"Allen, welcome b---," Lyn immediately froze, and Allen immediately understood why. His sweat fell when he saw her look suspiciously at Rei.

"This is Lady Rei, she will be helping us today."

"Your old fiance."

".. "

Allen looked at the girl, dumbfounded. How on earth does she know that? Or rather, is it just him or does she seem quite mad?

"A pleasure to meet you, Princess Lyn," Rei bows.

Lyn nodded, "A pleasure, Lady Rei."

To anyone else, it looked like a regular exchange, but Allen felt there was something amiss with the girl.

"I"ll ride with Rhys," Lyn muttered.

Rhys lips curve to a smile, "See, I knew you"d come back to me."

"Dummy."

Allen didn"t know why she was so mad. Did he do something wrong? Is she upset because he left her alone for a while?

…

Camp -

It was clear that Lyn wasn"t happy with this decision at all. From the way, she was frowning and walking towards the horse every so often.

"Lyn, it"s 2 am."

Princess Shaarya was kidnapped at 9, and for the past few hours, they"ve traveled. When Allen realized how late it was, he decided to make a stop. If all would plan, then the others should have made their preparations by now. By morning, Prince Ereland will be trapped.

"But, I…"

"Horses need to rest too," Rhys interjected. Rhys lightly brushed his hands across the girl"s hair and tossed it slightly, "And you need to take care of yourself."

"Okay.."

Allen watched the scene with wide eyes. "So, this guy is problematic too," he thought. Allen was under the impression that the only problem was Kazuya. Who would have thought that this guy too also posed as an issue? An issue? No matter what he did, it"s not like Allen stood a chance anymore. He already admitted defeat to Kazuya, let alone try to compete against Rhys.

..

When Lyn said, she would be sleeping with Rhys. Allen was horrified, he kept tossing and turning in the tent he shared with Rei. He wanted to stand up and check on them. Allen didn"t think Lyn would be comfortable sharing a tent with a stranger, even though the standard arrangement should be female and males. But he wanted her to get some proper rest.

He"s always followed the traditional teachings for males and females. Since Lyn and he are elites too and engaged. Allen knew he shouldn"t sleep next to her. They are not married yet, so he shouldn"t stay beside her like that. This is the reason why he refrained from touching her these past few years. Ever since she became a lady and grew up, Allen didn"t engage in anything intimate with her because of his values.

This time around, too, he hesitated. Earlier when he laid down beside her, Allen intended to leave after ensuring she fell asleep too. It ended up with him falling asleep. Allen knew he could not get away with that now if they were to share the same tent, that"s why he is hesitant. But if it meant sacrificing his norms to keep her safe, then he would. Allen should have just asked her what the problem was. If he did, and they spoke about it.

"You must calm down, I do not think even a man like that would attack your fiance when you"re so close by."

"A man like that," it appears that Rei has noticed too. Allen deeply sighed, "Did you not see it? Her neck is covered in kiss marks. He did that when they were riding together."

"I see, he"s quite the brute. If you must go."

Allen felt odd about this, and awkwardly asked, "Come along."

"Allen, your simply acting ridiculous.."

"I am aware that this is unlike me. But," Allen paused. Just in case they were doing something. He needed somebody to stop him from doing anything brash.

Rei laughed, and Allen blinked. This must be the first time he heard the woman laugh; it was oddly refres.h.i.+ng. Rei agreed to come with him and

When they reached the tent, Allen noticed how unusually quiet it was. Is that man really not doing anything to her? Allen found it hard to believe. He hurriedly opened the curtain to the tent, to his surprise, it was not the scene he expected. Allen expected to see flushed limbs and bare bodies, but instead, he saw that the two were fully clothed and fast asleep.

Allen frowned when he saw the sight of Rhys holding Lyn so closely in his arms. Rei, however, sighed, "You see? If he likes her he will not do anything intolerable, come let us retire. We must be awake in two hours."

"Indeed…"

Is it just his imagination?

______

"Did you hear that? I won"t do anything bad supposedly. n.o.blewomen are very naive," Rhys licked his lips as he looked down at the girl he pinned down on the mattress. Her beautiful hair flowed across her shoulders, her disheveled appearance made it seem like they did something.

"R--Rhy, stop."

"Relax, I"m not that unreasonable. I"ll wait until you accept me."

"Normal people would say they would wait until I"m eighteen!"

Rhys sighed, "Such traditional values. If you"re going to become my woman, you better drop that."

"Who is going to become yours? Certainly not me."

Why is she acting so stubborn for? But he supposes this is also a side of her that he liked.

"Why struggle when we"re already like this? Don"t you have any desires as a young woman?"

Lyn looked down, "I do," she trailed off," But only with the person I love."

So she will be doing it with Kazuya first? Rhys didn"t like the mere thought of that, "What if I take you before him?"

"Do you really think I"d allow you? I"m not as defenseless as you think I am."

Yeah, he knows. How many times has she stabbed him with that knife? Still, his lips curve to a smile when he felt her trembling. She most likely didn"t think he would do this the moment she got dressed. He looked towards the small screen that he knocked over. She came way too prepared, despite deciding abruptly that she would stay with him in the same tent.

It irritated him how she switched horses halfway. But when Rhys recalled the plan, he knew this would happen. Lyn seemed to be quite fond of her fiance, and while bit bugged him that she got jealous. At least he could take advantage of this opportunity.

Rhys had torn the girls robe slightly revealing her beautiful b.r.e.a.s.t.s, "You look so breathtakingly beautiful."

"Rhys, please let me sleep."

"I will soon," Rhys muttered. Even though he wasn"t that cruel, Rhys still wasn"t done with her. "But, I need to mark what"s mine."

He already left marks on her neck earlier, and now. Rhys bent down and lifted the robes slightly, so he could see her legs. He brought his lips there and started to place kisses along her leg.

"Stop, it feels weird."

"It does?"

"You know it does, jerk!"

She"s so fun to tease. But, Rhys frowned when he recalled the fiance"s reaction earlier. That man genuinely loves her, won"t it just be a matter of time before he makes an effort? Rhys thought that Prince Allen had lost all hope, but if he had, he wouldn"t have checked up on her. He has to deal with that man somehow. He and Kazuya can fight fair and square for Lyn. Rhys didn"t need another person interrupting.

"Rhys quit it! I"ll stab you."

"You left your knife in your bag, which is all the way over there."

"Your way too cruel," Lyn murmured, "So cruel, I"ll never fall in love with you jerk."

Hmmm, she says this now. But he has his ways. It"s easy to make a girl like Lyn bend to his will. However, does he want that? Doesn"t he want her to fall in love with him seriously?