Mate of the Fallen Alpha Prince

Chapter Seven - Curiosity

After they arrived at the kingdom, Venus excused herself from Prince Arthur before proceeding toward her chambers.

She closed the doors behind her back after she arrived and immediately surrendered to her bed just to stare at her ceiling.

Hanna didn’t come along with her because she was dedicated to getting her princess some nice tea and pastry to calm her down.

She wanted to lay down, rest, and snuggle to her bed until the day was over but she knew that she couldn’t afford to waste time like that.

A knock from her door was to be heard, “Come in, Hanna,” She raised her voice, so the door made a creaking sound as it opened.

“I got you some tea and cake, Your Highness,” She smiled as she placed them on the bedside table before looking at her princess.

“Thank you, Hanna, I appreciate this a lot,” Venus just gave her a small smile before drinking that warm tea.

She felt relaxed after one sip before taking one bite at the slice of the cake, “V-Venus? Did something happen between you and Princess Alicia?”

Venus stopped at her question before sighing, “I-I can’t explain it to you right now, but there is something that happened,”

“Is this because you’re finally noticing that she had affections with Prince Louis back then?” Hanna curiously asked, which surprised her.

“You noticed it back then?” Venus was surprised because she didn’t notice it before, she only noticed it when her visit to the Peony kingdom came often.

The way she attends to Louis' needs and meetings before, it was as if she was his wife and everything.

She thought that she was just being a nice friend, but she trusted her way too much to the point that she was betrayed.

“I did, Your Highness, it was pretty obvious, but you were too preoccupied to notice because your eyes were only to Prince Louis and so as he was to you,” Hanna commented.

“I also found out that she didn’t attend your wedding day, were you informed about that?” She added, so her eyes widened.

“She didn’t? I-I didn’t know that,” Venus took one sip of her tea before staring at the windows from the outside.

That is one piece of information she didn’t know back then., “I’m sorry, I know that I shouldn’t be meddling in this kind of business,” Hanna sounded troubled.

She shook her head, “No Hanna, I was actually glad you told me that,” Venus happily smiled at her.

Hanna looked surprised at what she just said before smiling, “Anything for you, my princess,” She happily said.

Venus emotionally looked at her, she could still remember how she died right in front of her and she was dedicated to not letting that scenario happen again.

After Hanna left the room to get her some papers she needed to look into, she wrote on her notes about the information that she got from Hanna.

“So you didn’t attend the wedding, Marie Alicia,” Venus clenched her fists, “This would be good evidence, I should check on the wedding lists,”

She tried to look for the lists around her room, but she couldn’t find them anywhere. She thought that maybe the organizer had them.

A soft knock from her door was to be heard, so she told someone to come in and realized that it was Hanna.

“Your Highness, Prince Arthur is already waiting in the study room for you to discuss the proposal he was offering,” Hanna bowed her head.

“Oh, I almost forgot about that,” Venus mumbled before approaching her, “I’ll go meet him now, Hanna, and can you do me a favor?”

“Anything, Your Highness,” Hanna answered politely, so she just smiled since she knew she could always count on her.

“Could you contact my wedding organizer back then? The one who organized and listed all my present guests at the wedding,” Venus ordered.

Hanna bowed her head, “I’ll be sure to contact him right away, Your Highness, you wanted him to give you the list, right?”

“Yes, thank you so much about this, Hanna, I’ll be leaving to meet Prince Arthur,” After Venus said those words, she went to the study room.

After she arrived there, she noticed that Arthur was standing, checking out numerous books from their shelves.

She could feel her chest tightening, pounding rapidly as if he had that specific effect on her that she couldn't describe.

“Your Highness,” Venus almost jumped after she just realized that he was already right in front of her.

She squinted her eyes at the corner she was looking at a while ago and was sure that he was there before he greeted her.

“P-Prince Arthur, you move so swiftly,” Venus curtsied before raising her head, “You were just there on the corner a while ago,”

He had this blank expression on his face, “What do you mean, Your Highness? I was just right in front of you,”

Venus was confused and thought that maybe she oversaw things way too much before shrugging her head, “Shall we talk about your proposal?”

Arthur immediately agreed with her request, and both of them sat on the cream and gold sofa around the study room.

“We can start working on this project by next week, do you think you could get your people prepared for this? We need your ingredients so we could produce wine and sell it across the lands of Flora,” Venus suggested.

“I’ll make sure they’ll have all the available ingredients ready,” Arthur sounded joyous before closing some of the folders they were signing and reading.

“Your Highness, do you mind if I’ll ask you some questions?” He solemnly asked so she raised her head before looking at him.

“What is it, Prince Arthur?” Venus worriedly asked so they stared at each other’s eyes before he faked a cough.

“I noticed how you look at Princess Marie Alicia Pheon, you looked terrified as if she did something to you before,” He pointed out.

Venus secretly bit her lower lip as she felt like her heart was racing, “I-I…it’s not about her, it’s just that I wasn’t feeling that well back then,”

“You were out of breath while looking at her and your husband from afar, are you certain that it’s because you're not feeling well?” Arthur raised his eyebrows.

Venus felt like she was being interrogated and she hated the feeling that she had to explain things to him when she didn't have to, “Why are you asking me this, Prince Arthur? I’m sure this is not related to what we have to work on sooner,”

“I just want to make sure my partner on this proposal would be alright, I hope I’m not stepping on your boundaries, I apologize if that was too much,” Prince Arthur bowed his head.

She gave him a serious look before taking a deep breath. Venus was thankful to him back there because if it weren’t for him, she probably would have lashed out, sob uncontrollably, and complain about something that nobody else knows about yet.

“Was it that obvious?” Venus whispered, which made him nod. She looked away from him before placing her hands on her thighs.

Venus was trying to find the right words she needed to say to him, “I-It’s hard to explain, you wouldn’t understand,”

“Are you certain I wouldn’t?” Arthur’s voice was deep and calm, that alone made her heart pound so rapidly against her chest for some unknown reason.

“I-I’m not comfortable opening up to anyone just yet, it’s something really personal,” Venus told him. She also couldn’t understand why she was informing him of such things.

Talking to him eases her well-being, she has never been so comfortable with anyone around the lands of Flora aside from her lady-in-waiting and her parents.

She was the only child, so she was spoiled a lot by them, but they never forgot to teach her all her responsibilities as the princess of kingdom Rose.

“I understand, you don’t have to say it now, you can take it slow, I don’t want you to burden such heavy things you can share with me, especially now that we’ll work on something together,” Prince Arthur smiled at her before taking a sip of his tea.

Venus did the same and it helped calm her nerves, “Thank you, I appreciate that,” She smiled before putting down her tea.

Arthur, on the other hand, looked at her intently and was tempted to kiss the back of her hands so that he could see those beautiful smiles of hers again.

He bets that she wasn’t even aware that she was making that kind of gesture whenever he does that to her.

Aside from that, her alluring scent doesn’t help to calm his wolf down. Arthur wanted to get to know her better, badly.

“I think we’re done here for today, shall we leave and take a stroll around the castle? I’m thinking that perhaps you would like me to tour you around since we didn't get that chance yesterday due to some matters,” Venus suggested, so he doesn’t know why his spirits were immediately lifted.

“I would certainly like that, Your Highness,” Arthur smiled as they both decided to stand up while speaking to one another.

After they stepped into the enormous hallways, Venus stopped before looking straight into his eyes as she tugged her hair into her right ear.

“T-This is my first time touring someone around our castle, I hope you would be honored,” She informed him.

Arthur’s eyes widened, “You haven’t toured your husband around here yet?” He sounded surprised, which made her nod.

“Yes, we were always out whenever we wanted to spend time with each other, plus we always saw each other at the royal academy and when he asked for my hand from my parents, I bet he didn’t even take a look around the palace,” She bitterly smiled.

“I’m not sure if anything I say right this moment would benefit you, but I hope you don’t mind me sharing a few things, it was just strange that you look like you were the same age as us but I never saw you anywhere, even at the academy,” Venus added.

Arthur averted his gaze at her, “I was homeschooled,” He informed her, so her eyes widened because she wasn’t aware that this kind of practice still exists.

“Really? Why? Are you sick or something? Did something happen back then when you were young?” She curiously asked.

Arthur amusingly looked at her, he knew that she was an inquisitive princess from the glow she had from her bright blue eyes, but this really astounded him in a good way.

Venus cupped her mouth when she noticed his reaction, “I-I apologize it was rude of me to ask too many questions at a time,”

Arthur immediately shook his head, “I don’t mind at all, it’s just things in my kingdom from the very beginning were complicated,”

“They decided to homeschool me for the safety of everyone and myself,” Arthur mysteriously said, which made her look at him intently.

Venus was perplexed by what he had just said, but she didn't say anything for fear of appearing nosy right in front of him.

“And we're not the same age, I’m turning 23 soon, you’re just turning 21 soon, am I right, Your Highness?” He added with this playful grin plastered on his lips.

“H-How did you know about that?” She curiously asked with her eyes widened. Arthur just mentally chuckled because of the different expression her face makes.

“I know almost everyone in the lands of Flora, I may not be around, they may not be familiar with me, but I know all of them,”

After Arthur said those words, she didn’t say anything because again, she was afraid that perhaps she was prying too much.

Plus, she knew that there was really something about him. Arthur was just so mysterious, she couldn’t help but be more inquisitive every time he opened his mouth, talking about himself and the kingdom.

She then decided to tour him around the kingdom. Venus couldn’t help but think how comfortable she was in his presence.

He was kind and gentle, and she appreciates how he pays attention to every detail she was saying about their kingdom.

Those are the things she didn’t feel from Louis before, he never paid attention to her after they were married.

“Oh and this is where I usually go during my spare time,” Venus smiled while pointing at the study room, which made him smile.

“I wonder what classic books you’re reading, Your Highness?” Arthur curiously asked so she smiled.

“Take a guess,” She beamed, so they started talking about their favorite books and didn’t realize that they were having the best time of their lives.

To be continued…