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chapter 29
As Planned
Lucas’s voice was low, and his eyes held an intense determination.
“I wanted to be yours. That’s all.”
Stepping closer, Lucas filled Serena’s vision.
“Even if your heart resists, you’ll eventually realize that my heart has no limits.”
At that moment, Serena belatedly realized she had misjudged everything. The poor first impression had left more than just prejudice. Remembering him as a child, she had underestimated him.
“Also, I can guarantee that no one desires you more than I do.”
The desire shining in his black eyes was pure, and it gripped Serena even tighter.
“I… Your Highness…”
“My words aren’t finished yet.”
Lucas took another step closer, so near that they could feel each other’s breath.
“My heart is already decided. We will become husband and wife, and someday, you will want me too.”
“No, that’s not—”
Serena shook her head.
“Don’t think that forcing this marriage will change my heart.”
“Don’t worry. I am far more patient than you think.”
It became clear that nothing—not even Serena’s heart—could sway his resolve.
“My determination is the same. I’ve already abandoned my fiancée.”
“It’s fine.”
Lucas closed the distance between them again.
“You can’t abandon your husband, after all.”
The obsession and desire he had carefully hidden now shone fully in his black eyes. Seeing Serena’s blue eyes waver, he knew the six years spent waiting for this moment had been worth it.
“From the beginning… I didn’t need an answer from you.”
“Yes.”
Lucas was honest to the very end. That honesty drove Serena nearly mad.
“If we must be precise, your answer simply wasn’t what I wanted. In that sense, I suppose I failed.”
Serena glared at him, a strange smile on her face, but that provocative look only pleased Lucas.
“As you said, six years have passed.”
Now, Lucas looked down at her just as he had wanted.
“I am no longer a child.”
Everything about him proved that.
“Now that I’ve returned to my woman, everything is natural.”
Lucas effortlessly grabbed Serena’s wrist. She struggled, but his strength was extraordinary.
Watching him look down at her with a calm smile made her furious. The past few days of being toyed with by him left her unable to control her expression.
“Finally, the composure has left your face.”
It was the moment Lucas had been waiting for. Seeing the blue eyes that had always looked down on him now trembling with confusion made his smile widen.
“It feels even better than I imagined.”
Seeing the curve of his lips made Serena feel like her suppressed emotions would explode.
“Did you really wait six years just to show off your strength?”
“Hardly.”
“You seem so pleased to have subdued me, a mere woman.”
“I can’t call you a mere woman.”
Even Serena had to admit that.
“Yes.”
She tried to pull her wrist free again, but his grip didn’t budge.
His control of strength, enough to restrain without causing pain, was remarkable. But he overlooked one thing: Serena had strong legs.
“Ugh!”
Her perfectly aimed kick to his shin landed. Taken by surprise, Lucas let out a shout and released her wrist.
“Don’t ever think of me as just a woman.”
Serena said, feeling a sense of relief after striking the crown prince.
“And this marriage is your mistake. Think again.”
She exhaled sharply and turned her back on him. Having even struck the crown prince, she felt she had done all she could.
“There’s no need for you to stay at the duke’s residence any longer. Order the servants to pack Your Highness’s belongings.”
Lucas felt the lingering pain in his shin as he watched her cold back.
“Then, farewell.”
Serena walked away without looking back, but Lucas didn’t stop her. There was no need.
“Indeed… there is no woman like her.”
Despite Serena’s intentions, his eyes glowed with satisfaction.
“I must prepare to welcome my bride.”
Lucas had achieved his purpose. At least, for now, in this place.
Back in her bedroom, Serena could barely contain her anger. She was furious that both the royal family and the Papal office had sided with Lucas, but even more so at the calm, domineering look in his eyes as he had restrained her.
“When he was a child, I might have tolerated him, even if he was annoying!”
Of course, that was never the case. He had been insufferable and ill-tempered even as a child.
“Of course, that little brat grew up to become what he is now.”
Why had she thought she could reason with him? She had grown too accustomed over the past six years in Astelle to a world that always went her way. Her confidence after fending off Grand Duke Farrell’s persistent proposals only reinforced this.
“Farrell must seem like a gentleman in comparison. How unfair.”
The determination of Farrell and Lucas had been completely different from the start, but Serena had not realized this. More precisely, she had underestimated how much Lucas desired her—leading to this situation.
“…Now, what do I do?”
Even the irresponsibility of the Duke of Astelle, whom she trusted, had betrayed her. On top of that, the Papal office urged her to hurry the marriage, and the royal family had commanded it.
Most of all, Lucas’s black eyes were filled with the determination to take her as his bride, by any means necessary.
“No… I can’t…”
No matter how much she denied it, she could already see the end of her luxurious single life.
The crown prince left the duke’s residence as abruptly as when he arrived. The difference was that now, he whistled along the way, lacking even a trace of tension.
Of course, Cedric found a whistling crown prince far scarier.
“Your Highness, will you ride to the palace?”
“Obviously.”
“Everyone is waiting for Your Highness’s return… shouldn’t you take a carriage once we reach the city?”
Cedric knew Lucas’s temperament well, but he couldn’t skip his duty as a knight.
“We’ll see then.”
But instead of his usual scolding, Lucas whistled again, tormenting Cedric.
“It seems the lady has agreed to marry?”
Cedric asked carefully, leaning closer. Lucas chuckled in disbelief.
“Surely, that lady?”
Lucas looked as if he had heard a ridiculous joke.
“If she were just an ordinary lady, I wouldn’t have wanted her at all.”
Cedric nodded.
In fact, the only way Serena could have avoided marrying the crown prince was to act like an ordinary noblewoman. Had she done so, Lucas would have lost interest and never sought her again.
“Everything has gone according to plan. Satisfying.”
Lucas curled one side of his mouth into a smirk. Even Cedric, his loyal knight, could only shake his head in private.
“Does that include the bruise on your shin?”
“Consider it a bargain.”
Even Cedric’s sarcastic question was met with Lucas’s cheerful reply.
“The six-year gap has been nullified. A few hits more wouldn’t have mattered.”
This was Lucas’s fearsome side.
“And she never realized it was all part of my plan.”
“Yes… that was indeed Your Highness’s plan.”
From the start, his wandering freedom and disregard for the world’s rules had all been calculated. Neglecting his fiancée for six years, keeping his true self hidden, even disappearing from the imperial capital—it was all deliberate.
“The protagonist always makes a dramatic entrance.”
Lucas smiled with satisfaction.
“You loved drama since childhood, Your Highness.”
The past six years had been preparation for him to return as a true protagonist. As the empire’s only heir and crown prince, he had never lacked anything—but his fiancée, slightly taller than him, had provoked him.
“Anyway, it all worked out, didn’t it? Soon, everyone in the capital and the palace will see me again, and I’ve obtained the woman I desire.”
Everyday growth would have been too ordinary for his dramatic entrance. The best impression would come the moment everyone forgot his weakness, and he appeared as the strongest.
“I wonder if all of this was really necessary…”
“People rarely feel impressed by what they see every day.”
The 16-year-old boy, smaller than his peers, wanted to change the world’s perception of him in an instant.
“If I had seen her every year after the engagement… she would have seen me as merely a capable younger brother.”
Given Serena’s personality, Lucas had a point.
“What was hardest for me was enduring while hearing she was happy on her own in Astelle.”
He wanted to completely change the impression of the child fiancée he had once been.
And with determination, he returned after six years to achieve his plan.
“Even if it made me the man she wanted to kick…”
“Yes.”
He admitted it freely.
“Better to be a shameless man than the proud, capable man she could admire.”
If that was the case, his goal had been fully achieved. Serena would forget the boy she once knew and face the man threatening her now—a complete success.
