"Are you alright, princess?" Lord Newton asked. Isadora could see the concern of his face. Was she that bad in hiding emotions? She simply smiled at him and that simple action was enough to drive Lord Newton crazy. And now that he thought about it, not every other woman made him act this way but Isadora alone. He had met many women, even more beautiful than her, but he’d never acted this way in front of another woman. And as long as he could remember, this was the longest of times he had looked her in the eye.

Her blue eyes gave off a feeling of warmth that he didn’t even know existed in the warrior princess. But there was something else that he could see in her eyes. Was that pain and regret? And for the first time ever, Isadora was the first to avert her gaze.

Isadora looked down with a defeated look. The way that Lord Newton had looked at her felt as if he had accessed her deepest and darkest secrets. It was as if she had been an open book, for him to read the contents freely. And coupled with the look of concern on his face, she could tell that he already had a gist of what she was going through. She stared at her hands blankly. Now was the best time to share what she was going through. Maybe Lord Newton would help. But would he really understand?

"I’ve made so many mistakes in the past few days that I don’t think I’ll be able to make up to," she began, her voice slightly broke, and a slight tremor of hesitance in her voice. She lifted her face and gazed at Lord Newton and all she could see was a look of concern on his face. This gave her the courage to continue.

"After I was sent to Valoria to kill prince Alexander, I committed a grave mistake and fell for his looks and tricks," she added, though she was not sure if that was what she had fallen for. Yes he was handsome and cute, and treacherous too. Maybe that was what she had fallen for after all. He was the god of seduction and everywhere he passed, heads turned. So getting into her heart would be a piece of cake to him. His looks alone were enough to do almost the whole part of the job. And he had a way with words. She had to admit that he was skilled in the art of seduction. But he had used that to ’trick’ her to fall in love!

Isadora had expected Lord Newton to say something but he remained quiet the whole time that it made her nervous. She lifted her eyes searching for his face to only be met by a calm Lord Newton. Calm was an understatement in fact. He just sat there as if what Isadora had said didn’t have any effect on him, but Isadora knew it did. He was just masking his feelings by wearing the staged face he had right now.

"We all make mistakes," he said after a while of silence. "Love is the strongest of weapons but the weakest of all at the same time. But the good thing is that you are now back, Isadora. There’s still room for change. You can make it up for all your mistakes. Don’t live a life of regret."

"But how? I’ve screwed up my life. My uncle knows about it and he’s set to execute me," Isadora said without taking a breath. Lord Newton’s face grew to that of surprise. She could see him lean closer as if he had not heard what she had said, but she was certain he had. And when she didn’t say more, he nodded softly in understanding before his face grew a few shades darker.

"But why would your uncle execute you?" He asked.

"Well. I committed a crime, and just like everyone else, I deserve a punishment," Isadora simply shrugged her shoulders.

"And what crime did you commit?" Lord Newton asked. And now that he asked, Isadora was more confused. What crime did she really commit? Falling for the enemy? Was that even a crime?

"How can a king possibly punish a princess for falling in love? I’ve never heard of such a crime in my entire life, and neither will there be such a crime. A princess falling in love with a prince should serve the interest of both the kingdoms. That means a political pact will be formed, and hence unite the two wore torn kingdoms," Lord Newton said. And it all made sense to Isadora now.

"And about your revenge," he added. "Revenge was your personal matter to begin with. You have every right to forfeit your vengeance mission whenever you want. Not that it’s a mission bestowed to you by the king or the officials. You can do it at your own pace."

Isadora’s face now lit with hope. Why had she not thought about this before? That’s why she liked this guy. Had it been Gareth, he’d probably had advised her to run away or do something crazy. But Lord Newton had come up with something that would ensure that both her title as the true heir and her life were safe. Oh, how she wanted to hug him right now. She could only guess how he’d react so she refrained from it.

"Thank you, Newton. You’ve really helped me," she chose to thank him verbally instead. He just acknowledged her gratitude with a smile, and when she smiled back, his gaze darted everywhere else but her.

Isadora felt so happy right now. With this new information, she would be able to confront her uncle and save her life with it. In fact, she had read many law books and there was no such law that forbid one from falling in love with an enemy prince or princess. In fact, just as Lord Newton had said, a wise leader would have ceased that as an opportunity to develop close diplomatic relations and political ties with the enemy kingdom. But what exactly did Griffin want? Was he after her title all this time?

"Do you want to do some sparring, princess?" Lord Newton asked suddenly catching Isa’s attention. She momentarily forgot what she was thinking about when the idea of sparring with Lord Newton came in to her mind.

"Sure," she said, excitement clear in her voice.