Operation: Avoid the Crown Prince

5 | Gold and Amethyst

Time stood still for me as Anastasia's memories about Sylvan flooded my mind. All those times she spent following after a person who can't even spare her a second glance, sleepless nights spent searching for the best gift whenever his birthday comes around, and all the harsh rejections in reply to her confessions of love. The emotions that came along with the memories of the past caused an inner turmoil in my heart but I tried hard not show it too much on my face. Calm down, self. Let's not make a bad impression. One wrong move and this sociopath will execute me in the future.

Come to think of it, in the original storyline, the two of them first met in the Imperial Garden too, right? How can I forget such an important fact?!

I clicked my tongue and turned my head to the side to hide the nasty scowl on my face. I knew it was a bad idea to follow that out of character duke of a father! Just look at the trouble he got me in!

"Why are you here in the garden anyway? Are you a visiting noble?"

Sylvan asked with his unchanging expressionless face (which seriously made me wonder if he's born with face paralysis or something).

Gah! Why is this kid being so talkative? Based on my understanding of his character through the novel and Anastasia's memories, at this point he should've walked away with his usual emotionless face. What's making him stay now? And what is he even doing here, alone and without a single chaperone? I thought members of the Royal family always had an assistant following them around.

"Greetings to Your Highness, the Crown Prince. This lowly subject apologizes for disrupting His Highness' walk in the garden."

I hastily apologized and purposely distanced from him, acting the complete opposite of how Anastasia originally did in their first meeting. I'm not planning to die a second death and most especially in the hands of this sociopathic ice block. I'm running away the first chance I get.

"If you'd excuse me, Your Highness. I won't disturb you any longer."

I bowed and quickly turned away to leave while chanting "I'm not gonna die" over and over in my head.

"You didn't answer my question."

His cold voice made me stop in my tracks. Why are you making this so hard for me?! I'm trying to avoid you so you won't be annoyed by me and have me killed in the future, can't you see that?!

Reluctantly, I turned around with a stiff smile and a fake apologetic laugh. This guy is truly the bane of my existence.

"Apologies once again for being so rude, Your Highness. I was admiring the flowers in the garden since I had nothing much to do. My mother and the Empress are talking about something and I didn't want to intrude."

More like, they didn't want me to intrude... but he doesn't need to know about how I actually wanted to hear some gossip about his parents' love life. That would be unladylike and knowing this sociopath's tendency to nitpick on everyone's imperfections in the safety of his own mind, I'd rather not portray an image that he'd have fun nitpicking over.

"Ah, that means you're Duchess Kyanos' daughter."

He said, realization settling on his features. His golden eyes then stared at me as if he was scrutinizing me, must be looking for something to mentally nitpick at.

"That is correct, Your Highness."

Hurry up and dismiss me already... I already apologized for being rude, acted politely, and all that usual courtesy of a noble lady so I probably wouldn't get on his nerves, right? He wouldn't have an excuse to execute me anymore if I keep acting like a proper ducal princess. Hah, take that plot! Even though the storyline keeps correcting itself by making Anastasia and Sylvan meet when I clearly intend to avoid this sociopath, I can still control my own destiny. I'll act like the model young lady so no one can say anything about executing anyone. But that doesn't mean I'll stop avoiding this block of ice. The safety of my future can only be 100% guaranteed if I'm far, far away from this Crown Prince.