Oh! My Empress

Kim Su Won had no idea what the day was going to unfold. Her chance to do networking and make connections was robbed by this crown prince sitting in front of her. No matter how dazzling he was, he was still an as*hole.

Not only did he insist to travel in their carriage, in hopes to leave behind the lady HE was escorting, he whined like a baby when her group decided to group lady Richmond and him in the same carriage.

In the end, the boys went in one carriage and the girls in one.

Kim Su Won was not very happy with this. She had read about Katherine Richmond briefly in the novel. As much as beautiful she was, she was from the raven duchy. The people with jet black eyes and hair instilled fear in people.

And the duke and his family were very adept in taking advantage of this fear. They ruled their people with cruelty and absolute control. Since Richmond duchy shared borders with all three other regions in the kingdom, a lot of people had since fled their duchy.

Richmond duchy was the least populated duchy in the kingdom but the duke failed to see his flaws. He was very happy where he was and was raising his kids the same. This generation of Richmond family only contained girls, so the Richmond family was slated to get the first female duke ever in the history of kingdom of Krislabet.

"Why am I riding the same carriage with you, a kid who is not respected even in her own house?" Katherine finally snapped after glaring at Kim Su Won for almost the entire journey till now. Her maid was also present who had been travelling in a separate carriage with the crown prince's carriage.

Kim Su Won, who was not even paying attention to the lady of Richmond household, turned her bored glance towards the kid. She was sitting resting her cheek on her palm with the support of her elbow and her stance did not move an inch.

Did she want to talk to this person? Not really. It was going to be a hassle. But since Katherine had taken it upon her to get humiliated, Kim Su Won was all for it.

"Lady Richmond, if you really have a problem in riding a carriage with me, you are very welcome to get out and do one for yourself," she kept her poker face on and replied, tilting her head as if confused.

"W-What?" Katherine was taken back by that retort. She thought this girl was dumb which was why Whittemores were not ready to reveal her to the world. But this wench's sharp tongue was making her speechless. How could she lose?

"Is that a way to treat your guests? Asking them to get out?" Katherine crossed her arms, frowning and smirking at the same time. She had the leverage, she was the representative of Richmond duchy at Whittemore duchy. They could not treat her like this!

"But I don't believe my brother invited you, lady Richmond. It was his highness that he invited," Kim Su Won reasonably argued. The guard outside, who was riding on a horse and also eavesdropping sniggered. Katherine Richmond felt even more insulted by this but could not say anything because the guard belonged to imperial family.

"Y-You…," she seethed in anger.

"Ayyy Lady Katherine Richmond. I am not sure what animosity you have towards me. We are meeting for the first time too. I did not do any wrong to you, why are you so hostile?" Kim Su Won went straight in with her questions but kept her tone light. Who had time to go round and round, beating about the bush? And she would not get an answer anyway.

"H-Hostility? Who said I am hostile to you? I was trying to make a conversation, you are the one offending me left and right," Katherine answered, clenching her teeth. She had to win the argument. She could not lose to a girl younger than her. That would be a real insult to the Richmond family.

"Oh, is that so? Then I apologize," Kim Su Won said, without mentioning anything about what she was sorry for. This was the last straw that broke the camel's back. Katherine could not talk back anymore but she felt like the apology was just not enough.

She felt defeated. This girl admitted her wrong in an instant. How was she supposed to continue and grab a chance to get back to her? There was no avenue anymore!

The guard left and whispered the small anecdote to the prince. The crown prince heard the story and laughed heartily, startling the other males sitting in his carriage. The royal carriage was obviously bigger and he had invited both Ivan and Alex to sit with him and entertain him.

There was, however, an awkward silence in the carriage. There would be one or two back and forth small talk regarding the well being of each other and the families and that would be it.

But suddenly, the crown prince burst out in laughter. The other two became curious but curbed it for they knew the little Emmeline must have done something incredulous again.

"Your sister, why was she not in the limelight all this time? I believe she is benevolent and witty. This is the first time I am meeting her," Aaron finally found a topic to talk about. He was interested in knowing this girl better. She sounded like fun, something he did not have in his life.

"Your highness, she was a willful girl up until about a month ago. But now she has turned over a leaf and wants to study for the welfare of the people," Ivan replied solemnly. He wanted to support his sister's ambition to become the crown prince, so it was very important that he portrayed her in good light in front of her potentially future husband.

"Oh? She does not look willful at all. More like haughty and cunning little fox," crown prince said. The two other people could not figure out if he was making fun of her or complimenting her. They did not say anything after this.

After a couple seconds of silence, the crown prince posed further questions, "So, what happened to her that she changed?" The curiosity in his eyes was apparent.

Ivan and Alex both knitted their eyebrows slightly. It was really no secret that Emmeline had an 'accident' even if details were fuzzy. This crown prince, was he trying to bring the topic up on purpose or was he just too ignorant of what was happening among the nobles?

"We have arrived," Timothy announced.

Ivan had already sent a messenger at home with the details and the duke and the duchess were standing outside to welcome the esteemed guest.

"Your highness," the duke greeted as soon as Aaron came out of the carriage.

But the crown prince turned to the opposite direction and walked to the carriage with the ladies.. He waited for Kim Su Won to deboard and stretched his hand out to help her.