263

***

"I want something stronger than virego," Alicia said, her voice steady but distant.

Dante Ijar looked up from her small breasts to her distracted expression. Her eyes seemed far away, as though her mind wandered elsewhere. He raised a hand and waved it in front of her face, trying to draw her back.

A soft giggle escaped Alicia even as she rocked atop his lap, his rough thrusts driving into her.

"Why? Is it not enough?" he asked.

"It won't be, soon-"

"Soon?" he repeated, thrusting up into her wildly to cut her off.

She furrowed her brows and let out a stifled moan. For several moments, nothing but the sounds of their bodies, gasps, and moans filled the room.

But Alicia wasn't going to let this topic slide. "I can sense that His Highness is building resistance," she said between gasps.

"Resistance? To virego?"

"The antidote works far too quickly," she whispered, her voice barely audible through the pleasure. "Too fast to keep him under for long-ahh."

"Is that not good for you? Your future husband is proving to be very resistant."

Her eyes narrowed beneath their scowling brows. "Are you mocking me?"

"Mocking you?" Dante replied with a grin, lifting her by the hips. "I wouldn't dare mock the future crown princess of this empire."

Alicia grimaced as she pulled him closer by the shoulders and moaned. "I feel like the drug never really worked on him. He's already developed a tolerance..."

"He couldn't have had enough of it to develop a tolerance so fast," he said through a low ragged moan.

"I don't know about that."

Dante froze. "How much do you have left from what I gave you last time?"

"Enough for one or two more doses, perhaps."

"Blast it, Barca. That was supposed to last for months. For someone like the crown prince, who rarely takes anyone to bed, it would've been enough for two years. Were you not aware that virego is already too potent for him?"

"I was." There was a hint of amusement in Alicia's reply.

His face fell as he pulled her hands off of him. "What were you thinking?"

"I meant to use it sparingly. But... this is actually his fault. Prince Oscar, he-"

"Alicia Barca," Dante interrupted sharply, "are you even aware of who your betrothed is? Do you have any idea what you have nearly done?"

"I was only trying to entertain him, Ijar."

Dante cursed under his breath again and withdrew himself from her. After setting Alicia down next to him, he yanked a robe from a nearby chair, throwing it over his shoulders and got up from the sofa to pace fretfully around the room.

Meanwhile, Alicia leaned back against the sofa, unfazed. She tugged her chemise back over her chest, moving leisurely as though completely indifferent to his concern. "You are overreacting."

"I nearly became an accomplice with the crown prince's betrothed in an assassination attempt-all because I was blinded by a damned wench like you!" he spat furiously.

"Blinded?" She let out a soft, mocking laugh, tilting her head as she regarded him with cool amusement.

"You feel absolutely nothing for me. Don't pretend otherwise."

He didn't refute her. Instead, he turned to face her fully and asked, his voice laden with frustration, "Alicia, why would you do something so foolish?"

"If I weren't foolish, I wouldn't be in love."

Her response left Dante momentarily speechless. He stared at her, unable to comprehend her reckless judgment. With a heavy sigh, he ran his hands down his face. "How long has this been going on? It wasn't like this when you got the stimulant from me before."

Alicia tapped her chin. "Let's see... I began to increase his dosage before the Formente competition, but the remaining two-thirds-""

"You used the remaining two-thirds after the competition?" Dante's voice rose in disbelief. "Good grief... have you lost your mind? You could have driven him into madness instead of enjoying an afternoon of bliss."

"It seems you have grown tired of me as well."

"Is that how badly you want him to bed you?" said Dante in lieu of an answer. "I cannot understand you. You would have to bear him an heir eventually, once you are married, and if you simply want him to ravish you beforehand... it isn't as if you aren't beautiful."

Alicia laughed with her chin propped on her hand. "Therein lies your answer, does it not, ljar?"

"Stop being petty. I'm saying you don't need to go to such extremes. Even a much milder stimulant than virego would have sufficed. You wouldn't need those courtesans to arouse him either. He would want to bed you without being driven into a complete stupor where he can't even recognize you."

I never asked for his opinion. As if any of that matters... Alicia thought to herself as she watched him nonchalantly, but her lips soon curled into a faint smile. He was subtly flattering her.

The worn-down yet naïve Dante Ijar seemed to believe that she simply wished for Oscar take her to bed, like she had when she was around eighteen. He believed that she simply wanted some kind of love potion, ignorant of the true potency of the stimulant she requested.

But perhaps he was simply being rational rather than naïve. He believed Alicia's motives were simple: unloved by her betrothed, she sought to get the crown prince aroused beyond reason in hopes of having sexual congress with him. Dante Ijar could not possibly imagine that Alicia's desires had long since evolved. What she craved was far more sinister than mere passion. She wanted to push the crown prince into a pit of raw desire in order to completely seize control of him one day.

But she had fallen even deeper for him because he refused to surrender to desires and impulses. Alicia recalled Oscar's cold expression toward the harlots that warmed his sheets, a content smile playing on her lips. Once the stimulant wore off, he barely even looked at them-a far cry from the man before her, who could be aroused by anyone. As Dante ljar comforted her, Alicia looked down on him, knowing he could never compare to her Oscar.

The bitter truth was that she still longed for Oscar's embrace, but she knew how to separate her hope from her goal. Over the years, she had come to see the bigger picture more clearly. Dante Ijar's misguided belief that she simply wished to bed the crown prince, and that she was regularly coupling with her betrothed, was only an ugly branch in the background of her grand vision. Barren branches, though unsightly in winter, were vital when spring arrived.

"You say such nice things for someone who is not even fond of me," she commented.

Dante's brow furrowed with concern. "If you pursue this any further, it will be dangerous. His Highness has already quietly disposed of the servants who had been slipping the stimulant into his food on your orders."

Alicia's smile grew sharper. As much as the Grandes de Ortega disdained her for remaining the crown prince's betrothed for so long, this was a victory of sorts. Dante Ijar was treating her as though she were already the crown prince's consort, whispering secrets to her as if she were a woman of real influence. His mistaken belief was worth allowing to flourish. She would remain a regular wife in Ortega, and someone Oscar cared for to some degree. Moreover, Dante ljar wanted to solidify his alliance with the future crown princess. It was far better than the days when he would give her a compliment out of pity or mere curiosity.

"In the past," she mused, "he told me that he was pleasantly surprised by my devotion to his nightly affairs."

"You must remember that His Highness has been letting you get away with this madness for a while."

Alicia's eyes flashed with quiet defiance. "I am the one still letting Prince Oscar get away with it. He needs to realize that."

Dante's face betrayed his disbelief. "Do you really feel wronged when you are here dallying with me?"

"Of course. I do not love you, after all."

He stared at her wordlessly.

"Love is against the rules, Ijar," she added softly.

"Alicia," he began, but she cut him off with a bitter smile.

"I may have had my first time with you, but I've never allowed you to call my name like that, as if you care about me even a little. As if you worry about me... Whenever you call my name, it feels like you are simply pretending."

Dante chuckled, though the sound lacked humor. "Right. I suppose I can call you anything." He stared into the distance for a moment and perched himself on the edge of the nearby table, sinking into deep thought. "You said you increased the dosage after the Formente competition. You were already doing it before then, and afterward..." Alicia slowly got to her feet, unsatisfied by neither of them finishing earlier, and intending to continue their coupling. She moved with deliberate grace, replying in a casual tone, as if speaking of a pet whose food she was steadily increasing, "Yes, I increased it a lot afterward."

He gave her a frustrated look and turned away. "And you think he has developed a tolerance?"

"He returns to reality surprisingly quickly. It's such a shame."

"That makes no sense based on the dosage and the period of time..." Dante frowned as he felt Alicia slip a hand under his gown. "Get your hand off of me, Barca."

"Get back inside me. You stopped before it started feeling good."

"It's dead because of you already."

"Liar. You're plenty hard," Alicia shot back.

Even as she ran a hand up his member, Dante continued to frown and glare past her shoulder, as though he was gripped by a suspicion he couldn't shake. "Did His Highness ever even react to the stimulant?"

She replied in an annoyed tone, as though she was sick of this subject. "Without the drug, he could not even get it up, even with women who look just like Inés Valeztena stripped bare before him."

He fell silent.

"Oh, or men."

"And with the drug?"

"With it... he loses his restraint as long as the person in front of him has long, black hair, no matter what they look like. I even put in the effort of finding him the pretty ones, but it's all a waste. And when their eyes are green, he grows even more excited." She ground her teeth for a moment at the memory of the last woman she had pushed into Oscar's bed.

She had looked nothing like Inés Valeztena, but her eyes had been the same shade of green.

"And that is why you need something stronger?" Dante stroked Alicia's hair. "So that he cannot even tell you have such beautiful golden locks?"

"I suppose so," Alicia replied with a shrug, taking hold of his erect member.

"Because you want him to think you are Inés Valeztena?"

"No."

"Then what is it that you want?"

"I want to become Inés Valeztena's master."

Dante stared at her with narrowed eyes.

Alicia put on an innocent smile and whispered, "I want to be your master as well, of course. As the empress of Ortega. So please find me a better drug, Dante."

***

It was late evening. It had been a while since the crown prince had shared a meal with just his mother, but even as he watched a messenger from House Escalante burst in and whisper something in her ear, he seemed disinterested.

Once the messenger left, his mother stayed silent for a moment before telling him what she had just been told. "That Castagnary girl died all of a sudden. It's as if it all happened out of nowhere, overnight... How incredibly absurd. How did that fool manage to hide the fact his daughter was ill for half a year?"

Oscar simply continued to eat and drink his fill. And just as his mother's annoyance and temper was in danger of exploding, he put down his empty wineglass and said, "No family would want to lose their connection to House Escalante. If you had been in Count Castagnary's shoes, you would have done the same, Mother."

"If your goods are damaged, you ought to declare this from the start. If Miguel had been the one bedridden, the girl's family would have been just as outraged."

"I am sure they did not mean any disrespect, and did not expect their daughter to die. But such things are unpredictable."

Empress Cayetana pressed her lips together in silence for a moment at her son's skillful coaxing but could not help frowning in frustration. "How could they ruin things now? They may not have been helpful to us, but I have my limits."

"You never liked her anyway, Mother."

"The mere sight of her face irritated me. If it were not for Miguel insisting, I would have paired him with a different-"

"I know that you respected his decision despite his young age because you are fond of Miguel. Viviana may be dead, but your beloved nephew must go on. Instead of being angry with House Castagnary, should you not worry about him?"

"Of course I worry about Miguel. I suppose it is for the best that she died. I never liked her, and Miguel will find himself a better match."

"Indeed."

"But why did it have to be now? Your marriage ceremony is just around the corner, and my brother is already burdened by His Majesty's suspicions."

"The sooner such things happen, the better."

"How entirely tactless. If she was bedridden with a lung disease for half a year, she was holding on for quite a while. Why could she not have waited a little longer to die? When it is less inconvenient."

"It was already too late."

"What?"

"It took poor Viviana long enough to die already."

Empress Cayetana turned to her son with a conflicted expression.

Though he could sense her searching gaze on him, Oscar merely picked up his now filled wine glass once more.