Adric walked inside his room, his left hand balanced with the right. His face scrunched up a little, as he walked slowly.

"Your highness, should I get a physician to attend to you?" Rowan, who was walking behind him, asked worriedly.

Adric shook his head, "You don’t need to, just get me fresh wine. Something strong," he replied before disappearing inside his room.

Oriana, who was running after Adric, saw him enter his room. She quickly dropped Walter down and touched the boy’s head.

"Walter, auntie needs to talk to Uncle. Can you follow the maids to your room?" she asked the boy who was smiling.

Walter nodded, "Yes, I’m not a child anymore. I can take care of myself. Go ahead and talk to Uncle," the boy grinned.

Oriana furrowed her brows. Why was this boy acting exactly like Adric? She thought to herself. Before leaving him there, she ran to Adric’s door. She cleared her throat first before knocking on the door.

"Who?" Adric’s husky voice was heard inside the room.

Oriana tried to bring down her voice; she didn’t want anyone to get the wrong idea. "Me..." her voice croaked at the end.

Adric opened the door. He looked down to see Oriana looking at her like a hamster. He moved to the side, "Get in."

Oriana looked around first before running inside the room. This was the first time she was walking inside his room. The last time she did, it didn’t end so well for them.

"You know I don’t keep wild animals in here," Adric said, seeing how Oriana was yet to move from her position.

Oriana cleared her throat, "I know," she replied and walked inside, her steps cautious and counted.

"You have something you wanted to tell me?" Adric asked, going to sit on his couch. It was just morning, and he felt really tired, especially his hand, which was aching.

Oriana pressed her lips, "Are you trying to spite Sophie first? I mean, before you tell her that she’s your real bride?"

Adric turned his face to look at her, "What real bride?"

"I mean, you’re just trying to get her scared, right? Then surprise her with the wedding. We both know I’m not the real Crown Princess. I appreciate your effort in clearing my name and helping me out so I don’t marry the King of Valonia and also get punished. I’m really grateful," Oriana bowed deeply with a smile.

Adric chuckled, "What about me gives the impression of a goody two-shoes?" he raised his brows. "What would I gain from doing all of that for you?"

"Huh?" Oriana blinked, "B-but," she pointed at the door.

Adric sighed, "I’m really stressed right now. You can come back later when I’m free." He reclined on the chair.

"We can’t get married!" Oriana shook her head, "I don’t love you. I can’t live with a man I don’t love."

Adric nodded, "You can live in the old palace. Nobody asked for you to love."

"Are you being serious right now? Tell me this is one of your jokes," Oriana pressed her hands tightly together. All she was waiting for was for Sophie to come around, and her freedom would be granted. Then she could live her normal life as a girl, falling in love and getting married.

Adric rubbed his temples gently, "Oriana, let’s talk about this later," he muttered. "You should learn that from this point, you’re a married woman, and you should learn to act like one." He stood up from his chair and walked to where Oriana was holding her hands tightly. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"Let me go," Oriana tried to pull away from him, but it was impossible. Adric dragged her to the door.

"I’m not in the mood to listen to your tantrums. Get your lips treated; I wouldn’t want you to wince on our wedding night." He pushed the door open and let Oriana out.

Oriana turned quickly, hitting her hand on the door, but there was no response.

"You can’t do this to me. I didn’t accept to marry you," Oriana muttered, trying to push the door open, but it was already locked shut.

Far from Adric’s room, where Oriana was begging for the door to be opened, Sophie pushed down everything that was on her table. She held her hair tightly and screamed.

"Oriana schemed all of this! I knew it, someone like her..." Sophie’s voice trailed. This wasn’t supposed to be happening to her. Adric belonged to her and nobody else. She was supposed to be the Queen of Avon and not Oriana.

Saline sighed, "Look, Sophie, we are also as surprised as you are. Let us all calm down and think about this properly. Don’t act like a child, please!"

Sophie glared at her mother, "Act like a child? Well, you would know better since you know how it feels to have another woman take your husband from you."

Curtis cleared his throat but didn’t say anything. He turned his face to the other side.

Saline looked at her husband, then shook her head. "If you know how to take care of the situation, then do it yourself. I won’t bother helping you then," Saline walked out of the room with anger. Her daughter had just hit a very sensitive topic.

"Father, are you going to let this slide? I am supposed to be the one getting married, not Oriana. She had all this plotted out. That girl is not to be trusted. You have to do something. Please," Sophie wiped the tears that were forming in her eyes.

Curtis cleared his throat, "Sophie, your mother is right. We need to be careful; the reputation of the entire kingdom is at stake. Imagine us accepting that we lied. What do you think that would make us? Relax and let us adults handle this," the man said calmly.

A knock was heard on the door, and a maid appeared.

"Your Majesty," the maid said to Curtis, "I have gotten your room arranged."

Curtis nodded with a small smile. Turning to his daughter, he said, "Don’t do anything stupid. I will see what I can do." He walked out of the room.

Sophie, now alone in the room, inhaled deeply, pushing everything down from her table, even pushing the table aside. "Oriana!" she clenched her fist. "You dare cross the line? I will make sure I teach you where your place is. Wait until Adric hears of your true identity. He wouldn’t dare keep someone with stained blood as his wife," she gritted her teeth, her hands balled in a fist.