After Adira had her fill and Casimir had his—of observing and just watching his happy little ball of sunshine gobbling up her dessert—they returned back to the palace.

He warned Adira that the person they were going to meet could be the person that harbored ill will of her and she nodded in response.

I mean, with Iris' constant attacks, another enemy isn't that much different.

"You'll be with me, right? So I have nothing to fear." Who would even dare antagonize you? I really would like to see one try.

Casimir was itching to lay claim on those pink little cherry lips but decided against it and reeled it in. There should be a right time and place for everything. It's also against the law.

And most importantly, he doesn't know where he stands in Adira's life.

Sure they were bethroted but that was because he wanted that. They became closer also because he wanted that. He became Heise's father, yep, because he wanted that. He became involved in her life—a part of her everyday—because that was what he wanted.

But what does Adira want?

All this time, he's been basically forcing his way in. Purposely trying to make her jealous and trigger whatever emotion he could get from her—which took a really long time—by letting the Latifolia girl get as close as she got.

But was it really Adira's own heart? Or did he force what he wanted too much and he was only fooling himself? Because it has been a while, but Adira didn't seem to get along well with Iris.

Is she mad because the girl was sticking close to me? Or is it the girl herself?

Anything that involved Adira, Casimir just can't seem to be confident in the answers he formulates nor read and understand this sprightly beautiful goddess.

She was always the uncertainty or irregularity in his world of patterns and predetermined actions. She was an irregular ball of light shining down on his otherwise dull world.

"Adira—"

"Oh! Your highness, Lady Adira! You're together. Again. You know, Your Highness? Sometimes I wonder if you were a stalker from your past life." William, who happened to pass by and found the two of them, decided to walk closer and greeted them.

Actually, he's still a prince, William.

As usual, very oblivious to Casimir's chilling agitation, William voiced his thoughts and pulled a lame joke on Casimir that didn't elicit a laugh nor a smile but only an icy glare.

Adira turned to him and greeted him back, as friendly as she could, with a slight bow.

"Good day, Lord Blackwood."

"What are you two doing?" He asked.

"Well, umm, we're here to interrogate someone." Adira, after briefly checking Casimir's current mood, answered honestly. This person was Casimir's aide and if he trusted him, there's no reason she shouldn't.

"What do you want?"

"Nothing really. I just happened to see you two and decided to greet you."

"Go away." Casimir icily chased him off and glared daggers at this thickheaded idiot.

"But why? Maybe I can be of help for this interrogation thing you're about to do. I know a lot of methods with varied paraphernalias!

I'm a master in this field! You can use me and we'll extract whatever information you want in less than a minute!" William vauntingly tried to sell out his skills, not to the prince but, to the Lady Adira.

As thick as he is, he knew she called the shots.

"Thank you for that kind offer, my Lord." Adira thanked William and smiled that both boys thought she was agreeing. One looked sullen and one was excited.

"But I don't want to alert the person as going in a group of three will arouse suspicion. It'll be fine with His highness and me. Everyone already knows we're practically inseparable anyway so it won't seem weird."

Casimir beamed happily, his countenance finally growing warmer, after hearing Adira reject William's help while the latter sulked on the side like a spoiled kid. He wanted to join in the fun! He wanted to tortu—umm help his superiors in anyway he can!

But in reality, he was just darn bored without anyone matching up to his skills—aside from the busy prince and his right hand man—to play a few rounds.

Oh. There's still that rock but we've always tied so it's no fun.

"Then, we shall take our leave, Lord Blackwood." Adira bowed slightly and hooked her hand on Casimir's arm to manuever him forward.

"Oh! Lady Adira!" William called to Adira and she briefly paused with an inquisitive gaze.

"Please call me William from now on." He finished with a smirk and a wink and Casimir had a surging urge to gouge that eyeball out its socket so he won't dare do that to his wife again!

Adira giggled at William's playfulness before her gaze turned serious, foxy and mysterious and answered him,

"Then you can call me Adira as well, William."

William blushed really hard when met with beautiful and radiant ashen orbs in a junoesque woman such as the Lady Adira. Now, he fully understood why his prince was drowning in a pool of vinegar every single time to the point of going crazy.

No man can escape the clutches of that mystic beauty that seems to see no bounds.

In an attempt to hide his reddening blush, he averted his eyes and finally felt the subfreezing iciness in the Prince's threatening glare and gulped. Instantly turning as pale as sheets and refusing to look at him directly in his eyes.

I'd rather not, Lady Adira. I'd like to keep my life for a while longer.

...

Casimir brought Adira into his office and had her take a seat at the couch and he sat beside her, automatically and naturally. Like that place always belonged to him.

"Adira, can you please not smile at others?"

He suddenly asked her with a displeased and frowning face—that didn't make him any less handsome but made him devilishly dangerous.

"But wouldn't that make them hate me? I already have this villainous face as a problem to deal with and you're asking me not to smile at people? Well, how are they gonna like me as the crown princess then?"

Ranting against the few words from Casimir, she planted a hand on her hips looking like a spoiled child demanding her sweets—like a dominating Queen.

This is cheating! When she says it like that I can't say otherwise.

"Okay." Casimir immediately surrendered. There's nothing to gain out of arguing with a woman anyway, so why bother? Just let her win.

As they say—Happy wife, Happy life.

"Do you think he'll come?" She suddenly asked, softly and worriedly.

She never understood how she picked this person's nerve for him to plot against her like that. He wasn't like that from her previous life. He actually rose to power and became part of the empire's asset.

So why?

As she was mulling over this, a knock snapped her out and Casimir answered,

"Come in."

"Your highness, you summoned me?" The man went down on his knees, as soon as he approached in a suitable distance, as a sign of respect to the two who stood way above him in rank while avoiding direct eye contact.

"Mm. I have a question for you."

He looked up, confused—not only because his prince said he summoned him because he had a question but also because with his voice came the abrupt drop in temperature as he looked as murderous as he did the other night.

"Pray tell, your highness. Your humble servant will do his utmost best to give you a satisfactory answer."

"Leon Raiona, adoptive son of Earl Raiona, a man under my protection as my aide, answer me. Why the hell did you drug Adira?"