11 Little Swan

Nikolai walked straight into a private room where most of his high-ranking officials were currently waiting.

As he entered, he noted how his subjects were still in a heated discussion regarding how things ended. Then again, that was exactly what he expected his officials to do. He couldn't really blame them since the outcome was something no one would ever expect except for him.

The report regarding the eldest daughter's disappearance reached him the moment it happened. He knew to anticipate the exact next moves from the Kingdom of Ebodia, he knew they would go to their backed-up plan.

As soon as they realized that he had entered the room, everyone stopped talking and they turned their attention to him.

"Your Majesty, this unexpected turn of events will cause great turmoil in our Kingdom," Minister Rory pointed out. While he wasn't one of his great allies, yet he still allowed him to join his convoy to satisfy those in the opposition in his court.

Taking his seat, Nikolai calmly crossed his legs together and gave Gregory a nod. His servant then quickly handed him a glass of his red wine which he casually sipped.

"Sire, she's a cursed princess! She will bring misfortune to our Kingdom. This marriage alliance isn't worth it. Even worse, making her our–"

*Thud!*

The loud thud of his golden cup slamming against the table rang across the room. Seeing that some of the drink spilled, Gregory quickly instructed a servant to clean the offending splotch of red wine on the table. Meanwhile, everyone remained silent as they all stared at Nikolai, waiting for him to speak.

"We've been going around in circles here, Minister Rory," Nikolai coldly said, his expression darkening as he raised an eyebrow. "Are you questioning my decision on this matter?"

Minister Rory cleared his throat and quickly replied, "No, Sire, but I'm simply bringing to your attention the possible consequences of this decision."

The corners of Nikolai's lips rose as he responded with a dangerous smile.

"Hmm, I appreciate your great concern on this, Minister, but must I remind you I am king and that your King knows full well how to take responsibility for his every action?" he pointedly scoffed.

"She's cursed? On what basis? Those are simply nothing more than rumors. if I must say… For years, we've witnessed how Ebodia slowly became one of the more powerful kingdoms in this world. Are you saying that that's a misfortune caused by the so-called cursed princess?"

No one dared to reply.

Seeing the silence, Nikolai added, "I've already spoken to her and compelled her to tell me the truth."

Nicolai watched as all their attention was on him, eager to hear what he had learned from their new Queen.

"My wife was simply misunderstood because of her rare appearance and an event that occurred when she was born." He then squared up his shoulders as he declared, "Spread this to everyone… I don't want any attempts of hypnotism or compulsion on my wife. Do so, and you'll answer directly to me."

"Wife…"

Alexa, his aunt, the younger sister of his father Arturo, hummed the word to herself. She was a part of the Exordium Royal Couriers which originally consisted of eleven members. Unfortunately, six of them had died during the battles with the dragons, leaving only five female Exordiums alive.

"My nephew seems smitten with his wife already." She teased as she nodded to Nikolai.

It was clear that she was helping him in her own way.

"Anyway, I agree with him that we should already give this discussion a rest. And you…" Alexa commented, her gaze turning directly to Minister Rory as she continued, "Minister Rory, you're overthinking this. Let our King handle matters pertaining to his newfound wife. What matters is that we can continue the lineage of the Exordium to ensure that our kingdom won't suffer and go down as it was foretold in the prophecy. We need a breeder from the Ward Family, and if this union fails, then Nikolai can simply marry another female from the same family in the future."

The Prophecy… Like any other kingdom, Valcrez also honored their own prophecy for centuries.

It was written in the Valcrez Book of Chronicles that a chaotic event was bound to come to their kingdom. Such an event could only be prevented once a male harboring the Mark of Eternity bred with someone that bore the bloodline of royalty, who was born of a union that caused the sky to cry blood.

Currently, the only union that resulted in that exact prophesied scenario was the union of King Stephan and his wife Dana of the Kingdom of Ebodia, indicating that the Prophecy was pertaining to the Ward Family, the royal family in Ebodia.

Knowing such, whoever Nikolai married didn't matter so long as he married into the Ward family. Still, his constituents specifically asked for the eldest daughter, they knew of the rumors of how the youngest daughter was infamously known as the Cursed Princess.

Nikolai gave his aunt a silent nod of thanks.

No one dared to refute Alexa's words, and he could only thank her for always backing him up in despite her vague methods.

She strove to make sure that it wouldn't look too biased coming from her since she was part of their Ichor Clan.

Still, Nikolai knew that he would have a lot of headaches moving forward because of this decision. Other Clans would definitely use this against him, and he could only hope that he could deal with them in a satisfactory manner that wouldn't result in too many political headaches.

"If there are no more pressing matters to discuss, then I shall now go and accompany my wife," Nikolai promptly stated as he stood from his seat and headed for the doors. "Tonight is our wedding night, after all, and it would be rude to snatch the groom from his wife on such a precious night, don't you agree?"

Leaving the room Nikolai let the wide and dangerous smile threatening to carve itself onto his face appear. His eyes squinted, and an inner glow shone within his gaze as he murmured, "Let's see how brave our little swan is."

He found it so interesting and amusing at the same time, seeing how she was giving him that brave and confident front. "Looks like the rumors about her being meek and just a pretty face are nothing more than rumors," he hummed to himself as a smirk adorned his face. "I'm excited to find out more about her."

*****

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