Prince Melire's POV
"Master." I bowed as I greeted the woman sitting in the room. The noise from outside was drowned in silence. "Leave your people outside and sit." She said without looking up from the book in front of her. I sat across from her and waited.
She looked more refined and mature from the first time I saw her. She was young when we first met. Maybe fifteen years old, it's been thirteen years now. Her aura back then was bloodthirsty and murderous. Now it's more refined. Still, the last thing I ever want to do is underestimate her again.
That day I was a wreck, holding onto my wife's body tightly as I waited for a doctor. She came instead, with two people. The man pulled me away and the woman picked up my wife's body like she was a piece of paper.
'I'll make sure she survives.' She said coldly as she looked around the room. 'Meet me at the Pendant Tower three days from now after cleaning up.' She casted me a look of disdain before disappearing. I stormed the Pendant Tower that exact day but was kicked out.
On the third day I was finally allowed in but as soon as I met her, she beat me until my bones were broken and then she whipped my body like it was a lump of meat. She gave me an order. 'After you've healed, cause a deadly disturbance in Yalki and leave.' I didn't have much of a choice back then, so I did what she said.
We met again in Heln after the war was over. I asked about my wife and she said that she was alive. I demanded to see her and that angered her. She broke my hands and nearly cut my tongue out.
She knocked the table twice, knocking me out of my thoughts and the door behind me opened. The Manager walked in and moved the book from in front of her, then placed a glass of wine before he left.
She picked up the glass. "It's been a while, third prince. You really broke any and all expectations I had for you." I bow my head. "Thank you for the compliment, Master."
"Seven years ago, Heln finally got themselves together. You used the latter four to get rid of the internal strife and stabilized you and your sister's position in the Kingdom. Your sister must be happy to have you on her side." I gave a small smile.
"My sister actually told me a few interesting things before I left." I sat back in the chair. "My older brother died four years ago from illness but the night he died, my sister said she heard him talking to someone." I look at her.
"Did you know my brother?" She nodded. "I did." I narrowed my eyes. "Was the person he spoke to you?" She nodded again. "It was." I scoffed. "You killed my brother." She chuckled. "I had many opportunities to kill your brother. I wouldn't wait until he's in bed and sick from illness."
"You are that General he always talked about then?" She didn't answer the question. "What does that have to do with the meeting?" I slammed my hand on the table. "Of course it's important! I need to know who you are!"
"Heln has always been a strong horse, but it was focused on the grass over the river instead of the grass in front of it. Now the rider has finally helped the horse opened its eyes." She said with a small smile. I sighed. "Yes, you helped us. Helped me. But you were getting something out of it too."
I lean forward. "Now, our deal has come to an end so you will tell me where my wife's body is." As soon as the words left my mouth, I regretted it. Her eyes that held indifference before, now held nothing at all. It was as if I was looking into the eyes of the dead. In my excitement of finding out her identity, I forgot what I just remembered. Her cruel nature.
"Master. I misspoke." She suddenly grinned and my heart nearly leapt out of my chest in fear. I was looking my death in the face and made demands. Other than the first time I met her, this is the first time I'd ever thought that I'd feel as though I was going to die.
"Master... I didn't mean it like that." She laughed and I clutched the chair arms tightly. It was sickly sweet, like a freshly picked peach yet it gripped me in a vice. "Deal... Hm. A deal was made between us, wasn't it?"
"I remember it clearly, but you seemed to have broken it. Seven years ago, five years ago, three years ago and five months ago. How do you explain that to me?" I swallowed hard. "I couldn't control my anger."
"What does your anger have to do with my business?" She asked. "You were forcing them into prostitution!" I yelled angrily. She chuckled. "And yet they came back on their own accord, so did I really force them?" She stood up.
"Besides, thanks to prostitution you found your wife. Held her every day for three months. But because you were weak, you ended you getting her killed." She walked towards me. "Now that you have a little power, you want to turn things around and try to command me?"
She grabbed my hair and slammed my face into the table before I could react. "The power you have now is what I gave you which means that I can take it away. Having your sister take over the Kingdom is so that things are easier for me. Not because I don't have any more options."
She released my hair and stepped back. "Remember your position, third prince. Someone was constantly begging me to help you. They clean up after you and compensate me but, that doesn't mean that everything is good now. The conditions of the deal have changed."
She walked to the door. "You have twelve hours." She stepped out of the room and left. I sighed deeply, annoyed that this meeting got nowhere.
I stand up and turn to leave when I stopped and looked at the woman standing in front of me. "Ruby." I grabbed her face, my eyes clouding with tears. "It's really you?" I place my head to her chest, feeling her heart beating against it.
I fell to my knees. "I heard you heart stop. I checked." I grab onto her legs. "I checked. I heard it stop! I know I did!"