Elys caught herself salivating over the food that the prince brought over. She felt a low rumble rise from her stomach, and her hand instinctively covered them in embarrassment. She instantly put on her most stoic face, trying to hide the fact that she was taken by surprise that Aleksander himself brought her dinner.
"How?" she blurted in disbelief, but then quickly added, "No, never mind. You don’t need to answer that question."
The princess recalled there was only one person who could have told the prince about her preferences – Cordelia. She didn’t know what came into the maidservant’s mind, but Elys surely would give her an earful about it.
Aleksander stepped inside her room and brought the tray over her desk. With one hand balancing the food, he made some space for the tray with his free hand.
"I didn’t know you still lacked a few essential furniture in here," he mused over Elys’ bedchamber. "Remind Henry first thing tomorrow morning to bring over some extra table and a couch set."
He turned to Elys and beckoned her to sit down and eat, but the princess only stood by the door.
"Why are you doing this?" Elys asked, suspicion still in her heart.
The prince turned his eyes away from her, and he scratched his head in an obvious awkward manner. There was a pregnant pause that was bursting with uneasiness that filled the room. Elys was determined not to be swayed, to which Aleksander groaned in frustration.
"Henry said if I really wanted to make it up to you, that I should make the effort to let you feel my sincerity," he finally said after several seconds of uncomfortable silence.
’Henry?’ the princess repeated in her head, ’That old man surely does have some old tricks up his sleeves. Too bad it wouldn’t be effective on me.’
"You know, your highness, you clearly aren’t fit to act like this," Elys spoke as she kept the door wide open, "You don’t need to pretend to be too nice to me. I just wanted you to be civil enough for me to live comfortably."
Aleksander clenched his fists as he suddenly turned beet red in mortification, "I made an effort wife. At the very least you could acknowledge it."
The princess crossed her arms, leaned at the door’s frame and said, "But are your efforts not motivated by an underlying goal? You want me to help you by using my powers, I firmly decline. What I will do, is to point to you what I think you should do to bring down your enemies for the crown."
The prince clicked his tongue in disappointment.
Elys moved towards her table and tried as much as she could to disregard the tempting food plated in a perfectly immaculate manner. It was as if she was already eating with her eyes.
They didn’t just smell great - they also look divine!
’Focus, Elys!’ she told herself.
The princess flipped over some of her notes, tore the papers and handed them over to the prince.
"Those are the families I think would be potential supporters to the Ardorlean bloodline. Towards the next page, I listed the nobilities whom you should be wary of. The Farvar family is at the top, followed by the Elnuas and Ravinias," she pointed out.
Aleksander accepted her notes with a heavy heart. He still couldn’t believe the princess didn’t appreciate his efforts when he had to push himself to do it. The prince wasn’t used to being nice – nobody had been nice to him his whole life that all he ever knew was to be rude.
He was going way out of his comfort zone to reach out to her, but the princess still kept her mind and heart closed.
The prince let out a long and heavy sigh, "I understand that you still have reservations against me. I do believe you have the right to be cautious, as I won’t deny the fact that I do want you to help me. You obviously have great potential, Princess Elysianne."
"Thank you," she replied with a hint of sarcasm.
The prince slowly walked towards Elys’ door, but before he fully exited, her husband paused and turned back to say something Elys would ponder for the rest of her long night.
"I do believe that we might come from opposite ends, but trust me when I say that we don’t need to fight each other anymore," Aleksander said, "We share the same hatred for the same kingdom, and I am very much determined to show you that we can achieve our revenge if we could just work together."
Elys turned to give the prince a quick side glance, trying to catch a glimpse of his expression as he said those words to her. But before she could even do so, Elys heard her door close with a soft thud, and the prince was no more in her room.
+++
Aleksander walked out of Elys’ room with his mind racing.
He knew the princess had all the rights to be suspicious of him. The prince himself admitted that he really wanted her to be a part of his plan for revenge. And yet somehow, it frustrated him that Elys still wouldn’t agree to his offer.
He walked the hallways of the dark manor silently, dragging his feet without really giving it a thought whether he was returning to his room or passing the great hall.
Somehow, Prince Aleksander found himself in the room that the princess first tried to slit his throat open. He stood by the corridor until footsteps echoed from the other side, and the prince turned to see his attendant with a lamp doing his nightly rounds.
"Young prince," Henry greeted Aleksander, "it seems like you got a lot in your mind."
Aleksander stared at the broken mirror scattered on the ground. A few drops of blood had dried beneath them, and he sighed for the nth time.
"The princess hates me," he finally said.
Henry stared at the prince’s troubled face. Henry stood beside the prince and pat his back like a father to his son. He was conflicted whether the prince wanted words of comfort or the painful truth.
’Maybe a bit of both would be best,’ Henry finally decided.