Chapter 2
Jamie would never understand.
The humiliating arranged marriage, to him, was a cruel twist of fate, but to me, it was merely the first step in my plan.
This chess match was only just getting started.
On my wedding day, the city was awash in fancy decoration, and I wore a coronet with a ceremonial gown fit for royalty.
I became the rightful Crown Princess.
But the Prince's Palace felt even colder than the Northlands I'd grown up in.
It was already late at night.
The wedding candles flickered quietly, filling the whole bridal chamber with a red glow.
I sat on the wedding bed, the coronet on my head felt like it weighed a ton. My neck was killing me.
My personal maid, Presley Nolan, was pacing anxiously by my side.
"Your Highness, why isn't the Prince here yet?" Presley asked. "It's already so late."
I took off the coronet and just set it on the table.
I rubbed my stiff neck, trying to ease the ache.
"He's not coming," I said.
My voice was calm.
Presley paused, her eyes filling with tears.
"How could this happen? Today is your wedding day with the Prince," she exclaimed. "Even if he doesn't want this marriage, he can't treat you like this."
I looked at myself in the bronze mirror.
My bridal look was radiant, my face as beautiful as a painting.
But the eyes staring back at me were deep.
"Presley, remember this," I said. "From today onward, this is our battlefield. On the battlefield, there's no warmth—only victory or defeat."
Presley nodded, not really understanding, but her tears kept falling.
Her heart ached for me. I'd gone from the Duke of the North's treasured daughter to the Crown Princess everyone in the Prince's Palace could push around.
Just then, the door to the bridal chamber creaked open.
Presley and I turned around at the same time.
Jamie stood in the doorway, reeking of alcohol.
He wasn't wearing his wedding attire—just his usual black clothes, looking as cold as ever.
His sharp, icy eyes were glazed with alcohol, only making him seem more aloof.
He looked at me, his eyes filled with blatant contempt and undisguised disgust.
Presley, startled, immediately bowed.
"Your Highness," she stammered.
Jamie ignored her completely and walked straight over to me.
He gazed down at me from above, as if I were nothing more than a meaningless trinket.
"Michelle," he called my name, his voice icy and edged with contempt. "Feeling proud of yourself, aren't you?"
I raised my head and locked eyes with him, refusing to back down.
"Is that what you think, Your Highness?" I replied.
He scoffed coldly. "Drop the act in front of me. The Gibson family went through all that trouble just to make you the Crown Princess, didn't they?
"Now that you've finally got your wish, aren't you thrilled?"
I didn't say a word.
I knew that, in his eyes, any explanation would just look like a cover-up.
My silence only made him even angrier.
He loomed over me and seized my chin in a vice-like grip.
The strength of it made my brows furrow instantly.
"You think just because you're the Crown Princess, you can do whatever you want?" he sneered. "I'm telling you. So long as I'm around, you'll never get what you want.
"I'll give you the honor of being Crown Princess. But you can forget about getting anything else from me."
His breath hit my face, reeking of booze and even deeper hatred.
I looked into his eyes, so close that the tension was almost palpable.
Reflected in them was my own calm, unruffled face.
I spoke slowly, my voice quiet but crystal clear.
"Are you finished?" I said.
Jamie's eyes narrowed in surprise.
He definitely didn't see that coming from me—no tears, no protest, not even the slightest trace of fear.
I calmly uncurled his fingers from my chin, one by one.
"If you're finished, Your Highness, you may go," I said. "It's late. I need to rest."
Jamie jerked his hand away like he'd touched something hot.
He stepped back, eyeing me like I was some kind of freak.
"You..." Jamie began.
He looked like he wanted to say more, but just snorted coldly, full of contempt.
"Fine. Very fine," he said. "Michelle, you really are different from other women. Hope you can keep that backbone."
With those words, he turned and left without a second thought.
His tall figure quickly disappeared through the doorway, leaving nothing but silence in the room.
Presley scrambled up and hurried to my side.
"Your Highness, are you okay?" she asked.
She saw the red mark on my chin, and tears sprang to her eyes again.
I shook my head.
"I'm fine," I said.
I walked over to the window and pushed it open.
Outside, the courtyard was silent, moonlight spilling over the cold stone steps like water.
My chambers as Crown Princess were called the Lunarae Palace.
It sounded poetic enough, at least on the surface.