15 Reason #13: I just want peace

Both of them were alone in the room, sitting across from each other.

The room was quiet, and tension was high in the air.

While the Prince was shaking frantically, Ivy, however, was calmly sipping her tea.

The Prince was surprised to see Ivy. He never would've thought that she would appear in front of him so soon.

As Ivy puts down her cup of tea, she begins the discussion in a serious tone.

"Your highness."

"Yes?!"

Prince Leon unconsciously replied in a nervous tone.

"Please, don't be so nervous."

Ivy smiled to lighten the mood.

"ah-ha ha, okay."

He laughed, trying to cover his awkwardness.

Then Ivy took in a deep breath as she stared at Prince Leon with a firm resolve and said,

"I'm here to give your highness my reply to your confession."

The moment she said that, Prince Leon's eyes widened since he never expected to receive an answer from her this quick.

<she looked so serious, is she here to reject me?>

The Prince could only imagine the worst; he is afraid of her rejection.

His heart was thumping, and his head tilted down as he clasped his hands tightly as if he was praying to god.

Then he mustered up all his courage, and he finally asked,

"what have you decided?"

Ivy calmly answered

"I don't know. I don't have an answer yet."

The Prince immediately looked up at her, looking surprised and confused.

"I am not sure how I feel about your highness yet. To be honest, I am also not very sure exactly what love is about.

I care about your highness, and I always thought your highness felt the same towards me but like a family.

That's why when your highness confessed, it surprised me."

"I see..."

Prince Leon tilted his head down again, thinking that this was the end.

"But."

"Wait? But?"

He looked back at her with a sudden ray of hope.

"But I would like to give us a chance."

Prince Leon's face started to brighten up again. The ray of hope now turned into a brim of sunshine until she said,

"So, I would like to propose a trial period."

"What? Huh?"

The Prince was feeling confused while Ivy started to blush.

"What I'm saying is, until I can figure out how I feel about your highness, we can still keep the engagement ongoing, at least until I debut."

Inside the Prince's mind, he thought

she could've ended the engagement on her own, but she didn't.

She could've said no, but she hadn't.

She said she's giving this a chance, so she is not denying the possibility of us having a chance?

The Prince was elevated, and his face started to glow like the morning sun.

He wanted to hug her and thank her, then Ivy stopped him and said.

"But I have a condition. Suppose either one of us falls out of love or doesn't love each other anymore. We end this relationship peacefully.

This includes ending the engagement, and we go our separate ways without a word or a fight. (Or any casualties, I hope) "

"So, do we have a deal, your highness?"

Ivy offered her hand to sealed the deal, but the Prince stood still and laughed out loud instead.

"Hahaha! Hahaha! hahaha!"

"What's so funny?" Ivy was confused as she couldn't understand what made the Prince laugh.

"No, it's just so funny. So what you are saying is, as long as I don't fall out of love with you, we shouldn't have a problem. Yes?"

Ivy nodded.

"Great. It's a deal."

The Prince pulled her hand by surprise. He then grabbed her by the waist and into his arms.

He stared at her closely as he grinned.

"All I need to do now is to get you to fall in love with me."

As the Prince draws closer, hoping to reach for a kiss, Ivy stops him by covering his mouth with her hands and says.

"If you can get me to say I love you, then I'll marry you, your highness."

The Prince then laughs out loud again.

"hahahahaha!"

"what's so funny again?"

"no, nothing. I just feel like I'm falling in love with you all over again."

The Prince would've never expected her to say that she would marry him, for her even to have considered that made him very happy.

So Prince Leon hugged her tightly into his arms and gently whispered into her ears.

"I love you, Ivy. I wish you could be mine forever."

And as Ivy heard his words, she could not help but feel remorse because she knew that she could not return his love.

As his love was not meant for her but another woman.

< silly boy, you wouldn't say that to me if only you knew that I wasn't your true love.>

She hugged him back while she kept this secret in her heart.

***************

For the past two weeks,

I've been avoiding Prince Leon.

Ever since that day, I proposed to Prince Leon that I would give our relationship a chance; to be honest, I haven't thought about what I am supposed to do next.

Currently, I'm supposed to be acting as the Prince's lover, at least, until he falls in love with the Princess. However, I don't have the slightest idea of how a lover should be.

I initially just wanted to buy some time, that's why I propose a trial period, but I'm a total amateur in relationships. I've never dated anyone before, not in this life or the last one. So I cannot imagine how dating looks like.

On top of that, I wasn't very keen to go into this relationship since I knew that eventually, he would cheat on me and then dump me for another woman.

But since he insisted on not wanting to cancel the engagement, I guess I have no choice. *sobs*

Because of that, whenever I noticed him around, I unconsciously avoided meeting him.

At least I don't have to worry too much about my d-day anymore since Prince Leon promises me that he will break off the engagement peacefully once he falls out of love with me.

Even though he declared that he would make me fall in love with him, I didn't bear any high expectations because whatever happens, I have to forget about him once he is gone.

So during these past two weeks, I've just peacefully relaxed and enjoyed myself with the things I love.

Even today, after I made sure the Prince left. I took out my picnic basket and enjoyed my book under the tree shade.

Today, the sky was so blue; it made me wonder how many more peaceful days I had left. Maybe, if I stayed hidden from the Prince for a while, he might just forget about me, and the story will proceed like how it is supposed to be.

"———ahhh, it's such a wonderful day today! I hope these days can last forever."

Sadly these days couldn't last forever. As soon as Ivy said that, someone grabbed her from behind and hit her behind her neck.

With the sound of a "thump!" Ivy's vision went black.

******************

*clip-clop* *clip-clop*

The sounds of galloping horses slowly awoken Ivy from her sleep.

As she slowly opens her eyes, she notices she is lying down on someone's lap inside a moving carriage.

Then she looked up and saw Prince Leon's face.

Prince Leon smiled at her.

"You're finally awake?"

Ivy immediately woke up and sat far away from Prince Leon.

"wha..what? Why? How?"

Ivy was so surprised that she couldn't think straight.

"Calm down."

"Your highness. What are you doing here? Why am I here?"

Prince Leon draws closer to her without saying a word, forcing her to close her eyes as she shivers with fear.

"Does it still hurt?"

Prince Leon asked as he checked her neck for wounds.

"huh?"

"I didn't expect my man to strike you so hard. I'm really sorry about that. I was worried that it would leave a mark behind."

Ivy finally calms down. She slowly pulled away from the Prince's hand as she tried to comprehend the current situation.

"Your highness. Why are we here? What is going on?"

"Leon"

"What?"

"Call me Leon. We are lovers now, are we not?"

Ivy blushed and looked away.

<Oh No! Pheromone Attack! Defence Ivy! Defence!>

Even if Ivy tried her best to endure, but as Prince Leon raised his hand towards her face, forcing her to turn and look at him, she lost all her strength to think straight.

"If you call my name, I'll tell you."

He then smiled sweetly at her while he waited for her answer.

Ivy blushed even harder, and her heart started to beat a little faster.

Although she was reluctant to do it, looking at him stare at her left her with no choice.

"Le...on."

He pulled her a little closer, forcing her to repeat.

"I can't hear you."

Ivy held in a deep breath and forced the word out of her mouth.

"Leon..."

The Prince smiled and let go of her chin.

"Good girl."

Then he slowly distanced himself away from her, giving her space to calm down.

Ivy can tell that the Prince is in a bad mood, but she doesn't know why.

"Uhm, are you angry about something?"

Prince Leon was sulking at a corner when he turned and glared at her with his piercing blue eyes.

"Why have you been avoiding me?"

"Eek!!"

Ivy flinches like a mouse as she slowly back away further from him.

"Whatever do you mean?"

"You have been avoiding me for the past two weeks. Tell me why now..."

He continues to glare at her with his menacing look.

Ivy could see that Prince Leon was so angry that a black aura was slowly releasing from his body.

"I don't know how."

"huh?" he raised an eyebrow "what do you mean by that?"

"I don't know how to act like a lover. I don't know what I'm supposed to do. So I felt awkward seeing you."

Ivy started to cry as she felt scared facing the angry Prince.

The Prince's anger immediately disperses when he sees Ivy crying. He quickly went over to her side and comforted her.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be angry with you. I just... I just thought you were going to leave me again."

*sobs* *sobs* "why are you bullying me...?"

Ivy continues to cry again as she tries to wipe the tears from her eyes while the Prince panicked, seeing her act this way.

"I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. Please, Ivy, don't cry. I didn't mean to hurt you."

Ivy stopped crying as she saw the Prince turn panicked and flustered.

"Are you going to stop being mean to me?"

"yes. Yes. I won't be mean to you anymore, I promise. Cross my heart. Will you forgive me now?"

Ivy turns herself away from the Prince, pouting like she doesn't care.

Prince Leon let out a long sigh as he buried his head into her shoulder and hugged her around the waist.

"I'm really sorry. When I noticed that you were avoiding me, I thought you were planning to leave me again. I wasn't thinking straight. Please forgive me".

Ivy turned around and looked at the Prince. She couldn't help but forgive him after seeing his sorrowful face.

Then she patted his head and comforted him.

"I'm sorry as well. I didn't mean to make you feel lonely. Will you forgive me?"

He silently nodded while he pouted like a child, and it made Ivy chuckle as she continued to stroke his hair.

"hehe...silly boy".

The Prince then laid his head on Ivy's lap.

"Your highness?!"

The Prince glanced back at her and repeated, "L-E-O-N."

"Uhm, yes... Leon. What are you doing?"

"Your punishment. For ignoring your lover for so long. So let me stay like this until we get there."

"But where are we going?"

Prince Leon closed his eyes and just smiled, not wanting to let Ivy know his surprise.

The Prince slowly went into a deep sleep while Ivy gently stroke the hair on his head.

She felt like he was a cute puppy sleeping on her lap, and it made her let out a small laugh.

She never would've thought that a Villainess like her would have happy moments like these with the male lead.

< but don't falter, Ivy. This is not real. He doesn't love you. Remember you are not his true love.>

No matter how much Ivy wanted to indulge in these moments, she held her feelings back as she chanted her words in her mind, reminding herself of the truth that only she knew.

"This is good enough. I won't ask for more. I'll keep you in my memories so that when you leave, I can always remember you like this."