His smile felt even more lively and attractive than I remembered. Tall, dark brown hair that appeared almost black with pale gray eyes, the crown prince truly lived up to the fairytale image of a prince. The gray suit that he had on matched the shade of his eyes and I was reminded once again why this man had long been one of the most desirable bachelors in the country. I hoped that it would remain that way and that he wouldn't end up getting himself killed. “You can’t hurt him. No one can hurt him! No matter what, you all can’t shoot Prince Desmond!” I yelled again while praying that Zain would listen to me. Zain didn’t shoot the prince but he didn’t make a move to lower his gun either. There was so much tension in the air and I was at a loss as to what I should do. These were Bradon’s men so they wouldn’t take commands from me that went against any of Bradon’s existing orders and rules. “Actually, I can…” an icy voice said. The sound of the car door slamming closed sounded so lo
Did he think that Bradon wouldn’t have the balls to shoot him?I wished that I had the luxury to think the same. While suppressing the burning urge to curse everything and everyone to hell, I continued appealing to Bradon with my eyes. “We won’t have dinner. Please let us talk for a while. That’s it. That’s all that I’m asking for…” I continued negotiating with him.I would continue negotiating and backing down step by step until I could make him agree. If he wouldn’t allow me to have an entire dinner with the prince, then I would just keep it to a short conversation. If he doesn't want me to leave the mansion, then I will beg the prince to talk to me in the mansion. Bradon remained silent but I could tell that he was considering my proposal. “I don’t need to go to the palace. We can talk here, if you’ll allow it,” I resumed my negotiation by taking even another step back. The prince smirked at me and I shook my head at him softly as I begged for him to remain silent and let me ha
I’ve waited far too long for this…The door closed behind us and then I heard the sound of the door knob locking. The room felt cozy enough and felt very suitable for a meeting that didn’t involve many people. Prince Desmond gestured with his hand for me to take a seat on the sofa. I didn’t think that I would feel this nervous in his presence but the way that my heart was racing in my chest told me that I was wrong. Although the prince’s presence wasn’t at all as intimidating as Bradon’s, his presence was commanding and that reminded me that despite the informal setting of our meeting, I was in the presence of royalty. “You don’t have to look so nervous,” the prince said to break the silence hanging in between us. I wished that it would be that easy. He offered me a smile that I felt looked very genuine and I ended up smiling in return. “I am nervous…” I replied honestly. “Is it because it’s been many years since we’ve met?” he asked before he smiled at me again. “Yes. Thank you
Celebrating the prince’s birthday was just used as another excuse for noble families and prominent businessmen to be in the presence of the king and the royal family. The crown prince is a few years older than Anthony but he was still not engaged. The other nobles in attendance made sure to stand close enough to my sister and me as they whispered their malicious gossip about us just loud enough to make sure that we could hear. “It’s a shame they had to get their daughter engaged to the son of the Vulkan family. I’m sure if she wasn’t engaged, she would be going after the crown prince right now.”“What are you talking about? There’s no way that the king will allow his son to marry a daughter from a simple noble family.”“That might be true. It’s too late now anyways because all they have left is that second daughter…”That second daughter…I guess that nobles were still kind in their choice of words because I had clearly been given worse nicknames than that. The whole political acts t
Even though the prince had addressed me informally, that didn’t mean that I had the right to speak with him informally as well. I became increasingly aware that I was alone in a room with the prince and that could lead to a troublesome situation, a scandal, and other issues that would require me to justify my actions or my lack of it. “We should head back, Your Highness. I was actually on my way back to the ballroom,” I suggested while trying to sound polite. “Why should we head back? Isn’t it boring there?” he asked bluntly. It is…but…“Of course not, Your Highness. It’s your birthday celebration so I think that you should head back…” I said before smiling brightly at him. “You looked so bored before while you were inside. I honestly thought that you wished to be somewhere else entirely,” the prince said before he smiled charmingly at me. I smiled back when I realized that he had just called me out for that sour look that I had on my face during his party. This was probably why
I had no idea why he felt that it was necessary to force my hand to that extent. What he did reminded me of why I hated royalty so much. Acting arrogant and doing whatever they pleased because they had the luck to be born into the royal family. Although they haven’t done anything to deserve such praise, they were comfortable living off the wealth and goodwill that their ancestors left behind. I stared silently at the very handsome man standing in front of me as I wondered just how spoilt and rotten he was. An exasperated sigh left my lips when I realized that it didn’t matter whether I liked the royal family or not because it wasn’t going to change the fact that Prince Desmond is the prince of this country. Whatever options I chose would favor him because naturally that was how the options had been designed. “Before I make my decision. I have a few questions for Your Highness,” I said. “Ask away,” he replied without pausing to think. “Why would Your Highness want to be involved in
“There are no problems, Your Highness. Just because people think that there are problems doesn’t mean that there are any problems for me,” I corrected him patiently. “Call me Desmond just as we agreed please,” the prince reminded me with a smile. “Thank you for worrying about me, Desmond, but I assure you that I’m fine and there is no need for you to concern yourself with my matters,” I said politely. In other words, please just leave me alone…“That’s good to hear. Many things are changing and it may be possible that your father is getting more anxious regarding the uncertainties. So, if I were you, I would refrain from doing things that would further worry him,” the prince warned. “Are you worried for my father?” I asked as I narrowed my eyes at him.“Of course not. I’m worried for you and no one else,” he replied smoothly. “You’re overestimating me. There is nothing that I can do to influence what my father has in mind or anything related to my family. I’m afraid that you’re t
He looked just like a kid that had just found a new playmate after being left alone in his bedroom without any company for far too long. Unfortunately, I was that playmate that he found. “Gomoku…?” I repeated that alien sounding name in a murmur as I stared at the board he had placed on the table between us. “Never heard of it before?” the prince guessed quite correctly. “Never,” I replied in short. “Good. You’ll at least learn something new tonight. I’ll teach you,” the prince offered excitedly. I stared at the board before I directed my gaze and started staring at the prince’s handsome face. When he brought me to his living quarters and then to his bedroom, I honestly didn’t think that he was seriously going to be playing a game with me in the most literal sense of the word. “These black and white colored round pieces are called ‘Go’. The objective of this game is actually quite simple. We will take turns placing one Go piece each. Whoever manages to place five of their Go pie
Just thinking that the fool right in front of me dared to say he was in love with my sister, while he couldn't even tell the two of us apart, made my blood boil. It took a lot of effort to repress the urge to reach out and strangle his neck right then and there. I reminded myself that I had a part to play and quite an audience to impress."No... this can't be..." Mr. Malton whispered hoarsely from a distance, stepping even further away from me. I stood up from the table, grabbed his arm, and pulled him back to my side as I glared up into his face."It's actually quite simple to fool you. All I had to do was dress up in my sister's clothes whenever I met you and talk a little more sweetly..." I said, letting out a hysterical laugh. I could still feel everyone's eyes on us as the attention in the room escalated even more than before.Mr. Malton was speechless as he tried to pull his arm away from my grip, but I wasn't about to let him get away so easily."Well, now I guess the secret is
I had no idea how Diana managed to keep the girls silent up until that point so that the news wouldn't spread; however, I knew that it wouldn't be too long before everyone in school knew about this illicit affair. We would be extremely lucky if this news did not spread beyond the school walls. Despite the gravity of the situation, Mr. Malton was already ready to make his retreat."What if they don't believe us? I feel so scared. I don't want to be alone, and I don't want you to leave me," I said pleadingly just to see his reaction."You know that I would never do that. It would just be temporary until everything blows over. I promise that I will never leave you. How could I possibly leave you? I love you so much," he declared his love for me boldly.The more dramatic things became, the more I felt that his act of adoration was completely fake. No matter how many times he claimed to be in love with my sister, it seemed like he couldn't even tell us apart. I wondered what kind of face h
"Leya, you need to help me find a way out of this. Diana simply cannot make this kind of mistake," my sister told me slowly and clearly as she stared directly into my eyes."You're right. You can't afford to make these kinds of mistakes," I agreed solemnly."No one else must find out about this. We have to do something before word gets out because word is definitely going to get out,," my sister stated calmly, and I could tell that she had returned to her calm and collected self."Can't we tell them that they simply misunderstood and that it's not true?" I asked, daring to harbor a little bit of hope."They probably won't believe what we tell them, but they might believe what we show them," Diana replied, and I could tell her mind was made up.Without using any more words, it seemed like an understanding had formed between us, and once again, it felt like it was us against the entire world....**The Next Day**As I pushed open the back door to the building that was supposed to be off
The moment that thought entered my mind, I quickly killed it and pushed it out of my mind as if extinguishing a small flame before it would spread and engulf everything. I told myself that it wouldn’t have to come to that and that we could find another way to figure things out.“Does it matter? Why does it have to matter?” Diana asked, and her tone was cold.My sister’s response quickly snapped me out of my thoughts and back to reality. I narrowed my eyes at her as my irritation started to take over.“It does matter! Have you completely lost your mind? He’s our teacher,” I reminded her as I started to truly lose my head over what my sister had confessed to me.Had I known that the person she had been dating was one of our teachers, I would have definitely stopped her. That was probably the reason why Diana decided to keep it a secret, even from me. In reality, I had my own doubts about whether or not I could have persuaded my sister not to pursue her taboo relationship with Mr. Malton
"I guess he is not someone in this school," I said as I ran my mind through potential candidates who could be my sister's true love."It's a secret," Diana repeated again before pressing her index finger teasingly against her lips."Are you really not going to tell me?" I asked."Honestly, you have no idea just how much I am dying to tell you who he is. But you see, I did promise him to keep it a secret between us... at least for now," Diana said before flashing me a regretful smile."I don't think I will end up liking this guy. He's telling you to keep secrets from me," I replied teasingly."I'll make sure that you're the first one to find out," Diana promised me with a beaming smile."I guess that it's good enough for me that you're happy," I told her honestly."Thank you, Leya. I love you so much. You're probably the only one who truly cares about my happiness," my sister said before pulling me into her embrace.Back then, when I held my sister in my arms and hugged her back tightl
“Shall we?” Bradon asked as he offered me his arm invitingly.“Thank you,” I replied as I smoothly slipped my arm into his.Appearing in front of the public as Diana, with Bradon as my escort as he flawlessly acted out the role of Anthony, drew quite a lot of attention to us. I could tell that Bradon felt restless, even under his calm and collected exterior, and that was probably because he couldn’t wait for this engagement announcement to come to an end. Even though he should have been reassured now that Diana was taking my place at the ceremony, it seemed that nothing could make Bradon completely feel at ease given the situation.“I sincerely hope that they keep it short,” Bradon whispered right into my ear before planting a soft kiss against my temple.I was sure we looked like the perfect loving couple, and perhaps that wasn’t so far from the truth. For the life of me, I had no idea how Diana managed to convince Desmond to let her take my place at the engagement ceremony, but I wa
"So, are you going to get on your hands and knees to beg? How much longer will you keep me waiting?" I asked while pointing my index finger at the empty floor right in front of my feet.If looks could kill, I would have died an extremely painful death, stabbed by the millions of daggers flying out of my father's eyes from the way he was glaring at me. Even when I was clearly his only route of escape from the impending hell that was awaiting him, it was clear that my father felt nothing but hatred for me. I returned his stare with one of my own as I continued pointing to the floor where I wanted them to get on their hands and knees."I'm still waiting. Oh, but if you're not willing, then I'll make sure that some men will escort you out," I said before grinning at them. I could tell that my father was hesitating, and that meant that he was truly considering abandoning whatever pride he had left to get down on his hands and knees to beg for help from his long-abandoned daughter.Time mov
“Dahlia, dear! Please help your dear father!” The head of the Alnault family desperately pleaded for my help. I squinted my eyes at his face as I took in the evident panic and helplessness displayed on his features. I wasn't sure what I was hoping for when I wanted to see him, but his reaction surely surpassed even my wildest expectations. Gone were all of his confidence and arrogance. Perhaps, for the first time in his life, this man was feeling truly hopeless and helpless. “Dahlia! You have to help get us out of this. You need to help our family!”my mother's high-pitched voice begged openly for my help.I glanced in her direction. I wasn't at all surprised to feel absolutely no pity for her. The only question that went through my mind was why these two people were still standing on their feet rather than kneeling in front of me on their knees. My biological father continued begging while giving me countless reasons why I should help him out. However, most of his words were lost to
It was true that I had ample opportunities to tell Bradon about it, but it was also true that bringing it up would ruin the romantic and joyful mood between us and whatever we were in the middle of doing. Bradon came home early and in time for dinner every day, as if it was a change in habit. We spent time together just like regular couples—staying at home, watching movies, taking a dip in the pool, walking together in the garden, and doing many other things just to enjoy each other's company. It felt like we were making up for all the lost time.…**Around a week later**Diana's brewing plan kept me on edge. The secret preparation for the royal engagement announcement was in full swing. As for me, I spent a lot of time mentally preparing myself for what was to come. Each peaceful day that went by felt like the perfect calm before a raging storm. One day, I woke up to find Bradon sitting on the side of the bed, his eyes on me as if he was waiting patiently for me to wake up from my sl