“You seem distracted and moody. Still having problem sleeping?” Darius asked with concern.
“Yeah…sort of…” Leonard mumbled in reply.
He had been taking pills to help him go to sleep at night, although it didn’t seem to help much. He glanced over at Darius’s worried face and decided that his brother didn’t need to know that.
“Back to the topic. We can’t send Florian. The reason is simple, he turns up to that event often enough of his own will that it doesn’t make sense to make him represent the nation,” Darius explained smoothly.
“Well…fuck…” Leonard cursed under his breath.
Suddenly, a few knocks sounded from the other side of the door to the room. The two men heard it at the same time. Prince Leonard rolled his eyes before throwing his head back and closing his eyes. If he could choose, he would choose to disappear into thin air without a second thought. Darius shook his head slightly before he got up from his seat and approached the door.
“It’s me. The King’s senior advisor, Callum,” a low and stern voice introduced himself from the other side of the door.
Wordlessly, Darius opened the door and gestured for the older man to enter the room. He knew without a doubt that Leonard also knew who was at the door and that pretty much explained his reaction. When the two men approached the table, Leonard still had his hands covering his face.
“You won’t succeed in hiding behind your hands, Prince Leonard,” Callum said without mercy.
“What do you and my old man want?” Leonard asked without bother to hide his annoyance.
Callum narrowed his eyes when he spied Leonard staring at him through the cracks in his fingers. The old man was already in his fifties and couldn’t wait to retire. However, the next king that will take over the throne has yet to be decided and that was one of the main things standing in between him and his long-awaited retirement on top of the security and stability of this Kingdom.
“The king along with the ministers have assigned me to inform you of the items that we expect for you to choose and purchase from the upcoming auction. This is the list of things that we would like your assistance at procuring at the auction tomorrow,” the old man said before he bowed and presented a printed booklet to the prince.
Seeing that he didn’t seem to have a choice in the matter, Leonard took the booklet from the old man and began flipping through it with absolutely no signs of interest. The old man began going through the items in the list starting from the top. Leonard wasn’t bothered to listen to the old man as his eyes quickly scanned the items listed in the list. Nothing was unusual or unexpected. Rare artworks, vintage jewelries, sculptures, and ancient rocks from some historical building that he had completely no interest in. Everything seemed normal and good until his eyes landed on the last item on the list.
Leonard sucked in a breath and held it as his clear blue eyes narrowed in distaste at the last item listed on the list: a virgin woman.
“As for the final item on the list. The King and ministers have insisted that you purchase a virgin woman of your choice…” Callum said, his tone serious.
“Wow. It seems like they are truly getting impatient if they’re going as far as to purchase a woman. As if there isn’t enough of them in the sacred chambers already,” Darius said, sounding more amused than surprised.
The implications of what the King and the minister had in mind was clear to Leonard and that disgusted him even more than before. Suggesting that he buy a woman…
“Well, all you have to do is choose her and buy her. It’s not that bad. She can become a maid or something in the castle,” Darius said to lighten the mood.
“It’s my job to purchase her. That’s it. My role doesn’t extend beyond that, and I don’t intend to have anything to do with her…” Leonard stated coldly.
“Always so cold…” Darius said before sighing.
“If there is nothing else, you can leave…” Leonard quickly dismissed Callum.
He didn’t see any need for the old man to remain here any longer. Any objections that he had wouldn’t be resolved even if he raised them to Callum. Orders from the king were absolute and that was that. Callum bowed politely before quickly making a quiet exit out of the room.
“I don’t want to hear that from you. The ministers have been pestering me about your refusal to select a mating partner from the sacred chambers,” Leonard shot back at his brother after he was sure that Callum was out of earshot.
“Instead of wasting my time with those matters, I would rather focus on how to put you on the throne as fast as possible,” Darius countered with a smirk.
“It would put my soul at ease if you’re the one sitting on it instead of me…” Leonard replied without a second thought.
“Please don’t say something like that and please don’t ever voice this in front of anyone else except for me. The one who will take the throne, will be you and no one else. I will make sure of it,” Darius stated confidently.
“You were born first anyways...why couldn’t we have switched mothers…” Leonard mumbled wistfully.
“You will be the next king, Leonard” Darius said resolutely.
Leonard shook his head. Producing the ultimate alpha heir to take over the throne was something extremely difficult and something that he didn’t intend to do. It was a miracle how the current king managed to father three ultimate alpha heirs that all qualified to battle each other out for the throne as his next successor. There were many things about the current regime of things that disgusted him but at the core of it all, he hated the fact that he was born a wolf…and an Ultimate Alpha on top of that.
--To be continued…
His eyes wandered to the paper that he realized he was clutching tightly in his hand subconsciously. The paper had crumbled more than slightly where his fingers were. With feelings that he could not quite comprehend, his eyes refused to look away from the last item that he was supposed to purchase at tomorrow’s action. A virgin woman…For the countless time since he was born, Leonard wondered why he couldn’t have simply been born a human. …**Back to the Present**“Your skin is so fine…” The man’s gracefully long fingers traced the skin of my upper arm in slow tantalizing motions. His magnificent blue eyes stared at my face intently, taking in my every reaction. The lack of light obscured his features and all I could make out were his intense blue eyes. The warmth of his fingers against my skin gave me goosebumps, and suddenly, my body felt sensitive all over. His hands moved to caress my bare shoulders before proceeding to caress my collarbone and then dipping lower towards my ch
In the end, I didn’t even get to see his face. He was wearing a black mask and just when he was about to take it off, I woke up. Those blue eyes, those graceful fingers, and the black mask. A sharp pain shot through my brain and then my head started to ache like never before. I quickly closed my eyes and concentrated on breathing deeply as I waited for the pain to subside. When I opened my eyes again, a plain white ceiling greeted me. Where am I? Why does my body feel so heavy like this? Am I sick?Memories from before flooded into my mind in unstoppable waves. I saw everything replay itself in front of my eyes again. It all happened so fast like my mind was forcing me to remember all the events from before. That’s right. I was sold at an underground auction and that man in the black mask bought me. They called him a prince and then someone injected something in my arm. I fell asleep and then, I woke up here. Where is this place?Suddenly, I started to panic about my unfamiliar s
**A Few Days Ago **“Sally, it’s time to wake up now. Why are you up so late today? Are you sick or something? You’re usually never this late to breakfast…” I cried out quite loudly as I banged my fist against her door. It was a normal day with pleasantly sunny weather at the orphanage. Just like any other day, I woke up before the break of dawn to prepare breakfast for everyone along with the help of some other girls. By working together as a team, we managed to finished cooking breakfast to feed every girl in the home just in time for breakfast. The girl-only orphanage where I was placed in after my parents passed away was now home to around 50 girls from various ages. I’ve been here since I was around 8 years old and that was 12 years ago. This year, I am now 20 years old and apart from the supervisors managing and running this place, I was already the eldest amongst the girls. That meant that for a long time now, I had been responsible for taking care of the other younger girls i
“Mister Helkins will be here today so please be on your best behavior everyone,” Lady Monica told us what we all had already anticipated. “Of course!”“Let’s clean up the place well,”“If we’re good girls, this place will get more money for food, right?”“That’s right, my dear…” Monica said in her gentle voice. “I’ll help out too,” I quickly volunteered. “Don’t over work yourself. You almost fainted last time,” Monica said before she turned to smile caringly my way. “I won’t…” I muttered. Soon after, Mister Helkins arrived, and we were all lined up in front of the orphanage to greet him just like we always did whenever he came to pay us a visit. Our benefactor got out of his shiny black car that looked expensive. As always, he was dressed up well in a suit that also looked very fancy. “Welcome! We’re so happy that you’re here. Hopefully the ride wasn’t too long…” Monica greeted him with a smile.The other girls and I plastered a smile onto our faces to greet him. Mister Helkins
I began thinking if I should call out to her and then decided that I might just be panicking for no good reason. “Mo…” I whispered her name when I reached the door. Her name died on my lips as my body froze at what I witness through the ajar door. For a moment, I was confused as I stood there listening to Monica’s strangled and muffled cries. “Ahhh! Ahhh…Ahhh!” Monica’s cries filled my ears as her voice got louder than before. My eyes were glued to the unexpected scene of Monica bent over her desk with the skirt of her dress lifted up to expose her lower body. Behind her, Mister Helkins had his hands on her naked hips as he thrusted his hips against her while Monica continued to cry out loudly. What is going on here…?My hand flew to my mouth to keep my cries of surprise and shock to myself. It wasn’t like I didn’t know what they were doing but I just couldn’t quite believe what I was seeing. Mister Helkins continued thrusting his hips as Monica moaned with her lips parted. I had
**Back to the Present**“Let me out of here! Please! Open the door!” I screamed loudly as I banged on the closed door with both of my fists. If no one is out there, then I’m going to scream until someone turns up. I need to find out where I am and why I was brought here. They can’t just keep me locked up in here, right?I was scared and to get over that fear, all I could think of was yelling and banging on the door. If I didn’t do this, maybe I would have an emotional breakdown. “Why are you shouting in the middle of the night? Shut up and go to sleep. You’re annoying all of us!” a woman yelled back at me. There’s someone out there on the other side of this door. I felt more relieved more than anything that I wasn’t the only one here in this place. According to what the woman just said, there should be many people here. “Please let me out. Can you please unlock the door?” I said loudly to make sure that she could hear me through the closed door. “Don’t you think you’re the louder
The sounds of people moving about and chatting woke me up. My eyes snapped opened and I immediately began panicking at the unfamiliar surroundings. I was in a room that I did not recognize and a bed that wasn’t mine.It took a short moment for me to realize that life had changed for me, drastically. I was no longer living my peaceful life with the other girls at the orphanage.The clock that hung strategically on the wall at the foot of my bed told me that if I didn’t hurry, I was going to be late on my very first day of work. I bolted up in bed, surprised at the strength that had returned to my body. The deep sleep from last night truly helped and I felt very energized.Life might be better. I still found it hard to believe that Lady Monica and Mister Helkins worked together to sell me. However, when I recalled seeing them together that night, a shiver ran through my body as my thoughts darkened. Time didn’t stop and wait for me to gather my thoughts and I quickly realized that I did
I glanced over the tall and thin blonde young woman standing next to me and I could see that she felt uncomfortable. After hesitating for a brief moment, I decided to go next.“My name is Mila. It’s a pleasure to meet everyone. I look forward to working here…” I said before smiling a little.“You’re the last one,” Madame Cassandra stated after nodding briefly at me.Our attention turned to the girl with straight blonde hair. She seemed very timid as her pale blue eyes stared back at us while her lower lip quivered visibly.“I…I’m Selena. It’s nice to meet you…” Selena finally said softly as her eyes darted all over the place.“Follow me this way. I will personally teach you how things work around here,” Madame Cassandra said before leading the way.We followed her down a narrow hallway before she entered a room that resembled a small classroom. She gestured with her hand for us the take a seat at the small desks in the room. After seeing that the three of us had taken our seats, she b
“Congratulations to us, you’re pregnant, Mila!” Prince Leonard announced excitedly.“I’m pregnant?” I asked more out of curiosity than out of surprise. Although I knew that the prince would never joke about something like this, I still found it hard to believe that I was suddenly pregnant.“That’s right, you’re pregnant, and that means we’re about to have another baby,” Prince Leonard said before breaking into another wide smile.“I’m…really pregnant?” I whispered as I struggled to wrap my head around the prince’s sudden announcement.“The doctor said that you might have been feeling tired because you’re in the early stages of pregnancy. I’m sorry that I hadn’t realized this sooner; otherwise, I would have kept all the ceremonies short so that you didn’t have to go through all of that when you’re feeling so tired,” the prince said apologetically as he took my hands into his. I kept staring at the prince as he buried the side of his face against the palm of my hand.“We’re about to hav
“Have you eaten anything? Actually, that’s a very stupid question. I know that you haven’t really eaten anything because you haven’t had the time, right?” the Duchess asked knowingly.Although I didn’t want to admit it because I didn’t want to be an inconvenience to anyone, the Duchess was spot on correct that I hadn’t had the time or the opportunity to eat anything. The day had been so busy from early in the morning up until the evening, and everything seemed more important than filling my own stomach.“It’s fine, I’ll make sure to eat something when this reception is over,” I told her reassuringly before offering her a smile. Duchess Flavia only gave me a disapproving glare before shaking her head from side to side.“You look like you’re about to faint. It’s like I can see your face go pale even with all the makeup,” she said as she brought her face closer to mine to get a closer look at me.“I’m feeling fine,” I told her while I tried to convince myself that I wasn’t feeling light-
"Your daughter looks like you," Prince Leonard commented."And I think that your son looks like you, and I'm sure that he will grow up into a great king," Regina said, and I could hear the confidence in her voice."Let me know if you ever need anything," the prince told her with a warm smile."You're always too kind. Please take good care of yourself and of Mila. Mila, please take care of our King," Regina said, turning to address me."I will," I replied shortly before finding myself smiling at her.Regina truly did look happier than the time when she lived in the palace. It felt like the shadow that had always been following her around and haunting her was no longer there. I could tell that she was no longer living under pressure, and it made her shine with happiness and freedom. It seemed that I didn't have to worry about her anymore.After some parting words, Regina led her daughter away from us so that we could converse with other guests. I had no idea how many conversations we ha
Prince Leonard probably had no idea that it was the way his beautiful eyes looked at me and the way his alluring lips curved up into a smile that was responsible for making everything else fade away from my field of vision so that all I could do was focus on him."Thank you for making me your queen," I whispered softly and sweetly.The prince only nodded his head once before carefully placing the crown on the top of my head. When I was aware of the world surrounding us again, all I could hear was the thundering sound of applause that echoed in the royal hall...."Hang in there for just a little longer, Mila," the prince said before flashing me a teasing smile."I guess we're done with two out of the three parts of what we have planned for today," I mumbled before stifling a yawn. I had no idea why I felt so lethargic and sleepy, although it was only just early in the evening. So far, the prince and I operated as the perfect team to pull off two of our most important events of the day
His words touched me like never before, and I could feel it in my heart and soul that I reciprocated his feelings and thoughts. I had never understood the concept of fated mates until I experienced it myself along with the prince. Our bond felt stronger and firmer than any endearing words of promise."I love you. I’ll love you forever," I said the words that came naturally to my mind.**Back to the present**When it came my turn to say ‘I do’, I found myself managing to say it without any difficulty. It must have been partly because I truly meant it when I vowed to be with the prince in sickness and in health, through thick and thin; however, I was certain that everything felt easier because I knew that we had a bond that even the heavens could never break."I do," I said firmly when it was my turn.When we shared the kiss to seal our wedding vows, I knew that what we had was something that was going to last forever until the end of our lifetimes....Our wedding ceremony in the churc
I gave Logan's hand a slight squeeze before taking my first step forward into the church. I could feel everyone's eyes on me as I reminded myself to keep my head held high, curving my lips into one of my most beautiful smiles. Without any hesitation, I made my way forward down the aisle. The fact that each step forward brought me closer to the man waiting for me at the end of the aisle gave me the comfort and courage to continue on. I didn't even bother trying to identify faces that I might recognize in the crowd of guests present on both sides of me.It felt as if all my nervousness melted away completely when my eyes met Prince Leonard's. I’d always thought he looked amazingly attractive, but seeing the prince wearing an all-white tuxedo standing in front of the altar with such a loving smile on his face as he waited for me was out of this world. I felt my heart skip a beat in my chest, and it wasn't at all because of my nervousness. Everything and everyone around me slowly faded aw
It was clear that everything was too extravagant for my own taste to the point where it must have been pretty obvious to Prince Leonard that I had no hand in the selection and design of the proposed decorations. "I'm actually fine with anything. I think everything they've chosen is very beautiful, and their work is a lot more professional than anything I could have done by myself," I admitted to the prince honestly."If that's the case, then fine, but if there's anything that you don't like, just tell them to take it out," the prince said firmly."I just think it's easier to let them sort everything out. It's enough for me that we'll be getting married and that Logan will be there to witness our union," I said while trying to keep my tone cheerful. I was certain that if I picked out anything by myself or intervened with the guest list, I would be bringing unwarranted complications and troubles that I didn't want to deal with."If that's what you say," the prince said after finally gi
I should have known that the prince would never want to become the next king for his own personal gain. I found myself nodding my head naturally in agreement with his plan when I realized that I also had to play my part in contributing to the happiness of our son in the future.“I agree that that seems to be the easiest way. I guess if you become king, you can change the rules in whatever way you want,” I said while seeing more than a glimpse of hope.“It’s not going to be that easy. Many people on the committee are going to be against it, but this is our best shot. No matter what, we’re going to make this successful and change the rules of this country for the better,” the prince said, so motivatingly that I found myself feeling slightly excited.“I guess bringing change, especially big changes, isn’t going to be easy,” I said, but by then I couldn’t stop myself from smiling. In my mind, I had already envisioned such a bright future, and it gave me the greatest honor to be able to co
“What is it?” I asked, feeling a sense of worry stir in the pit of my stomach.“I’m concerned about Logan,” the prince confessed in a whisper.“Concerned? What is there for you to be concerned about? Is something wrong?” I bombarded him with questions, thinking there might be a threat to Logan’s safety. I had no idea why I felt that way, but I just had a very bad feeling.“Remember when you asked me why I changed my mind about taking over the throne? I’m sorry, but I haven’t been entirely honest with you,” the prince said with a regretful look on his face.“It’s fine. It must have been hard for you,” I said understandingly while wondering what had the prince feeling so concerned. “What is it about Logan?” I asked as I started to frown with worry.“Logan is getting a lot better at controlling his transformations now, but he’s still too young for us to be sure about what will happen in his future,” Prince Leonard said.It was true that our son had improved tremendously at controlling hi