The capital of Akkadia was the most beautiful city Emma had ever seen in her whole life. She couldn't stop gushing and sighing. Her admiration even made the girl sometimes unconsciously hold her breath.

Therius could feel Emma's body relaxing in his arms as the girl cast her gaze all around them. Ah, this sight was truly beautiful. The sky above the capital of Akkadia was preserved in its beauty because those who were allowed to have pegasus horses to fly around were limited to very few people with special permits.

Flying vehicles such as travs were also regulated by traffic controllers. It was a privilege reserved only for aristocrats and important government officials, so there were not many flying vehicles hovering over the Akkadian capital at all times.

Emma and Therius could enjoy the view without any obstruction because, special for tonight, Therius had ordered his right hand, Avato, to forbid anyone from flying over the capital.

Tonight, the sky belonged only to him and Emma Stardust!

"Do you like the view?" whispered Therius as they had circled several beautiful parks, then hovered over the royal palace complex.

Above the pretty lake beside King Cassius' palace were hundreds of silver swans swimming happily. Emma and Therius could still see them play in the lake because of the good lighting from the palace and the sunset.

"This is beautiful," Emma confessed. "I've never seen a place this beautiful ..."

"Hmm, I'm glad you like it." Therius nodded in satisfaction. "By the way, I've talked to my grandfather about our wedding plans and he agreed to give his blessing as well as present as our witness tomorrow. Then ... I plan to kill him after the wedding ceremony is over. What do you think?"

Emma furrowed her brows. She turned her head to look at Therius. Coincidentally Therius was leaning to whisper something to her ear.

Their faces met, only inches away from each other.?For a moment, their two pairs of topaz eyes met.

"Why do you suddenly want to kill your grandfather? I thought you would do it after we get back from Thaesi?" asked Emma.

"My grandfather almost recovered from his illness. If we wait until he is fully healed, people would be suspicious if he suddenly died. I don't think I can waste time," Therius said, lying through his teeth.

He didn't want to tell her the real reason. He didn't want talk about another woman at all when he was with Emma. He didn't want her to know that his grandparents forced him to have two wives.

If Emma heard about it, Therius was sure the girl would be furious, and he would lose his chance to make Emma his wife. He must not take the risk.

That's why he wouldn't let her know the reason why he wanted to expedite his plan was to avoid being pressured to marry Princess Yldwyn.

"Hm .. is that so? If you can do it without arousing suspicion, then I will support you," said Emma.

"Thank you. I just wanted to let you know my plan, so that tomorrow you won't be surprised," said Therius.

"Hmm ..." Emma nodded. "I understand."

"One more thing," said Therius again. "Because I will soon become the king, I want you to decide whether later after we get married, and I ascend the throne, you want us to live in my palace, or should we move to the current royal palace? You've seen both of them, right? Which one do you prefer?"

Emma was stunned by this question. Somehow her chest was pounding because the man behind her warmly hugged her waist. Therius behaved like most future husbands who were asking their future wives where they wanted to live after the wedding.

In this case, Emma appreciated Therius who chose to ask her opinion, instead of deciding for himself.

Emma had seen the two palace complexes in passing. She had been living in Therius' palace for nearly two weeks, and she had come to the royal palace for dinner the other day. She had also seen it from the air just now and knew how big and grand the royal palace complex was.

If she had to choose, which one would she prefer to use as their new home?

"I don't want to live in a place where my parents' enemies lived. They killed my father. I don't want to be reminded of them, wherever I go," Emma said firmly.

Therius nodded. "Hmm. I knew it."

"You knew it?" asked Emma in surprise.

"Yes. I?figured that's what you want. That's why I've ordered my aide, Avato, to find the best architect to renovate my palace to make it worthy of being the new royal palace. I will use the old royal palace for my workplace. I think that's better." Therius replied with a smile. "What do you think?"

"I'd love that," said Emma.

She felt grateful that Therius was always very kind to her. Emma actually did not understand why the crown prince loved her so dearly. It was so obvious from the way he had been treating Emma so far.

Emma didn't or haven't loved Therius yet, but she had considered this man her friend, so she didn't really have any objection to marrying him. Plus, this marriage was mutually beneficial for both of them.

"I am happy if you like it," Therius replied.

The two of them said nothing more. Neither Therius nor Emma, ??were talkative extroverts who always felt compelled to fill the silence with words, like Xion.

If there was silence, Xion would feel as if something was wrong, and he would subconsciously try to break the ice. But Therius and Emma were too alike. For them, silence wasn't always bad. If there really was nothing to say, then they would feel fine sitting quietly without speaking.

"Look ... the moons have appeared," said Emma suddenly. She pointed toward the east. Sunset had been completely replaced by night, and in the sky, they now saw not only one, but three Akkadian moons, one after another appeared to brighten the night sky.

Emma held her breath when she saw the three moons: red, yellow, and orange in the night sky. Each moon had different size, but because they had almost similar mass, their gravity forces were quite equal, and thus, they didn't affect each other's orbits when they happened to cross, like tonight.

What a thrilling sight!

"Hmm... I want to take you to a very nice place to look at the moons," said Therius. "It is my favorite place to celebrate the Three Moon Fire evenings."

Come to think of it, now Emma understood why the Akkadians called the appearance of the three moons at the same time as the three moon fire. The colors did look like fire when they were combined.

"Oh, okay." Emma nodded when she heard Therius's words. She had wanted to land and sit somewhere to admire the three Akkadian moons too.

Therius touched Phalia's neck, and the pegasus swiftly flapped its wings more vigorously and charged towards the west.

Soon, the majestic animal landed gracefully on the top of a small hill filled with tall green grass and one large tree with shady branches. Under the tree, there was one park bench. It seemed to be provided solely for observing the view of the city below.

Therius jumped off Phalia and helped Emma get off the pegasus. He pulled the girl's hand to sit on the bench.

"This place is wonderful," said Emma. "We can see the whole capital from this hill."

"This was my favorite place to run away from my teachers when I was a kid," said Therius with a smile. "Queen Ygrit was very strict with my education. She employed the best and strictest teachers to teach me. They often stressed me out. So, to calm myself down, I used to come here a lot. Because they can't fly, they usually can't chase me here."

"Ahh..." Emma looked at Therius intently. It seemed, slowly, Therius began to share his life with her. Emma already realized that Therius did not have an easy life even though he was a crown prince.

Since childhood, he had already lost both his parents. He also had to face various intrigues in the palace. And it seemed ... since a long time ago, Therius had been a lonely person. His only friend was Xion.

Gradually, Emma began to feel sympathy for the man. She raised her hand and touched the man's cheek. Therius held Emma's hand that was touching his cheek, and he closed his eyes.

After he opened his eyes, Therius pulled Emma's hand from his cheek and brought it down with him as he knelt in front of her.

"Dear Emma Stardust ... I love you and want to marry you. Are you willing to accept me as your husband who will stand by you and protect you, no matter what, and make you happy ... for the rest of your life?" the man asked suddenly, startling Emma.

For a moment, the girl was stunned, speechless. Therius' action was utterly unexpected.

"Hey ..." After a moment of silence, finally, Emma found her voice. "Why are you doing this? We're getting married tomorrow..."

"I know," Therius replied in a loving voice. Deep inside, he was still nervous as hell. "I want to do this right. I want to propose to you properly before we get married. What say you, Emma Stardust? Are you willing to marry me and spend the rest of your life with me?"

Emma pressed her lips with her other hand. She didn't know what to say. This proposal came too suddenly.