1 Sacrificing my happiness

It was a sunny day, and every heart could feel the warmth of the sunshine as they all went about their daily duty without fearing or worrying about rainfall. The little children sang as they accompanied their mothers to finish the tasks for the day.

In an open field, a young princess held her sword against a soldier's neck, "you lose," she said with a happy smile. Sweat was dripping down her beautiful face; anyone could tell that it had not been an easy victory for her.

"Ahh! My Princess is all grown up," the General praised her generously. The Princess smiled happily and withdrew her sword.

"You flatter me, teacher," even though she said this, the proud smile on her lips was visible for all to see. "you deserve it," the General replied with a smile; he had been training the Princess since she was a child, so he knew how much she loved compliments.

"You did well; train more..." The General was about to give more pointers when they heard footsteps. So the general and the Princess turned in the direction where they heard the steps.

"Father," the Princess called when she saw the man walking towards them.

"Your highness," the General bowed.

King Lorenzo nodded to acknowledge the General. "Are you done for today?" His question was directed to the General.

"Yes, your highness," the General bowed.

"Walk with me," this time, the King's words were directed to the Princess.

"Yes, father," the Princess nodded and paid her respect to her teacher before following after her father.

"You return from Gousho quickly, this time," the Princess said.

"Hmm," the King responded as he put both hands behind his back. The Princess frowned; she could tell that something was wrong with her father at that moment.

"Did the imperial family of Gousho try to make things difficult for you again," the Princess asked. From her tone, one could tell she did not like the royal family very much.

The King took a deep breath when he heard her question. The Imperial family has been a handful recently; even his father found it difficult to please them. They acted so unreasonably at times that he felt the emperor had lost his mind.

"They did," the Princess nodded her head. She had expected them to find trouble with her father.

"Not exactly," king Lorenzo shook his head, seeing that his daughter had misunderstood him.

"Oh..." The Princess nodded her head, but one could tell that she did not believe her father even a little. She felt that he only said those words so she would not worry.

"Actually, I spoke to the crown prince, and unlike his father, he suggested a treaty that will help the two families and kingdom live peacefully," king Lorenzo explained.

"Is that so?" The Princess raised her brows; although her father seemed agreeable to the proposal, she could tell that wherever the crown prince proposed had put her father in a difficult position. The emperor of Gousho was sick, so the crown prince was in charge of the kingdom at the moment.

"What do they want?" She asked when she saw her father looking at her. King Lorenzo took a deep breath. "Come sit," he led her into the garden and made her sit down first. The Princess became anxious seeing her father's behaviour. She swallowed the nonexistent loop in her throat and waited patiently for her father to answer.

"Marriage, they want a marriage between you and the second prince," King Lorenzo replied

"What?" The Princess felt like her ears were deceiving her; she had never imagined her marriage would become a tool for the royal family.

"Jessica, I know this is sudden," King Lorenzo tried to calm her down. Princess Jessica took a deep breath and looked at her father; She wanted to confirm if he was serious. But, seeing that he did not seem to be joking, the Princess felt like cold water had been poured all over her body.

"I will not marry him, father," princess Jessica declared when she found her voice. The king sighed helplessly. He knew it would be difficult to convince her; as her father, he knew how much she loved the freedom to make her choices.

"You have to listen to me this time, you are my only child, and the safety of Dumbi is your responsibility," king Lorenzo said. Although he had never planned to force his daughter into marrying any man, things were out of his control this time.

"No, Father, why do I have to marry prince Ethan? Our family has remained loyal. I will not marry him; it's their fault that they can not trust us; he can take the throne if he wants it," princess Jessica remained stubborn.

"You! How can you say that?" King Lorenzo felt his head hurt. At times like this, he wishes his wife was still alive as he was finding it difficult to communicate with their daughter.

"Father, if you insist on sacrificing my happiness like this, then I would kill myself; what is the point of living?" Princess Jessica threaten. When the King heard her, he was so surprised; He had never expected that his daughter would threaten him with her life.

He also wanted his daughter to live a happy life; that was why he agreed to the proposal of the crown. He had noticed how the young prince looked at his daughter when he came to Dumbi a few weeks ago. So he felt that since the young prince liked her, she would have a good life.

"How can you think of taking your own life?" King Lorenzo questioned his daughter. The veins on his head were visible as he felt his head hurt. Princess Jessica did not say anything. Instead, she bowed her head. She knew that she was putting her father in a difficult position, but she could not imagine her life with any man other than Ramsey.

"Leave," king Lorenzo said in a low voice. He was too disappointed, but he could not bring himself to blame his daughter. She has lived a good life since she was born; he also knew she had inherited his stubbornness.

Princess Jessica rose to her feet and bowed her head. "With your permission, father," then she walked away. Her heartache seeing her father like that, it was the first time neither of them was willing to take a step back. If only she could marry two husbands, but that was impossible.

Jessica knew the history behind her family; the only reason the Taits had remained on the throne of Dumbi was that years ago, her ancestors and the royal family of Gousho had a pact.

The Tait family would rule the Dumbi and submit to Gousho, but over the years, the kingdom of Dumbi had progressed, and the power of the Tait family was no less than that of the royal family of Gousho. As a result of this expansion, the royal family of Gousho felt threatened, and they have been trying to suppress Dumbi for more than twenty years.

King Lorenzo knew this, but he gave in to them every time; after all, he had to honour the promise of his ancestors. Princess Jessica had long felt that the royal family of Gousho were unreasonable, but her father insisted on bowing to them. Although the Spur family helped her family when they were weaker, Jessica did not believe her family should continue to leak their feet.

"Cousin," Someone called, snapping her out of her thoughts.