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chapter 11
Our Engagement Is Void (3)
Serena’s firm words immediately creased Lucas’s face.
“What did you say?”
Any man in the world would feel insulted to hear that marrying his fiancée would be worse than death—especially when he was the Crown Prince of the Empire.
“Do you mean that marrying me would be more terrible than dying?”
Lucas’s dark gaze sharpened as he pressed her with a low, growling tone.
“That’s not what I mean. I simply don’t suit marriage, and Your Highness deserves a better partner. That’s the right choice for everyone.”
“And who decided that ‘right choice’? Always you, the extreme Serena, haven’t you?”
Lucas’s black eyes glared down at her, his displeasure unmasked.
“Isn’t it also because of Your Highness’s stubbornness, unwilling to hear words you dislike?”
Serena stared back at him without an inch of hesitation. Even though Lucas looked strong and imposing, erasing a first impression wasn’t easy.
“My stubbornness? And what about yours?”
As they say, people don’t change.
“Claiming the engagement is void—that’s your stubbornness.”
The boy who had glared at her with a fierce expression at the engagement still lingered in his memory, clearly visible on his own face now.
“It’s a wise suggestion, even a compromise.”
“Exactly. That’s why it’s your stubbornness.”
Lucas recalled the past as he looked at her face. Though he had grown taller and stronger than her, Serena showed neither fear nor caution.
“A selfish stubbornness of your own.”
Her blue eyes challenged him, as if to say that no matter how much he had grown, some things remained the same.
“Think as you please.”
Serena remained composed and confident. Seeing that, Lucas felt an unnecessary surge of anger.
“You haven’t changed a bit, have you?”
“No.”
At her answer, Lucas bit his teeth. The reunion he had imagined was far from this reality. He disliked how Serena’s calm, almost dismissive gaze made him feel ignored.
“I have changed. Can’t you see?”
His dark eyes lingered on her for a moment. Yes, he had changed—but not merely in age or size. The boyish look she remembered had been replaced with something far more commanding.
“Strong enough to take even the most stubborn fiancée by force, if needed.”
A faint, strange smile curved his lips as he approached, gripping Serena’s wrist again. He didn’t add force, but it was impossible to shake him off easily.
“I could just lift you and take you to the palace as I am.”
Lucas spoke confidently.
“Really?”
Serena pushed back sharply, and Lucas’s hand fell away. The ease with which she broke free left him slightly stunned.
Even for a young lady, her strength shouldn’t allow such an easy dismissal.
“Your Highness is certainly strong. But I can protect my own body.”
“I still won’t change your mind.”
Serena sighed involuntarily at his persistence. The harvest season kept her busy, and yet her inattentive fiancé had appeared to make things inconvenient.
“Nor will I.”
“Then it seems we’ve reached a conclusion.”
Lucas’s lips twitched as he looked down at her. He suddenly grabbed her wrist and attempted to pull her into his arms. But instead of the warmth he expected, he met Serena’s elbow squarely on his solar plexus.
“…!”
Lucas doubled over, coughing, as rough breaths escaped him.
“Hah! Just now…”
His face contorted in pain, yet he could not admit that his fiancée had hurt him. Straightening up, he forced a smile.
“A-a little temper tantrum, hmm?”
Though his chest still throbbed and his head rang, Lucas gritted his teeth and smiled stubbornly.
“I was merely protecting myself.”
Serena had no idea she had struck him. Lucas, the victim, was desperately pretending calm, and for her, it was just a light, reflexive strike.
“I understand. It must have been lonely these past six years since the engagement. You may blame my indifference if you wish.”
Lucas’s words were magnanimous, yet Serena busied herself straightening her crumpled dress, uninterested.
“Even if you complained to the Papal Court and the royal family about my indifference, it ends the moment I say I still want you.”
Yet Lucas’s arrogant words reached her clearly. She lifted her chin.
“You’re only noticing me now.”
Lucas wasn’t foolish. He knew she had little interest in him, and that the engagement was a chain to her. His words carried bitter truth.
“My heart has never wavered.”
The wind through the open window stirred his dark hair, and his black eyes shone intensely as they searched hers.
“All these years… I waited only to stand proudly before you.”
Lucas’s words were sincere. Unwilling as she was to acknowledge it, Serena could now see the truth in his gaze.
“I didn’t send you a single letter out of neglect. I feared if a reply came, I wouldn’t endure it.”
“Endure what?”
“I was afraid to approach you. Didn’t I say so?”
Lucas spoke with a teasing edge.
“I hated being small before you. And I hated even more the thought of standing before you like that again.”
Serena hadn’t placed much significance on the engagement. Her remark about his height was merely a retort to his provocation. She had thought his size irrelevant.
Yet that single remark had driven Lucas to train himself mercilessly for six years to reach this point.
“Your Highness, what I said at the engagement wasn’t meant that way.”
“Meaning what, exactly?”
In truth, it had meant nothing. Yet with those dark, earnest eyes fixed on her, it was impossible to admit it.
“That’s alright. I am prouder than ever standing before you now.”
A faint blush of surprise crossed Serena’s face.
“On lonely nights, I gazed at the moon, thinking of you. No matter how hard the day, seeing the moon renewed my determination to train for the next day.”
Who would have guessed that a mere word from her would give a boy such a goal that he trained six years to appear before her?
“At first, my goal was simply to be taller than you. But after looking at the moon every night, I wanted to become the strongest man on this continent.”
Serena had only teased her smaller fiancé, yet her words had changed Lucas’s life.
“Your Highness, I…”
“The only reward I seek is this: to become the strongest man, worthy to take you as my wife.”
Lucas’s blazing eyes could not perceive her objection. That was precisely the problem.
“And recently, after the battle, I realized…”
It was natural for the Crown Prince to train, but Lucas’s path was different. He had forsaken his status to grow as a man. He had fought on battlefields, joined the fray—all for this.
“Now, I am qualified to claim you.”
Seeing him so earnest, Serena felt conflicted.
“How does this seem? Am I not worthy of my reward?”
Lucas asked quietly, but his tension was evident. Serena felt increasingly awkward.
Looking at those big, hopeful eyes, like a giant dog seeking praise, she felt almost guilty.
“Still not enough? If I am lacking, I will return to the battlefield and train further.”
The western Empire often saw skirmishes, yet that was no place for the Crown Prince. Moreover, he seemed already sufficiently trained.
“No need for that, Your Highness.”
“Then give me yourself.”
Lucas, perhaps forgetting the pain in his solar plexus, stepped closer and took her hand again. If his large hand hadn’t trembled slightly, his chest would have suffered further.
“Marry me, Serena.”
The distance between them closed, and the reality of his growth became undeniable. His low voice resonated just above her forehead.
“You are the only one I desire.”
His mind flashed to the stack of engagement proposals on his desk. None mattered to him; only Serena, standing before him, appeared as a woman in his eyes.
Lucas’s breath trembled slightly. Seeing her remain silent, he carefully pressed his lips to her forehead.
But nerves made his breath hot against her skin before the kiss could land.
“Oh!”
Instinctively, Serena let out a shy gasp, smacked his chest, and turned away.
“Ha…”
Where did that small, white hand find such strength? Lucas barely restrained himself from clutching his chest.
Pride aside, he admitted that her strike had nearly made him stagger.
“Don’t surprise me like that.”
Serena’s cheeks flamed. No matter how she thought of him as a boy from years ago, the sight of a grown, strong man leaning to kiss her forehead left her flustered.
“Our engagement is void, after all.”
“That… I cannot accept.”
Lucas’s determination wasn’t so easily shaken.
“But I will be careful not to surprise you.”
The lingering soreness in his chest reminded him that Serena hadn’t weakened either. Lucas had certainly grown, yet he realized she remained just as strong.
