THE REGENT'S MAGE

Chapter 7 : Your Aunt

"Come here," Jacob stated sternly.

Primrose was going to play deaf but chose otherwise last minute when she observed the atmosphere. It was nothing less than a funeral between the three.

Her eyes landed on Helena's nose. It was covered in bandaid. Even the bandaid wasn't able to cover up the spread of bruising around the nose. Primrose snickered happily.

"What are you laughing at?!" Helena hissed.

Primrose took a seat gracefully. Her purse was set aside on the sofa, with both hands intertwined above the crossed legs. She truly embodied the role of the regent's wife with that posture and looks.

It was hard to not take her seriously.

"Laughing at you," Primrose generously answered, "Have you learnt your lesson yet?"

Before Helena could snap, Lilly glared at Primrose. Unfortunately that glare was not effective anymore. Like a mirror effect, Primrose reflected the expression with a glare in her honey eyes. The darkness pupils were like arrows ripping into the chest one by one.

Lilly's glare faltered and the pair of mother and daughter chose to give up on intimidating her.

"What is it?" Primrose turned to her father.

Jacob had little say in the house. Other than managing their business and being the man of the family, he really had no other significance. Lilly often played him in the palm of her hand and used him to intimidate others. Unfortunately, even that didn't make him scary enough for the Primrose of the present.

A scarecrow figure was all she saw him as.

"A call came from the stewart of the royal family. They want us to visit. They want to talk about the wedding arrangements of the regent and you."

Each word spoken was like swallowing a whole rusted nail. From his expression to the way his voice sounded, everything was painful and rejecting.

Primrose happily smiled, "Really? Isn't Cassius such a darling? I told him it wasn't necessary. But I can't say I hate it when someone wants to openly show."

"You wouldn't know. Nobody loves you." Helena commented through gritting teeth.

"I still know better than you. After all, second hand products never hit the same."

"At least I have parents who want me and love me for who I am!" Helena exclaimed.

Primrose chuckled, "Is that a flex?"

"Isn't it?" Helena's eyes were red with held back anger.

"I thought you wanted sympathy by saying that. After all, having a set of parents who only love you because of something roaming in your blood is pitiful. I'd rather not, thank you."

Primrose didn't mean to stick around for long. It was a waste of time to exchange insults with Helena. She'd been doing it for long enough to loose interest.

"You say that but deep inside you wish you had what I have!"

Helena didn't let go, even being desperate to leave a few cuts on Primrose's heart before she could run away. Primrose paused and looked back, the glare wasn't as terrifying as the look in her eyes.

Scene from this morning flashed like a painful nightmare before her eyes. Her chest felt heavy and her lungs couldn't hold onto the breath, or maybe she simply stopped breathing as soon as those honey colored eyes landed on her like paws of a beast.

Primrose closed in. Lilly and Jacob were aware of her mood but couldn't bring themselves to move to pull away Helena.

"Since when were you a round worm in my stomach? Have you learnt to read minds?" Primrose pinched her chin and tilted that little head up, "As the elder sister, I'd like to give you obligatory advice. Be careful, Helena. People like you with loose tongues never make it in the royal family. You'll be disposed of before you know what went wrong."

Helena was dumbstruck. Not a single word escaped her after that. Primrose rolled her eyes and went back to her room to rest. Before her heavy eyes closed completely, she made sure to pick up her phone and type out a message.

Primrose fell asleep with the phone resting on her beating heart. The Santiago family was in disarray after the changes that occured in their eldest daughter recently and they had no way of dealing with it. The only person not concerned with it was probably just Primrose and her supposed husband.

At the lunch table in the royal palace, Cassius was the target of four pairs of eyes and paid attention to none of them. With his posture as straight as ever, he even found the taste of today's lunch to be extraordinarily good and enjoyed few more servings of some dishes.

When the sound of cutlery became fainter with everyone else's appetite falling, the queen couldn't help but clear her throat and be the first one to voice her doubts.

"George has contacted the Santiago family about the wedding ceremony. You said you'll explain later. When is that explanation due?"

Cassius wiped his lips with a cloth calmly. He met the doubtful gaze of his sister in law with his amber eyes. She almost didn't want to ask anymore but as the queen, she held her ground.

"I did get married. Isn't it normal to hold a wedding ceremony to let others know?"

"Have you any idea what this means? The uncle of the prince, marrying the ex girlfriend of the prince?!" The King took charge and showed his displeasure.

Cassius and Cardan were bothers. Edward being the older one who inherited the throne many years ago without a single objection from the court.

Despite having blood connection as siblings, they resembled a pair of father and son with the age difference of more than twenty years between them.

The eldest prince was only a year younger than Cassius.

When Cardan showed his frown, it looked like a father reprimanding his son for something he did without his consent.

Cassius formally said, "Everyone makes mistakes. Primrose chose the wrong royal before. She has to redeem herself now. Since the mistake was made before everyone's eyes, the correction has to be done in the same way."

Cardan and Maria exchanged helpless glances. Cassius was always up to the standard and polite. However, that was exactly why they were never able to do anything to straighten him out whenever he acted this way.

He never did anything out of line. Hence, cutting off any chance of being corrected.

Adrian, the eldest prince lowered his head at the place and hid his smile, oblivious to everyone.

Cassius wiped his fingures with multiple tissues. His phone buzzed. With a single look at the lit up screen, his face grew taunt. Still, he picked it up and read the message.

A small smirk grew in his tense lips, his shoulders loosened and he stifled a laugh.

Austin was already in a bad mood since he found out that his uncle got married to Primrose yesterday. Ever since the encounter with Primrose earlier, he was like a raging volcano who erupted at the smallest things.

When he saw Cassius faintly smiling like that, he felt a tick and asked, "What's so amusing, uncle?"

Cassius stuffed the phone into his pocket and stood up, having finished his meal.

Austin thought he wouldn't receive an answer. Cassius surprised him by saying, "Your aunt texted, asking me to get the wedding planners contact information from you. She saw the wedding plans earlier and liked some of them."

The second prince, Archer was watching the spectacle. The response had him choked. Adrian patted him in the back and gave him water, unable to hide his own smile.