Chapter 54: Back in the Castle

Looking at the blood on the white sheets, Lauren shook her head in frustration. She couldn’t believe how he just left her like that and stormed out of the room furiously. It was embarrassing.

Sitting on the carpeted floor while leaning on the bed and staring at the moon through the window, she folded her legs and hugged them, putting her chin on the top of her knees. She was in a white nightdress now, her hair flowing down her shoulders and back messily.

After her mind wandered into a pool of thoughts, she sighed.

She understood it now. Alec was aggressive and impatient in bed, so he didn’t like doing it with inexperienced women who knew little to nothing and who couldn’t cope with him.

Still, he could have handled the situation better. His anger was too much and it was unreasonable.

Or perhaps... he felt some guilt deep down.

Perhaps he only accepted her offer because he thought she was nothing but a malicious and ruined woman whom he wouldn’t feel guilty for after he broke her later on.

Seems like the devil has some heart after all... thought Lauren.

The next morning, Lauren and Alec had breakfast together like usual. However, both of them remained silent in their seats like there was an invisible barrier between them. Alec had his usual stoic face while Lauren acted oblivious to his presence. She justified his action in her mind yes, but it didn’t mean she could get over it easily. What kind of woman wouldn’t be embarrassed if her first time turned out to be disastrous anyway?

The butler who came to send a letter that was sent by the royal messenger noticed the dark air surrounding the couple and he wondered what his master had done. He knew the lord lacked warmth and didn’t attend to the princess like how a husband should, so he wouldn’t be surprised if his master would be abandoned by his wife someday.

"Master Alec," Oswin cleared his throat. "The royal castle sent a letter."

After reading the letter, Alec looked at Lauren who was calmly eating.

"The King requests our presence in the castle today. Prince Dominic will arrive and he wants the family to be complete."

Family. Lauren wanted to laugh at the word used. She wondered if her father would still ask for her presence and include her in this ’family’ he was talking about if she didn’t happen to marry Alec.

"Our two-week stay here in your mansion will end tomorrow. How about we move in today? I’m sure you have made arrangements for the matters you are busy with recently. His Majesty will be pleased," Lauren said. She had been out of the castle for a while and now that Eloise’s marriage was being tackled, she didn’t want to be left out.

"Let’s do that then," Alec agreed without a fuss. "Oswin, supervise in packing the necessary things. We will move into the castle today."

Since there were a lot of things to be packed, Alec left it to the servants and told the butler to let his men send it to the castle later. He and Lauren went to the castle first as it was stated in the letter that they should be in the castle before lunch.

When they arrived, they went to the dining hall where everyone was. Prince Dominic was already present.

It didn’t escape Lauren how the Queen grimaced the moment she saw her, and the somber expression on Eloise’s face while sitting across Prince Dominic.

After greeting the Queen and King, Lauren and Alec sat beside each other.

"It is good to finally have you here," King Martin looked at the couple. "I shall expect you moving in tomorrow. I assume you have already settled everything, am I right, Lord Everston?"

"Yes, everything is settled, Your Majesty. In fact, we will move in today. Our things are on the way."

The King looked pleased but Queen Thalia’s expression was the opposite. Eloise was strangely quiet today, while Cassandra was in her usual indifferent self who was only listening.

Lauren smiled when she saw the dismay on the Queen’s face but her smile vanished when her eyes dropped to Prince Dominic who was staring at her.

It caught her in surprise upon realizing that she had seen him before.

Bodeville was a kingdom in the north, a little far from Evardin, so the people there found it inconvenient to travel long hours to attend celebrations in Evardin, and since Lauren never remembered a certain Prince Dominic attending the balls and soirees in the castle, she thought they must not have met before, only to realize that she was wrong.

Because she did encounter him in the past, and in a very unfortunate circumstance one would rather forget.

Prince Dominic smirked. "Pleased to meet you, Princess Lauren. Even in my land Bodeville your name is quite famous."

"It’s also a pleasure to meet you, Prince Dominic." Lauren gave him a small bow.

The glint of familiarity in Prince Dominic’s eyes while looking at Lauren didn’t escape Alec, making his eyes narrow a bit.

"Since everyone is now present..." the King spoke. "Let me announce that our humble Prince Dominic here asked for Eloise’s hand in marriage, and after giving it a thought and discussing it with the court, I came up with the decision to grant Prince Dominic and Eloise a marriage."

"Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty," Prince Dominic said but Eloise remained quiet.

"I am happy with your betrothal, Eloise." Lauren smiled at her half-sister, the same sweet teasing smile that Eloise gave her when she was betrothed to the wrong people in the past.

"Thank you, Lauren. I can’t wait to get married. After all, isn’t it what are women for. To be wives and serve our husbands," Eloise said, assuming that a vicious warlord like Alec wanted his woman submissive and Lauren would suffer in the hands of her dominant husband.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read