Married To The Enemy Kingdom's Illegitimate Prince
Chapter 96 — An Assassination Attempt

Chapter 96: 96 — An Assassination Attempt

"I love you," Cynthia whispered, her voice carrying a lingering hint of affection.

Lucian’s brows furrowed in disbelief.

"W-What?" he managed to say, his tone dropping to a near whisper, his eyes widening as if he had just received the biggest shock imaginable.

"I said—"

"Don’t." He raised his hand, shaking his head as disbelief washed over him. She was obviously lying. Nothing about her felt real. Her kind behavior, her smiles, even her words—all of it seemed like a cruel illusion. For a moment, he had almost fallen for her act.

"Your Highness," Cynthia stepped closer, fists clenched in anxiety. Had she messed things up? Was she mistaken? Did he not have any feelings for her yet? She believed that somewhere beneath his armor, he had begun to feel something other than hatred.

"Will you stop playing these games?! What are you so afraid of that you can’t even tell me the truth? Are you desperate to keep lying to my face, resorting to such tricks? I thought you asked me to trust you. For that, you need to trust me as well, and speak honestly instead of adding more distrust between us!"

The anger in his voice sent shivers down Cynthia’s spine. It felt as though everything had reverted to square one; he hated her even more than before. Perhaps he had noticed her lies from the very beginning but had chosen to overlook them.

"I need to stick by my words," she reminded herself, refusing to surrender to his accusations just yet. She had to gather every ounce of strength to find the courage to voice those three words.

In her past life, she had never managed to utter those words, fearing that his hatred would only intensify and that he would cast her out of the mansion before anything could blossom between them.

"Do you still hate me?"

Hearing that question, something inside Lucian seemed to be burning and he did not know what. Without a second thought, he turned his heels and made his way outside the room. He could not stand the sight of her right now.

Once he slammed the door behind him, Lucian stood beside it, unsure of where to go. This wasn’t even his mansion, and he didn’t know where he could find some peace. For some reason, the hallway was eerily empty, as if no servants wanted to be there.

"Who would want to stay with this crazy woman?" He mumbled, shaking his head. "I’m an idiot for thinking she would be different from the rumours," he snorted.

[I told you to not trust this woman. But you never listen to me, do you?] Keal sneered.

"You haven’t been around for a while," Lucian remarked, glancing towards the dark shadow moving beside him.

[You weren’t listening to me and ignoring me. I got sad and decided to leave until you missed me. But you never did. When I returned, I just witnessed that woman telling you some sweet love words as if she meant it.]

"I wonder if she was truly lying? For a moment it felt—"

[She is trying to toy with you! Why are you so eager to become her puppet?]

Lucian did not answer. He was unsure why he felt so vulnerable at times whenever Cynthia was involved. He wasn’t like this in the past. What has changed from back then? He didn’t know.

Just as he was about to walk away, he heard a loud crash coming from the room. Unsure of what might be happening, he slowly creaked the door open slightly, peeking through the small opening, making sure she wouldn’t notice him. He was certain it was because she was angry things didn’t go her way. It wasn’t uncommon for nobles to take their anger out of objects, and even people whom they didn’t care about such as commoners, only to toss them aside.

Lucian’s thoughts paused once he noticed a manly figure’s shadow moving inside the room. His eyebrows furrowed. Was she now messing around with another man, right after confessing some ’love’ words to him?

Clenching his fist, he swung the door wide open, entering the hall.

"What is going on here?" He demanded in a cold tone, his voice filled with suppressed rage.

"Nothing much," Cynthia replied nonchalantly, in an absent mind. She seemed to be seated on the ground, her head slightly visible from the other side of the bed and her gaze was focused on the ground— as if she was staring at something or someone.

"What are you doing?" Lucian walked behind her, seeing her seated on top of a man. His veins began showing while he tightened his clenched fists.

"I told you it’s nothing." Cynthia repeated.

"Help me! She is trying to kill–"

Cynthia pressed her hands on the man’s mouth, an evil smile on her face.

"My, who said you get to talk? Weren’t you the one who was getting so confident that you could kill me?"

"Your Highness..." Lucian sighed, pulling her up by her arm forcefully.

Cynthia’s eyes widened at the sight of Lucian as if she hadn’t noticed it was him all along. She was certain it was a servant or a maid.

"I thought you left," she pulled back from his grip, biting his lips nervously.

"I don’t know where I should have gone but–" Lucian halted once he noticed the man on the ground rising, holding a sword in his grip.

"You think you can get away this time?!" The man shouted, his hand pressed on Cynthia’s shoulder as he was about to pierce the blade into her flesh.

Before Cynthia could speak, Lucian had already struck the man with a fierce punch to his face. The man lay on the ground, barely moving his muscles.

"H-How c-can y-you be s-so s-strong?" He managed to speak despite the occasional stuttering due to the immense pain.

"How dare you touch her? Don’t you know who she is?!" Lucian demanded, glaring down at him, taking back the sword from his grip.

Just as Lucian knelt on the ground, taking a close look at the man, Cynthia took the sword from him.

"Let’s at least ask who sent–"

Lucian paused once he heard the loud cry of the man, his chest pierced by the same blade Lucian held a moment ago.

"Y-You," he hesitated, seeing the intense gaze she had in her eyes.

"We should change quarters for the night. It won’t be proper to sleep here," Cynthia walked towards her night table and fumbled through the drawers. She pulled out a white handkerchief and wiped the few stains of blood that dropped on her hands.

Lucian stood up, scanning her without blinking an eye. She was nothing like he had expected her to be. Even if in the rumours she was known to be abusive and evil, there was no talk about her killing a man without blinking an eye. No ordinary noblewoman who grew up inside the palace would be able to unalive a man without batting an eye!

"Why aren’t you saying anything?" Cynthia turned to Lucian who shook his head.

"Let’s head out. I believe we have more to discuss."

***

Seating on the couch, Cynthia sipped on her tea without glancing at Lucian as she usually would. She would keep looking at him, making sure his gaze was locked on hers but now, she didn’t want that. She wanted him to look at her, just as he was now, without her having to force him. She had realized one thing, the moment she tried to get close to him, the further he always went. But whenever she would stop, he would begin to start looking for her, just as he had done a month ago when she had grown upset due to his harsh behaviour.

"Your Highness, what was that man doing there?" Lucian asked, unable to patiently wait for her to explain herself. He would be a fool if he thought that she would tell him everything honestly. But, this time, he had no choice but to ask.

"An assationation attempt. Have you never experienced these?" Cynthia replied nonchalantly.

Baffled by her calm demeanour, Lucian narrowed his eyes.

"It’s dangerous for you to stay alone in this room. I’ll ask them to move my belongings in this room and—"

"Why are you acting as if it matters to you, Your Highness? You wouldn’t care if I were to die. Perhaps, you would be shocked for a moment. But then, none of it would make a difference to you."

The memory of when she laid on the ground in a pond of blood flashed through Cynthia’s mind. Lucian merely looked shocked, surprised but surely, he didn’t care. There was no pain in his eyes, no tears flowed down his eyes either.

"I said I will stay here and that’s the end of the discussion. I don’t wish to argue with you right now," Lucian grabbed the handle of the tea cup and sipped the whole cup at once.

Noticing Cynthia’s gaze on him, he turned conscious. He was told numerous times by his etiquette teacher to not finish his drink at once. It was ill mannered. Clenching his fist, he placed the cup back on the small plate, unsure of what Cynthia might be thinking of him.

[Why do you care about what she thinks? She is a liar herself. She can’t judge you for your manners.] Keal whispered, the dark shadow moving around Lucian.