I love the above song! And I'm so glad to be able to use it. You could listen to it before, during, or after. Or not. It's up to you. 😁

———————————————————-

"How do you feel?"

"I'm much better, Aqui." Jason replied. He did look better though he was still a bit weak.

"He woke up shortly after he was brought here. The doctors said you did a good job," Mike smiled at her.

Aqui tried to smile back, but it didn't reach her eyes. She had barely rested the previous night after her encounter with Tarquin.

She felt like she was at another dead end.

"We thank God he's okay," Aqui responded quietly, rubbing her right arm in the process.

Mike stood up and stretched.

"Let's grab some tea, Aqui. I'm pretty spent."

He sensed something was wrong with his sister and wanted to talk to her alone.

————————

"You are what?"

"I want to abdicate for you." King Domingo II replied.

"Not now, of course. But, in a few months' time. I want you to settle with your future bride first." He went on to explain.

"You must be joking. Nunca(Never)!"

King Domingo sat comfortably on a huge golden-edged sofa. He seemed to enjoy his son's discomfort as he drank from his glass.

"Do I look like I'm joking?"

Javier stood up from his seat and began to pace up and down.

"No, father... I just have something to tell you." It was time for him to let the truth out.

—————

"What's eating you up?" Mike took a sip of his tea and looked at his sister expectantly.

They were sitting in the private lounge designated for them in the hospital. The hospital was mainly for Royals.

"Well..." Aqui sighed. She didn't know where to start.

She was reluctant to open up her past, even to her own brother. He didn't know about it as she had kept it from all of them—except her eldest brother, the Crown Prince.

"I took a decision recently," she opted for that bit of news about her marriage instead.

"Oh?" Mike arched an eyebrow looking amused.

"Yes," she sighed and swirled the tea in her cup.

"So, my sister finally decides to tell me she has gotten married."

Aqui's head snapped up immediately.

"What? How?" Her eyes were wide.

—————

"Qué? Cómo?(What? How?)" Javier stood frozen to the spot.

For someone with an extremely cold demeanour, the look of surprise on his face was note-worthy.

King Domingo II smiled and set his glass aside.

"Well, I have my ways." He folded his arms across his chest. His son's reaction bemused him greatly.

"Wait... was it Demetrius?" Javier narrowed his eyes.

"Not exactly."

"Meaning he had something to do with it."

His father had just revealed that he knew his son was married already.

His father sighed and leaned forward, pointing him to sit down.

"That's not the point Javier. You thought you were going against my wishes by getting married. But your rebellion was actually... Obedience."

"What do you mean?" The now-seated Javier looked at his father suspiciously.

"Do you know the Princess I intended for you to marry?"

"No, and I don't want to find out. It's not happening."

"We'll see about that," his father retrieved a document from the coffee table beside him.

"I believe you saw her yesterday."

That got Javier's interest piqued.

"Who is it?"

"The same girl who embraced me. The one who saved your life."

————-

"So you already knew about it when you met me yesterday." Aqui stated as she looked down to avoid his gaze.

"Ken.(Yes)."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I wanted to see if you would. And you did." He pinched his sister's cheek which earned him a tiny smile.

"Will you help me tell everyone, then?" She looked at him expectantly.

"Mmm... I don't think I can."

"But why?" The disappointment in her voice was apparent.

"Let me rephrase. I don't think I have to."

"Medoah, Mihai? (Why, Mike?)"

"You see..."

————-

The pain of knowing whom he would have gotten married to stabbed Javier's heart. If only he had waited.

He felt befuddled as he rose from his seat and slowly walked to the window.

"Then, I guess it wasn't meant to be." He gulped hard and shut his eyes for a brief moment.

"Well, I have here your final marriage certificate." His father rose to stand behind him.

"That traitor, Demetrius," he muttered under his breath.

"Why don't you take a look at it?"

He eyed his father for a moment before reaching for it. His numb heart was jolted to life with confusion when he finally opened it and read the names.

"Qué es eso?(What is this?)"

———————

"You're kidding me, Mike. This can't be happening," Aqui groaned and touched her forehead.

She leaned against the car's window as her brother drove off. They had left the hospital moments earlier and she still couldn't grasp what her brother had revealed.

How can Angelo be Javier?

"Come on, Aqui. I don't understand. Shouldn't you be happy?" He glanced at her curiously.

"I don't want to be near any Prince, Mike. I hate that thought."

"Touché. What am I then?"

"You don't understand..." she sighed.

"Then make me understand."

When she remained quiet for a long moment, he decided to let it be. Aqui continued to stare out the window and rubbed her arm again.

"Aqui? Were you injured in any way?"

"What?" She snapped back to attention realising her brother had noticed her discomfort.

"Your arm."

"It's fine... just a little pain."

She had injured it during the previous day's attack but didn't want to disturb him with it.

"Are you sure?"

"I am," she smiled a tiny bit.

"Fine," Mike said pulling into the Resort.

He found it sad that his sister had to keep many things from him. But, he didn't push it.

On seeing the huge conference hall of the resort, he then remembered another reason why he had wanted to talk to her.

"Oh... I forgot to tell you," he unbuckled his seat belt.

—————

The ornate conference hall was refined to top-notch for the meeting.

Many kings and royals from different parts of the globe were gathered. They were all seated according to ranks.

Seated near the head was King Domingo II, Javier by his side. King Flavian Amo Romano (King of Italy), was also present, having arrived early that morning.

And there was one seat yet to be occupied.

Aqui felt a bit flustered as she hurried down the hallway, constantly checking on her dress.

I hope it's okay for the meeting, she thought to herself.

She reminded herself of the reason why she had to do what she was about to do.

"Luke, can't make it to the meeting here. So he asked you to sit in," Mike had told her in the car.

Their parents had divided parts of their regency for their children—Luke's being the greatest. But since childhood, he had often trained his little sister to take on his tasks with him.

Aqui had never understood why. But there was something about her eldest brother which made no one question his motives.

And one way or the other, they were both so similar in many ways. They often didn't have to speak much to understand each other.

Their family always joked that Aqui's real twin was Sal (Luke). They also resembled greatly in appearance.

She was glad when the hall's door came into view.

The meeting was not going to start without her—the representative of the Crown Prince, Sal. Luke Jaye.

"And as we wait for the appearance of the representative of Prince Salvian Luke Jaye—"

The huge extravagant doors, designed with a tinge of gold swung open, causing everyone to stare at her.

A wave of murmurs swept over the room.

"So Prince Sal is actually letting his little sister take over affairs," one close to her whispered.

"Well, he was also quite young when he took over affairs of the throne from his father."

"Prince Sal is known by all to be smart. I trust his judgement in the matter."

Aqui was surprised by the peace that filled her heart. She had expected to feel nervous.

"Greetings to you all. I am sorry I am a bit late. The news came to me rather delayed. But I trust that your magnanimity would overlook my solecism."

Her added perfunctory smile caused the dignitaries to applaud. Most stood to greet her.

She was the youngest of the royal family of the Jayes.

As she headed to her seat at the head, she spotted Javier looking at her intensely. But she decided to look away greeting his father only.

Now is not the time to be distracted, she said to herself.

But she almost froze when she spotted the other person at the head of the gathering. A chill went down her spine.

LORD, help me.

He was staring back at her, eyes widened. Next to him were his sons, Francesco and... Tarquin.

Despite all King Flavian had done to her, Aqui decided to do the right thing and greet him. Aqui swallowed hard and forced a tight smile.

King Flavian was barely able to nod in response.

She then took her seat and the others began to do the same.

Her eyes focused on the information spread out on the screen before them when she heard a commotion next to her.

King Flavian held on to his chest, groaning in pain. Others quickly surrounded him as he finally collapsed to the floor.

————————————————————-

Yay! By God's Grace, this was one of my favourite chapters. I'm sorry for all the quick changes. I pictured it as a movie scene whilst writing it.

Umm... who do you think Prince Sal (Luke) looks like? (Oooo... that kind of rhymes. Luke looks like). Or how do you picture him?

And King Flavian too... I'm trying to picture him.

Anyways... ciao!

P. S. This chapter is dedicated to @AmyMojica50 and @ishamiraculousfan1 I appreciate everything. 🙂

Love,

Phela 🤍🤍🤍🤍