AZALEA

I straightly stared at his blue eyes which glittered like elegant sapphire.

"What are you up to?" I asked with visible irritation. I even crossed my arms on my chest.

"Help me change," he casually said.

"This is inappropriate. If the other candidates discover this, they will think you are giving me the advantage or the queen will think that you really favor me. The candidates don't even know that I will participate in the selection. I don't want enemies or rivals. I don't think your servants will be able to keep this a secret," I rigidly responded.

Prince Dion smiled. "Just think of this as fulfilling your duties as a seamstress. But I'm glad you're now openly declaring that you're an official candidate."

My gaze turned even sharper. "This isn't my duty," I insisted but I could only sigh in the end. I won't win this argument. And I didn't want to stay here any longer.

"Alright. Then I'll help you." I was so helpless against him. Damn royalties! If I became the queen, I would make him bow down to me.

I helped him change with a blank expression on my face even though I was so frustrated deep inside. I didn't look too closely on his muscled arms and abdomen because I felt I would sin. His skin even felt hot on my slight touch. No one would probably marry me if this news left his chambers. I was alone with the Prince in a room and that would definitely ruin my reputation as a lady.

But damn marriage! I didn't want love in the first place. I could just design and sew clothes for the rest of my life.

When he finished changing, he asked, "Does this look good?"

"I already gave my opinion a few weeks ago. It still looks the same now. And the measurements and the fit are already perfect this time," I directly answered as if I was reciting some old lines.

"Then you can leave all the suits here now. There's nothing to fit if I won't hear your forced compliments anyway. By the way, do you have something to say to me? Something you wanted to voice out when we met earlier?" He was grinning like a tease.

"You're an asshole," I honestly answered. He definitely wanted to torment me.

He chuckled heartily, showing a perfect set of white teeth. "So you don't like the present?"

"Who would want to be your lifetime partner? Are you fucking kidding me?" My eyebrows scrunched in frustration.

"For a lady, you have such a bad-tempered mouth," he commented with an amuse grin.

"What are you planning to do? Is this punishment? For such a petty argument. Please retract your recommendation. Ask the King to withdraw his orders–the royal decree. Tell him that you were wrong with your judgements and you already changed your mind," I insisted, hopeful that he would listen.

"No. I won't retract it," he answered in a serious tone. His eyes were no longer smiling. This time he had changed from his flirty and carefree behavior into someone stern.

"Why are you doing this? You're being unreasonable," I said with exhaustion. Arguing with him was so tiring. It was more tiring than working in the shop the whole day.

"I need someone with a strong heart. Someone who won't shatter easily. I don't need someone who will fall in love with me. I need a strong queen and right now, you're the perfect candidate. And I need you for some reasons," he answered directly without smiling as if he was finally down to business.

I was stunned for a short while. Was my assessment of him as an individual wrong? Do I really know him well? Was he really carefree? Or was this his real personality? The real him?

"Don't tell me you're just experimenting with the ladies for the past years?" I gawked. "You're cruel. That's... cruel."

"My lady, what do you take me for?" he asked with a mysterious, charming smile but kind of lonely. He sighed and pressed his lips into a thin line. "I don't have time to explain myself for those shattered heartglasses. Right now, I just don't want to lose my queen for such a petty reason such as love." There was coldness and seriousness in his voice. "We are living in a cruel kingdom. We locked our gates from the outside world because of this bitter curse. We are all just trying to survive as much as possible even though we have such breakable hearts. I don't want to give up on the future of this kingdom and the next generations. I want to break the curse so while I'm looking for ways to accomplish this, I need a queen that can hold everything together."

"Aren't you thinking ahead of time? You won't become the King soon. Your father is still alive," I uttered.

He stared at me like I said something strange. "You don't know this yet but my father won't last long. His heart already accumulated several cracks. It will snap soon. It will break and shatter soon due to his old age and maybe, because of this exhausting way of life too," he casually said. "This is a secret between us. Don't tell anyone."

I gaped. "That's... then... you will be the king soon."

He nodded. "So please do well in the selection."

My eyes widened when I realized his real deal. "But–I can't! I'm not the queen you are looking for," I insisted. "I'm–I don't think I could hold everything together. Remember our hearts are fragile. I'm... not that strong. My heart is no longer... perfect." I doubt that I won't break my heart from the pressure and the expectations.

"You're doing well at guarding your heart now," he reassured me.

"But isn't it safer if you find someone to share mutual love and affection? I mean they call it true love," I insisted.

He firmly shook his head. He looked away with distant eyes. "There's no guarantee that we will stay in love forever. Some people's feelings change. Sometimes people fall out of love. The safest bet is to not love at all," he explained. He turned to me with a formal gaze. "We can act like business partners. We won't invest emotions. Just time and money."

I shook my head with confusion. "No. I don't know. I can't fully absorb everything you just said. I can't think. I just felt like you sent azaleas in a black vase to me." I was afraid of losing my heart or losing my life just like my older sister. And when she died, I felt the small cracks seeping in my heart. My heart was no longer perfect and whole. I was just persistent to harden my heart for it not to break. I was stubborn to fight my own brokenness. And it was so hard. I wanted to live so I became cold.

We all became cold. We didn't want to feel.

He stared at me with a small smile. "My apologies if you felt that way. I don't mean it like that. I just hope that you can win the selection. Well, the one with the strongest heart will win anyway," he said with a shrug. "The other ladies passed the initial screening so it will be a tough competition."

"If it's tough, you shouldn't have included me," I almost yelled.

"The initial screening was facilitated by the queen. So I'm not familiar with the candidates. But I'm familiar with you," he explained with a grin. "Since you entered by special recommendation, they will make it tougher for you."

I shut my eyes tightly. "You're purposely making this harder for me."

He chuckled. "Then I will be more at ease if you pass this."

I shook my head vehemently. I must think everything over. He was screwing my whole life. "Since you're already done with the fitting, I will leave now. I have to think this over." My words were firm.

"Sure. You're free to leave now, Lady Azalea," he said with a short bow. "Since the candidates will be officially introduced at the banquet, I will see you there. And by the way, are you making your own ballgown? The queen will definitely send you the additional payment for that. So what's the color of your ballgown? Is it red?" he asked with curiosity.

"Damn! I won't wear something as bold as red. The queen already told me the details of the gown," I answered with irritation.

The prince laughed a little louder. "Oh, you already met the queen. I hope she didn't say something that can hurt you. So it really isn't red?" He smiled charmingly. He was finally back to his usual self.

"I won't wear red!"

"I like red."

"You like blue," I interjected as a matter of fact.

"You don't know that," he teased.

I frowned. This conversation would get us nowhere. "I'll go now."

"Yeah. See you soon, my lady."

I sneered at him. I knew it was not lady-like. I even skipped the curtsy and hurried to the door. I didn't think he needed my respect anyway. He placed me into such a hard situation. I couldn't forgive him easily even if his cause was for the greater good.

I was just a sacrificial pawn to his goals–the future King's sacrificial pawn.

Well, a pawn can become a queen too. That is, if the pawn survived.

And if I really became Queen, I had no choice but to protect the King–even if it could mean death. And I would definitely hate it.

***