Royally Bounded

Chapter 6

Clara

Shocked.

It was all I could say to explain how I felt for the past days. After seeing Prince Hayden that night, I hadn't seen him again, and he didn't mentioned about whatever he said at the event. It wasn't exactly what I imagined because I thought that it might just be a game between the two princes. I was the ball being tossed to one side then another until they were bored of everything.

Rosie came over, and we sat on the edge of my bed, discussing about what had happened. She heard it all over the newspaper after someone leaked the secret, and Nascadia seemed to be in danger of losing Verdeniao as an alliance. Of course, I knew it wasn't because of me. Prince Hayden caused a violent scene, and since I knew Prince Arnaldo's true personality, he would find vengeance for what Prince Hayden started.

"I can't believe your first official relationship is where a man punched another man for you," Rosie said in a loud whisper. Her reaction was the same as mine from a few days prior. "How do you have the power to compel Prince Hayden?"

"What are you trying to say?" I fired back, huffing as my lips pressed into a tight line. "He scared me to death. Plus, what if Prince Arnaldo kills my family for this? I would be dead because of how impulsive Prince Hayden was."

"It's fine. He doesn't rule Nascadia. All of you are safe here. Countries already set rules that another king can't have control over other citizens that aren't from their place."

"Yeah, but it doesn't mean they can't do it secretly. Their royal family has a background of doing dirty work. He'll kill me if he wants."

"Which also means you need to be married soon. If you're under the protection of Nascadia, no one will dare to hurt your family."

"I'm not going to marry Prince Hayden. He punched Prince Arnaldo without any hesitations. He could have serious anger issues, and he would hurt me. I'm not falling for that."

"He did save you from the pervert," Rosie pointed out. Both of us were clear that it was a relief to not be engaged to Prince Arnaldo, but to me, Prince Hayden was still repulsive.

He was like being possessed by a devil that night. Under the dark, he had no sympathy or remorse for what he had done. His hard fist clashed straight at Prince Arnaldo, and his entire face was stone cold. Even if you dug deep into his skin and bones, there would never be any light coming from his nature.

"That's only because he was playing some game that I don't know about," I mumbled.

Someone knocked at my door while I was speaking to Rosie. My mother popped inside when I allowed, and she had a very wide smile on her face that gave me no good sign. Rosie and I both stood to our feet when Beatrice and Phoebe came inside.

"Prince Hayden came," my mother beamed. Her expression was full of happiness like she found a pot of gold. "We have to get you ready to meet with him."

"But I—"

"He wants to speak with us about the marriage."

Rosie quickly embraced me before she left. My mother laid down another dress for me to wear as both maids helped me with all the preparation.

The dark red dress stopped just above my knees with off the shoulder sleeves. After my hair was curled, Phoebe applied some light perfume that made cough. I tried to avoid all the heavy makeup since it made me uncomfortable.

When we were done, I stepped down the stairs in my black leather strapped heels. It was weird enough that I was dressed for this occasion when I didn't feel a slight temptation to be married. My parents were the only one who were satisfied after this mess. They completely forgot about the consequences that could have our entire family killed.