The Alpha's Temptation

From the corner of her vision, Tania saw Princess Lerna coming over. While all the princes stared at her sheer beauty, the princesses sneered. None of them wanted Lerna to sit next to them.

Feeling extremely uncomfortable, Lerna almost froze in her place. She knew that she would become a topic of conversation during the breakfast. She didn't want to come but Tania had insisted that she come. Her gaze landed on the Queen of Aquila who was sitting with her two daughters on either side. She looked at her and then averted her gaze. Lerna's stomach dropped. She knew that they wouldn't accept her in a thousand years.

She clasped her hands and started to leave, when Taiyi called her. "Lerna!"

Lerna turned back to look at Taiyi. "Where are you going? Come, sit here!" She pointed to a chair beside her that a servant had just set.

Lerna gasped that the sea goddess was giving her so much honor. She blushed and then walked to sit beside her. She bowed meekly to Taiyi and gave a smile to her friend, Tania.

As servants continued to serve more food, all of them started talking amongst themselves. But the most common topic was if Lerna had those Hydranian tattoos and whether she would also be covered in them soon?

Lerna looked at Tania with unease, but Tania leaned slowly towards her and said, "Defend yourself!"

Taiyi's lips lifted seeing how her daughter-in-law was showing the grit.

Lerna bit her lip and nodded. She began eating her breakfast. All at once a prince spoke up, "I heard that Hydranians have wild tattoos all around their body. Do you also have?" he chuckled, ridiculing her.

Fixing her eyes on him, she politely said, "We are all born with the tattoos of our kingdoms." She lifted the sleeve of her left arm and without hesitation, showed it to them. "I have the Hydra tattoo, which is my birthmark."

There were audible gasps.

"As far as whether I have it all over my body or not is not something you need to know," she added. Then she looked at the Queen of Orion and said, "That is for my mate to know."

The queen gave her a sharp look as if throwing daggers at her, but Lerna lowered her sleeve and picked up the spoon to eat vegetables.

Tania extended her hand towards Lerna and squeezed it while Taiyi giggled. She shook her head. "You girls!"

Other conversations started over the table whereby the queens and princesses started talking about their jewelry, about who slept with whom and who was starting with new trade amongst other talks. Taiyi didn't interrupt anyone because she wanted to know it all.

The crowd dispersed an hour later. "I need a good sleep!" Tania blurted afterwards. There was too much to process!"

Taiyi chuckled. "Get used to it, Tania. This is where you will listen to the most volatile secrets of the royals. You never know which you would use."

In the afternoon everyone gathered at the main hall for a tour to the orchards. However, Princess Eri said that she wouldn't be able to join because she had an immense headache. At the same time, Princess Tarazed said that her sister won't be able to join either because she was feeling tired.

Lusitania's stomach twisted with knots. She didn't like that these two hadn't come. She wanted to go back to Eltanin and stay with him, but seeing the whole crowd in front of her, she knew that she had no choice but to go.

The head gardener who was in charge of the orchards, asked them all to follow him. He started talking to them like an expert as to how the concept of orchards came to the mind of the ancestors. Earlier it was a very small garden, but under him the idea flourished. The crowd walked after him as Tania scanned the rest of the crowd hoping that the two princesses were there. Although she thought that Princess Petra was no threat to her, Princess Eri was. She decided to go back to the palace and search for Eltanin so that he didn't meet Eri.

---

Princess Eri had made an excuse that she was having a headache, but inside her room, the maids that were with her, were readying her up. They had curled her dark hair and clipped them on the side with diamond pins. They made her wear a deep maroon gown. They painted her lips with the same color. They added a gold sheen on her face to make her look very attractive. They had rubbed lavender oil on her body so that she smelled seductive. Once they were done, Eri looked at herself in the mirror and gave a small smile. She flicked her hair back and said, "Let's see how you dismiss me now."

With confidence, she walked out of her room. Two bodyguards were assigned to her. They followed her to wherever she went. Eri wanted to dodge them so that she could go to Eltanin's room all alone. "Where is the king right now?" she asked them.

"He must be in the throne hall," said one of them.

"Then take me to the throne hall," she ordered them.

When she was going there, she noticed that Princess Petra was hurrying up the stairs to the guest rooms. 'Oh, so the bitch didn't go to the orchards,' she thought. Eri knew what Petra must be thinking. She ordered her guards, "Go after Princess Petra and tell me what she is up to."

The guards were surprised at her request, but they did as they were told. They went after Petra. Eri took the advantage and she dashed towards the east wings that housed the king and queen's bedchamber. However, the moment she reached the corridor, the guards stopped her.

She introduced herself and said, "I am Princess Eri and Your Highness wants to see me." She knew that at this time Eltanin would be in his bedchamber because the court was not to be held today.

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