The Dragomir Heir (Watty Award)

Marriage

Valentine’s Day (Within 1st year of marriage)

Valentina was in her office in Vladonov Castle looking through her paperwork, trying to get rid of the sense of disappointment and annoyance. It was Valentine’s Day and this morning, all her husband did was routinely wake up at exactly 7am, showered and put on his suit by 7:30 and finished breakfast by 8 before holding meetings and finalizing paperwork. Throughout the whole day, he did not mention anything about Valentine’s Day.

Dante and Vera had gone on a week holiday to celebrate the day, and Vera called her not so long ago to tell her that Dante just proposed and she said ‘yes’.

“Oh my god Valentina, he took me to an island and it was so beautiful”, gushed Vera. “He bought the island you know? Just like Edward Cullum and Bella! He took me out to the beach one night and on the sand were candles and rose petals in a love heart and then he proposed! It was so beautiful! So what has Lucius done?”

There was silence over the phone where Valentina had a mixture of emotions. First, she was happy for Vera but at the same time she was jealous that Lucius couldn’t be at all romantic. Yes, Dante’s proposal was a bit…corny but at least, he put in a bit of effort into it.

“Nothing”, Valentina answered sadly.

“Oh, Val…” Vera moaned sadly. “May be he is planning something tonight. The night in Romania is still young.”

Despite Vera’s calming words, Valentina couldn’t help but voice her fears about her marriage. She had been thinking about it the whole day. Was Lucius getting bored of her? Was he getting too comfortable in his marriage that he was starting to feel the end of the romance? Does he still love her? Every morning was routine for them; wake up, get dressed for the day, breakfast, rule their vampire kingdom with a heavy hand, dinner and sleep (and the occasional sex).

“Vera…can you not tell Dante this?” Valentina asked. The last thing she wanted was Vera arguing with Dante, who would then tell Lucius, who will then confront her about their marriage.

“Ok…” There was a note of suspicion in Vera’s tone. “But if it is going to hurt you…”

“I think Lucius is getting bored of our marriage.” There, she said it. She had voice the one thing that will likely cause uproar in her kingdom and likely lead to division and formation of alliances. No doubt, if word got out to the Dragomir Kingdom, her elders will see to Lucius’ destruction and replace him with another.

“Don’t be silly”, Vera laughed off. “You’re 6 months into your marriage…he can’t be bored right now.”

“I think I’m getting boring”, said Valentina.

“Oh shut up”, demanded Vera. “Look-”

It was at this stage that a knock sounded and Valentina had to end her call. She didn’t want to talk in front of the servants and be the source of gossip; so she said her goodbyes to Vera.

“Dinner is ready, your majesty”, the servant announced after he entered and bowed deeply.

At that announcement, Valentina’s heart skipped and she broke into a smile. So he hadn’t forgotten, she thought happily. “Thank you, I will be there momentarily”, she replied before dismissing the servant. Once the servant was gone, she packed away her paperwork and hurried to the west wing to fix herself. She showered and did her hair and make-up. She excitedly put on lacy black lingerie that she purchased on her day shopping in Paris for Valentine’s Day, halter-neck dress that came up to her knee from Dolce & Gabbana and heels from Christian Louboutins. With one last look in the mirror, she was satisfied that Lucius would appreciate her hard work and made her way to the dining hall.