War of Hearts

Chapter 4: Oil and Water

The next morning, Ingrid and Isaac woke up to the same message delivered by different fathers: they were to have to spend the whole afternoon together, no ifs or buts. 

"What the hell would we do?" Ingrid asked angrily as she was forced into another dress; clearly, her father wouldn't let her win on that one. "Just talk to him, get to know him, make him spill some info. That should be easy for you. You charmed your way into getting a large apple pie from the royal baker every year on your birthday. Wouldn't a prince be the same?" her father replied indifferently.

"Now go and look pretty, you're on a mission," he added for good measure. Ingrid rolled her eyes. "And if I don't show up? Or I leave early?" she dared to ask. King Nicolas narrowed his eyes. "No riding privileges for two months," he threatened. Ingrid paled and gulped hard. 

"Why does it have to be a whole afternoon, though? I could be doing my own research at this time," Isaac complained as he was also fitted in his room. King George leaned by the doorway, watching him with his arms crossed against his chest. 

"They won't be here forever, so you have to make her interested in you in whatever way you can," he promptly replied. "It would be easier to make a cow interested in me than her. She shoved me, did you know that?" Isaac complained, his face looking sour. His father scoffed. "A shove from a girl? So what? You'd be getting worse than a shove if they win, that's what," he said seriously.

The two were literally pushed into the castle library, and the guards closed the door on them. Ingrid glared at Isaac and walked away towards a corner of the library, looking out at the large window in front of them. She saw the bright blue sky and the open fields, surrounded by big large trees in emerald green. She hated him even more for keeping her in in such a beautiful day, one perfect for riding.

"I just want you to know that I'm not apologizing for what I did or said yesterday," she said in an angry tone, not looking at him directly.

Isaac, however, had walked over to shelves opposite her, grabbing leather bound books and flipping through them. "An herb that numbs the nerves, hmmm..interesting..." he spoke softly, but just enough for her to hear. He sat down on a desk and took out a notebook and pen from his pocket, and started scribbling. 

Ingrid turned to glare at him. He was annoying enough as he was, but now he had the gall to ignore her? 

Ingrid narrowed her eyes at him, walking towards him. "Um, hello? I at the very least acknowledged your existence," she rolled her eyes as she looked down on him writing, her arms still crossed against her chest. "What are you even talking about anyway?" 

"About herbs," he replied flatly, still focused on writing. Ingrid felt the anger in her bubbling a little too close to the surface. Could he be any more incorrigible? She stared long and hard at him, hoping he could feel her eyes boring holes into his skull. After a moment, he looked up at her, his eyes looking her up and down like she was just a common person staring at royalty.

"What do you need?" he asked calmly. 

Ingrid wanted to punch him just at the sight of his face, but the words of her father resonated once more in her mind. She rolled her eyes and grabbed the chair opposite him and sat down. She glared at him the same way she saw her father glare at his enemies during a negotiation. Isaac's face remained as blank as an empty canvas.

 "Listen, I know that your father put you up to this like my father did. And I can tell you'd rather be somewhere else, just like I do. But we have no other choice, don't we? So can't we just do something interesting?" Ingrid asked him, resting her cheek against a hand.

Isaac glared at her with eyes sharp as daggers, that even Ingrid was slightly taken aback. "I was being kind to you last night, but all you did was give me an attitude," he shot back. His voice was calm, but the undertones of it was enough to make her feel unnerved in a second. "I didn't even do anything to you, but you were completely rude to me," he continued on, before looking back down at his notebook and writing like she wasn't even there.