B-ronken-R-ing 159...

***

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Your Highness," Alicia murmured, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Whatever for?" Oscar replied dispassionately, his attention fixed on his reflection as he swept back his fiery locks, damp with sweat. Then he removed his tunic with a casual air, handing it to the servant standing behind him as if Alicia were invisible.

"If it hadn't been for the eldest son of House Valeztena today..."

Oscar's sudden bout of silence in response to her words was something she had grown accustomed to.

Alicia's eyes were drawn to his naked torso, but she hurriedly lowered her head, the tips of her ears flushing red when Oscar turned to her. Any other lover would have found her bashfulness endearing.

However, as always, Oscar walked past her without a single glance, toward the window. His sculpted back and broad shoulders caught the sunlight as he came to a halt.

Alicia raised her quivering gaze to steal glances at him. His physique was even more impressive than the last time she had seen it. Mere words like desire and reverence couldn't describe the tidal wave of emotions within her.

Patience, she reminded herself. She needed to wait just a little longer. Ever since she was young, her life had been directed toward a single goal. The ridicule she had endured would be worth it in the end, because she would win. Everyone would be placed beneath her. She envisioned those who had looked down on her bowing at her feet, while she stood by Oscar's side and look up to him.

Oscar, my Oscar... Alicia silently repeated his name, knowing she couldn't voice it aloud, as she cautiously moved closer to him.

He no longer chides me for standing so near him. He does not push me away in disgust, nor does he avoid me. He did not express anger over today's incident. So, even if such things were to happen again... Our relationship will remain solid.

She clung to these thoughts as if to reassure herself. She couldn't tell whether her heart was fluttering because of her love for him or the fear of displeasing him. It felt as if a great misfortune would befall her should he be even the least bit disturbed.

Since childhood, her world had always revolved around Oscar. Rather than wanting his love, she simply wished he would smile her way, even if by chance. Love could wait.

While she yearned for him to develop even a modest affection for her, what she truly craved was his smile. She wanted his every wish fulfilled, from his smallest whim to his greatest ambition. She wanted him to be perpetually content, and for that sense of satisfaction to bring about his smile. Even if that smile was never meant for her. Even if he smiled because of another woman. Even if that woman was Inés Escalante, whom she despised with every fiber of her being.

Alicia followed Oscar's gaze, locked on Inés standing in the back garden beyond the window. The woman was smiling happily as she chatted with her brother, surrounded by small tables adorned with refreshments that marked the end of the competition.

I can endure this, as long as it's fleeting. Let him smile at that detestable woman. Let him even embrace her, Alicia repeated to herself with gritted teeth. For a split second, she felt as if she had witnessed the revolting sight of Oscar and Inés naked and entangled in this very bedroom. On some days, the thought didn't bother her at all, but on others, it was unbearable.

The mere thought of those green eyes that looking down on her made her stomach churn. That deliberately enhanced figure-her lewd, overflowing bosom, narrow waist, and wide hips resembling those of a harlot. In Alicia's eyes, Inés Escalante's voluptuous body was perfect for warming the bed of any man.

She knew that men preferred such appetizing bodies, and Oscar deserved every pleasure he desired more than any other man. Regardless of her noble lineage, if Oscar wanted her, he could have her. If he wished for Inés, Alicia was ready to push her into his bedroom without a second thought.

She recalled a conversation they had had a long time ago.

"Alicia," Oscar had said with an insouciant look.

"I am willing to do whatever you wish, Your Highness. Anything at all," she had confessed, desperation tinging her voice. "Please, do not see me as merely another admirer."

"Anything?"

"Yes, I will do anything. I implore you to trust in my love for you. A love that dares not seek anything in return. My loyalty and reverence for you surpass even those of a knight ready to die for his lord."

"How endearing."

He had called her endearing. It was the first time he had smiled at her, as though her words had genuinely pleased him. As though, for the very first time, he found her delightful.

"Even if I were to desire another woman?" he had asked.

"I am destined to become the wife of the crown prince. As long as you maintain propriety, I have the dignity to accept as many women as you need to fulfill your desires, Your Highness."

"Even if it is still Inés Valeztena that I desire? The shadow that has loomed over you from the very beginning. The daughter of Valeztena, who has always eclipsed you. The only woman I have ever wanted."

Alicia remembered the way Oscar had looked at her, as if testing her resolve.

If he had expected her to be shocked, he had grossly underestimated her. She respected the authority and power Oscar deserved far more than her own deep-seated hatred for Inés Escalante. So much so that she dared not recognize the momentary relief that had swept over her upon seeing the flower crown atop Inés's head, signaling that she would be spared the humiliation of sitting beside her.

As Alicia gazed down at Inés, her fingertips grew cold.

How dare she show consideration for me and my position? How dare she refuse Oscar? She thought back to the voices that had praised that arrogant woman and recited their names in her head, one by one.

"I have already declined that offer, you see. I expressed my gratitude for his kindness, but declined again and again. That is why I didn't expect you to be the subject of your comment. I am certain His Highness did not intend it this way, but Lady Alicia and I should not be treated as equally deserving of his attention, nor should one be favored above the other. Unless I were His Highness's mistress, I suppose."

Inés had implied that the honor of becoming Oscar's mistress was a great disgrace. Alicia wanted to crush that hatefully beautiful voice and that aloof attitude. If Inés was so opposed to the idea, Alicia wanted to reduce her to a mere mistress and trample her underfoot. She wanted Inés to know her place and make her realize wearing Oscar's flower crown was a privilege that she couldn't dare refuse.

She couldn't believe that Inés would mention her husband's honor, the insignificant name of a naval officer, when the crown prince himself wished for this. Inés Escalante had to be humbled.

Alicia stood a little further from the window than Oscar and let her hatred for the woman show on her face. The mere thought of Inés Escalante moaning in Oscar's embrace made her head throb with revulsion. Her insides felt torn with jealousy, as if a beast had clawed them up.

But if that was what it took to destroy Inés's honor, then she could bear it. As long as she could ruin the woman's purity, her insistence on knowing no man but her husband, and make her unable to hold her head high as though she were perfect. As long as she could destroy that strong, seemingly perfect affection-that pathetic display-Cárcel Escalante had shown for her. As long as Oscar was the only one left for the woman, which would then render her worthless to him. If only she could degrade that perfect life and turn Inés into a harlot abandoned by the wayside.

Hence, Alica could bear it if her Oscar could use that woman for a fleeting moment of pleasure.

As long as that glint in his eyes was not love.

Alicia anxiously ground her teeth, as she often did as a child while watching Inés from afar.

She might have been the daughter of House Valeztena and the wife of an Escalante, but as noble as she was, she could now be nothing more than Oscar's mistress. She was a lowly creature Alicia would soon have at her feet. It was fine, since she would be Oscar's actual wife.

"Unfortunately for you, Alicia, I do not need you yet."

"Does that mean... you will have need of me in the future?"

"Yes."

"I simply need you to take my hand one day, Your Highness. Even if I must wait..."

"Once Inés is married... that is likely when you will be of use to me."

If Inés Valeztena and Cárcel Escalante hadn't waited so long to get married, all of this might have already come to pass. Alicia held back a bitter smile. Though she had passed her ideal marriage age just the same as Alicia, Inés Valeztena must have never once endured even the slightest humiliation in Mendoza. And yet, it was this woman from House Valeztena that was to blame for Alicia still being unwed at her age.

Until that very day, Alicia had not understood why Oscar did not desire her in any way, for apparently no reason. It wasn't that she didn't understand him having no love for her and not desiring her, but if he wasn't very interested in women to begin with, having a wife at his side in name only was still beneficial for him. If it didn't matter who was at his side, it only made sense for him to be willing to marry her.

But that day, his words had forced her to face the bitter truth.

"The only person I see as a woman is still Inés, Alicia. Without her, you are no use to me whatsoever."

Ah... if that is your will, so be it. Even if it is that woman I despise with every fiber or my being, if she means that much to you, so be it.