The whole day at the palace was princess Penelope and her father arguing bitterly about who was right and wrong. Alez did not bother to Interfere in their verbal conflict. And Penelope's mother sat beside the king, while listening to their arguments.
"You imprisoned Leonardo for doing nothing! Why is that father!?" She asked angrily.
"He kidnapped you, he could have hurt you, Penelope!" King Ulric yelled back.
"And yet I remained untouched. What is wrong with this royal family with forcing people to get married to who they do not wish to be with!" Penelope said.
"Are you saying that you are in love with the commoner?" The queen asked, Penelope.
"I may be in love with the commoner." She replied.
This had everyone in the royal court taken aback. But Alez on the other hand, was utterly furious that his bride was in love with someone else.
"How could that be? Did you not just meet him yesterday!?" Alez questioned her.
Penelope saw this as an opportunity to provoke Alez into leaving their marriage so that she could be free. She lied more about her and the commoner.
"Oh, no. We have been seeing eachother since last year. And we are deeply in love, you see." Penelope grined as she said that.
"What!" The king exclaimed.
"That's absolutely absurd of him! How dare he touch my bride." Alez spoke furiously.
"He proposed to me last night actually. That was why I left. He has stolen my heart you see." Penelope lied.
"Why that bastard! I'll make him pay for his unjustly verdict in stealing my bride!" Alez said.
"No need for all the vicious sayings, Alez. The queen began. Now tell us Penelope, why did you keep this from us? You know that as the princess of Luopetia, you mustn't marry any sort of commoner."
"Oh, but i love the commoner, mother! We're madly in love!" Penelope said, dramatically.
"Madly in love!?" Alez repeated.
"Yes, I shall go visit him right this very moment." Penelope runs off after she says that.
Her mother and father are deeply worried about Penelope, so they beg Alez to try and win her over.
Meanwhile, Penelope pays a visit to Leonardo in his underground cell. She feels bad about Leonardo being locked up because of her, so she reassures him that everything will be alright and informs him about her plan.
"I'm sorry, Leonardo. But I have a plan, so please do trust me." Penelope pleaded.
"Of course, I trust you." Leonardo replied.
"Alright, so we must act like we're madly in love and have known eachother since last year. Do you think you could keep up with an act like that?"
"Yes, I'm sure i can do that."
"This will drive my parents insane, and Alez my give up and leave the marriage."
"Smart idea, princess. But how will I be released from this cell?"
"Leave all that to me, I know exactly what to do to persuade my parents to let you out of here."
Penelope leaves Leonardo's cell and she goes into her bedroom and pretends to be lovesick. She screams for her maids as they do everything in their power to make their princess feel better.
"Oh, Leonardo. How i miss you so!" Penelope began. "I would do anything just to see you again, even if I have to take my life! Because what's love without sacrifice?"
The maids exchanged looks. And then one of them tries out a new bottle of scent to try and make Penelope feel sane.
"Ahhh! The exact scent that my lover uses... You just made it worse, oh, dear!"
The maid apologises repeatedly and they call for her parents.
"What is all this nonsense, Penelope? When will you come to your sense that you will never see that boy again." King Ulric complained.
"Father, love is undeniable. I need Leonardo's presence to make me feel better." Penelope said.
"Ulric, let her see the young man. She will get worse if not." Queen Amber suggested.
"No, never! She will marry Prince Alez before she will ever see that man again!" Penelope's father insisted.
"Father, please! I know you don't care about me. So just grant me this one wish, let me see my love, first?" Penelope begged.
Her father thought for a moment.
"Alright, fine. But you must marry Alez if not I will execute the commoner for dating my daughter without my knowledge." Her father said.
"Oh, fine. I agree..." Penelope was disheartened upon hearing her father's words. She had to marry Alez now.
When Leonardo was released from his captivity, he noticed how disappointed the princess looked.
"Penelope, are you okay?" He asked.
"N-no, my father won't listen to me. I have to marry Alez and you have to stay away from me." Penelope said bitterly.
"Penelope, we can still run away together. Somewhere far that no one will ever find us!"
"I don't even know much about you Leonardo! So why do you care so much about me?"
"I think I'm in love with you."
"Oh, really? For how long have you been in love with me?"
"Since the day you were sleeping in my arms in the barn. I just felt something, and now I'm in love with you. I'm sure you feel the same way, but you're afraid to admit it. "
"I don't, Leonardo. Love doesn't work like that."
"Penelope..."
"You better leave now. You're free to go."
Leonardo looked at Penelope for the last time before turning his face away and saying, "Have a good life, Penelope. "
As he left, something in Penelope just made her burst into tears. She didn't know if she cared about Leonardo or not, or if she wanted to take risks to be with him, or just marry Alez.
Alez approached Penelope from behind and put his hands on her shoulders saying, "Now that the commoner boy is gone, we should start making preparations for our engagement ceremony, shouldn't we?"
She looked up at him and said,
"Alez, when did you become such a possessive monster? We were such good friends in the past, until you confessed your feelings for me..." Penelope said, being upset.
"Love is undeniable, isn't it, my dear Penelope?"
"I despise you for this..."
"Clearly, you have bad taste in men to be falling in love with farm boys. Look up to standards like me. Tall, handsome, and courageous."
"Just shut up, Alez. I'll see you in the morning. "
Penelope left in a downcast mood and Alez snickered gladly from behind.
"Finally, you and I will be together for eternity, Penelope. I have been waiting for this moment since we were kids. I really love you."