I felt Simon's hand slip under my shirt as I fought him off. Feeling his lips on my skin made my skin crawl and my mouth taste acidic. I didn't want this and I couldn't get away either.

Can I really not escape?

I squeezed my eyes shut.

Please. Someone save me!

Dante!

Millie!

Anyone?!

However, no one could possibly save me now. Dante was in a dungeon while Millie was probably somewhere outside of the castle. I was completely alone and had only one person whom I could rely on.

Myself.

I shouted out in a hurry, "I CAN GET YOU WHAT YOU WANT!"

I felt his hand halt, "Oh?"

I held in my sigh of relief once I noticed I had his attention.

He continued, "But if I wanted to have you, would you give that to me?"

I forced my eyes to meet his fearlessly, "You may want me, but it's not your true desire."

He smiled, "Then what is?"

I continued to speak without thinking, "You want to become King. However, you have no ability to. You have three older brothers that would take the throne before you would even have the chance. You could kill them all, but that wouldn't mean you could still become King. One death would probably be overlooked, but killing all of them would put the suspicion onto you. To forcibly take the throne, you need enough followers. I presume I am correct in this assumption?"

"Naturally."

I continued speaking, "Then all you need to do is get the required number of followers and the crown will be yours."

He looked at me with a humored expression, "And just what do you suppose I do? There is no new Holy Empress for me to marry since the last one was never replaced."

"A coup d'état."

He smiled, "A coup?"

Luckily, my gamble paid off. He was far more interested in becoming a King than he was in me.

I took a deep breath to calm myself, "Yes. Gain followers in secrecy, convince the army to follow you, then overthrow your father and brothers."

Simon shook his head, "There's no way I would risk doing that."

"Then I will do it."

"You?" He released his grip and let me go.

I quickly squirmed out and put distance between the two of us swiftly. I spoke before he had a chance to pounce on me again, "If I get caught, then I can just pretend that it was all my idea. I could say that I was a double agent sent by William. However if I succeed, then you can become the Sanki King and live a happy life."

He smiled at me, "How can I be sure you could even succeed? If you die, I won't be King and I won't have you either. Seems like I would be in an even worse position if you were to fail. How could I benefit if you failed and died?"

I spoke calmly, "I can do it. I'm sure. I just need to be able to leave the castle."

"Good luck doing that. My father doesn't trust you. He plans on keeping you locked up in my room with all of the servants watching you to make sure you won't leave."

I thought for a moment. "How about a hidden passageway?"

He chuckled, "Hidden passageway? This isn't some mystery novel. Not all castles have hidden passageways."

I shook my head, "Nope. They always do. Royalty would purposely build them so that they could escape if an angry mob ever broke in to kill them. I may not have paid attention in history class, but I certainly remember watching enough dramas where this was the case."

His smile twitched, "Dramas?" He chuckled and shook his head, "Very well. There is a hidden passageway."

I knew it.

He continued, "However, even though you plan on doing this; you should know that if you get caught, I will not defend you. I will immediately sell you out. I won't be getting punished alongside you."

I frowned and muttered to myself, "Why are the Sanki people so quick to sell others out..."

"It's because those guilty of treason die by having their skin peeled off."

I gulped.

This must be where the phrase "saving one's skin" comes from.

He glanced at me, "I suppose you want something in return?"

I smiled haughtily, "Of course. I have a few conditions."

Simon chuckled, "Just a few?"

I looked at him earnestly, "One. If you become King, you must form an alliance with William. No more war, no more trying to kill each other."

Simon nodded, "I only kill because my father told me to. Naturally, if he wasn't here, I wouldn't follow his orders."

"Good. Then you'll end the war?"

"As long as King William will agree to a trade deal and not seek out revenge on me or the Kingdom, I will end the war."

"It will be hard, but I can convince William to agree to that. Wars are occasionally ended because of a compromise."

Simon smiled, "Second?"

"Second, you must end this child solider practice. It's just despicable and cruel."

He nodded, "Very well. I don't see a problem in ending that. Any more conditions?"

I continued, "Third, you must let Dante and me go and promise never to try to kill or kidnap us again."

Simon tilted his head, "You seem to be asking a lot."

"Do you agree or not?!"

Simon stood up, "Do as you'd like. I will consider your conditions and as long as you lead a successful rebellion and make me King, I will let you and Dante go free." Before I could get excited, he added, "However, I have some conditions as well."

I frowned, "Haah? You don't get to make conditions."

"Then I won't consider your plan. I already have what I want currently. If I don't benefit, why would I ever accept?"

I looked at his cocky grin and gnashed my teeth. He knew there was no way I would say no. He held complete bargaining control and I didn't. I spoke forcibly, "Fine. What are your conditions?"

"My conditions are simple. You must lead the successful rebellion before our official wedding date or else you will have to give up and marry me. You must stay by my side and I will no longer allow you to return to the Imperial Kingdom."

I clicked my tongue, "Fine. When's our official wedding date then?"

Usually weddings take a long time to plan. Especially royal weddings. There shouldn't be a problem here.

He answered casually, "In one month."

"ONE MONTH?!"

How the hell am I supposed to do all of this in one month?!

He chuckled, "In the Sanki Kingdom, it is tradition to get married during the full moon. The next full moon is in exactly one month. I'm sure my father has also already started the preparations upon your arrival."

I shook my head, "I refuse! One month isn't a long enough time to overthrow a government! You need time. You have to make the lower class furious enough to die for the cause. You need to convince the upper class it's worth it. You even need to figure out how to fight off the army! That much work could never be possibly done in one month!"

"Then we have no deal." He added with a smirk, "Plus, we can't just keep Dante locked away in the dungeon. Eventually he will be executed. I was thinking about having that as my wedding gift to you."

I glared at him in disgust, "You are a cruel sadistic man."

"I've been called worse." He only smiled at me, "So what's your answer?"

I sighed, "Do I even have a choice?"

"No. Not really."

"Then it's a deal." I added in a mutter, "However, I want the record to show that I am very against these conditions of yours."

He shrugged, "The record doesn't care about your personal feelings."

I'm going to kill this bastard.