[Authors note: To avoid confusion, I will refer to Simon as Simon instead of his Sanki name.]

Three men stood on one side. Each had tan skin, dark brown hair, and cold dark eyes. They were all similar to the King and none of them seemed too friendly. All of them except for one wore a frown. The one who smirked upon seeing me was none other than Simon. The man I hoped I would never see again.

One of the men who seemed to be the eldest spoke, "Your majesty. Are you ready for our war meeting to start?"

The King looked to the eldest, "In one moment. I need to kill this bug first."

I squirmed out of my handcuffs and ran towards Simon with my arms outstretched. I called out to him in a flirtatious voice, "Simon darling!"

He reached out to me with a haughty smile as I threw my arms around him. I pecked his cheeks wildly as if I was a wife who had welcomed her husband back home from war.

Ugh. I'm going to vomit. No... I can't. If I can't flatter or fight my way out, I need to use Simon instead.

Just as I had predicted, the King watched us curiously. I looked at Simon and batted my eyes. However, the meaning behind my eyes were clear: You bastard. If you don't help me escape I'm going to castrate you.

Simon chuckled as he embraced me back, "Darling. When did you get here? I thought you'd be here sooner."

I snuggled into him pretending to be coy, "I would have, but I accidentally went to the dungeon instead. Then some scary men tried to attack me so I killed them."

I could see Simon struggling to hold back his laughter. He seemed to be enjoying this a bit too much.

F*ck. I want to kill him. Can I kill him?

He spoke holding back his laughter, "You killed them? Oh darling..."

I turned my nose up, "It's not my fault they were so easy to kill. If anything you should be thanking me for cleaning house. Any guard who could be killed so easily by a petite girl like me should be thrown out."

The King watched closely, "Prince. Just who is this girl?"

As Simon held me in his arms, he turned to his father with a smirk. "This is the woman I was telling you about."

His eyes widened in disbelief, "This is your fiancé?"

God d*mmit Simon. I really want to kill you. You told your father I was your fiancé?!

Simon grabbed my chin and turned my face towards his, "The one and only." He bent down and kissed me firmly.

My entire body wanted to scream and push him away. But I couldn't. If I did the King would know it was all a lie. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Acting, don't fail me now.

Simon pulled away and smirked at me as if he was victorious. I forced on a smile, "Oh Simon darling. You like to embarrass me in front of the King, don't you?"

"Oh, the King doesn't mind."

That's not what I meant you bastard.

The King spoke, "How did you manage to get into the city?"

Seeing that the King was still suspicious of me, I continued to stay in Simon's embrace. At the very least I can use Simon as a meat shield. Simon knew my intention, but only found humor in it. He squeezed me as he spoke, "I told the City Gate Guards you would be coming. They were supposed to bring you straight to the castle."

I threw him a glance. Why did he tell the guards I would be coming? Something is very wrong here.

The King continued to stare at me with a threatening aura, "Just how did you get in?"

I looked at the King and smiled as I spoke politely, "Your Majesty, I just walked in through the front gate. I tried to wake up the guards, but they looked rather sleepy so I just strolled inside. I didn't want to disturb them."

The King spoke, "They were asleep?"

I lied flawlessly, "They were."

"So why are you dressed like that?"

What the hell is this? An inquisition?

I answered him calmly, "Unfortunately, I had to run from my kingdom to avoid pursuit. My clothes were a mess. This was the only thing I could find on such short notice."

"And why should I let you stay here? Even if Simon declares you to be his fiancé, you are still a citizen of the Imperial Kingdom."

Million dollar question.

"Your majesty. If I managed to get in, it's only a matter of time before others get in as well. You rely too much on natural formed barriers that it has become your Kingdom's weakness. You should start sending out scouts to neighboring areas to make sure no one else sneaks in. You wouldn't want someone worse coming in, right?"

"Hmm." He looked at me carefully, "And what are your thoughts about this war?"

"Eh, I could care less about the war. As long as I have Simon." Seeing that his face did not change; I added quickly, "Your army should be more proactive. Those on the offensive are the ones who win first. If I were you, I would target the Beua area. There is a lot of farmland and agriculture there that the neighboring kingdom's rely on for trade."

By agriculture, I mean it's only luxury items. The Imperial Kingdom can live without it if he does choose to attack. But, he doesn't need to know that. It feels like I'm betraying William once more, but I need to do this in order to get the King's trust so I can grab Dante and slip away.

I feel like a double agent. Hehe.

He spoke, "You seem to know a lot."

"Of course. I was close friends with the current King. I practically grew up at the Imperial Palace. It's only natural I know a lot about the Imperial Kingdom and allies."

"That's true. Such knowledge is useful if we are able to trust you."

Simon smirked at me and kissed my lips flirtatiously. I forced myself to smile at him. B*tch. If you don't stop kissing me I will seriously kill you.

The King turned to the guards, "How many did she kill?"

They answered, "We counted over a dozen, Your Majesty."

The King turned to Simon, "Prince of War. Your fiancé killed my guards. She seems to be quite ferocious for a woman."

Prince of War? What the hell is that about? Is it like some kind of codename? Ooo... I want one.

How about... Bringer of Destruction and Chaos?!

Yeah, that sounds good.

Simon noticed I was distracted and chuckled, "She has always been this way. That's why I love her."

Ugh. Gag. I know he's acting to help me out, but this is seriously making me nauseous.

Simon caught the look in my eyes and bent down to kiss me. I didn't pull away because I was afraid the watchful eyes of the King would see, but...

Why the hell does this bastard keep kissing me?! Does he have a death wish!?

My eyes looked into his saying: "If you don't stop kissing me right now, I will castrate you."

His eyes answered: "If we don't kiss then my father will be suspicious."

I want to cry in protest.

Even though I don't want to kiss him, I still feel like I'm cheating on Dante. Ugh... After this I'm going to have to bleach my lips.

Dante... Forgive me...

The King seemed to finally accept that we weren't lying about our relationship, so he turned to look back at the guards. He spoke calmly, "Behead all the guards that were on duty the day she came in. Send a message that we won't tolerate weakness."

Wait. WHAT?! He's just going to behead ALL of the guards working that day?! Isn't that overkill?! Ugh... I feel a bit guilty.... I know they are still the enemy, but d*mn. I was lying about them sleeping. I feel like this is slightly my fault...

The King turned to me and I quickly wiped the pity off of my face. He spoke, "I think that you may be a good asset to our Kingdom. Don't make me regret letting you stay."

I smiled at him, "I wouldn't dare Your Majesty."

The King then spoke to Simon, "Considering your future wife just arrived, you may have the day off. We will continue our conversation later."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Simon bowed to the King then turned to me with a sadistic smile, "Shall we go consummate being reunited at last?"

WHAAAAAAAAAAT?! CONSUMMATE WHAT!?

My face turned bright red as I stared at him speechless. It took my entire will power not to kick him in the crotch and flip him off. Without giving me a chance to say anything else, he picked me up and started carrying me bridal style.

Wait! No!

REVERSE!

LOAD FROM LAST CHECKPOINT!

RELOAD!

RELOAD!

RELOAD!

Simon promptly carried me out of the hall. I started to squirm once we were out of the King's sight. He whispered in my ear, "If you act suspicious, my father won't hesitate to kill you."

I went stiff at his voice. So he really is acting as well? But why do my instincts tell me otherwise?

We entered a room and Simon tossed me on the bed before shutting the door behind us and locking it. I quickly scrambled to sit up, but he pushed me back down on the bed. I winced at the pain along my back.

I glared at him, "Let me go!"

His hands tightened around my wrists as he painfully held me down. I glared at him with fire in my eyes refusing to show just how much he was hurting me. I could only see his mocking smile and sadistic eyes in front of me.

"Do you really think I'd let you go? Do you realize how long I've waited for this moment?"

I sneered, "What the hell are you talking about?"

His smile grew, "I knew it was only a matter of time before you came here."

I felt my blood turn ice cold. I had a bad feeling in my chest. From the moment I saw Simon, I had a feeling that something was wrong. Now I know that my instincts were not wrong.

I forced myself to speak, "Why did you kidnap Dante?"

An evil grin crossed his face, "How else could I get you to come?"

My eyes widened in surprise, "You bastard. You planned this all out?! But why?!"

"Isn't it obvious? I wanted you." His eyes moved across my body lewdly, "And now I finally get to taste you..."

He... He intends to actually consummate our supposed reunion?! Uck... I want to puke.

I swallowed down my vomit and spoke quickly, "If you really wanted me, why would you still kidnap Dante?! Why wouldn't you just kidnap me?!"

He broke out into rambunctious laughter, "You really don't know?"

My mind was blank as I tried to connect the dots.

He laughed even louder, "Oh... My dear Seri... It was always about Dante. Every single attempt at William's life wasn't because of William being the son of the King. He was just a mere bystander. It wasn't him that was being targeted, but rather the child who always followed him around."

My mind stopped and frantically began to put the pieces together. Memories flooded back to me. Each one I had assumed or ignored the meaning behind it.

The poison attempt when we were children wasn't just because the servants were upset with the King. There was someone instructing them what to do, but that person was never found. Simon had been the one who tried to get information out of them, but they died before the truth was told.

Furthermore, all of the many assassination attempts against William and Dante that I managed to thwart. Even those boys I killed the time I ran away had said their goal was to separate Dante from William. I assumed this was to kill William, but could it have actually been that simple?

Finally, the ambush that only seemed to target Dante which resulted in me getting poisoned. It truly was never about William... It was about Dante.

Everything makes sense.

When I was kidnapped by the man who looked similar to Simon, he used me as bait to lure Dante out in order to kill him. I thought that my grandfather had sent him, but I remember he had said that someone told him I was observant and smart. However, he mentioned that my grandfather wasn't the one who said that.

A man that looked like Simon... Was he a relative?

Was Simon behind the entire thing?

I was shocked as the pieces began to fit together. I whispered out, "You were never trying to kill William... You were trying to kill Dante. You were behind everything!"

"Ding ding ding~ Oh Seri... Here I thought you were observant and intelligent. However, you're rather slow, aren't you?"

My mouth dropped, "It was you... The entire time it was you."

He chuckled maliciously in my ear, "It was enjoyable to see how hard you worked to keep William alive. Yet, you never seemed to do the same for Dante. At first, I thought that you didn't care for him and liked William instead. However, now I see how wrong I was. Tsk tsk. You are so cruel to poor little Dante. You didn't even think about his safety. Your love for him is rather weak, isn't it? You wouldn't even try to protect your so called beloved."

I glared at him, "Shut up."

However, he had a point. I hadn't even thought about protecting Dante. To me, he was the strongest person around. He didn't need my protection.

Yet it didn't make sense. Why was he so hellbent on killing Dante? Dante was strong, but he never threatened Simon's life nor had he tried to investigate him. So why would Simon actually try to kill Dante when he was just a child?

I asked Simon in confusion, "But... Why?"

A sinister change spread across his face. He was no longer laughing at my confusion. Instead, his eyes reflected something dark inside of him.

His voice was ominous and filled with hate, "His very existence poses a threat to the throne. He is..."

His hands tightened, "My little brother."