When they were finally alone, Joanne finally raised her head to look at the Second Prince, whom she caught admiring her from where he sat.
"You're going to be an unrivaled beauty when you grow up, Joanne," Prince Rufus said. "I guarantee it."
"Even if you don't guarantee it, I will still grow up to be a beauty," Joanne replied. "After all, my mother is very beautiful as well."
"Oh?" Prince Rufus smirked.
He was not a stranger to having an affair with married women.
In fact, he had already done it several times, targeting the beautiful wives whom he met during parties held in the palace.
So when he heard Joanne say that her mother was a very beautiful woman, he couldn't help but feel like he had just been presented with a challenge.
A challenge that he would be more than happy to accept.
"So, does your mom live under the sea as well?" Prince Rufus asked. "Is she perhaps a mermaid?"
"Something like that," Joanne replied. "So, tell me. What's your real purpose for inviting me here?"
"Very smart," Prince Rufus smirked. "I love smart girls."
"Bet they don't love you back."
"Oh, you'd be surprised how much they love me back. It'll be as much as you'll soon love me."
Prince Rufus' eyes glowed crimson red as he activated his Charm Ability.
He didn't use the artifact that his brother had given him yet because he wanted to test if his power alone was enough to dominate the arrogant and aloof little girl, who was now looking at him with ridicule.
"You were saying?" Joanne asked in a teasing tone as she casually picked up the cup of fruit juice on the table and took a sip. "What exactly are you trying to do here? Are you perhaps trying to make me fall in love with you? Cheap tricks like that don't work on me, you know?"
Prince Rufus chuckled in amusement. This was the first time that his Charm didn't work on his target.
Although he had already expected this result, he still felt a bit frustrated since it didn't work the way he intended it to.
"I knew that you're different from the other girls that I've seen in my life," Prince Rufus stated. "This is why I'm really looking forward to making you fawn over me."
"You must really be bad with girls if the only thing you can do is force them to be with you," Joanne smirked. "The man you call Tidebringer has many lovers, and he didn't even need to beguile any of them to fall for him. You're also a man, like him, but it is very obvious that you are far more inferior than him."
Joanne didn't like Ethan, but she hated Prince Rufus more.
Someone like him, who would take advantage of his ability to Charm girls in order to have his way with them, disgusted her very much.
This was why she planned to teach Prince Rufus a lesson. Once she was done with him, he would never be able to harm anyone again.
Having been taunted by the girl in front of him, Prince Rufus' expression turned cold.
Her remark about him being an inferior man hurt him more than he expected.
"I really want to see how you will kiss the feet of this inferior man every day from this day onwards," Prince Rufus stated coldly. "I was planning to treat you well, like a prized possession, but I guess a little punishment is in order."
"Punishment? What kind of punishment are you talking about?"
"Don't worry. I will engrave that punishment in your body right now."
Prince Rufus activated the golden artifact in his hand and once again used his Charm Ability on Joanne.
The girl was confident that nothing the Prince could do could bypass her mental defenses.
But as soon as Prince Rufus activated the golden token and his ability, crimson light filled the gazebo as the power of the Ley Line boosted the Prince's abilities to its limits.
When the light receded, Prince Rufus stared at the arrogant little girl, who had been mocking him earlier.
Her facial expression was slack, and she was staring blankly into the space in front of her as if she had fallen into a trance.
"Hahaha!" Prince Rufus laughed because he could now feel a strong connection between him and the Tidebringer's sister, which meant that he had successfully charmed her.
"Hmph! I wasn't really planning to be rough with you, but since you ticked me off, I guess I'll have a little taste," Prince Rufus said as he lifted Joanne's chin to make her look directly at him.
Seeing her blankly stare at him made the smile on his face widen.
"Well, I guess I'll punish those sweet lips of yours by giving them a kiss," Prince Rufus said as he gave Joanne his first order. "Kiss me on the lips, and make sure to use your lips well."
Joanne's body moved closer to him, and he relished watching her adorable face come closer to him.
At that instant, a thought appeared in Prince Rufus' head.
'Maybe I should just charm Ramona as well,' Prince Rufus thought. 'I can make her my Puppet Queen, and have her rule in my stead, while I control everything from the shadows. That will give me more time to play with this arrogant girl and make sure that she will serve me for life.'
Just as he was entertaining these thoughts, Joanne's face was only a few inches away from his.
Prince Rufus kept his eyes open, wanting to watch the young beauty offer her soft and innocent lips to him in her own accord, which he was certain would give him a great sense of euphoria.
But just as he thought that those sweet lips would finally become his, Joanne's blank eyes changed to a purple color.
Suddenly, Prince Rufus' body stiffened after his gaze landed on those beautiful purple eyes, which seemed to see through his very soul.
A moment later, the Prince stared blankly in place as the young lady took a step back and giggled.
"Thank you for teaching this girl a lesson," Joanne said in a seductive tone as she lightly patted Prince Rufus' cheek with a mischievous smile on her face. "Joanne is still young and was raised as a spoiled child, so she thinks that everyone aside from her family is beneath her.
"I'm sure that this experience will tone her arrogance down a bit. In the future, maybe she'll no longer underestimate her opponents.
"Unfortunately, her fight with Ethan failed to teach her that lesson first. Although she hated to admit it, a part of her still recognized Ethan as her family.
"This is why, when she was defeated by him, a part of her thinks that it is natural because they share the same bloodline. What I'm really trying to say here is that, Mr. Wendigo, I would greatly appreciate it if you didn't tell Ethan what happened here today.
"This girl might be arrogant, but she is still a girl after all. She will be really embarrassed if her brother finds out that she messed up.
"Also, I need you to keep quiet because I will continue to execute the plan that Joanne put together. In order to do that, I need you to cooperate with me and keep this a secret, okay?"
The Ancient Wendigo removed its invisibility and chuckled evilly.
"Like brother, like sister," Dainsleif said in a voice that would make any little girl run away screaming in fear. "Are you perhaps Joanne's Other Half?" S~eaʀᴄh the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.
"Yes," Joanne's Other Half giggled. "It's part of the bloodline power of the Valentin Family. We don't really come out in the open unless it is an emergency. So, keep this a secret, okay?"
The Ancient Wendigo nodded before turning invisible once again. However, its vile laugh reverberated softly in the wind, as if liking that things turned out the way they did.