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
I must have shocked him just as much as I surprised myself. His offer was crazy even if it was intended to be just a joke. Prince Desmond looked surprised and then he seemed slightly disappointed. “I honestly don’t think that you should be joking about something like that,” I pointed out softly. “What makes you think that I’m joking?” he asked. “Well, who in their right mind would offer the position of queen as a reward for winning a game? Plus, you’re not the king yet either and we all know that royal weddings aren’t decided by the groom-to-be himself,” I replied before smiling at him pointedly. “You’re right, I’m not the king yet but I will be king one day,” he replied solemnly. I wondered for a moment if I had offended him by directly turning down his crazy offer. There was no way that I could become queen. Marrying Prince Desmond and becoming part of the royal family wasn’t at all on my list of life goals. Politics is boring and borders being disgusting for me. Being part of
Feeling lost and disorientated only added to my sense of panic. I couldn’t quite recall what had happened and how I ended up where I was. Where am I and why am I sleeping here?Timing wasn’t at all on my side. The door opened and a man walked in. My eyes widened as I stared at him. When our eyes met, the memories from last night that I thought I had temporarily lost came flooding back in unstoppable waves. I remembered everything up until the point where we played that Gomoku game together over and over again. I couldn't even remember how many times we played that game or how long we were at it, but I remembered clearly the sense of frustration and then renewed motivation to get back at the prince that overwhelmed me everytime that I lost. I wasn’t overly optimistic and I didn’t think that I could beat the prince at a game that he had been playing for far longer than I had when I was just a beginner. However, I also didn’t think that a game that appeared so simple would turn out to
If anything, they surely hoped that I had slept with the prince even though they knew very well that there was no way that he could ever become their future son-in-law. “Dahlia…” Diana called my name as I felt her grab my hand. “Diana…” I murmured her name as my eyes focused on her face. Before I could react any further, her hold on my hand tightened and then she was running while dragging me behind her up the stairs. She locked the door to my bedroom after pushing me inside. “What happened? Did you really have sex with Prince Desmond?” my sister asked excitedly. “No…” I denied before rolling my eyes at her. “Ahh…really?” she said while frowning with disappointment. “Really. Nothing happened. We just played this game and talked…” I reaffirmed before letting out a sigh. “Awww…you can’t be serious. I was going to ask if he was any good in bed…” Diana moaned with regret before flinging herself face first onto my bed. “Why do you have to sound so disappointed? Did you really thin
To do that, I need the prince’s help. ‘What about this? You can ask me for anything if you can win a game…’I could remember the promise that we made to each other. If I could beat him at one game of Gomoku, he would grant anything that I wished for as long as I didn’t ask to sit on the throne as the next king. The real issue about that was my failure to beat him. Not even once did I win against him although I did come close to it a couple of times. I could still recall the way the prince smiled and congratulated me on ‘almost’ beating him. I would have taken things even more seriously if I knew that I would need his help like I needed it now. “Desmond…I…I need your help,” I manage to spit out. I knew well enough that because I had failed to win even a single game against him that I didn’t exactly have the right to wish for anything or to request for his help but I didn’t have much pride to hold on to. He might reject my proposal or ignore my plea for help, but I still had to make
“That’s…” I muttered but felt too tired to go on. He was right in the strictest sense that I wasn’t married, yet it didn’t feel like he was right. I never thought that the prince would demand something like this from me. “I’m sorry but I don’t think I can go through with this. I might not be married but I’ve taken my sister’s place in her marriage,” I reminded him. “I don’t see how that is an issue. I’m asking you to play my girlfriend as Dahlia and not as Diana,” he replied with a careless shrug of his shoulders. It just didn’t make sense. Back then, the prince asked me to date him so that he could get out of his impending engagement with a few potential marriage candidates. I could understand him back then, he was young and had absolutely no interest in marriage. However, directly turning down the various requests for a politically arranged marriage wasn’t possible. Being in a relationship also wasn’t enough to stop the engagement talks from going forward because everyone would
My heartbeat thundered in my ears as I approached them. The three of them were engaged in such an intense conversation that, at first, they did not recognize my presence. Diana's voice was the first that came to me. Her voice was shaky, as if she was barely holding herself together."The doctor said that there's no change in his condition. Anthony is still unresponsive, although it's been months, and this whole thing with the snipers is only making it worse..." Diana said.I came to a stop as my mind struggled to process her words. My heartbeat grew even faster in my chest, and for a moment I thought that perhaps I had misheard my own sister. What did she mean when she said that Anthony is still unresponsive?Diana already knew that Bradon had taken Anthony's place, and that meant that the man who was shot was none other than Bradon. Yet how was it possible that Anthony was the one who was unresponsive? Nothing made sense to me at that moment. It felt like I was missing a very key pie
It hurt me more than anything to realize that I couldn't blame him, even if he did that, because I was the one who betrayed him first. I left him without a word or farewell, running away from him as if he were the one who had done something wrong. Memories of our time together came back like waves. The fake honeymoon that we enjoyed together felt more real than anything, right at that moment. I remembered the way that he would laugh whenever he let his guard down on the nights when we enjoyed each other's company simply as our true selves, and the dangerous world outside and our identities didn't need to complicate things for us.There was a time when I thought that love was enough, but a small voice inside of me reminded me not to be so foolish. As time slipped by, I found myself praying that the door would just swing open and that Bradon would be standing there with his arms wide open. I wanted nothing more than to be held in his arms once again. I had to admit to myself that, with
"Where is this?" I asked without hiding my suspicion. I knew very well where the Vulkan mansion was located and also what it looked like, and the place that we had just parked in front of couldn't look more different than the mansion that I remembered."You didn't think that we would take you to our home, did you?" Mrs. Vulkan snapped before looking away with a clear look of disgust on her face."I guess your home would be the first place that Bradon would look when he finds me missing," I replied dismissively."No more chit chat," Bradon's father said as he urged me out of the car.I told myself that it did make sense that they would find a place for me to stay, but did it have to be such a shabby-looking place? The isolated low-rise building looked like it could use a round of maintenance. The room that they led me to was simple, with a single bed, a television, a desk, and absolutely no windows."How long am I supposed to stay here? I thought we made an agreement that you would h
"Why would my son want to keep you here?" Mr. Vulkan asked as his eyes seemed to search my face for the answer that he was looking for. "How am I supposed to know? Maybe he hasn't had enough of me yet..." I replied before showing them a fake yet extremely sweet smile. "Even if he isn't considered a normal member of our family, I still can't have you associating with him," he continued on as if he was lecturing me of my lack of worth. "I just told you that I'm not the one begging to stay here and with him," I replied coldly. I had hoped that by then it had become plain obvious what I wanted the two of them to do for me. With their help, I was certain that they could find a way to get me out of Bradon's mansion. Bradon wasn't around, so the next in command was Zain, whom I did not think could directly stand up against the head of the Vulkan family. At least, that was where I decided to place my bets at that point in time. "So you want to leave but he won't let you? Is that what you
I quickly followed them inside, sensing that the two of them were here looking for trouble. One glance at Zain, and I could tell that he was already informing Bradon of their unexpected arrival. It wasn't like Zain could throw out Bradon's father and stepmother, so I could understand the pitiful position that he suddenly found himself in. I straightened my back and followed them further inside, thinking to myself that I needed to hold the fort until Bradon returned. Whatever it was that they wanted, I needed to make sure to find out.The two of them sat comfortably on the sofa as if they were in their own house by the time I made it to the living room. The fact that neither of us spoke a single word as I sat down on the sofa only made the tension in the room skyrocket."I'm sure that Bradon will be back soon," I said, more to tell myself than to tell them."Why are you still here?" Mr. Vulkan asked as he turned his cold gaze in my direction.The way that he looked at me left no room f
**A few days later**"How many times do I have to tell you? You can't keep me locked up in here!" I yelled at the top of my lungs, my hands clenching into tight fists. I could feel the blood rushing to my face as anger and frustration took over.Over the past few days, I had already lost count of the number of times Bradon and I had had this argument. For some reason that I could not comprehend, my life as a prisoner inside his household had resumed. There must have been a change in Bradon that I couldn't fully understand-something that had led him to decide to keep me under house arrest. Going out was no longer an option, even if I was escorted."You may leave when I tell you that you can," Bradon replied with the same infuriatingly calm response he always gave, his tone ticking me off even more."Listen, I'm not doing this because I want to be selfish. If there's a reason why you can't let me go outside, then please just let me know, and I'll try to be understanding," I said, taking
"I'll try not to come back late," Bradon replied without any further explanations. I only managed to simply nod my head before he was already out of the living room. The look that Bradon gave me told me to hold my tongue and not ask him any questions. I knew very well that asking him anything would be useless because he most likely wouldn't give me any kind of answer. As I stared at the doorway, my mind became even more unsettled than before. Something was definitely going on and Bradon was keeping it away from me. "Probably just work..." I mumbled to myself. It wasn't unusual for Bradon not to tell me much about matters related to his work, and I never minded. A sigh escaped my lips when I realized that I had officially failed once again. The worst part was that I felt very relieved at the very same time. Bradon's parting words, telling me that he would hurry back home gave me something to look forward to and that made me realize just how much I yearned to be with him. "Stop it,
I needed to leave him and as soon as possible, but I didn't know how I could achieve that. My past experiences have taught me quite directly that I couldn't truly run away from Bradon. Escaping from the mansion was unquestionably impossible. I could not run away, so that meant that I needed to get Bradon to agree to let me leave. My legs already felt weak, and I wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed and shut my eyes to escape reality. I knew that I needed to talk to Bradon about ending our fake marriage as soon as possible, although I had no idea how to bring up the topic. Something told me that it might prove to be difficult to get Bradon to agree, and there was always a risk that he might react unpredictably.However, if everything he did was simply him just acting out his role and his feelings for me didn't truly exist, then that might be the solution to all of my problems. If he felt no attachment to me, then he should have no problem letting me go just as planned. After all
The party ended early, yet it was quite eventful, at least for Bradon and myself. I felt like there was a storm raging inside of me all the while that we rode back to his mansion. It felt like there was something right at the tip of my tongue that I wanted to say, but yet I couldn't bring myself to say it. There were times when I thought that I fully understood myself and what I wanted, and yet at the very same time, I felt so confused and lost. The feelings that were struggling to take dominance inside of me did not make sense, and it made me feel as if my thoughts and my feelings were heading in the direct opposite direction of one another.Bradon's words of defiance as he confronted my father came back to me loud and clear:"Dahlia is not your daughter anymore, and neither am I one of the Vulkans. I will never let you take my wife..."I should have known that entering into this contract marriage with Bradon, while taking my sister's place, would somehow lead to blurring the line be