Fed up with their strong-headed, rebellious son, the King and Queen of the Kingdom of Terrigal come up with a plan for him to settle down by sending invitations to all the eligible young women of the land, to contest for his love, much to the Prince...
Waking up early in the morning, Alex walked out to his balcony and sat on one of the chairs there and gazed out, from that vantage point he could look down and see the river but it was still a little dark, so he just kept his eyes on the horizon where the sun was starting to show it's presence in the heavens, painting the sky with colours of orange, violet, salmon-pink and indigo-blue.
The contest was going to run for a course of ten months. The first two months, he would get to know each girl a personally, individually then the next eight months would be of them getting to do tasks that Madam Eunice, his mother and aunts had set out in coordination with the royal life, and the eligibles would have to complete each task to the best of their abilities and marks would be appointed to them. Whoever has the lowest mark at the end of each the months would be sent home.
Bringing up his knuckles to his lips, the ring on his middle ring caught his eyes and he turned his hand to have a proper view of it. It was a thick gold band with a royal blue, oval jem inserted into the top. A family heirloom that has been passed on from the first born male of the family to the next, and Alex inherited from his father when he turned fifteen.
Feeling the warmth of the rising sun on his face, Alex stood up and walked back into his bedroom over to his bathroom to brush his teeth and wash his face before he changed out of his pyjamas. Throwing on a loose grey tank top, a pair of black sweatpants and putting on a his sport shoes, Alex went down to the built-in gym. After he switched on the lights to the gym, he stretched and had a sip of water before getting onto the treadmill.
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"I thought that I would be the first one here." Alex looked back at the door to see that Lucas had entered.
"Me too, what happened?"
Lucas shrugged his shoulders and sat on one of the benches. "I might have came down late last night for a snack."
Alex began chuckling and started up the treadmill. "Why I'm I surprised by this. There was chocolate yule log."
Lucas rolled his grey eyes and hopped onto the treadmill beside Alex. "I feel horrible. I have to work it off."
"Okay, let's go."
"What?...you want to race?"
"Sure. There's nothing wrong with some healthy competition." Alex gave his cousin a challenging grin.
"Alright. Game on." Lucas smirked.
By the time Alex and Lucas were done running they were both huffing and puffing heavily, and got off the treadmills and sat on the bench nearby to cool off and have a drink of water. Alex had beaten Lucas, running an extra minute longer on the treadmill while Lucas slowed down.
"Are you alright?"
"Yes. I just need to catch my breath." Lucas nodded. "You've being working out."
"I like to go for runs whenever I have the time too. But I try to stay out of the gym as much as possible."
"Why is that?"
Alex shrugged his shoulders. "I like being surrendered by nature when I exercise. Not machines."
"So why come in here today?"
"...Just didn't feel like running outside today."
"Hmm..."
Hearing the door open along with some muffled voices, Alex and Lucas looked in that direction and saw their fathers and uncles walking into the gym.
"Looks like we all need to burn some of the fat of from last night, eh boys?" One of their uncles said.
Lucas jabbed his thumb behind him at the treadmills. "Alex and I just covered four kilometres in an hour."
"I can't remember the last time that I ran that fast." Lucas father shook his head.
Laughing, Alex stood up and went over to one of the boxing bags that hung down from the ceiling and wore a pair of gloves before he started punching it.
"Alex," He looked behind him to see his father. "Walk with me."
As King Stefan walked over to the door, Alex felt eyes on him and looked over to the group of men and saw that it was Lucas watching hum, without saying anything, he removed the gloves and followed his father outside. When he walked out of the gym, he saw his father waiting for him then he began walking down the hallway so Alex followed him and caught up with him a second later.
"I want to apologise for how I've been treating you." King Stefan began as they strolled down the hallway. "I know that I haven't been the best father to you, and I'm sorry."
Alex didn't reply, he just remained silent and continued to walk beside his father.
"I know that you don't want to be the King," his father continued. "But you are my first born and next in line...and truth be told, I haven't been feeling very well lately."
This prompted Alex to pivoted around to look at his father, concern written on his face. "What do you mean? Are you sick?"
"No, no...I'm just exhausted."
"...When did this start?"
"In February."
Alex released a deep sigh then licked his lips and looked back in front of him. "That's why you and mom came up with this contest, isn't it?"
"Yes...We should have told you the truth, I'm sorry."
"Your right, you should have..." Alex said and inhaled deeply. "What did the doctor say?"
"My blood pressure is slightly unstable, so I need to be careful with my health." King Stefan told his son truthfully.
"There you twos are, I've been looking for the both of you. Come on, it's a beautiful morning so I thought we'd have breakfast in the backyard." Queen Sofia stated, walking up the hallway towards her son and husband in a simple but beautiful maroon dress.
"Alright, I'll just freshen up and join you guys there." Alex nodded turned around and began walking down the hallway, pondering over what his father had told him.
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Now the truth hɑs been reveɑled ɑs to why King Stefɑn ɑnd Queen Sofiɑ were so ɑdɑmɑnt for the contest to tɑke plɑce ɑnd for Alex to get himself ɑ bride.
