Master of Minds, Master of Me

Goddammit, why did this have to happen now? I was so close. I’m sure I had her. I would have made her crumble against that glass wall if that stupid stone hadn’t interrupted us.

And that kiss? Definitely worth pestering and pursuing her. The way she looked at me with her lips parted was absolutely mesmerizing. Definitely going into my imaginary scrapbook. Her lips were so soft and hesitant against mine. So innocent, yet so curious. I really need her to be my Queen.

When she said that in three weeks she would be out of my life, something snapped inside me. I just couldn’t accept it. I can’t imagine my life without her anymore. I can’t imagine touching anyone else. So I just need to convince her to become mine. To make her mine. And like I’ve said before, I can be very persuasive.

I burst through my office door and find Ted already waiting for me.

“Your Highness! The spies reported that Hilver is gathering troops near our border.”

“No surprises there. The timing is just messed up. I was having one of the best moments of my life just a moment ago.”

“Where were you?”

“Just about to get my fingers soaked.”

“What?” He looks at me in total confusion.

“Never mind.” I slump behind my desk in defeat.

“Your Highness, I need you to focus on this. It’s your duty—”

“As a Crown Prince, I know, I know. I’m here, aren’t I?”

I sometimes hate my duties so much. Being the Crown Prince really is a pain in the ass most of the time.

“Does my father already know?” I ask.

“They went to wake him up as we speak.”

“Good. I do hope he agrees to send the troops right away. It’s clear that war is coming. We need to evacuate the city as fast as possible. Even if we leave right this second, the enemy will get there faster than us.”

“We need the King’s approval for that.”

“I know. Let’s hope that stubborn man is cooperative today.”

We hear a knock on the door, and a maid comes to tell us that the King is awake. So we head toward my father’s bedroom right away. When we enter, he’s still in bed, looking tired and unhealthy as always.

“I presume they told you the news?” I ask.

“Yes.” He starts coughing.

It pains me to look at him in that state. And it pains me that I can’t do anything about it. My father and I have our disputes, but he’s my only close relative after all.

“I think we should start evacuating the nearest city right away,” I say.

“Are you sure you’re not being too hasty? Gathering troops doesn’t mean they’re going to invade us right away. They probably just want to scare us, to blackmail us.”

“Father! If they wanted to blackmail us, they would’ve done it already! The tension between our countries has been there for so long. It was only a matter of time before they started taking action. The city of Borel won’t be safe if they decide to march here. We shouldn’t risk our people’s lives for the tiny possibility that they’re just bluffing.”

He falls silent for a while.

“But if we move our army there before they actually do something, it could be misinterpreted as a threat from our side. And that could push them to attack.”

How can this man be so utterly foolish?

“If we do nothing, it’ll be too late if they do attack. And trust me, they will. I already prepared an evacuation site for the city. It’ll be easy to move them to safety.”

“An evacuation site? I don’t think we’ve talked about anything like that.”

“We didn’t. I did it on my own, because I knew you would’ve said no.”

“You know you can’t spend the—”

“Relax. I didn’t use royal funds. I used mine.”

“Son, you really are too hasty sometimes. You need to calm down if you want to be a good ruler. We should never make rash decisions.”

“Do you really think pining for days is helpful when war is waiting around the corner?”

“We shouldn’t risk initiating war, not when the river is getting lower each day. We need our resources for the monster campaign.”

“That’s why we should deal with this now, before the monsters come. We need to act fast. We need to stop Hilver before they get deeper into our lands. It’s easier to defend ourselves when they’re coming from one direction, before they have time to spread through the country.”

He falls silent again. My patience is running low, so I keep talking.

“At least approve the evacuation. You always say the citizens are the most important thing here. It’s better to be safe than sorry. Everything’s ready up there. There are already knights who can help with the evacuation. All they need is a word from you. And regarding the troops, at least let me go with a small army. If they don’t attack, we can always come up with a reason for the movement without it being seen as a threat.”

“I’ll allow the evacuation. But moving an army, even a small one, is too risky.”

“Well, what do you plan to do when they attack? It takes time to travel here from the north. If we only move when they take the first step inside our borders, it’ll be a much longer and harder war.”

“We should hold a parliament meeting before making any decisions about that.”

“A parliament meeting? Are you kidding me? Gathering everyone will take time. There’s no time to mull this over. And I already know what they’ll say. Everyone who supports me will agree with me, and everyone who supports Duke Callum will say we should sit and do nothing. Don’t you find that at least a little suspicious?”

“I actually talked to my brother yesterday. He said that if Hilver makes a move, we should react. I did find that rather odd since he’s been so sure Hilver isn’t a threat. He suggested the same thing you did, to send just a small army.”

He did? That’s odd. Why would he change his mind like that? And why does he saying that sounds like he already knew something would happen? If he’s suggesting a small army, then that’s exactly what we shouldn’t do. I don’t trust him at all.

“In that case, we should send a big army. It’s way too suspicious for him to suggest something like that.”

“Son, you’re paranoid about my brother. He just wants to protect this country like we all do.”

“More like destroy it first. So he can rule it however he wants after.”

“You’re way too paranoid about him.”

I really don’t understand how my father can’t see that Duke Callum is fighting against us, not with us.

“Well, we need to move an army there anyway. It’s the right thing to do. Trust me,” I try to convince him.

He falls silent again, and my patience is thin as paper.

“Fine. I’ll allow it, but only a small army.”

Goddammit. But I know that look on my father’s face. He won’t budge anymore. I order Ted to prepare the troops to go with me. We need to move fast. I go to my room and pack my things. I have a bad feeling about this. If Duke Callum wants this, there’s something I’m not seeing. But between doing nothing or walking into a possible trap, I’ll take the risk of the trap. We can’t just sit here and wait for an attack. Whatever Duke Callum is possibly conducted, I just need to survive it.

Once I’ve packed, I grab a note and some chess pieces and head out. There are a couple of things I need to do before I leave. I told her I’ll try my best to come back. Only because I’m not naive enough to think I’m some invincible being. What happened eight years ago in the Dark War taught me that lesson. But I’ll do anything to survive and come back to her. To make her mine. I just wish she had called me by my name before I left. If something happens to me out there, I would have wanted to hear it at least once more.

Goddammit, I want to see her before I leave. Just once. After placing the pawns and notes, and preparing my spells, I go find Milna. But she doesn’t know where my pretty flower is. So I’ll just have to find her myself. She’s probably still at the greenhouse or the church. I check the greenhouse first but find it empty, so I run toward the church. I need to see her quickly since I really need to leave. Luckily I find her there. Sitting in the front row as usual.

She turns to look at me, and I use my magic to make her see Father Owen instead. It’s probably smart to tell her she won’t be seeing me as a priest either. So she doesn’t get suspicious that Owen just suddenly disappears.

“Father Owen? Are you alright?”

I walk to sit next to her, happy I got to see her before leaving.

“I’m glad I found you.”

“Me? Why were you looking for me?”

“I just wanted to see you before leaving.”

“Leaving? Where?”

I kind of want to tell her, but I shouldn’t. I don’t want to worry her. And since there hasn’t been an actual attack yet, I shouldn’t spread news about it either.

“Something happened in the north, and I’ll go help the citizens there.”

“In the north?”

She looks worried, and it makes me happy that she is. But it hurts that she’s not worried about the real me. She didn’t look like that in the greenhouse when I told her I’d be leaving because of an emergency. But I guess I can only blame myself. It was my choice to disguise myself and fool her while she’s staying here.

“Yes. I don’t know how long I’ll be gone. We’re leaving right away, so I just wanted to see you one more time.”

She falls silent, her brows furrowing and lips pressed tight, like she’s deep in thought. Something suddenly snaps in her mind, and I sense panic. Her thoughts are messy, chaotic even. I can’t quite understand even the emotions on her mind. What happened? Did she remember something?

“Lorelia?” I ask, but she doesn’t answer. She’s lost in thought, and I’m getting worried.

I place my hand on her shoulder, hoping to get her attention. “Lorelia?” Her eyes finally moves to me. “What’s wrong?”

She just stares at me, worry in her expression.

“Lorelia? You’re scaring me. Tell me what’s wrong.”

“I…” She struggles again, clearly not knowing what to say.

“Yes?” I push her gently. I need to know what’s wrong with her.

“I just have a very bad feeling about it.”

“About what?”

Does she mean me going north? Why would she have a bad feeling about it?

“Are you traveling there with the army?”

How would she know to ask that? I haven’t indicated anything of the sort. But she asks like she already knows the answer. Does she know about what is happening? I mean she heard Ted saying that the emergency was Hilver kind, so did she just deducted everything from that? We have kept our disputes with Hilver as a secret. So no citizens should know about the threat looming over us.

“Yes,” I admit.

“If you see the Crown Prince, tell him not to go through the canyon.”

“What?” I say in shock.

I didn’t even specify where up north we would go. So how did she know we would travel through the canyon?

“Please, don’t go through there,” she says softly, almost pleading. She really means it. She really is serious about it.

“Why? The canyon is the safest and fastest route.”

“I just have a bad feeling about it. Please, he can’t go through the canyon.”

He? Is she worried about me, the real me? Not just the priest me? Fuck, hearing that makes me happy as hell. She’s so fucking cute when she’s being worried like that. But I try to push down my excitement, since there are more urgent matters. Like the fact that somehow my pretty flower knows where I am going to go, what route I am going to take and that for some unknown reason I should not take it. Does she know something I don’t? I want to ask her, make her tell me about it. But I know she won’t tell me anything. She is clearly panicking enough already so I just heed her warning and dig out the truth later.

I take her hand in mine, wanting to calm her down. Her skin is so soft and gentle in my hands. I feel myself calming from the touch.

“Okay. I’ll tell him.”

Her eyes widen in surprise. Clearly not expecting me to say that. Not sure if she is more surprised that I agreed to it so easily, or that I didn’t question her more about it.

“You will?”

“Yes.”

“Thank you.”

Goddammit she’s cute.

“Are you afraid something bad might happen to the Crown Prince?” I give her a warm smile, just asking since I want to make sure I understood her right.

She quickly turns her gaze away from me and a tiny redness fills her cheeks. I feel my heart bursting out of my chest. She really is worried about me. Fuuuuuck I love her so much.

…

Woah woah woah, hold on for a second. Did I just really think that? I stare at her embarrassed face. Honestly feeling a little shocked about myself. Love? But as I look at her, the thought feels completely right.

Goddammit I’m so doomed. Well I guess there is only one option left. Go to the north, kick those assholes back to their country. Come back and make her my fiance. Yes. That sounds like a pretty solid plan. Except the ‘how’ part. But I’ll figure that out later.

“Well, I think anyone would be concerned about him getting hurt. He is the Crown Prince, after all.” She’s such a liar. But I let it slide because she’s too pretty.

“Sure. I’m sure he would be pleased to know that you worry about him.”

Very pleased.

“It’s not like that!” Her voice gets a little higher.

I can’t help but chuckle. “Sure. Of course it isn’t. But unfortunately, I need to go.”

I spin up a quick excuse about why a priest would be needed there. If she actually knows about Hilver attacking, a priest wouldn’t be on the front lines. But helping with evacuation would make sense.

I want to kiss her so badly. I hate that I finally got to do that today, and now I have to leave right after. But I can’t exactly kiss her as Father Owen. So I just settle for a hug.

“Are you going to be okay here?” I ask. Since when I’m gone, she’ll be more alone.

“Me? I should be the one asking that. I’m not the one going to—” She cuts herself off quickly, like she almost said too much. “—away,” she finishes.

Oh, she definitely knows where I’m going and what is happening up there. How? No fucking idea. I pull back from the hug.

“That didn’t answer my question. I asked if you are going to be okay.”

“Of course I am.”

I’m not convinced, but there’s nothing more I can do about it, and I really need to go.

“Good. Feel free to use the church as much as you want while I’m gone.”

I stand up and head toward the door. Before leaving, I glance back. Her eyes are still on me. I smile at her and close the door.

It is a little bit troubling to know that she clearly knows something. But she has been locked here in the Palace, so I have no idea how she could know something. And the warning about the canyon? I already had my bad feelings about all of this. But her warning made me sure about that my instinct was right. There is simply nothing in the canyon. So there are only two reasons I can think of that the canyon might not be safe. One is some natural disaster happening, the canyon collapsing perhaps. And the other one is an ambush. Canyon would serve as a perfect ambush place since there really isn’t much cover or places to run or hide. Is this some scheme from Duke Callum? Is this why he suggested going with a small army? To get me cornered in the canyon?

It actually does make a lot of sense. But taking the detour is a much longer route. And I’m afraid that it’s too long. Time is not on our side. The best course would seek Theodore’s help to teleport everyone there. But I have relied on him too often lately. I can’t just depend on him every single time something happens. And of course his one month of free time from me is not over yet.

So if there really is an ambush waiting for me in the canyon. Why would my pretty flower know about it? There really isn’t any magic that enables us to foresee or predict the future. And Duke Callum has been extremely careful about his acts. There never had been a single lead or evidence left. So I highly doubt that he would be so sloppy that she would just accidentally find out about the ambush. The most logical reason for her to know about it, is that she had something to do with it. That she was part of it. And she just suddenly changed her opinion about it. Wanting to warn me instead of letting me walk into the trap. That actually would explain why she has been so reluctant to spend time with me. If she is working with Duke Callum, of course she would dislike me and want to avoid me.

The thought of that should unsettle me. But it doesn’t, not even one bit. I don’t care if she is working with the enemy. Just the fact that she decided to warn me about it, means that she is really softening to me, big time.

Okay, Felix. We have very likely an ambush to handle, war to deal with and a pretty flower to be convinced to marry me. And I have a hunch the latter will be the most difficult one.

But luckily, all is fair in war and love.