Getting married

Michael had left the room to meet Bruce. They both went to his study, which was soundproof, to discuss. "I overheard Prince Eris say he is interested in Stephanie," Bruce began. He could feel the anger burning in him. But isn't it just a contracted marriage? He doesn't have interest in women, right? "And he is planning to…" He paused. "To what?" Michael was becoming impatient. "Sleep with her." The words came out and were reverberating in his mind. He stood up quickly, but Bruce was fast enough to hold him back. "Don't cause another trouble. Her life will be in danger if you do. You know that." Just hearing that her life will be involved made him back down. "I'll go to my room." He left without waiting for a response.

He opened the door to find her comfortably lying on the bed, sleeping peacefully. He didn't realize he was holding his breath as he let out a long sigh. He sat beside her, staring at her beautiful face. She looked innocent. Her long eyelashes and her soft red lips matched her red hair that scattered all over her face. He tucked her hair behind her ear to get a full view of her precious face. He laid beside her and wrapped his strong arms around her tiny waist, as he saw her shiver. She relaxed in his arms and snuggled closer.

This was the first time he had a peaceful night of rest. For years, he barely sleeps. Nightmares awakens and tries to scare him Every time he tries to sleep. As he laid there, peacefully enjoying his sleep, he felt something caress him. He would rather not wake her up, and he thought she might bring her leg down. To his surprise, she moved her knee forward. He turned to look at her, and he met a shocked gaze. He didn't realize their awkward position, his arms were firmly wrapped on her waist. Her eyes trailed down, and her ears turned red as she saw his bulge. She ran to the bathroom and locked it.

She stood there, attempting to calm her nerves as it kept playing in her mind. "My lady, breakfast is ready, and the king demands your presence in the royal dinning room,"

Michael was about to knock the door, to check if she was okay, but Bruce had interrupted. "Sorry to disturb, but the King demands your presence in his private chamber."

She assumed that he had left the room, and she came out of her hiding place. The maids came in afterwards and helped her dress up. She was dressed in a knee-length floral gown.

She walked with Vanessa, her personal maid, through the hallway leading to the dining. She stopped in her tracks as she heard her name. She turned around to see Crown Prince Eris. "Greetings," she curtsied. "Leave us!" He ordered. He stared at her with lust-filled eyes, as he strode towards her, not taking his eyes off her. Just a step would close the gap between them. Then came his hoarse voice, "Don't be afraid. I'm not dangerous. Michael is." Stephanie tried to avoid his gaze, but he held her face up to look at him. "Marry me. I promise to take care of you. I am the next king, I will surely make you my queen, and you will inherit half of my fortune. Michael is a devil, you know that." His ego was bruised as she refused his proposal. He roughly grabbed her arm, "you dare reject the Crown Prince? I'll show you what I can do!" He tried to kiss her, but stopped as he heard the king's voice.

"Crown Prince Eris. What do you think you are doing?" He thundered. Michael was fuming in anger. If eyes could kill, Eris would have been dead by now. He felt a shred of jealousy as he saw him attempt to kiss her.

"Meet me in the throne room."

They all trailed behind him, leaving Vanessa and Bruce. "Thank you. If not for you, we do not know what he would have done to her," Bruce said. When Eris had asked everyone to leave, Vanessa knew he was up to no good, as she had seen him countless times with different women. He was a shameless womanizer, and the kingdom does not need a king like him." I would do anything to protect her. There's something special about her. She said the last sentence as though she were talking to herself.

"Crown Prince Eris, can you explain yourself?" Whenever the king calls anyone with their title, everyone knows he is very furious. "There is no explanation to it, my king. I am a man, and Stephanie here, was trying to seduce me," he said with no guilt in his words. Anyone who doesn't know who Eris is, would immediately buy his words, and even feel pity for him. "My king, that is not true! I was—"

"So you're calling me a liar." It was more like a statement than a question. "Speak, my dear." Michael did not utter a word. He sat there with a dark expression as he tried to restrain himself from tearing Eris apart.

"I was heading to the dinning when the prince stopped me and demanded for privacy. He began making advances towards me after proposing to me. He… He got mad at me for rejecting his proposal, and he…" She couldn't continue, she began to sob. Michael, who sat there, frozen, immediately turn towards her and hugged her. Her tears were the last thing he wanted to see. 'Why do I feel this way?' He questioned himself.

The king knew Michael too well, his ominous silence was dangerous. "Michael, I—"

"We are getting married tomorrow. I'll leave the palace after that, we will no longer live here. Have the maids bring her breakfast to my room." He carried her in a princess style. The king could only sigh and glare at Eris. "You will be punished."

Michael kicked the door open and gently sat her down on the bed. "Are you okay? Did he hurt you?" He asked, checking her body for any bruise. "I am fine. Thank you for saving me." She began to sob. "Shh, don't cry." He wiped her tears.

"You need to eat"

"How about you?"

"Do not worry. I'm not hungry."

He placed the food tray on the bed in front of her. "Now, eat. I'll be back in about an hour." She quickly held his hand, "You don't have to be scared. Bai and Max will be here."

"Okay." She let go of him and dug in.

"Make sure no one comes in except the maids," he ordered.

He rushed to the field to spare with Bruce. No one could try to match his prowess except Bruce, who was training the two brothers, Diego and Damien.

Eris was taken to the royal prison, where he would serve his punishment. He envied Michael a lot because of his intelligence and prowess. He needed more power.