Princess Anastasia dazedly looked at the burning scrolls until nothing but ashes remained.

Deep in her heart, she already expected this to happen.

And because she had somewhat prepared herself, it didn’t take long for her to regain composure despite the pain that she was feeling inside her chest.

“Do you know why we burned these scrolls?” Iris asked.

“I do,” Princess Anastasia replied. “But I still want to hear it from your lips.”

The corner of Iris’ lips rose because she was quite impressed by the young lady’s reply.

She could see the hurt in Princess Anastasia’s eyes and the subtle trembling of her hands.

Even so, the princess of the Dwarf Kingdom held her ground, befitting someone of her standing.

“We cannot allow our beloved to suffer an injustice,” Iris replied. “Him being forced into a relationship is something that we will not allow—especially if it’s a one-sided relationship.”

“Of course, that is only one of the reasons,” Aina commented in the same monotonous voice that she always used. “Princess, you jumped a couple of steps ahead of us. We are only Lux’s fiances at the moment, and yet, you made him sign a Marriage Certificate.

“If we approved of that, wouldn’t that make you his First Wife? That’s not possible because I will become his First Wife.”

The doll-like beauty said these words in a firm and confident tone, making Iris shake her head helplessly.

This wasn’t the first time that Aina had challenged her position as Lux’s first wife, so she was already used to it.

“I know that our beloved is quite charismatic and very handsome,” Cai said with a smile. “It is only normal for you to fall in love with him, especially after he rescued you from the kidnappers of Twilight Rain. But are you sure that this feeling you have for him isn’t just admiration? It might only be respect and adoration instead of love.”

Princess Anastasia shook her head. “Do not treat me like a child. While it is true that my feelings for Sir Lux started when he saved me from Twilight Rain, I knew for a fact that this wasn’t mere respect and adoration. I am a Princess of a Kingdom. Someone who is meant to be used as a political tool in order to strengthen our nation.

“However, I refuse to take that role. That’s why I decided to join my brothers and compete for the position of Crown Princess.

“I am someone who wants to control my own fate. However, after meeting Sir Lux, I am confident that, if given the choice of spending my life with him and ruling the Kingdom of Gweliven, I will choose to spend my life with him in a heartbeat. This is not a choice made from infatuation. This is a choice that I made for the sake of my future happiness.”

Iris nodded her head to acknowledge Princess Anastasia’s statement.

“What you did was indeed very bold,” Iris replied. “But it isn’t original.”

The blue-haired beauty then took out a scroll from her storage ring and threw it towards Princess Anastasia.

The latter caught it and opened it to see what was written inside it.

To her surprise, it was a Marriage Certificate and was dated four years ago.

Similar to her Marriage Contract, Lux’s thumbprint was also printed on the Marriage Certificate.

“This?” Princess Anatasia looked at Iris in confusion. “Why do you have this? Aren’t you already engaged with Sir Lux?”

Iris nodded. “Yes. But, in the past, my Father was against it. Because of this, I decided to make a backup plan with the help of my Grandmother. She made Lux put his thumbprint on this Marriage Certificate while he was sleeping.”

Iris said it proudly, making the ladies inside the conference room look at her weirdly.

Even Aina, who usually had an expressionless face, couldn’t stop the corner of her lips from twitching.

“That’s not something you should be proud of,” Aina stated.

Iris shrugged. “I know. Fortunately, I didn’t have to use it since Lux and I are now engaged with each other.”

With a wave of her hand, the Marriage Certificate flew back to her hand. Iris then carefully stored it inside her storage ring with a smile on her face.

“You’re worse than me,” Princess Anastasia said. “At least, when I took Sir Lux’s thumbprint, he was conscious. You took it when he was sleeping.”

“Right.” Iris nodded. “And because of this, I understand why you did what you did. But that doesn’t make it right. What I did was wrong since this Marriage Certificate in my hand was taken when Lux was unaware of it, but in the end, this scroll doesn’t have any binding power in it. So I just keep it as a memento.”

What Iris didn’t know was that after seeing her marriage certificate, the rest of her sisters were very tempted to also get their own Marriage Certificates as a memento.

However, they held back these thoughts for now since they still had to address their verdict to Princess Anastasia.

“As Lux’s first fiance, I recognize your will to become his lover,” Iris stated. “But cutting in line is no good. Even so, we decided to give you a chance.”

Cai nodded. “This time, pursue Lux properly. He already knows your feelings for him, so you don’t have to beat around the bush. Take your time and talk to him and start as friends.”

Aurora, who was quietly listening from the side, walked towards Princess Anastasia and gave her a hug.

“Do your best, Princess,” Aurora said softly as she patted the young lady’s head. “I look forward to becoming your sister.”

Perhaps, feeling touched by Aurora’s genuine words, the emotions that Princess Anastasia had been holding back finally gave way.

She hugged Aurora back and buried her head on her chest. She then wept tears of sadness and relief, knowing that she still had a chance of pursuing her happiness.

The Half-Succubus kept on patting the Princess’ head until her tears stopped falling.

When Princess Anastasia was done crying, Aurora crouched down and wiped the tears from her face with a handkerchief.

Although the tear stains were now gone, the redness around the young lady’s eyes was still there.

Since the pink-haired beauty was a kind and caring person, she whispered something in Princess Anastasia’s ear, which made the younger girl momentarily forget losing control over her emotions earlier.

“Listen closely, Anastasia,” Aurora whispered. “If all of your approaches toward Lux fail, know that he is very weak against thighs. If you use this to your advantage, you can definitely make him fall for you.”

Princess Anastasia’s face became beet red after hearing Aurora’s words.

She didn’t know if the pink-haired beauty was just teasing her to relieve the tension in her heart or not.

“I’m serious, you know?” Aurora smiled. “If you don’t know how it’s done, I will help you. We will pin Lux down together, okay?”

Iris, Cai, Aina, and Aurelia couldn’t help but shake their heads helplessly because one of their sisters was revealing Lux’s weakness to someone who had just tried to force their fiance to sign a Marriage Certificate.

Knowing how cunning the Dwarf Princess was, she would definitely use everything to her advantage to seal the deal with Lux.

Fortunately, Princess Anastasia didn’t know that Aurora was telling the truth.

Half an hour later, the door of the conference room opened, and Princess Anastasia came out alone.

The Half-Elf looked at her and noticed that her eyes were red, and sighed in his heart.

‘Did they reject her?’ Lux thought.

Although the Princess tried hard not to show it, he could tell that she was feeling somewhat sad.

But before Lux could even say anything to comfort her, Princess Anastasia smiled at him and spoke first.

“Sir Lux, please take me back to my Kingdom,” Princess Anastasia said.

lightsΝοvel “Okay,” Lux replied.

The Princess then took the initiative to take Lux’s hand, which surprised him.

Even so, he didn’t make any move to pry her hand away and held her hand firmly. He then guided her toward the Teleportation Gate, instantly teleporting them to the private Teleportation Gate of the Royal Family of the Kingdom of Gweliven.

Anastasia didn’t say anything until they reached the hallway leading to the throne room.

“This far is already good, Sir Lux,” Princess Anastasia said before reluctantly pulling her hand back. “Thank you for everything.”

The Princess then curtsied to the Half-Elf before looking straight into his eyes.

“Are you not going to ask what happened inside the conference room?” Princess Anastasia asked.

“Do you want to tell me?” Lux asked.

Princess Anastasia thought before shaking her head. “No. But, know this, Sir Lux.” ʀᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛʀs ᴀᴛ ovlꜰre.et

The young lady walked forward to give the Half-Elf a hug.

“I’m not going to give up,” Princess Anastasia said. “So prepare yourself to fall in love with me, okay? This time, I will do it properly. No more tricks.”

At first, Lux didn’t know how to react to Princess Anastasia’s confession. But, a few seconds later, he crouched down and looked her in the eye.

“Did they tell you my weakness?” Lux asked.

Princess Anastasia blinked innocently. “What weakness? Do you have a weakness, Sir Lux?”

Lux smiled before lightly patting the Princess’ head.

“I’ll be going now, Princess,” Lux said as he bowed lightly. “Do you wish to remain in my Guild?”

“I do,” Princess Anastasia replied in a heartbeat. “Please let me remain in your Guild.”

“Understood.” Lux nodded. “Please call me if something is troubling you or the Kingdom. I will do my best to help.”

“Thank you, Sir Lux,” Princess Anastasia said before gesturing to Lux like she wanted to whisper something in his ears.

The Half-Elf then crouched once again in order to listen to what she was going to tell her.

A moment later, he felt something soft press against his cheek, which lingered for at least three seconds.

Before he could even do anything, Princess Anastasia was already running away, leaving behind a mischievous laughter in her wake.

Lux knew that the Princess was only hiding her feelings behind her happy facade. Even so, he also felt her resolve.

“Take care, Anastasia,” Lux said softly before turning around. “I’ll see you soon.”

The Half-Elf then turned into particles of light.

Now that his business in the Kingdom of Gweliven was resolved, he once again returned to his Guild Headquarters to handle some of the important matters that he had left behind.

What he wasn’t aware of was that the moment he returned, he would find his other lovers asking for his thumbprint on their own Marriage Certificates, making the Half-Elf scratch his head helplessly.