Fallen Into A Trap

She refused to look away from him, though his dark eyes mocked her.

"She would never do that! She was loyal!" she claimed, though her jaw ticked and a part of her heart told her that she might be wrong.

"She was loyal to money, your money! But it came from the hands of your uncle. He is the only one she was listening to." his voice told her that she had lost the battle. The help would never come since the message never reached there.

She felt like she was suffocating. Tears started to brim in her eyes threatening to fall but she raised her head and blinked her eyes.

She would never cry in front of this monster. It would give him the satisfaction he came looking for.

But that suffocating feeling was not ready to go. She was only this far from her freedom. She felt that she could finally taste it. But it reached her hands and then snatched away. It was worse than never getting it in the first place.

She knew that he was still looking, waiting for her fall. That growing nefarious smile on his face had told her that already.

She swallowed the bitterness it brought and mocked him. She didn't want to think how smug her uncle had been all this time when he was reading her letters which she thought reached its destination safely.

If only, she had noticed it earlier! She shook her head and stared back at the man.

"So, are you playing messenger now? Informing to come back or they would come looking for me and here I thought that the brother of the crown prince would still have some self respect."

She could see how his eyes cracked every time she talked about his family and the crown prince. Call her petty but she did feel better by it.

"Do you think your uncle had the right to send me? Even if he has, would I be the right choice?" his question shut her mouth.

He was right. Why would he come looking for her out of everyone. Her uncle had never been the man who trusted her with others, afraid that someone would fall for her beauty.

Despite being abandoned for so long, her golden hair falling up to her waist looked no less than the threads made out of fine gold. Her emerald eyes had been so clear that it could sway demons and angels alive.

Months of starving had only helped her in gaining a slender waist that every man wanted to hold and her thin and long wrists that looked so delicate with her pure white skin.

She had got a good height from her father and her voluptuous chest from her mother. She was the envy of every woman among the nobles.

Her uncle had made sure that she never met a man and women helped her for her arrogance and ignorance.

"You told them?" she accused when his eyes narrowed on her.

"No! They told me. You should have listened to me and you still can. This is your last chance. Go and sleep on that silk bed and let them look for you here all night."

"....." she digested the bitterness but she did not let him be the hero. She still did not understand what his intentions were!

"I do not care about him teaching me a lesson. This is not the first time." she said, faking confidence when he mocked her again.

"Did you hear that a charade for long started to turn into truth slowly." her eyes turned redder when he said so as she scowled at him. "You are turning foolish, my lady and here I thought you had some brain to plan all this."

"..." his eyes raked on her body and she felt ashamed. When he stared at her torn gown from where her fair legs were peeking without embarrassment or care, she moved her dress and tried to hide it.

"Your uncle will prove that you have lost your mental balance and were seduced here. They will tell his majesty that you need protection and care from someone who can keep an eye on you all the time. and only a husband can provide it." she swallowed the anger rising in her chest as her hands loosen from her gown.

"And then he will propose your marriage to his son because only a family can understand your condition and love you unconditionally despite all the flaws!" he was mocking in a dramatic tone that her anger surged again.

She closed her eyes as her nails started to dig in her arms deeper. She really had been a fool this time.

She had dug her own grave this time. If only she would have returned when nature tried to warn her and stop her.

"Looking at your condition and your clothes, anyone would believe that you have lost your innocence. Even if the nobles vye your wealth, no one wants to take the defective goods." he kept on despite looking at her discomfort.

Some fools need slaps to awaken them. He was doing charity here so why in the world would he feel bad for a fool. But she should thank him that he was saving her no matter what the reason was!

"So, your majesty who still cares about your dead father would be mortified by the rumours that would be spread far and wide and would feel that he was the reason behind it too since he was not able to take care of you when his friend left the world." his voice turned a bit mocking but she did not know whether it was for her or for his own father. He did not call his majesty, father even once.

Should she be proud at her observation when she was not able to observe her own collapse first,

 "He would agree to this marriage. Thinking that you will be treated well when who knows how long you will live! Your cousin had his own plans for his marriage after all."