Submitting to My Lycan Prince Mate

100 His Token

Claire's POV

"Where's your token, Claire? Without the royal token, you'll never be part of the royal family!"

Down on the stage, Maria was glaring at me.

With her prompting and guidance, the crowd, which had previously remained silent out of fear, became noisy once again. Countless eyes were scrutinizing me, speculating about my dress and guessing where I might have hidden the token.

"You can't answer, can you? Is it because you don't even have a token?"

Maria, thinking she had me cornered, smirked with satisfaction, her eyes gleaming.

"Tell me, Claire, are you pushing Prince Louis to announce your engagement tonight just to take advantage of the fact that everyone is still mourning and grieving over Luna Diana's death, so you can seize the opportunity to climb up the ladder?"

The crowd erupted once again at Maria's malicious insinuations. This time, their looks towards me changed from suspicion to shock and anger.

"People with malicious intentions always like to speculate with malicious thoughts about others."

I shot a sidelong glance at Maria down on the stage, exposing her intentions without expression on my face.

"Luna Diana simply had a boating accident. Her whereabouts are unknown, but you didn't hesitate to announce to everyone in front of Louis that his mother is dead. Who's the malicious one here, me or you?"

"You!" Maria, rendered speechless by my words, shot a glare at Louis. "I was just stating the facts! And you, intentionally changing the subject, just want to cover up the fact that you don't even have a royal token..."

"How do you know I don't?" I coldly interrupted Maria's accusation. Then, amidst the scrutiny of the crowd, I took out the ring I had been holding in my palm and put it on my left hand, raising it high.

"Take a look, dear Maria, this is the royal token you wanted."

"A ring?"

Maria's face briefly showed a hint of doubt, but she quickly regained her composure. "Don't think you can fool everyone with just anything! This is obviously the ring Louis wears every day. You don't seriously think that any piece of jewelry used by the royal family can be considered a royal token, do you?"

"Oh, so you recognize this ring as the one Louis wears daily."

Facing the skeptical gazes, I calmly removed the ring from my finger and placed it on the tray presented by the attendant who had been waiting nearby.

"Go ahead, take it to Maria and let her examine it closely, to see whose ring it really is.""Yes."