"Child, loosen up a bit, I can't breathe!" Kedes protested.

Kate heard the unfamiliar voice. It's not her granny Esmeralda!

She looked at the face of the old woman that she hugged tightly. She was very disappointed. The only similarity they have between them is the long white hair. This woman has an upper part of a human but her lower half is that of a horse. "I'm sorry...I thought you were my granny Esmeralda coming to rescue me," she said sadly.

Kate began sobbing again, she becomes a cry baby the moment she realized that she was trapped and there's no escape from the king's clutches.

"W-who are you?" she asked the old centaur woman.

"I'm the king's grandmother. I'm here to check on you," Kedes said calmly.

"Ah, I see. You know what granny...your grandson wanted to force himself on me that's why I passed out! He's not a good king! You should teach your grandson a lesson on how to be a good king. Why would he force himself on me when I'm so weak and defenseless!? I don't want to marry him! I want to return home!" Kate demanded defiantly.

Kedes smiled in amusement with the way the young woman behaved.

"Shhh, calm down, dear. Do not raise your voice on the king again. He has a short and violent temper, he can easily hurt anyone who defies his order. If you want to stay alive for a long time you should be careful with your words, your manners, and your actions. This place is not the same as where you come from. If you want to survive just go with the flow," she gives her golden advice.

Kate finds it depressing listening to the old woman's words of wisdom. The woman would side her grandson even if the king is a brute!

But she's getting desperate now!

Every minute and seconds that passes by with no escape in sight, she was growing hopeless. What's she's going to do now?

Kate was flung deeper into her inner turmoil.

Meanwhile...

The old centaur woman was watching the girl's somber face. "Who is your granny? Esmeralda, the one who lives in a floating piece of land suspended in the air above this forest?" she inquired wanting to be sure.

Kate nodded her head. "Yes, she is!"

Dang! Kedes bit her lip. This is complicated!

She will worry about Esmeralda later. Right now she needs to figure out the girl first. She wanted to uplift the somber mood of the future queen. She went to the door and opened it. "Bring the gifts inside!" she commanded her servants.

The five servants brought the boxes of gifts inside and open the lids for Kate to see.

"Child, I brought you beautiful flowing dresses to wear. Then I also brought you fresh harvest from my fruit garden. Here, you can try these clothes," Kedes picked up a red flowing dress. "Try this one it will fit your body perfectly!" she put the dress in front of the girl.

Kate ignored the presents, she was not impressed with the granny's gifts. All she wanted right now is to escape from this place and go back to Esmeralda's side.

It looks like, granny Esmeralda no longer cares about her and just left her to the wolves. Well, she can't blame her, she was just an outsider for her, not worth saving.

Tormented by her depressing situation, Kate was getting sadder and hopeless as minutes pass by. The only thing she can do is cry her hearts out.

Hoping that her cry will strike everyone in this place and they all die! Just wishful thinking on her part.

Kedes sighed heavily, after realizing that this girl is Esmeralda's ward!

Having this girl with them will pose a big problem later on once Esmeralda will find out that they are hiding the girl.

She needs to talk with her grandson, this is a serious matter.

"Child...calm down..stop crying! I will talk to the king..." said Kedes.

Kate raised her head and looked at the old woman, hope leaped from her eyes. "Granny, y-you will help me?"

"I'll see what can I do. But I can not promise you anything," answered Kedes. She ambled towards the door. "I'm going to talk to the king..."

Kate quickly dried the tears from her face with the hem of her dress. Even though she was feeling hopeful that granny will help her convince the king to release her, still, there's no guarantee that the king will agree.

Right now, there are only four immediate solutions to her problem.

First, she will attempt to escape if she can see a golden opportunity presenting itself.

Second, she will kill the king on the night of their wedding.

Third, she will commit suicide, kill herself before the wedding took place.

Fourth, just resigned to her fate, marry the king willingly, and give him a son.

Kate swallowed the lump on her throat. It's the fourth solution that she doesn't like doing but it can allow her to prolong her life inside the castle. And maybe, one day, when she gathers enough power, she can finally find the whereabouts of her sister Ivy and plan an escape route for them out of the cursed castle.

The first solution is only easy in her mind but very hard to do.

The second solution, killing the king, is also difficult knowing that when it comes to strength, she was very weak compared to the king, he can easily overpower her and even if she successfully killed the king, his men will haunt her and killed her just the same.

As for the third solution which is killing herself...she can do it...but her life will be wasted without accomplishing anything.

She will die too young and accomplish nothing of value in her entire short life, what a shame!

As for the fourth solution of marrying the king willingly, the only thing that will die is her heart that only beats for Ramza. Unfortunately, the man she loves is not here, he can't help her. She has to help herself survive and live longer even if she will sacrifice her heart and body.

By marrying the King, she will become the Queen!

She will have servants attain to all her needs. She will live luxuriously above anyone else. The King will pamper her. She will receive lavish attention, love, and power at her disposal. She will feel protected at all times. Living the life of a Queen isn't that bad at all. It both has a negative and a positive side to it.

The only thing she needed to do is ignore the negative side and embrace the positive sides willingly.

Kate breathed deeply, a bittersweet smile appeared on her face.

She finally reached a final decision...she will marry the king willingly!