Queen of Mean

CHAPTER 22

A Month before Victoria Rozenreff's  Fifteenth Birthday

PRINCE COREAN Shuia Eckrett tasted the first whiplash of pain after the cherry red eyes of Victoria Rozenreff rejected his heartfelt confession. The winter breeze numbed his aching heart, but all he could feel was the glacial look of the lady he dared to love. In his almost eighteen years of existence, no one woke the curiosity in his core. No one until she stepped into the secret room of the Turvy to dare persuade him to fight for his right, something he never once cared.

Cory could still remember Victoria's flaming cherry-colored eyes. She looked so fragile for him yet she could display the courage that no knight in the empire could master. She was quite a curious thing and he was drawn to her unpredictable actions.

The next thing he knew, he was already following her every move. The thoughts of her touching other men disturbed something primal inside him. It was almost a taboo feeling for the second prince who was known to be an emotionless doll of the northern palace. Yet her fierceness sparked a fire inside him that even he could not fathom.

She drew him like a moth to a flame.

He watched her walked away, her silhouette getting smaller. Cory was left alone inside the Rozenreff Duchy's greenhouse. The well-arranged Petunias that he personally grew and arranged for this special day lost their grandeur. His plan to ask for her hand was a secret between him and his trusted, Ilya, known to many as Lady M.

He knew from the very start that having her was an impossible feat but he's the second prince of the Eckrett Empire. He should at least try.

His wavy chocolate-colored hair whipped his face when a gentle breeze passed by him, who was still standing where Victoria left him standing. The bouquet of Petunia was still in his right hand and he was looking in the direction where she disappeared when he saw a familiar silhouette that was about to walk into the greenhouse. Cory muted his steps as he hid behind the only tree inside the enormous tree. Coincidentally, the steps stopped.

"Prince Lauren wanted me to assure you that Lady Victoria's reckoning will come, sooner than later."

Cory froze upon hearing his beloved's name being uttered by a familiar voice. He knew who owned the voice but he refused to believe at first. Utter disbelief reflected upon his face as he listened to his one and only friend betrayed him.

"That wench acted like she already won! Arg!" Lady Sabina of House Rozenreff lashed out to the flowers in the greenhouse. Cory could hear the vases breaking after being thrown mercilessly by the young mistress.

"Calm down, Lady Sabina. Your distress will delight your half-sister. I promised to help you, right? And so did Prince Lauren. So believe us when we tell you, your sister will perish. Prince Lauren already got a plan and it will start today. Can't you see? We're inside the greenhouse where Victoria marked her death."

Lady Sabina replied with agitation and doubt laced upon her voice. "What do you mean, Lady Merilla?"

"The second prince confessed to your sister yet she dared to reject him as we expected. This will create an opening for the first prince and me to use bait, Tessa. Prince Lauren told me that Tessa would sway Prince Corean's resolve to the point of abandoning his main goal which is to be the king of the empire. While I, the leader of the Information Guild and aristocratic faction will sway the second prince's support on the inside. Destroying your sister who built a solid foundation by being surrounded by her powerful vassals, we need to take one step at a time."

"And we will start by destroying the bond between the second prince and Lady Victoria Rozenreff."

Cory could not move from everything he heard. His golden eyes sharpened upon realizing that the only person he considered as a friend betrayed him for reasons beyond him. What he hated was listening to their vicious plan to the lady he cared about most along with his mother.