Chapter 104 - Preparing for the Night Mission

Zenia freshened up and stayed in the room for a while. She had mixed emotions. She thought she could remain composed until they finished their mission in Lunaria. At that moment, she wanted to ride Thunderbolt and escape from all of it. She knew that Zekiah would understand even without telling him anything. 

Everything would proceed as planned, except she would no longer take part in it. The Crown Prince should be satisfied with the replacement that she had provided. She knew that Zekiah would be able to pull it off. He had always been more graceful than her and already knew proper etiquette. 

She originally had no patience to wait but had given him ample time to confess everything. She wanted to know if she could really trust him with her heart. She had given him hints, and he still decided to ignore them. How long did he plan to make her wait? Should she be the only one to adjust and understand?

She was preparing to go out when her door suddenly opened. It was Zekiah who came.

"Zeze…"

Zekiah walked quickly to Zenia. He already felt that something was wrong.

"What is it Zenzen?"

Zenia just looked into Zekiah's eyes as she tried to hold back the tears from falling. 

"Please promise me that you will continue to be me even if I don't return to the palace anymore."

"What are you talking about? Where do you plan to go? Did that prince do something to you?" Zekiah stood up and about to head to the door when Zenia grabbed his hand.

"He did not do anything, and it seems he has no plan to tell me his secrets. He doesn't trust me at all." Zenia gave Zekiah a faint, sad smile.

Zekiah sat beside Zenia and held her face between his palms and made her face him.

"Did you fall to that Crown Prince?" 

Zenia looked at Zekiah with puppy dog eyes and suddenly wrapped her arms around her brother's waist and cried.

"What should I do? He was lying to me and seems to have no plan to come clean. You know how I hate liars, but I have given him lots of chances to confess. I even gave him hints to confess already while I'm being good. But I cannot take it anymore. He doesn't seem to trust me and, and…" 

For the first time in so many years, Zenia's tears escaped from her eyes. Her heart was in a lot of pain. It wouldn't hurt that bad if she did not care at all. It wouldn't hurt that bad if everything was just a mission. Though she was telling him that marrying him was nothing more than obeying her superiors, she already accepted him as her husband whom she would spend the rest of her life with. She just wanted him to take the initiative to tell her everything, was that too much to ask?

Zekiah held his sister in his arms. He could not say anything at all. He could not tell her to forget about that Crown Prince and just go home to Ishelon. He hugged his sister and let her cry as much as she could. He hoped that after crying her heart out, she would be back to her usual self.

* * * * *

Ruvin and Vaughn were discussing their plan. Vaughn had hidden the fact that Zekiah would pose as Zenia. Ruvin thought that he would be together with Zenia while Vaughn tried to retrieve the doc.u.ment from Luna Inn.

Redivo was not able to tell his brother anything about Zekiah disguising as Zenia due to lack of time. Redivo just fetched Ruvin on the day when the Crown Prince and Princess had to depart.

"When do you plan to visit Luna Inn?"

"I want it tonight while no one suspects that we will make our move."

"Who will accompany you?"

"I have recently acquired a capable guard. I will take him with me."

"Hmm, I understand. Don't worry I will take care of your Crown Princess for you even though she's an ugly wench."

Vaughn looked at Ruvin and shook his head. It was really best not to let him know anything.

It was about time to have lunch and Vaughn ordered the maids to serve the dishes. Zekiah already joined the other guards to have lunch. Zenia had calmed down and was preparing the clothes that she would wear on their mission.

In her estimate, they were almost near Solaria and going to Lunaria from their current location should not be a problem. It was best to make their move now.

Vaughn entered their room and saw Zenia wearing her face veil and was already preparing her clothes.

"Do you want to go tonight?"

Zenia looked at Vaughn and couldn't help but feel sad.

'Don't you really want to tell me something?'

She took a deep breath before answering, "Yes, I think tonight is just the right time to execute our plan."

Vaughn smiled, "I think so too. You don't need to wear a face veil when you are in our quarters. It's totally safe here."

Zenia looked at him and couldn't believe that he could be so careless at such a crucial time.

"It is best to wear it. We are still not certain whether the people here are loyal to you or not. Please try to be cautious and don't act recklessly. It could get you in trouble."

Knock, knock, knock.

Vaughn opened the door and let the servants in.

"Your Highness, lunch is here." The maids carrying trays of food came in one by one.

They neatly put the food on the table. They looked around and found no one else. The Crown Prince ordered them to serve so many dishes, but they did not see any guest. Serving their master was their duty, they dared not ask anything. 

After placing the food on the table, the maids left the room. One of them took another look at the couple before she went out of the room. The Crown Princess did not remove her face veil, and the Crown Prince was still wearing a mask. The maid decided that she had nothing significant to report. 

'Is she cautious or truly ugly? I think the Ninth Prince was thinking too much.'

Vaughn replaced his mask and took Zenia's hand. He led her to the table and helped her to her seat. Zenia removed her face veil when there were only the two of them in the room. 

"Let's eat now," he smiled at her and began scooping some food to her plate.

Zenia just let him do as he pleased. After the mission, she would…

"You need to eat lots too, Your Highness." Zenia put some food on Vaughn's plate and continued, "You need to have lots of energy for the mission."

Vaughn was puzzled at Zenia's behavior. She did not take the initiative to put food on his plate before, but he liked it. He hoped to see other changes soon.

After the mission, Vaughn had decided to tell Zenia everything and braced himself to face the consequences. No matter what, he would never let her go. She may hate him, but he would make sure that she would stay with him forever.

* * * * *

The sun had set and everyone involved in the operation got ready. Zenia helped Zekiah put on his disguise. Ruvin would join him later.

"Remember that the one who will join you later is the Crown Prince's stand-in. He is also his good friend."

Zenia also helped Zekiah with his makeup. Zenia tried to replicate the makeup that the attendants did to her.

"Why do I need to wear so much makeup?"

"The Baroness told me that makeup is a woman's armor and weapon when going to a battle."

"But I am not going to a battle. Besides, I will be wearing a face veil all the time. You too, you should wear it even if you are here alone." Zekiah protested with all his might, but Zenia continued applying his makeup.

"You will never know what may suddenly happen. What if you face veil gets accidentally lifted? I already know that I should wear the face veil all the time when I'm out."

"But, you're not wearing makeup when you have your face veil."

"I know martial arts. I can easily do something about it when there are not so many people around. You are different because you don't know martial arts."

"But I know…" Zekiah suddenly realized that Zenia still had no idea that he had been training all these years.

"You know what? Even if you know a bit of martial arts, do you think you can handle them all? I don't think so." Zenia finished applying the makeup and quite satisfied with her work. 

'You sure recover fast. Just a while ago you were crying a river.' Zekiah mumbled to himself.

Zenia heard it and decided not to say anything. She was going to owe him another favor anyway.