I stared at the prince in shock. "Pardon?"

Obviously not expecting this response, his expression turned quizzical. "Are you hard of hearing? We're getting engaged!"

I dug a finger into my ear, as if cleaning it out, muttering to myself. "I swore I heard you say 'engaged.'"

"I did...?"

"But that would be impossible!" I shook my head, before staring at him intently.

"Unless you were an idiot."

He sputtered with rage. "What did you call me?!"

"Idiot. Fool. Moron. Buffoon...." I paused. "Give me a moment, I'm sure I'll think of more."

Standing up, his face turned red. "HOW DARE YOU?!!"

I stood up to face him, slamming my hands on the desk.

"NO! How dare YOU? How dare you step into MY HOME and insult me like this? A week after you cut off your engagement for another woman 'that your heart belongs to,' you waltz in here and expect me to fall at your feet?" I laughed.

"You're even stupider than I thought. Self absorbed, idiotic, obsessed with hunting, horseriding and anything that isn't facing the responsibility of your future leadership responsibilities!"

"I- I..."

"Even if I were only to give it HALF my effort, I would still be an infinitely better ruler than you are." I sighed, rubbing my head. "Luckily for me, and unluckily for the kingdom, we are not getting married, and that will never be put to the test."

"I've never been...!" He tried to shout, but I simply cut him off.

"You've never been so insulted?" I chuckled. "Get used to it. You're a pathetic boy who will be a pathetic king. The only useful thing you've ever done is break the engagement, freeing me from the horrifying destiny of marrying you."

I sat down, catching my breath. I had gotten more emotional than I expected. After so many years had passed, I thought most of my bitterness at how I had been treated in my first life was gone.

Apparently not as completely as I had hoped.

Prince Ronan glared at me. "I should have known you wouldn't listen to reason!"

"What reason...?"

"Edith warned me that you were petty and held grudges!" He threw up his hands. "She cried for so long, scared that you would hate her for the crime of falling in love with me, and now I can see she was right to be! You are just as bitter and angry as she said you would be."

I smiled. "I don't hate her, idiot prince. I pity her."

"Liar...."

"After all, what did she say when you told her you were dumping her to resume our engagement?"

"..." His face was sullen, but he remained silent. My smile widened.

"I thought so." I let out a long dramatic sigh. "Poor girl, betrayed by the man who claimed to love her and you didn't even bother to let her know. Turns out your promises were just as worthless as your brain."

"I DID NOT BETRAY HER!" He yelled, slamming a fist against my desk, scattering the few papers that were left.

"Really? Then why are you here, proposing to me?" I was genuinely curious as to how he had thought this through.

He sat down, looking tired. "Look, we have to marry for... political reasons. But I will continue to remain faithful to my beautiful and wonderful Edith."

"So you will plan to keep her as a mistress."

"As my true love!" He insisted.

"She'll never stand by your side, never have your name and all her children will be bastards with no claim to the throne." I wanted to hit him, but kept my fists clenched in my lap. "You would take from everyone, even those you CLAIM to love, never giving back. Your only care is for what YOU want!"

"Why shouldn't it be?!" His face was stubborn. "I'll be king!"

"That's not a king." I shook my head. "That's just a selfish and foolish person. The crown only makes it all the more obvious."

I stood up, nodding to Hallers who appeared, out of breath at the door. He quickly straightened, forcing himself into a professional stance despite obviously having run clear across the property.

"My answer, in case you didn't understand, is 'no.' I will not now or in any other lifetime marry you." Tapping my chin, I felt a smile form once again. "In fact, you bursting in unannounced and hassling me so has caused me significant emotional stress and suffering."

I held out my hand.

Recognizing the gesture, he stood and started to back away, his face pale. "No, not again! I have no reason to..."

I pulled out a piece of blank parchment and began writing.

"...wh-what are you doing?"

I continued writing without pause. "Writing a letter to the king."

"What? Why?"

"Just telling him how you bumbled this proposal, insulted me, declared your intentions to have a mistress, nothing much." I looked up and grinned. "I'm sure he'll be very understanding."

"No, YOU CAN'T..."

I held out my hand, palm up, once more.

Silenced, he sadly began rummaging through his pockets, bringing out his money.

Once I had cleared him of all his cash I looked over to Hallers once more. "Please escort the Prince to his carriage, his business is finished here."

"Right this way, Sir." Hallers' eyes gleamed with ill-intent as he stared at the prince.

The prince walked towards the door, turning to glare at me. "You'll regret this!" He snarled, his hands balled into fists as if he wished to strike me. "I will destroy everything you love, and you will BEG for mercy by the time I'm done with you. BEG!"

I stepped closer, noting with amusement that he increased the distance between us, as if afraid.

"Go ahead." I spread my arms wide. "Do your worst. Whatever you do to hurt me that I'll return the favor ten-fold. "

I turned away, walking back towards my desk, tired of looking at him. "I'll be waiting, Your Highness."

"..." After a few moments, the sound of his reluctant footsteps moving away could be heard. I sighed with relief, and sat down in my chair, thinking.

_______________________________

"... You can come out now." I called out.

THUD. Nate and Henry fell from their hiding spot in the hallway. Nate had the decency to look slightly ashamed, but Henry simply shrugged, brushing himself off.

"We heard the prince was here and we were curious." He explained.

"And your curiosity justifies you both spying on a private conversation?"

Nate hung his head. "I'm sorry, I thought you might need backup." He looked up briefly, smiling. "I can see now that I was very mistaken."

Henry simply shrugged again, but Nate elbowed him until he rolled his eyes. "I'm sorry too."

"You're both forgiven." I motioned for them to sit, and they did. "That was...interesting."

"Aren't you worried though?" Nate's brow furrowed. "I mean, you weren't very nice... not that I blame you! But what if he tries to get revenge?"

"Let him. Armeny has never been stronger. Besides, the public knows that HE broke off the engagement. The more he tries to push the issue, the more he'll suffer in return."

Henry spoke up, "So he'd be a fool to try anything?"

"Which is why he definitely will." I grinned. "But don't worry. I'm ready."

"Well, I'm here if you need any help." Nate stood up. "And I'll arrange the paperwork you need for the two people coming to Tilendria. Just send me their information and it will done as soon as possible. "

"Are you leaving already?" I frowned, unsure of why that idea bothered me. "Can't you stay for dinner?"

"Yes, she's right! You can't leave now, we've barely even looked in the herb section of the greenhouse!" Henry spoke up, dismayed.

"I'm sorry to both of you." Nate smiled. "But I'm afraid the Queen has requested my presence at dinner tonight. Apparently she wants to question me."

I reached out, patting him on the arm. "Good luck."

His face turned red, as he glanced down at my hand on his arm. Worried that I had offended him, I retracted it, and he shook his head, as if trying to clear his thoughts. "Well- yes, um... thanks! That was nice... I mean!" He slapped a hand to face. "Never mind! I'm going now!"

Awkwardly he walked out, replaced by a satisfied looking Hallers.

"Did the prince leave?"

"Yes, but I'm afraid His Royal Highness did not have an uneventful exit." An evil chuckle resonated from him.

I couldn't hold back my curiosity. "What happened?"

"Somehow, the prince slipped on the step into his carriage. It was unexpectedly slick... almost as if a small amount of oil had been smeared on it." He spread his hands helplessly. "And even more mysterious was that he was boarding the carriage right next to the stable manure pile!" He shook his head. "How unfortunate for the prince of our kingdom to fall into horse dung on my watch. How shall I bear the shame?" He looked even more pleased than before.

"It will make a lovely new verse to your song, Hallers." Henry spoke up.

"I have no idea what you mean, Sir." His face a professional mask once more, he turned around. "I will get you both some more tea."

Henry and I stared at each other once he left. "Do you really think we'll be okay if the prince comes after you?" he asked.

"Yes, I'm sure of it. I can handle the Prince."

He didn't look convinced. "That's all well and good, but... what about the King?"

"The king?" I paused at that. "He's a different story. Hopefully he'll be content to let his son run things."

"Hopefully."

We waited for our tea in silence.

_______________________________

A few days passed and there was not a word from the prince. With each uneventful day, I wondered a few times if he had changed his mind regarding revenge. Finally, having cleared through much of the week's work with Henry, I headed out to the main branch of Prosperity, hoping to check in with Marile while I was there.

Most of the time she brought the financial reports to me and we would discuss plans together, but every once and a while I liked going to the shop and seeing for myself how things were being run.

"Welcome!" A cheery greeting rang out as I walked through the doors. The whole store was light and friendly, with clear displays and helpful staff. I nodded silently with a approval to myself. Marile ran a tight ship, even when I wasn't around.

I headed to the back room, greeted by the sight of Marile sitting in a chair, humming while she sewed. It was so achingly familiar but strange all the same. How many times had I sat with her in a room like this, sewing and humming along? How many days did we chat for hours while working, talking about our hopes and dreams for the future, even if we avoided speaking about our pasts that were too painful to dredge up?

Hearing me walk in, Marile looked up with a smile.

"Welcome back!"

_______________________________

"Welcome back." Marile waved a hand, tired from a long day work. "What took you so long?"

I shook my head. "I can't find him this time."

"Your father's still missing?" She frowned. "Maybe he's staying with friends?"

"He kept gambling at the clubs, no matter what I told him." I was shaking, and sat down in the chair opposite her. "He hid it from me, but I think he's in more debt than he let on."

Marile's expression was grim. "And not with the right kind of people?"

"No."

She reached out, patting my shoulder. "I won't give you false words of comfort, girl. What I will say is that I'm here for you, even in the case of the worst."

I wiped the forming tears from my eyes, looking around for the dress I had to finish. "Really?"

"Yes." She grinned. "And I've been working with Mr. Haggot. He's going to sell all my designs and with that money you and I can open up our own shop!" Holding out her hand towards me, she asked with a smile. "What about it, want to be business partners?"

I reached out, clasping her hand. "Deal. One day, we'll run a shop together."

_______________________________

I shook my head, stepping into the sewing room and sitting near her. "How's business lately?"

"No change. Should there be?" She must have sensed my nervousness, as she reached out and handed me a project. "Hem the sleeves. Sewing will calm you down."

I grinned, taking the dress and settling into a familiar rhythm next to her. "Well, I worry that the prince in his desire for revenge might have struck here."

"It's still somehow a secret that we're business partners. No reason for him to strike out at a random dress shop."

I sighed, already feeling better as I worked with my hands. "I suppose you're right."

"No need to be so worried..." Marile faded to silence as we heard to women start to talk to each other near the back room, obviously not realizing they were being overheard.

"Did you hear the rumor going around about Lenora?" A high pitched nasally voice spoke up, sounding excited.

"The Duke of Armeny's daughter? Yes, her engagement was broken, that's old news." A deeper, bored voice answered.

"No, no no! Of course everyone knows about the engagement break up! I'm talking about why it happened!"

"Why it happened?" The bored voice sounded slightly more interested. "I thought the Queen said they parted ways because they didn't really connect well?"

"Apparently she was just hiding the truth!" the nasally voice giggled. "I heard from a close friend of Lenora's that the young woman was actually running around with other men!"

"Cheating on the prince?"

I sighed, leaning back in my chair and focusing on my sewing. Different life, same rumors. I had wondered if this would repeat itself. Apparently this time it took telling the prince what I thought about him before he and Edith tried to ruin my reputation. I wondered if he bothered to tell her the whole story of proposing to me, and that's why she was helping. It seemed unlikely that he would be honest with her, though.

"I don't know..." the lower voice continued, "I've met her, and she seems very nice. And she has a sterling reputation in the duchy..."

"Which makes this rumor all the more exciting!" The nasally voice raised, almost a shout. She had apparently forgotten her concern about being overheard.

"SHH... this isn't right to speak of!" The other girl obviously tried to quiet her, growing nervous. "I feel wrong talking about her behind her back like this. She seems very kind, even paid for a small debt I owed this store once."

"Who cares if we talk badly about some cast-off of the prince?" The higher voice laughed. "Lenora is washed up, we can talk about her all we like."

"NOT IN MY STORE YOU WON'T!" Marile, her face enraged, stormed out of the back room to confront the two.

"I- I'm so sorry!" The lower voice spoke up first, "it was terribly rude..."

"HOW DARE YOU QUESTION YOUR BETTERS?!" The nasally voice shouted. "I'll speak of whomever I please, or you'll lose my business!"

"I would hope so!" Marile held her ground. "From this moment forward, your account with Prosperity is canceled. You will not be able to purchase any of the newest fashion. Your debt will be sent to your family for immediate payment."

"YOU- YOU CAN'T..." she sputtered in return.

"I can, and I will. Lady Lenora is our biggest patron, and our most respected customer! No one will slander her name and be welcome in our store."

The nasal voice rose to a shriek. "You'll lose your business!"

"Perhaps." Marile sounded unconcerned. "But more likely the other young women would rather be kind to the woman they owe so much to rather than risk being the least fashionable in the room."

The loud sound of the girl running away in tears could be heard, followed by a brief silence. Marile spoke up, much more softly this time. "Thank you for defending the Lady Lenora. I'll handle your gown myself."

"Really? I don't deserve that... but if you mean it, I'll gladly take you up on it."

"Just please tell your friends what I've said here."

The remaining girl laughed. "Oh believe me, in a few days there won't be a noblewoman in the kingdom left who would dare slander Lady Lenora lest they be banned from the best dress shop around!"

Marile stepped back in, her face calm. I stared up at her, my sewing forgotten.

"Thank you." I whispered. She seemed to sway in my vision as tears filled my eyes.

"What a silly girl!" Marile stepped forward, giving me a tight hug. "Of course I won't let that nasty person tell lies about you! Not while I have breath in this body!"

_______________________________

"YOU'RE AN EMBARASSMENT!" My mother screamed, throwing her now empty glass towards me. "YOU DESERVE EVERY TERRIBLE WORD THEY SPEAK ABOUT YOU!"

_______________________________

"You don't..."

"Shush!" Marile handed me my sewing once again with a smile. "Finish your work before you go home. We'll sit together."

And so we did.