Therius looked at Emma and did not answer. He just quietly sipped his wine.

"She is right," Xion said, pointing at Emma. He took a sip of wine in his gla.s.s and nodded. "You didn't ask her if she was willing to go. She only asked you to provide doctors to treat her husband." 

"You took away my choices, and I don't like that," Emma said again. "Now, I am forced to join you to Akkadia. Haoran and I lost our home because of you! I say this is no different than kidnapping."

Therius narrowed his eyes and looked at Emma with an unhappy expression. He hated hearing Haoran's name mentioned. 

Xion raised an eyebrow and looked at Therius. He realized that, since they met Emma, ​​Therius had begun to display more emotions on his face. Xion had thought it wasn't possible after knowing this man for over a decade. He was always such a stoic man and he always kept his thoughts and feelings to himself.

So far, Xion had seen Therius looking happy, angry, and even jealous after he saw the girl in the messenger s.h.i.+p screen. Before, the prince used to hide his feelings behind a deadpan expression.

Maybe love could indeed change people ... Xion thought with irritation.

In his heart, he was determined never to fall in love and let it change him into someone he was not. He liked his current self so much. He wouldn't change for other people.

"You ALWAYS have a choice! Don't act like you're the most miserable person and the world owes you anything," Therius said coldly. "The only humans who don't have a choice are the dead ones."

"You...!" Emma glared at Therius when she heard his unsympathetic remark. Somehow, this man always managed to incite her anger.

"Now you have two choices: go to Akkadia or get out of the s.h.i.+p and die in s.p.a.ce with him. If you go to Akkadia, you can choose to cooperate with me or face the consequences. Your father will be sentenced to death and you will be a hostage in Akkadia. Haoran? You won't even have the luxury to think about what will happen to him. You will be busy thinking about your own life and how you could survive in the palace as a hostage," said Therius. The patience that he had been showing was now gone.

"If you want to change your fate... if you want to be more powerful so you can have more choices, you have to toil and work hard. Weak people will always be oppressed. People who are stronger than you will always make decisions for you, and you can only choose to bow or die. Do you understand?!!"

Xion was startled when he saw Therius suddenly spoke very harshly. He cleared his throat and nodded to Emma. "He is also right."

Emma pursed her lips, trying to stop herself from cursing Therius again as the heartless prince.

She knew Therius was right. In her current condition ... Emma really couldn't win. She was too weak, and right now, she not only had to think about herself but also her father and Haoran. Their lives were in the enemy's hands.

"All right. I admit that now I am powerless to face you ... But someday, I will become stronger. I will make you pay for everything you did to me. I will free my father and reunite with my family ..." said Emma finally. She bit her lip, and her mind was suddenly filled with determination.

Therius threw Emma a complicated look. "It's good that you understand. I know you're not stupid."

"..."

"Do you know why I admitted defeat to you when we fought on the penthouse terrace?" Therius asked. "That's because I felt sorry for you. I didn't exert my strength at all, let alone strike back. So long as you haven't been able to train yourself and become stronger, don't expect you could defeat me."

Emma clenched her fists to the sides. She knew that Therius was right again.

"Then, do you want to free your father, save your family, provide the best care so that Haoran will recover, and you all can be reunited?" Therius asked again. "You can only do it all IF you live. Forget freeing your father and forget about Haoran. Your fate will be no different from your cousin. You will be a Thaesi princess being held hostage in Akkadia. If you fight and tried to escape, you will die. You must know by now that you cannot beat me. There are many knights and mages in the palace that keep the royal family safe. Some of them are much stronger than me. It takes only one of them to kill you."

Emma interrupted Therius curtly. "I understand what you mean. Now, what do you want?"

"I still need your help to ascend the throne and settle the conflict between Thaesi and Akkadia. If you want to cooperate with me, you will be under my protection. It means you will live and get your freedom. With the freedom you have ... you can do everything you want to reunite with your family and try to become stronger than me. If you manage to beat me in a fair fight one day, I will admit defeat, and you may leave."

Emma took a deep breath and tried to calm down when she heard Therius' words. She understood clearly what Therius wanted.

The man wanted Emma to budge and relent. Just like a strategist who said that sometimes we need to take one step back to move two steps forward. Therius was asking Emma to consider giving in to buy herself more time. One day, she would be able to fight for her freedom and her loved ones if she could become stronger than Therius.

"I can't marry you. I already have a husband." Emma murmured.

It was always the same words when she wanted to reject him, and Therius was getting sick of hearing them.

"I'm not asking you to marry me. Like I said, I just need you beside me to settle the conflict between Akkadia and Thaesi. We can get engaged and pretend that we plan to get married in front of everyone. That's enough." Therius sipped his wine gracefully and continued his words.

"I will give you five years to train with the best teachers to improve your abilities and try to defeat me in a fair fight. You can even try to convince Xion to take you as a student and train your aeromancy. You can also enter the academy and learn from the best teachers in Akkadia."

Emma was stunned by Therius' words.

Why did she feel like Therius was helping her? Of course, if Emma could train all her powers, she would have the chance to defeat Therius in a fair fight.

Did Therius intend to cheat in that fight? Did he just make this an excuse to persuade Emma to stay in Akkadia and do as he said?

He did tell Emma that he wanted to send her to the academy when they met at the penthouse.

"I don't accept students," Xion interrupted. He turned to Emma and wiggled his index finger. "No. You can learn from other people."

"Why are you doing this?" Emma asked Therius. "You talk all sorts of things about this, but in essence, you are trying to persuade me to train myself to become stronger."

Therius smiled at Emma's question. "I like strong women."