Royally Bounded

Chapter 4

Hayden

Meeting with King Marco's family was a boring shit that annoyed me. If they weren't our in-laws, I would never stay a single minute with them. We had an alliance, but it was fucking clear that they secretly wanted to have control over our country too.

"Prince Hayden," Martha, our head maid, called as she came into the room. I cussed in complaint from the moment I saw too many ties in her hands. "Queen Emma suggested that you should wear some colour for the occasion."

I rolled my eyes and tilted my head back for her to test ties against my neck. She did it over and over again, almost as if she was an expert stylist to find the right piece. During this time, my mother walked in, with a pleased smile across her lips. She gestured Martha to leave and took over the job. Just as I expected, she returned with her lengthy lectures.

"Hayden," she sounded concern. "You're the future to Nascadia. You need to start socializing with more people and build connections. Every time someone approaches you, the attitude scares them away." She wrapped the piece around my neck, nearly like a rope to straggle her own son to death.

"Good," I muttered.

That's the fucking point.

My mother shook her head in disapproval even though she knew I had this persona. She went on in another cycle to bother me about marriage and grandchildren.

"Everyone knows you're your father and my favourite child. Your sisters aren't going to be part of the reign since they're wedded into another family. Ivor is too soft to be a ruler. All of your qualities point to you as the future king," she finished with the knot and folded my collar down, making sure no creases were on my shirt.

"Do you know what I hate the most?" I asked dully. "Responsibilities."

"If you keep staying alone without finding someone, you will turn into Prince Arnaldo."

A dry laugh came from my mouth. "Don't compare me to that asshole." I dreaded at the thought of Arnaldo and me being linked into a sentence, let alone a comparison.

"Hayden," she ticked at me for my profanity.

I shrugged at my attitude and rolled my sleeves to my elbows. She went silent for a moment as she observed my expression to speak about her main point.

"I want to talk to you about Maisie."

I kept my mouth close, glancing at her as an indication for her to continue.

"Your father and I think that Maisie is a good potential wife for you. She would make a great queen by helping you with your duties and becoming a mother."

"God no," my hands instantly raised to interrupt her from speaking further. "I don't want to talk about this."

"Don't tell me you're interested in one of the women you bring back to your palace."

"That's not the point," I argued. "I don't want to deal with ridiculous relationship problems. Have you seen Bertha and Maurice? That's a clear example."

She shook her head, defeated once again. "We will talk about this eventually. King Marco is coming in a few minutes. I want you to be out to greet them." She left my room, closing the door behind her. As I pinched the bridge of my noses, my eyes shut briefly, pushing out the frustrations in my mind.

My black oxford shoes hit against the hardwood floor as I tucked my hands into the pockets of my dress pants. Arnaldo already had his monster voice roaring inside the palace, and I rolled my eyes at the bastard who knew nothing about royalty manners. All that was trapped in his sick mind was sex and women. As if he could have a wife with that thinking.