"Princess Yuria, I hope things have been fine with you. The last time I had the chance to visit you was two years ago. From then on, each day felt like an eternity when I thought about seeing you again. I hope you forgive me if I am too forward," Maxim Lancaster said with a smile that seemed as charming as the sun.
Yuria was squeezing her eyes in and out, which made Maxim quite confused because he didn't know why she was doing that or how she was feeling about him. He also noticed that her cheeks had a red tint, making him happy inwardly, thinking that she was blushing at his words.
He had hopelessly fallen in love with Yuria the first time he came across her during a business trade between his empire and her kingdom. At that time, he was fourteen, and Yuria was twelve. But still, he got love-struck at first sight, or at that time, he felt that he should get closer to this girl.
Since then, he had never paid any mind to any other girls or women and had frequently visited the Krisen Kingdom and even established friendly relations between his empire and her kingdom with the help of his father as well.
Because of that, the Krisen King had a soft spot for Maxim and grew to like him over time. But still, the Krisen King wasn't ready to give away his daughter to him even though he knew the reasons for Maxim's frequent visits.
Of course, suppose Yuria protested that she wanted to marry Maxim. In that case, her father might give in after many persuasions, thinking that Maxim was the best choice for her.
Each time Maxim saw her, he felt as if she was more beautiful than before, and the more he saw her, the more he wanted to obtain her love.
He had constantly sent her gifts and even love poems which Yuria read-only not to make Maxim feel bad.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})From an outsider's viewpoint, there was no reason for Yuria not to fall in love with Maxim. In fact, they seemed as if they looked good together, especially considering that Maxim could be quite a good catch for Yuria since he was the crown prince of one of the most powerful empires.
But despite how much of a gentleman Maxim was and the ways he tried to woo her, Yuria never felt that certain 'spark' in her heart that could make her heart flutter.
But yesterday night, she thought that she felt that spark when she saw the face of the mysterious boy who tried to break into her palace.
Even now, she couldn't forget his face and the things that happened between them. She still felt as if his hands were on her body, making her blush in embarrassment and shame, thinking about it again.
She tried to get rid of those thoughts by squeezing her eyes in and out since that was how she usually tries to get rid of unnecessary thoughts and focus.
She knew Maxim was before her and did not want to get distracted since that would be rude, and she had certain duties to fulfill as a princess, especially to entertain her guests.
"Princess Yuria, is there something troubling you?" Maxim asked politely, seeing that she had a blank look.
"Huh? Yes, no...I thought that you had been a very good friend to me and my kingdom," Yuria said while coughing inwardly, feeling embarrassed that she got distracted before him.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})She also sighed at herself, thinking that she had to entertain her guest without saying anything that could harm the relationship of her kingdom with his empire.
She knew Maxim was a good guy and probably the most eligible bachelor out there. But at best, she could only see him as a friend, and over time, she got to know how he felt about her and didn't know how to make him understand her feelings.
She always sought to find out more about the prince charming she saw in her dreams occasionally. But she could feel that Maxim was not the one she was looking for despite how excellent he was as a prince.
She felt that she couldn't be herself before him and always had to play the boring role of a noble princess, talking with elegance and grace while being diplomatic as well.
But she was tired of being graceful and elegant while sometimes wishing that she had no problem if her father was a humble farmer and she was the daughter of a farmer since things could have been far more simple.
She then would have been able to spend more time with her father rather than see him always busy and indisposed to give attention to her.
She had always subtly tried to tell Maxim that she was only interested in being friends with him, but those words seemed to have no effect on his infatuation for her.
She was feeling guilty seeing him wasting so much time on her, bringing gifts and everything. She also tried to tell her father to convince Maxim somehow not to visit frequently, but he said that it would be wrong on their part to behave like that.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})However, he did tell her not to feel pressured by anything and that he wouldn't tell her to do something she wouldn't like.
This was the only reassuring thing that kept Yuria relieved since she wouldn't have to worry about her father forcing marriage on her with Maxim.
She had heard too many stories from the gossips of maids about how numerous princesses were married off due to political reasons, which made her feel disgusted by how dirty people's intentions were.
This only made her anxious as she grew older, thinking whether her loving father would send her off with some man she didn't like. But inwardly, she didn't believe her father would since he always pampered her and listened to her every request while giving her love and care she could ask for.
She knew that her father had a good opinion of Maximum and the only prince he approved to have good moral values and principles.
And this was true since Maximum grew up under strict training from wise experts and scholars. Since his empire inherently was following the Way of the Sword, they were straight to the point in anything they do.
Thus, Maximum being direct with Yuria was just normal for him since he believed that this was the right way to woo a woman.
Hearing her calling him a 'good friend', Maximum felt a bit uneasy, not knowing what she meant by that.
"Princess Yuria, if you will let me, I can prove my appreciation for you in the upcoming alchemy competition. I am confident that I wouldn't disappoint you," Maximus felt that Yuria might think about him more once she knew how good he was at alchemy as he knew she was looking for a husband that was an alchemy expert.
But the main reason Yuria decided to make it an alchemy competition was because she saw the prince charming in her dreams concocting pills with skill and finesse.
And the most eye-catching thing was the flames he was using. It was jet black in color that seemed to have a strange luring charm and mystical.
She wanted to see if there would be any youngsters with such strange flames. So far as she heard, only Alchemist Azrael possessed such black flames, but she instantly ignored that fact since she was looking for a young man and not an old senior.
If Alchemist Azrael had a son, she would have been curious, at least. But as far as she knew, he only had a girl as a personal disciple. So it felt like a dead-end to her, and thus she decided to hold this competition, and her father gave in to her silly request, even if he found it ridiculous.
But Maximus, unfortunately, didn't know anything about this and felt that Yuria was holding this competition to pick the winner as her husband.
Yuria decided to tell Maximus the truth in the most subtle way to not hurt him, "Prince Maximus, have you ever felt that there is a certain person you are destined to meet in your life?"
Maximus was surprised at her question, but he nodded as he thought about her. In his perspective, he was destined to meet Yuria and fall in love with her.
"I might have found him, but I am not sure about his identity. That is why I am holding this competition in hopes that he might show up," Yuria said with a glazed stare.
She continued in a tone that contrasted with her previous graceful and poise tone, "Besides, I am not interested in marriage. I am just holding this competition for fun and to see if I can see the person I am looking for again. Marrying someone seems like a lot of responsibility, and I am in no way ready, yawn~" Yuria finished with a yawn as she stretched her arms.
Maximus had a dumbfounded look, not expecting the sudden change in her disposition, and wondered if some ghost replaced her soul.
He only kept blankly staring at her while coming to terms with what she said.
