"There's a three-courtyard estate on the outskirts of the city. I've already purchased it. If you like the country life, I'll have someone plant fruits and vegetables in the yard for you. Whatever you want, I'll make it happen. Trust me."

I stepped back, shaking my head over and over.

"I won't be locked away as your dirty secret. I won't let myself and our child live in the shadows for the rest of our lives."

But Lola simply walked up to me, her expression unchanged, her voice calm.

"I've never thought of you as a kept man. As long as you don't make trouble in front of my husband, you'll still be mine. Isn't that enough?"

I kept shaking my head. "No. It's not. I'm not leaving this place."

This was where Lola and I had spent three years of love. I wanted to be here when our child was born.

"Alaric, you know my wedding cannot have a single flaw. I have to erase every trace of our past. It's the only way to keep you safe."

Before the shock had even settled, she raised her hand. The guards behind her stepped forward with torches and set the entire homestead ablaze.

In an instant the fire roared to life, swallowing the bamboo cabin, the fence, the courtyard whole.

I gripped the fence and screamed. "No! Stop! Stop it!"

Lola pulled me away and pressed my thrashing body against her chest.

She held me there while I struggled and howled.

"Alaric, when the time is right, I'll make you my secondary husband. Our child can carry the title of a legitimate heir. We can be just like before."

But Lola, I am the Crown Prince. How could I ever be your secondary husband?

The homestead was gone. There was no going back.

Three years ago, I had a fight with my father and stormed out of the palace in a fit of anger, chasing after my dream of a quiet life in the countryside.

I shook off his secret agents along the way and settled at the foot of this mountain.

That was when I met Lola Black. She was on horseback, hair streaming in the wind, a smile playing at the corner of her lips. One look, and I fell hopelessly in love.

I hid my identity from her, and she told me only that she was a wandering swordswoman. With heaven and earth as our witnesses, we became husband and wife.

We had no silk robes or lavish feasts, but tilling the fields and weaving cloth side by side, we were happy.

Now the cottage was destroyed, and I was locked away in that side manor.