[Music Recommendation: 6.6 Gigue ~ Peter Gregson and Richard Harwood]

Resting on Oriana’s lap, sleeping peacefully, was Walter. After the boy had eaten his fill, he played until Oriana was exhausted, while Kai sat alone, looking around the room as if trying to get familiar with it.

"Do you hate me?" Oriana asked the young boy, and he shook his head. "Then why have you refused to talk or even play with us?" she continued, as Walter moved in his sleep, turning to a more comfortable position.

Kai moved his eyes away from Oriana and settled them on his brother. "I don’t know you," was his only reply.

Oriana nodded; that was true. She decided to let the boy be and not ask him any more questions. A small knock on her door broke the silence in the room. Oriana moved Walter’s head carefully before going to answer the door.

"Yes?" She saw a maid standing in front of her door, with her head bowed, avoiding meeting Oriana’s eyes.

"Princess Oriana, His Highness has asked that we get you ready for the bachelorette party," the maid informed with a bow.

Before Oriana could say anything, more maids walked inside the room. One carried Walter out and left Kai to their rooms.

Oriana bit her lip; the wedding was moving faster than she expected. How was she going to escape if Adric had made plans without her? Without any complaints, Oriana went to sit in front of the vanity mirror as she watched the maids dress her up.

She needed to act like she had forgiven Adric and wouldn’t escape anymore. That way, Adric’s attention would leave her, and she could easily plan her escape.

"Princess Oriana, you look very beautiful," one of the maids complimented after she was done fixing her hair.

Oriana smiled, a pleasant smile. "Thank you so much." She turned around to look at herself in the mirror. Done with dressing up, she followed the maid outside her room. There she saw Adric smoking at the corner.

When Adric raised his face to look at her, he had this serious look on his face before a slow smile crept on his lips.

"You make a beautiful bride," Adric said to her, stretching his hand to hold hers.

Oriana smiled. "Thank you, Your Highness," she bowed gracefully.

Adric noticed the softness; gone was the hate and anger he saw in her eyes. "I see you have finally come to realize that this is the best choice for you."

"I only came to realize that I do not have any choice," Oriana replied, trying to keep her retort low.

Adric nodded. "You can put it that way," his eyes fell on Oriana’s neck. "Do you never remove that necklace?" 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

"No, my nana gave it to me. It was her last gift to me," Oriana replied, mindlessly touching the necklace and briefly remembering her grandmother, who told her to meet someone special when she grew up. Someone who could protect her. But no. Here she was, stuck with someone who forced marriage upon her.

"Then it’s special. We should always keep things special close to us. A lesson for all," Adric smiled, one that didn’t reach his eyes.

Oriana returned the smile when her eyes fell on Nicholas. After the death of his servant, the Prime Minister took some time to stay alone and didn’t show up at the palace until this night.

"Your Highness," Nicholas bowed without looking at Oriana.

Adric watched the two of them, seeing that they were both trying not to look at each other. He smiled. "Welcome, Nicholas."

Oriana tried to keep her eyes elsewhere since it was because of her that the man had lost his servant. She didn’t want to know what else Adric was capable of doing; he had already proved his point.

"Why don’t you greet the future Queen properly?" Adric said, mischief dancing in his eyes as he watched the two of them closely.

Nicholas turned to look at Oriana, then he bowed. "Congratulations on your wedding, Princess."

Oriana held her gown tightly, turning to look at Adric, who was still smiling. She would be a fool to take him for a weak person; the smiles on his face were all a trap. Without looking at Nicholas, she nodded. "Thank you." Her voice cracked at the end.

Adric hummed. "Do you both have bad blood now?" he said with a small frown. "Nicholas, you should get your connections now. Do you not know a way to a king’s heart is through his queen?"

"I will have that in mind, Your Highness," Nicholas replied. "I will now go inside," he said before turning to enter the dining hall.

Adric turned to look at Oriana. "You can breathe now," he said to her, and Oriana carefully let go of the breath she was holding.

"I know you! From Morado, right?"

Oriana raised her face when she heard Adric talking to someone. It was a young girl, someone her age with brown hair.

"You came with Cortez. I never got to know your name," Adric continued, stretching his hand forward to greet the young girl.

Oriana noticed how polite the girl was, even with her greeting.

"I am Axilla, Your Highness," she replied.

When the girl bowed to her, Oriana acknowledged it with a smile.

"Yes, Axilla. You really changed Cortez, especially that night when you saw him in that room. Cortez was so worried about you; he even—"

"For a groom who is to be married tomorrow, you have quite some energy."

Oriana saw a young man walking towards them. He had the appearance of a nobleman too, and seeing how he spoke to Adric, she wondered if they were friends. Adric wasn’t someone capable of keeping friends. No, not with his way of life, Oriana thought to herself as she looked at them.

Adric grinned mischievously at his friend. "Alright, I won’t tell her. I’m glad you could make it. I need to hurry up with my wedding and get the Crown Princess pregnant so my child will be betrothed to the heir of Morado," he chimed playfully.

Oriana widened her eyes, turning to look at Adric, and a blush crept on her face. The man had no control over his words; all she did was smile.

"Give up already, Adric." Oriana heard the young man say to Adric. Before going to open the door for them, the young girl walked inside first, and she followed in.

As soon as she stepped inside, she was making a mental note on how to walk past everyone inside when Adric entered, almost crashing into her, but steadied himself by holding her waist.

"Your Highness, Crown Princess," everyone invited to the party stood up and greeted them.

Oriana’s eyes roamed around the table; she couldn’t help but wonder just when everything was planned. But it wouldn’t be her problem because soon she would be on her way, maybe not home, but to her freedom.

Oriana followed Adric to the table, and when they sat down, everyone settled. They all started eating. Oriana’s whole thought was focused on her plan to leave. She needed a good plan that was flawless, and so far Adric wasn’t suspecting her, which was good.

"Your Highness," the young man who was speaking with Adric earlier said, and the room fell silent.

"What would you do if you found another man making dangerous moves toward your bride?" he asked.

This question caused a cold shiver to run down Oriana’s spine. She thought the man was asking because of what happened with Nicholas, but then she noticed the young girl beside her had a startled expression on her face.

Adric smiled. "I would order for the person’s head to be removed from his body immediately," the Crown Prince replied with a smile still etched on his lips, as if taking a person’s life was nothing to him.

Hearing Adric’s reply, Oriana gulped. She knew Adric was looking at her at the moment, so she tried not to look anywhere but at her food.

Meanwhile, Adric had his eyes on both Oriana and Nicholas, but both of them had their attention on their meal.

The young man who raised the question nodded with a smile. "I would gouge the person’s eyes out with the spoon he uses to eat, then I would feed it to him."

Oriana’s mouth dropped open. She understood why this person was Adric’s friend. They were both people with no conscience at all. Sitting in one place without adjusting, Oriana felt her leg go numb. She bent down to rub her feet when she noticed something: it appeared that Adric’s friend and the young woman he came with were more than friends. She returned to her normal position when she heard the girl shriek.

"Ah!"

Everyone at the table turned to look at the girl, except Oriana, who already knew what was happening. Adric’s friend was as shameless as he was. Birds of a feather, they say, Oriana thought, shaking her head.

"Axilla, is everything okay? Do you not like the food?" Adric asked the girl worriedly.

The girl named Axilla, whose face had already turned red, gulped a large quantity of water from her cup. "I like the food; it’s the best."

Oriana shook her head. The girl might also be in the same situation as her. Maybe if she were escaping later, she would suggest it to the girl so they could run away together from men like these. Oriana nodded to herself as she continued with her food.