him. They haven't seen each other for two years but she thought their last conversation ended well.

Elijah smirked. "Shouldn't I be the one asking that?"

Prince Joaqin darted a seemingly haughty look at the young lady in front of him. "You've been going everywhere but the palace. Lady Melanie Von Diovre, you just do what you want without informing me beforehand."

'Wow —' Elijah was rendered speechless. The way this guy put it! It shocked her! 'This prince was as relentless as ever with his words!'

"What about it? Please clarify. My time is precious. What's your deal, Your Highness?" Elijah asked impatiently this time. She already had too much stress earlier and she thought that her patience was truly running out.

"Ha. After not seeing each other for so long, these are your first few words to me?" The prince asked bitterly.

"Who is it that shows up unexpectedly with so much hostility?" Elijah retorted with a bit of blaming in her voice.

"I'm truly speechless. So now you're even pretending that you didn't do anything?" Prince Joaqin asked.

Elijah shrugged her shoulders and looked at him innocently as if she truly is innocent.

"You didn't even come to my coming-of-age ceremony and yet here you are attending someon else's birthday." The prince continued with his eyes full of accusations.

"That's why you're mad?" Elijah asked and felt a bit guilty. "I wrote you a letter to inform you in advance about that. And even sent you a gift I painstakenly made myself. I thought you understood when I received your last letter. Now you're mad at me."

'What a way to twist it and now I'm the guilty one.' Joaqin sighed in resignation and pulled back a bit of his aura. Truly, he can't seem to win against this little girl.

"Then why don't you tell me right now what you're after? Why did you break the agreement?"

Lady Melanie almost choked at what the second prince said. For someone as level-headed as she was, she somehow always lost control when this prince was around. She sighed, "I didn't break anything. What agreement? What is wrong with you?"

"This. Why did you make an early debut? You were supposed to do this next year. You didn't debut on my birthday and said you will do so in your 16th birthday. But now, here, you made a debut. And you deliberately hid it from me. Who wouldn't be suspicious?" The Prince then reiterated.

"I realized recently that it's not wrong to debut early. I don't think I did something wrong by making myself known in the society this early." Elijah answered with a straight face. "Plus--"

"Don't you even know what happens when a young lady debuts?" Prince Joaqin asked, clearly annoyed.

"I start to increase my influence?" Elijah asked back.

"Aside from that." The prince replied.

"I increase my power?" Elijah added.

"Not that." Prince Joaqin replied and he saw the young lady think deeply before shaking her head in resignation.

"Can't you just tell me?" Elijah finally snapped and asked.

"When you debut, families will now have the right to legally and formally ask for your hand in marriage. Meaning, you will soon be receiving proposals from families who wish to connect with the Von Diovre Dukedom." Prince Joaqin answered and explained further. "After tonight, these families can now pester you with marriage proposals and men are now allowed to visit your estate."

"Ow. Is that so?" Elijah blurted out in understanding and looked at the prince. "I didn't know. I didn't think that far. I only wanted to penetrate the high society earlier to increase my power and influence."

"So you mean to say you really didn't have any idea and just debut early for the sake of widening your reach?" The prince asked suspiciously. "Then the agreement about us still counts?"

"Of course. Why would I to you when I promised not to? And didn't we agree to learn to trust each other and then decide afterwards? But seeing you here confronting me now, I don't think you really trust me at all." Elijah stated bluntly.

"But it was you who never came to the palace during the time you were supposed to do your lessons.You didn't even bother to come visit me, your rightful fiance, after knowing that I'm finally back from the academy." Prince Joaqin continued to complain.

"It was because I was busy in the Dutchy as there was a lot of turnovers since we let go of a lot of our personnel." Elijah explained.

"So you didn't come over because you were busy dealing with the turnover for your workers?" Prince Joaqin confirmed and Elijah nodded. "Then, you didn't deliberately debut early just so you can receive marriage proposals and reserve a groom for yourself? You didn't do that just to do away from the engagement with me?"

Elijah nodded affirmatively again and then stopped. "Wait, why am I even explaining this to you?"

"Because I am your handsome betrothed. I have the right to know, you know." Prince Joaqin replied this time.

Elijah's mouth fell agape before she took a deep breath. "You're a creepy narcissist, did you know that, Your Highness? Plus I am still underage and you are now an adult. Please restrain yourself."

"Was it the thing you called pedophilia in your letters?" The prince asked but knew it was that. Throughout the 3 years of exchanging letters, he learned a lot of interesting terms from her that he remembered all of it. "That isn't considered coz we met when I was also underage, right? It's just that I am 4 years older which is quite normal age gap. And I don't have fetish for kids or little girls. I only call you little girl coz you were tiny before and I'm used to it. You grew taller now but still tiny compared to my height."

"Fine. Fine." Elijah replied in resignation as he already sent her a couple of letters explaining his side about that matter before. She was amused to see how he chatters nonstop to prove his point.

Prince Joaqin didn't let his face betray anything. His lips curled and his mood drastically improved. Then he reached out for the young lady's hand and kissed it. "Then, can this narcissistic handsome prince have the honor to dance with you, my fair lady?"

"Eh?" Elijah was once again speechless.

'What kind of personality is this? Hostile for a minute then peaceful the next minute. Truly dangerous. He is unpredictable.'

"I am still waiting for your reply." Prince Joaqin then said as he slightly pressed on her hand, looking at her expectantly.

"I don't think I have a choice, right?" Elijah blusted out, tired of arguing. She just then saw the prince smirk as he led her back to the main hall where they could start dancing.

"Just one dance, alright —" Elijah was stopped in her words when she felt a hand on her back, swiftly dragging her to the ballroom. Caught off guard, she almost stumbled on her feet and fell. However, prince swiftly caught her and steadied her back to her feet. Feeling her protest, he even added additional force on his hand that held her. Elijah knew that he was way too powerful for her to fight back, and so she had no choice but to be dragged away.

After they reached the center of the ballroom, people began murmuring around again but both were caught up in their own world to notice. The music began playing and the two started dancing. Prince Joaqin looked down at the beauty in his arms, a sly smile formed on his lips. She is truly lovely.

"What do you really want?" He asked. "Why do you want influence and power? Why choose this night to debut? Why the Colleens?"

"Like I said, I wanted to live. I will not survive in this world without influence and power." Elijah replied and raised her chin proudly. "And the Colleens are distabt relatives. Good opportunity to debut."

"Hmm. That maybe true. But I want an specific answer. You would not choose this day to debut early for no reason. I know there's something." The prince stated confidently and kept his gaze on her. "What are you really after?"

Elijah then gritted her teeth and her eyes spat fire. She didn't know that someone will notice her hidden intention, her real intention. That she didn't just come to this banquet for her early debut. 'How did this rascal even notice?'

The way she glared at the second prince reminded him of a grumpy little beast, which he found rather adorable. He almost felt like rubbing her head.

"Ahem..." Prince Joaqin cleared his throat and coughed into his fist and the look in his eyes was indecipherable. "Tell me everything, my fair little lady...or... I'll destroy anything you're after. Heed my warning and mark my words, okay?"

"Are you crazy?" Elijah asked softly with gritted teeth, she looked up and her eyes were spitting fire.

"You should know if I am or I am not." Prince Joaqin replied nonchalantly.

That was pure blackmail, but Elijah realized that...it was very effective! She knew the most that this person in front of her is like the Devil Incarnate. Once he set his mind on something, he will really do it. That is also why he was the perfect villain in this story because he only follows and does what he wants.

"What's wrong with you?" Elijah snapped softly, trying not to catch attention from the already attentive crowd, her fake warm smile plastered on her lovely face. "You only see ne now but then you pry on me. Do you enjoy picking on me that much, Your Highness?"

Prince Joaqin chuckled and then nodded sincerely. "I do, actually. This is your punishment for ignoring this prince."

Especially when the little girl in his arms bristled like a tiny cat, but had to bend to his will, it was so much fun for him and found her more interesting than ever.

Elijah took a deep breath and cursed the author of this novel once again. 'What was Bixie Finnery's problem? Why would he write that this guy to be a truly psychotic crazy dude who doesn't know how to mind his own business? And he just wrote that he was like an ice who never showed emotions. Yes, I knew was strong but he could have at least warned me of this prince' real personality. I wanna strangle you for not giving out a warning, dear author!'

From what she knew of Prince Joaqin, Elijah had no doubt that he would be relentless if he decided that he would sabotage everything she tried to do. She sighed feeling all her luck consumed as soon as this future tyrant came in.

"I'm not telling you." Elijah blurted out bitterly.

Prince Joaqin just smirked as he led her more into dancing with the music. "You have no choice."

Elijah sighed once more, her eyes full of injustice for being discovered like this.

"The magical nodes." Elijah and Prince Joaqin spoke at the same time.

Elijah's pupils contracted as she gasped in surprise and she stared at the second prince as if she had seen a ghost. Prince Joaqin gloated.

"You? How did you know that?" Elijah lowered her voice and asked through gritted teeth. She felt really frustrated at the moment. The mere fact that the prince had mentioned the magical nodes meant that he was confident about his guess.

Prince Joaqinhand, just gave her a casual glance as if he had just heard an idiotic question. Instead of replying, he finally let go of the young lady and bowed. It was only then that Elijah realized that the music had ended. The prince then said, "You said...just one dance."

Without any other words, he turned his back on her and left. Elijah was baffled by his attitude...'He is truly the source of every stress in this world!'

The others who witnessed the danced truly wondered what exactly what was the relationship between the second prince and Lady Melanie.

"Are you alright?" Duke Orvin's voice made Elijah turn to him. He had been wanting to remove that prince' hand off his daughter. "You look a little pale. Did he dare threaten you or something?"

"No, Your Grace. I'm fine. Don't mind him." She replied as her gaze silently followed the back of the prince.

***

"My dearest Prince Joaqin!" Caleb ran up to the second prince cheerfully and said in a hurry, "Dear Prince, you've truly hidden a very interesting person from me."

Prince Joaqin immediately darted a dark and suspicious look at Caleb. "Tell me what happened earlier before I was here."

Caleb protested and smacked his own forehead for being nosy. Now he has to suffer the consequence of being the storyteller. Despite that, he happily related the events that happened before the prince appeared. The more he spoke, the gloomier the air surrounding them became. At that thought, Caleb kept his gaze on the second prince. "Your Highness, you have to get it right for little Lady Melanie this time, or those people will keep pressuring her for everything again next time! I'm going to help her, anyway, but still I won't be able to attend all the social gatherings she'd attend in the future!"

Leo who heard Lord Caleb's words was shocked as well. 'Had Lord Caleb forgotten that he was the heir and a relative of the Franchesca family? The way he put it, he was claiming that the Franchesca family had set Lady Melanie up to embarass her on her debut day...He even asked his highness to deal with his family. Exactly which side was he on?!'

Prince Joaqin then darted an indifferent glance at Caleb. "Rascal, you should take a look at yourself in the mirror. Aren't you a Franchesca?"

Caleb just chuckled said, "Whatever! I don't mind it. They started it and Lady Melanie needs enough justice. You have to help the little lady. Justice must be served."

Prince Joaqin just smiled coldly. "Childish!"

"Tsk. Just so you wait." Caleb then said cheekily. "If you won't then I will."

"Just know your limit." Prince Joaqin said with a warning glare. He now sat down matter-of-factly on a luxurious chair specially prepared for him. Just then, he noticed a figure standing not too far from them arguing with his guards. His Knights of Honor kept her a distance away and was shooting the young lady warning glances. However, Lady Melanie still stood there as straight as a pine tree and as undisturbed as a secluded orchid in a deserted valley, like a winter plum tree. The prince smiled inwardly, 'What a stubborn little girl.'

Seeing her glaring at the knights who wouldn't let her near him, Prince Joaqin chuckled. His face turned serious after and his cold gaze brushed past Melanie's stunning face and landed on Leo. "Take her here."

Under the second prince's gaze, even Leo, the experienced bureaucrat and most responsible royal aide, broke into a cold sweat.

'Now, let's see what you really want, little girl.' Prince Joaqin thought.

***