“Your Highness.” She looked down at the ground beneath her feet as her face flushed. I didn’t know my beauty could be shy.

I smiled down at her bent head and dropped my hand, moving away to give her space. “Can you at least give me a chance? There’re still three days left before the selection comes to an end. Let me prove to you that you are the right one to rule by my side.”

As perverse as it sounds, the fact that she didn’t seem to want it only made me more ...