Lishinia was furious. Livid even.

  Thank the gods she had accompanied her mistress into the dungeons and was sporting a solid Level 41 - only her high level [Rogue] abilities allowed her to remain calm while listening to the nonsense spewed forth by that cretin who called himself the crown prince. The royal family had gone too far this time. Waiting until her poor mistress was away from home and trapped at sea before demanding she get engaged with someone of their choosing?

  Preposterous!

  And with no regard to Peregrine’s grieving heart... Lish wanted to scream. As soon as she was alone, the maid was going to send a missive back to the Fern house with the ships return voyage. The Count and Countess would raze Sumbria to the ground before seeing their daughter sold to another country.

  If the count didn't sink the kingdom into an eternal winter first.

  "Where are we staying?” Peregrine asked quietly, her hands still shaking as they held onto the portrait of her forced betrothed.

  Lish resisted the urge to grab the blasted thing, turn around and tear it into a hundred tiny pieces in front of the smug crown prince. She answered with all gentleness, “This way miss.”

  She pointed to the entrance to the lower deck, which was currently blocked by a tall human. He wore the stylish loose robes from the Empire of Sands, and he blushed awkwardly as Lish pointed at him.

  “Ah, here, let me…” He first tried to step to the side, which didn't afford them enough to pass. They waited for him to realize this, and hurry out onto the deck to give them room. “It is a good time to head below… the rains are coming.”

  “Thank you for the warning,” The skies were blue as summer cornflowers, but Lish didn’t say that. She didn’t need a reason to keep her mistress sequestered below deck and far away from the prince.

  “Vashid! The captain’s been asking for you since we pushed off!” One of the other crew called out to the man. Vashid bobbed his head once at the pair and then hurried away.

  Peregrine’s face was a measure of calm as they reached their quarters, but Lish knew her charge. Peregrine stood in the small room, holding tight to the portrait the crown prince had given her.

  Lish could see the movement of her neck as she swallowed thickly, and the darkened tips of Peregrine’s ears.

  Her mistress was hiding her emotions well, but the embarrassment and insult must be overwhelming. To be treated as nothing more than an ornament to be sold… Lish forced herself to loosen her grip for fear of piercing her own skin.

  “Let me pour you a cup of tea–” Lish offered, but Peregrine quickly cut her off.

  “N-no.” The word came out sounding like a desperate plea, and it broke the maid’s heart. Peregrine regained herself and repeated firmly, “No. I would like to be alone now. Please.”

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  “Of course, miss.” Lish hesitated but accepted the dismissal. Peregrine needed some time alone, and Lish needed time to plan. The maid had a message to pen; she was going to do everything in her power to prevent this engagement.

  She would rebel against the very heavens to protect and free Peregrine from her tragic fate…

  And if Fate herself ever looked upon Countess Peregrine Fern, Lish hoped the goddess would feel nothing but shame.

  …

  Peregrine:

  The second the cabin door closed behind my, I turned and collapsed backwards onto one of the two small cot beds in the room.

  A happy noise escaped me as I kicked my feet in the air and positively beamed at the portrait of my soon-to-be betrothed. I couldn’t help it, he was just so outrageously handsome.

  And those muscles.

  I might change my opinion quickly after I met the… whatever he was. There was no way to tell from the portrait alone.

  His ears were too short to be an elf; pointy, but not shaped like a half-elf either. He could maybe pass for a beastman or human at a distance… though some instinct told me he was neither of the two. His paler skin tone could be underdark ancestry from the ocean floor, but his colouring was more silver than blue. And I couldn’t tell his height from a portrait.

  Perhaps he was using a disguise? A high level fox could shift into whatever form they desired - and I agreed that this form was very desirable.

  I ran a hand over the firm line of the man’s lips. Professional and distant, a royal guard focused on completing his task.

  His serious demeanor only made him more endearing…

  I told myself that I needed to calm down. I hadn’t even met him yet. He could be boorish, or rude, or even violent. Though between my two previous suitors, Lord Geoffrey and Crown Prince Deryl… practically anyone was preferable.

  He also came with the added bonus of living somewhere far away from Sumbria.

  Peldeep, as I understood, was one of the most diverse and welcoming nations in Valaria. They didn’t discriminate, and they even allowed people to open restaurants for non-traditional foods. Having only eaten proper Sumbrian cuisine all of my life, I longed to try something new. I'd wanted to try other things ever since I'd seen some of the foods brought by other adventurers in the Dungeon Valley Crest.

  A Sumbrian education looked down on all others, and rarely taught about other places. Even though the royal family would’ve liked to keep all segregated from the rest of the continent, one Madame Potts made that impossible.

  The news that came from her Crystal Cast’s had opened up my eyes about the real differences between home and the rest of the world. From festivals to dungeon’s to politics, Madame Pott’s would say it all. And I loved to listen.

  I'd even sought out my no-longer future father-in-law to his stories of his travels... and by stories, I meant complaints. Earl Oakely acted as an ambassador to Drendil and Peldeep, and brought back disparaging tales of insult to share with anyone who would listen. I could usually piece together all sorts of interesting notes from the earl.

  And now I was going to get to experience all of these things for myself!

  Overcome with emotion, I hugged the portrait to her chest.

  If everything worked out right, I would get to marry a stunning muscle clad knight who would sweep me away to a new land full of new food and music and politics.

  I would have to stop by the temple district in Servalt and North Sumbria to thank the gods for blessing me with a brighter future.