Two days passed by. Martia bade farewell to the Promapplers and then to Minver and Acastius and left Promapple. And this time, she decided never to come back as long as she was alive.

  After reaching the castle, she hurriedly ran all the way to the room where the Prince was. She opened the door and saw him reading a book. She went to him and embraced him.

  Overjoyed, the Prince’s face lit up and he embraced her back. They

  held each other as close as they could and stayed like that for a while so that their hearts, minds, and bodies could realize each other’s presence and touch.

  Martia then told him about everything that had happened in

  Promapple, except for the total number of people she’d killed to reach this conclusion.

  The Prince felt happy and relieved for both Acastius and Minver. He said, “I told my brother that we are going to get married as soon as you come back after visiting your family. He invited us for a meal along with the eleven ministers of Absyleous. He wants everyone to know you and meet you. He has already announced our marriage and declared you as a part of this family. I am so happy, Martia, that our brother will be there to give us his blessings for our happy future. I know that everything will

  be better from now on and we won’t be separated even for a moment.”

  Martia felt a little anxious as she still hated King Coaleme and the

  ministers and never wanted to meet them. She had thought previously that since the danger from Promapple had vanished with its new leader on her side, they could leave this castle and live somewhere else peacefully and lovingly rather than in this boring castle. But hearing this, Martia tried to calm herself down by thinking, Okay, let’s get married here, and then we will leave this castle. She said, “Okay, let’s meet the king and the eleven ministers.” Then she continued sarcastically, “I’ve always wondered what they even do!”

  The Prince replied naively, “The power is divided 51 percent and 49

  percent between the king and the ministers. So, they both are important for all the policies and the administration of Absyleous.”

  Martia, already aware of that, smiled and said, “I know, sweetheart. I just think they don’t work well, but now it has nothing to do with me anymore.”

  The next day they both got ready and entered the hall where all the eleven ministers were waiting for them at the lunch table. They sat in the seats assigned to them, which were next to King Coaleme.

  Martia looked at all the eleven ministers and felt the same hatred she’d always felt for them. She smiled to herself and thought, This meeting will be beautiful!

  Coaleme entered, and they all got up and greeted him. After greeting them back, Coaleme looked at Martia sat on his throne and so did everyone.

  Looking at Martia, he said, “You are the person whom my brother is hopelessly in love with. And whom he wants to marry. I was wondering what is so interesting about you that my brother wants to spend his whole life with you.”

  The Prince felt disappointed on hearing this and decided to speak,

  but Martia held his hand in front of everyone and smiled at the Prince lovingly.

  Martia then replied in a low voice, so only Coaleme could hear, “I was also wondering what is so interesting about you that you deserve to be the king, but we both can just wonder about our questions, right?”

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  Coaleme was offended on hearing this but controlled his expression and said in a loud voice, “I called you here to let you know that since I have declared you a royal, there is a predetermined lifestyle you have to follow. You cannot leave this castle as you please. Being a royal, you are now not allowed to visit your poor family.”

  Martia was getting angrier with each statement but chose not to speak and continued to look at the king.

  Coaleme said, “I heard that Promapple has a new leader now.”

  Martia was shocked and looked at him with suspicion.

  He smiled proudly and said, “I am the king of Absyleous, Martia. Don’t you think I know what is going on in my kingdom? Since Intelligence Minister Augtromus said that you are an ordinary citizen who is living in the city with your poor parents from a long time now, and you worked with my brother before, who now loves you very much, that’s the only reason why you are still alive and sitting next to me, otherwise I would have gotten you killed a long time ago.”

  Martia was furious but smiled and said, “Is that so, Coaleme?”

  Coaleme replied, offended, “Don’t be so proud of yourself or your

  village.”

  Martia replied calmly, “I came from a village with which you can’t

  afford a war. Because you know the support it has from the rest of the villages is stronger than the support you have from other villages. And irrespective of its location, Promapple is stronger in weapons and skills than your whole military. But this is not something I am proud of because this is an ordinary fact for me. And after I have left Promapple, they or this whole battle for power doesn’t concern me. So don’t be so offended.”

  She looked him in the eye and declared, “But along with

  Promapple, this castle also doesn’t concern me. You don’t have to worry about me learning the rules and regulations of this palace. We will get married here, and you do your job as the Prince’s brother and give us your blessing, and then we will leave. We want to live somewhere where people know how to love and respect each other. And even if a place with only scheming, conflict and indifference would be considered as home, then also we would choose Promapple and not this castle as our home because neither you are good at anything good nor you are good at anything bad, and it makes this palace uninteresting. Looks like our words are enough for today’s lunch, so allow us to leave, King, as I am not very fond of getting bored.” She held the Prince’s hand and got up to leave.

  Enraged, Coaleme said loudly, “Since you came from the forest and don't know any etiquette to talk to your King, I will forgive you today, but the next time you will not leave this room alive if you behave this way.”

  Martia smirked and thought the probability of her killing the king

  along with his eleven ministers and the few guards was higher than her being killed first. But she chose not to make the Prince more anxious and turned back and bowed to the king and said in an uncaring tone, “Apologies, Your Highness. Grant us permission to leave.” And before Coaleme could say anything, they left.

  When they returned to their room, the Prince, disappointed in his

  brother, said to Martia, “Let’s go, Martia. I don’t want to live here any longer. I don’t want his blessings.”

  Martia calmly said, “Don’t worry about the behavior of the king. He is powerful, and when anyone is powerful, it is difficult to be respectful and humble. I know that, sweetheart.” She smiled. “Let’s just live a few days peacefully here, let’s get married, and then we will leave this castle.”

  The Prince, having complete faith in Martia, agreed.