Red Rose Manor, sunroom.
Edsac Augustus stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, his face dark, looking ferociously at Triss, who had an indifferent expression on her face, with a volcano about to erupt in his voice:
"Why are you trying to run away again?"
Triss's gaze passed over him to the window, and she chuckled softly, not answering but instead asking:
"Did you see the meteor shower just now? Did you feel the earth trembling?"
Behind her, porcelain items in the display cabinet had fallen onto the thick carpet, while the old butler Finkel stood beside.
"This isn't something too unusual," Edsac responded solemnly.
Triss raised an eyebrow slightly and said:
"You are very dull.
"Then I'll tell you frankly, I am a witch!"
Prince Edsac's expression did not change at all. Instead, he turned to the old butler and said:
"Go guard the door, don't let anyone in."
"Yes, Your Highness." Finkel glanced coldly at Triss and went out of the sunroom.
Hearing the door close, Edsac slowly exhaled:
"Trissick, huh, you prefer to be called Triss.
"I know you are a witch. The people who bought extraordinary materials for you did not succeed. The ones you got were all provided by me!
"I don't mind if my princess is a 'witch' or a 'sorceress.' I've even seen your wanted poster!"
Triss was momentarily stunned, then revealed a teasing smile:
"You know quite a lot...
"But do you know that I was once a man? My real name is Triss."
"...What?" Edsac's eyes widened, he tilted his head slightly, as if he couldn't believe what he heard.
Seeing this, Triss suddenly laughed, laughing heartily, rocking back and forth, extremely violently, like a madwoman:
"Haha, you didn't mishear, I was once a man! I was once like you! But the 'witch' potion forcibly changed my gender!
"Isn't it disgusting? Don't you have goosebumps?"
She spoke out the words that had been accumulating for a long time and took two steps forward.
Edsac instinctively stepped back, his throat unconsciously moving up and down once.
"No, it's not like that... You are a real woman... There's no problem... I can completely confirm this!" First he murmured to himself, then raised his voice, "From the time I knew you, you have been a real woman. What you were like in the past, I don't want to know! I can treat it as if nothing happened! I like, I love, the present you!"
Triss was taken aback, raised her hand to wipe away the tears from her laughter:
"You are truly a pitiful person.
"Don't you understand yet? Our meeting was not a coincidence, even your liking..."
She paused as if nauseated, then continued: "Even your liking for me was arranged by others. Don't you think everything was too fast, too sudden? I believe in love at first sight, but I don't believe it has such magical power. You behave like the protagonist of a third-rate romance novel, just because of one meeting, you become infatuated, fall in love with the stranger that is me, forgetting the target you once liked, this is too crazy!"
Prince Edsac's eyes became vacant, his mouth opened, but no words came out.
His body suddenly swayed, as if finally waking from a long dream.
"You, you are indeed my type... but my reaction, really, really, was too exaggerated..."
Triss curled her lips and sneered:
"Pitiful person, even things like liking are arranged by others, like a puppet on strings.
"Don't you understand? You are someone who can be sacrificed, and I am both a hostage needed for the cooperation between the royal family and the Witch Sect, and the necessary disguise for deception.
"I carry important items of the Witch Sect, under your strict supervision, ready to be destroyed at any time, losing the treasures. This is the sincerity of our cooperation. Once things are exposed, known by the three major churches or other factions of the military, then the development will be very simple. Prince Edsac is greedy for beauty, secretly keeping a witch, knowing the gravity of his crime, so he shoots himself, and then, all problems will be covered up."
"No!" Edsac exclaimed.
Then, with a distorted face, he asked:
"What are they cooperating with the Witch Sect on?"
"How would a hostage who might be abandoned at any time know?" Triss laughed self-deprecatingly. "These are all the reasons I want to escape."
She lowered her head and chuckled continuously, her body trembling slightly.
After a few seconds, she looked up again, a smile on her lips:
"What do you want to do with me? Strip me and throw me on the bed? No, you should already have a psychological barrier. Actually, I don't mind giving you some warmth now. Two pitiful people comforting each other isn't shameful."
Prince Edsac, with a round face somber, looked at Triss silently for nearly a minute.
Suddenly, he closed his eyes and pointed to the other side:
"You leave.
"Leave through that door."
Triss raised her eyebrows in surprise:
"You want to let me go?"
"Yes." Edsac turned to look out the window and slowly replied, "I will stop Finkel. As for whether you can escape other pursuits, it depends on your own ability and luck."
Triss's eyes were confused for a few seconds, then she rushed quickly to the hidden door.