The Prince Is Actually a Princess?! Chapter 4

─── ✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ: ✧ :･ﾟ✧:･ﾟ✧ ───

[Scene: Elivara Castle – The Welcome Banquet]

The grand hall is alive with music and murmurs. The air is thick with expectation.

Isla sits beside Adrian at the long banquet table, the picture of regal grace. But beneath the table, her fingers curl into a fist.

Isla Rosewood (princess/fl)

[smiling, voice dripping with poison] You don’t seem like the romantic type, Your Highness.

Adrian Elivara ( Crown prince/mc)

[taking a sip of wine, unbothered] And you don’t seem like the obedient type, Your Highness.

A few nobles chuckle. Isla’s smile doesn’t falter.

Isla Rosewood (princess/fl)

[tilting her head] Oh, but I am. I’ve been taught all my life how to be a perfect princess.

Adrian Elivara ( Crown prince/mc)

[raising a brow] And yet, here you are. Trying to pick a fight with your future husband.

Isla Rosewood (princess/fl)

[laughs lightly] Who says I have to try?

There’s something in the way Adrian watches her—calculating, amused. Like he’s waiting for her next move.

Fine. She’ll give him one.

She lifts her goblet in a mock toast.

Isla Rosewood (princess/fl)

To our blessed union.

Adrian mirrors her, but his smirk is knowing.

Adrian Elivara ( Crown prince/mc)

To survival.

The glasses clink. The war has begun.

─── ✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ: ✧ :･ﾟ✧:･ﾟ✧ ───

[Scene: Isla’s Chambers – A Private Confrontation]

The moment Isla steps into her chambers, she barely has time to exhale before the door clicks shut behind her.

She turns. Adrian stands there, arms crossed.

Isla Rosewood (princess/fl)

[dryly] Ah. Breaking into my chambers already? What an eager groom.

Adrian Elivara ( Crown prince/mc)

[leaning against the door] If I wanted to break in, Princess, you wouldn’t hear me coming.

The way he says it—calm, absolute—sends a shiver down her spine. Not fear. But something sharper.

She tilts her chin up.

Isla Rosewood (princess/fl)

[mocking] And what brings the great warlord to my door? Missed me already?

Adrian Elivara ( Crown prince/mc)

[ignoring the taunt] I came to warn you.

Isla Rosewood (princess/fl)

[mock gasp] A warning? How romantic.

Adrian Elivara ( Crown prince/mc)

[lowers voice] You’re playing a dangerous game, Isla. If you think testing me will make me break this engagement—

Isla Rosewood (princess/fl)

[cuts him off, voice like steel] Oh, I know you won’t break it. Because you need this marriage as much as my mother does.

A flicker of something unreadable crosses Adrian’s face. She hit a nerve.

Isla Rosewood (princess/fl)

[soft laugh] That’s what this is, isn’t it? A performance. You and I, both trapped by the roles they’ve written for us.

Adrian doesn’t reply. His grip on the door tightens.

Isla Rosewood (princess/fl)

[whispering, stepping closer] So tell me, Your Highness… what happens when the truth slips?

For the first time, Adrian’s mask cracks—just for a second.

Then he smirks.

Adrian Elivara ( Crown prince/mc)

[low, amused] I suppose we’ll both find out.

And just like that, he’s gone.

Isla exhales, heart pounding.

This marriage isn’t just a battlefield.

It’s a war.

─── ✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ: ✧ :･ﾟ✧:･ﾟ✧ ───

End of the chapter

Author 💬

"Royalty is just a game of puppets—some of us just cut the strings faster."

Author 💬