Silence dominated the four corners of the room. Neither one of them uttered a word. Elin kept on eavesdropping. She felt uneasy as she heard what the prince said.
“I know you have some illegal tradings. Everything is written in that document. It’s useless to defend right now. I have all the evidence”, Ansel paused as he stared at the silent Duke.
“Now, I have a proposal for you. If you do not want me to expose all of this, then let me take part of such dealings. I want you to be the one who makes all the deals when I need something”, Ansel smiled at the duke.
“I’m not giving you a chance to say ‘NO’. You do not want your dukedom to fall, do you? If you’re worried about being at a disadvantage, then how about this? I will make your daughter my fiance. Make her my Queen someday but I need the deals that you are currently having right now. Just think about it as a business transaction. Your daughter will become my queen and I can get what I need. Your prestige will even rise in return”, Prince Ansel waited for the Duke’s response.
“I can’t say ‘NO’ to the royal Highness, can I? It would be our greatest honor to be your business partner”, Duke Nereus said sarcastically.
Elin gritted her teeth as she heard their agreement.
“Nero, let’s go back to the mansion. They just agreed to the terms without me being there”, she said calmly.
Elin went to the room where the Duke and the Prince where having a conversation. She knocked at the door and the Duke permitted her to enter.
“Greetings, Your Royal Highness, Father. It is my honor to be in your presence”, Elin smiled while she curtseyed before they allowed her to take a seat.
“Good timing. Elin, His Royal Highness came and ask for your hand in marriage”, Duke Nereus broke the news to her.
“It would be my honor, Your Majesty”, Elin smiled happily as she heard the news. She pretended to hear it for the first time. Elin acted like a girl in love as she glanced at the prince with sparkling eyes and a smile from ear to ear.
“I’m glad to have you, Lady Elin. No matter how much I wanted to be with you right now, I can’t. I still have alot of things I need to tend to. I’ll make up for you when the time comes. Thank you for having me, Duke”, Ansel shook the Duke’s hand. He went near Lady Elin, hold her hand and kissed her goodbye.
“You need not worry about me, Your Royal Highness. Your presence was enough to fill me with joy”, Elin smiled warmly to Ansel.
Elin left as soon as the meeting was over. She rushed back to her room and shut it. When she locked her door, no one bothered to go and check on her, not even the maids, for they knew that the Duke and Duchess doesn’t care about her well-being. Elin took advantage of this and went back to the forest using Nero’s shadow portal.
“What are you planning, Elin?”, Nero looked worried as he stared at her lying comfortably on the bed.
“If they will use me for their own greed, why not use them for my own plan as well?”, Elin smiled at Nero.
“I can’t just ran away, Nero. I’ll be seen as someone who is weak because she couldn’t handle the pressure expected of a daughter of a Duke. I also don’t want to live my life hiding forever”, Elin stared into space as she contemplated about the Prince’s plan.
“I would have just forgiven my parents because of how they treated me. I’m still thankful that they gave me some food and shelter. But to THINK that they’ll use me for their own greed as if selling a piece of object to gain something in return. I was hoping that I can actually occupy just a BIT of their heart. Just a little bit would be fine. But now, I do not know if they have a heart to begin with” Elin sighed as she paused for awhile.
“What I’m concerned now is the Prince’s plan on joining the illegal trade that my parents have. What does HE want? What does HE need so much as to even blackmail the House of Vand? That’s what I want to know, Nero. This uneasy feeling that I have right now. I feel like a storm is about to wreck havoc. That’s why I agreed to become his fiance. I need to stop them before someone gets hurt because of their greediness”, she stared at Nero with determination in her eyes.
“Can you remember what the Prince offered to the Duke?”, Elin asked.
“That she will make you his Queen?”, Nero answered.
“Yes! QUEEN! But HE is NOT the Crown Prince. How can I be THE Queen?”, Elin pondered.
YOU ARE READING
If I Could Live Again
FantasyLady Elin was happy to have a loving fiancé who also happens to be a prince. She wanted to escape from the clutch of her family so she accepted the proposal. However, everything changed when a certain woman appeared and snatched all what belongs to...
