Chapter 2

“YOU KNOW,it was only after I went into commerce that I truly had a dream for the future,” Rishe had once confided in a friend. “Up until then, I existed only as the crown prince’s fiancée or my father’s daughter. My every act was to become more worthy of that status. But now, for the first time, I actually have a goal of my own.”

“Oh, yeah?” her friend said. He was the ruler of the desert kingdom, and his smile was awfully charming. “What’s that?”

Rishe smiled back. “I want to travel to every single country in the world. I want to see everything in every town, peruse their markets, and meet the eyes of every person who lives there!”

By now, that felt like such a distant dream.