Chapter 54: So... your fiancé is a woman.

Kein's POV

"So you're.. a woman." Rose starts the conversation again after some moment of silence on the whole- 'I'm not actually a man revelation'.

The prince- should I even call her that?

The princess takes her clothes and wears it back on, from the shirt, and sleek black suit not letting herself get sidetracked. Her figure really was masculine and I couldn't figure it out.

Her face was similar to a man but thin and her short hair really did cover her up as a woman. "Was it such a shock to you both?"

With all that things you've got it sure was hard to detect.

"Well you weren't really exactly friendly and I don't really care if you're a woman or not. The things you've said before were still horrible." I crossed my arms in protest ,even if it was understandable it rubbed me off the wrong way.

Rose clings to my cape pulling it giving me a look of empathy.

"Didn't you hear her before? She was forced to say those mean things because she had no choice. She's willing to help us for the safety of our kingdom... even to the point of exposing her true gender to us both." (Rose) explains trying to save this woman in front of me for her wrongdoings with good reasons. "A woman's birth in the line of royalty is an act of sin. To think she's alive right now means..." She stops looking at the princess with uncertainty if she should continue her sentence.

The princess nods, sitting back down at the leather chair and finally feeling a little more assured- we sat down at the chairs she offered before. "They had some use of me. Dress me up as a man and live like it to have me married off for their selfish plans." (Princess Alexanderk?) snarks in remark to her family.

"You on the other hand-" she points to me and I flinch.

"What about me?" I ask.

"You don't know how lucky you are, you don't know how much uncle- the Duke loved you. How much I envied you." she kept her eye's gaze onto me with clear jealousy but she sighs. "How much I wish I was her daughter instead." her hands travel through one of the secret cupboards of the desk. Rose and I instinctively leaned in forward to peek, curious to whatever she was trying to grab.

She hands over a frame of letters that has been wrapped around together by a string and pictures that seem to have been painted or sketched. "These are?" I ask, holding the letters into my hand and inspecting the art pieces before me.

"What do you think it looks like?" (Princess Alexanderk)

Rose looked towards one of the drawings and was amazed by them. "Wow... I-Is this you? Baby Kein?" she points at a baby drawing that has blonde hair and blue eyes.

"I-I think so?" I cautiously flipped the picture over and saw Kein's name.

It had Kein written with a heart on it and another signature, it must have belonged to the artist who made it. "Martha Hills." I read the name.

The name- Hills? The same as father's-!

"That's- Baron Hill's wife?!" I yelled out in surprise. She drew a baby Kein before?! Oh right father told me before that they were a friend Kein's biological father.

The only reason why Kein was in her aunt's possession is because they're her blood relatives so she had no choice. "Do you think Baron Hills knew of these?" (Rose) gave me back the picture and I shook my head. I'm not sure, I would remember if father has said anything of the sort especially if it was something relating to Kein.

"I don't know he never told me anything about these." I answered not knowing what to feel. Everything feels like it's been moving too fast with all the information, secrecy, and reveals. "How did you even get a hold of these?"

I look towards the princess and she sighs, "The Duke has been murdered long ago after being found out he had a bastard daughter from his trip in your kingdom. Everyone might have said that he's still alive, but that's a lie."

"He's buried deep underground already. It's been more than five years."

I bite my lip looking through the letters that've been wrapped with a string. Do I have the right to look through these?

These belong to the dead and I do not want to disturb the soul that owns these letters.

But at the same time, I need answers.

"You seem close to my biological father." I told her and she shrugged.

"He was my mentor, my hero, executed because he had a bastard daughter that wasn't even born out of pure blood." She scoffs moving her back into the leather chair pointing at her cold gaze at me. "You're someone with commoner's blood. Father and older brother are not taking you seriously. Only seeing you as a mere lice in their plan."

"You could say you even killed him. For. Just. Existing." (Princess Alenderk?)

I banged my fist onto the desk and her stupid grin plastered to her face was still there.

Did you think I wanted a man I didn't know dead?! This woman is really getting on my nerves, did she just invite us to privately ridicule me- well Kein?! "Did you invite us in here to belittle me or are you finally going to tell us your whole plan on saving our kingdom from your shitty family?"

She laughs tapping the desk looking down before having the audacity to correct me, "You mean 'our' shitty family."

My hands were clenching into a fist, lumping me with them irritated me. I'm nothing like them. "I only have one family and that's my true father that raised me back at my true home. I don't consider any of you monsters family even if we are bound by blood."

"What a shame. Then again our feelings are mutual but that doesn't matter in what I'm planning to do." (Prince Alexanderk?)

I clicked my tongue, getting impatient with her cliff hanging everything for the past hour. "Say your plans already. We've been waiting for it for a damn while-"

"I'll kill every last horrible royal family there is. Especially my grandparents." I could hear the hatred in her tone. "But I can't at the moment, they have my mother as hostage. I can't risk her safety while we're still here on their turf." She takes a map and places it onto the desk.

"In a few months my father will launch a full invasion on your kingdom. On the planned mourning of the white flower." she says taking in a small flower pin and putting it on the castle map of [Puronia].

"Mourning of the white flower?" I wonder what would a white flower mean.

Rose covers her mouth letting out a little gasp, understanding the meaning of it while I wait for someone to explain in a worry.

"Cecilia..." (Rose) mutters looking shocked. The white flower- it makes sense but what does she have to do with this?

Rose takes a deep breath before smiling and reassuring herself. "N-No she has time. She will be fine. You have the cure for it after all-"

He shakes his head. "We don't actually have the cure. Your father agreed for the money to fund the research on finding it however."

Rose looks at me before at the princess angrily. "What do you mean you don't have it?!" (Rose) yells, slapping the white flower pin out of the table and it slips into the ground.

I grabbed the winshern princess by the collar, angry as well. "You... explain."

"As I've said. A full large scale invasion. We don't have the cure, we just gave money to the Puronian King and our marriage is just a big distraction. After all after the expected mourning time by the next months-"

I stop her, "The kingdom will be busy hosting the marriage, the whole military will be unprepared for war." I continued for her, finally realizing the plan.

These fuckers.

It could work. This whole plan of theirs could work, it would leave many soldiers dead and innocents in dismay.

"After all. The king has been dealing with rebellions side by side. He's been getting cranky, and I heard he wants an heir right after we get married." (Prince Alexanderk?) laughs finding all of this funny.

An heir.

The only heir making she'll do, is she'll do it with me and me only.

I won't let anyone have Rose.

My hands tightened the grip on her collar and she flinched. We were the same height but I knew I was stronger but... she's not even attacking me. "What would we get if we went through your plan?" I ask and she takes a hold of my wrist and I let go.historical

"Isn't it obvious? Freedom, the both of you can have whatever you want. I don't care. I only want to stop the war and not sacrifice my people into some silly war." (Prince Alexanderk?) confidently announced and Rose looks at her skeptically.

The sword in my waste began shaking violently.

'Take the deal. Take your grandfather's head. Let us have it. MAKE THE DEAL WITH HIM!'

The soul of the sword reached out to me and I tried calming it down.

"Kein... What do we do? I don't think she's lying at all... What if they're really aiming for us? What of the alliance? What of our people? We're already having famine and a lack of resources- the war could really break us all." (Rose) holds my hand for comfort and takes it. "W-What are the children of the orphanage? Y-Your school you're trying to build- all of your hard work- our friends..."

I smile knowing that she kept everyone in mind and was concerned for their safety. "Everything will be okay, Rose. We'll find a way to solve this without the need for a war."

She tries to look at me in a positive note and nods. "I hope we do." She hugs me by the waist and I pat the back of her head, caressing her hair.

"You two lovebirds are done flirting? Will the two of you listen to the plan or not?" (Princess Alexanderk?) interrupted us and as much as I want to keep hugging Rose like this I have to agree with the plan.

I straightened my back and held out my hand. The princess raises her eyebrow staring at it like it was some foreign object. "A seal of promise. I will agree to whatever your plan is to take the throne and kill all the other royal families under some conditions."

"Oh? Is that so?" she asks interested. "Name them."

"I want to find a proper cure for Cecilia in the next three months and the last, I want our grandfather's head to be cut by my blade."

She smiles nodding, taking my hands and shakes it. "Nice to see you're on board on having a family murder spree. I was doubting you for a moment of being soft but it's good that you're not." (Princess Alexanderk?)

"I have no choice from the looks of it."

We continue shaking our hands together. I look at Rose who was biting her lip nervously, from the look on her face says it all that she's hesitant about this exchange.

For me, I see this as an opportunity to take.

"I will take the throne for myself and promise an even stronger alliance without needing to hold marriage with you Princess Rosarie, to which I'll abolish everything that restrained the citizens of my kingdom into something better." (Princess Alexanderk?)

Rose smiles, pulling out the princess's hands, holding them gently. Princess Alexanderk was taken aback by the sudden touch and I was just standing here in jealousy. "Thank you, it means a lot to us. I... I'll be able to love freely if your plan works." she turns back to me with a little tear in her eyes and I sighed, rubbing the back of my head a little flustered.

"Do not thank me yet, only thank me once it worked." (Princess Alexaderk?) hands over the lily pin to Rose placing it into her palm. She holds it with a sorrowful look on her face, the thought of Cecilia dying must be hard for her. "The mourning of the white flower plan, we will find a way to prevent it from happening. The fall of your sister is the start of the plan. If she dies the kingdom will be weak then it'll be a one way ticket to invasion."

.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Meanwhile...

Cecilia drinking some tea and her loyal maid who was standing behind her placing a cake in front of her highness. "You know they're bound to come home soon. I wonder if they have managed to make up?" she asks her maid while stabbing the cake with a silver fork with her right hand.

Kazari fixes her loose hair by tucking it behind her hair before replying. "I am sure that her other highness is making amends with the traveling artist. You need not to worry so much."

Cecilia smiles looking out into the terrace resting her elbow by the table and placing her chin to the palm of her hand. "I suppose you're right. However the only thing that will stop me from worrying are some light kisses from my maid. Would you be a dear and help me stop worrying so much?"

Kazari blinks several times before covering half of her face with her hands. "P-Princess stop with that. If another maid nearby has heard you..."

Princess Cecilia scoffs giggling slightly, to her it had turned into a slight hobby making her dearest maid have that faint red color. "If another maid has heard me then let their mouths run wild. I would appreciate it if the whole kingdom knew that you belong to me." Cecilia laughs faintly.

Kazari bites her lip, the princess's words were too much for her heart to bear! How can she ever behave herself when her highness tempts her with sweet words like these?!

She couldn't help it anymore. Only in dreams would she think the princess who she has watched grow- to say something like these in reality was too good to be true.

She clenches her hands into a fist placing it in her heart trying to calm its beat before walking behind the princess.

She covers Cecilia's eyes, her soft silver hair brushing with her palm excited her. "I am yours to own your highness, now and for the rest of our lives." she whispers making Cecilia swallow the lump forming in her throat.

Cecilia's thoughts were what a bold maid she was. Getting bolder by the days they spent together, Cecilia's heart thumped in excitement and thrill.

She suddenly felt a warm touch of skin by the cheeks. Cecilia's hands slowly brushed that part of her face before smiling even wider.

Princess Cecilia holds the hands that were covering her eyes and removes it gently seeing the girl with long black hair with a little white ribbon by her head all flustered and flushed. "I would've preferred if you kissed me on the lips, my love."

Kazari's body became stiff and her knees become weak. My love?! The princess just called her my love! "P-Princess I think you should call this maid by it's name or she won't be able to bear the loud banging pain in her chest."

"Hmm that's a problem." (Princess Cecilia) says in a little playful tone. She looked into Kazari who was looking drained. "Hurry and strip. I need to examine your chest and feel it. I can't let you be in pain for any longer."

Kazari shakes her head in a panic! The princess seeing her body while they're not in union?! "Princess no! We mustn't!"

Princess Cecilia was devastated that day. Mission failed, we'll get her next time.