“Hey love,” the unknown caller greeted, her voice smooth and seductive.‘Hey love?’ Dario thought to himself. Who would greet him in such a manner? He tried to guess who it was, his brows furrowed deep in confusion and slight irritation but he couldn’t recognize the voice. ‘Delilah?’ a voice in his head suggested since Delilah is the only one he knew was capable of this. ‘No,’ he disagreed with his thoughts. ‘This ain’t Delilah.”“Who is this, please?” he asked politely. “It’s me, Your Majesty,” she replied, making moaning sounds. At this point, irritation was evident on Dario’s face. “Don’t you have a name??” he asked, his tone firm and laced with irritation.“It’s me, Claire. King Tunde’s daughter.”“Hello, Claire,” Dario greeted with a neutral tone, rolling his eyes inwardly. “I wanted to say congratulations on your big win,” her voice dripped with seduction. “Oh my god, you were perfect out there! I watched the entire event,” she squealed and continued, “You truly are a remar
“Is this a warning?” he murmured to himself as he looked straight ahead, his expression serious. He placed the box back to where he had placed it initially. He thought about different things the gift could mean. He knew it was a message and it meant nothing less than danger.As he thought, his anger simmered beneath his calm exterior. “We have to be prepared for anything and everything,” he murmured again to himself. Without wasting any more time, he gestured to one of the guards to come and when the guard got to his front, he ordered, “Get me Bruce.”The royal guard bowed and left immediately to find Bruce. And after a while, he was back with Bruce.“Pass a message to the generals of the empire for an impromptu meeting later today in the evening. I want them all at the palace by Six PM,” Dario ordered. “Okay, Your Majesty,” Bruce said and bowed before turning to leave. “Wait!” he said, stopping Bruce in his tracks. “Have one of the guards dispose of this,” he said, stretching fo
Dario sat on his throne, staring at Claire who stood before him with his expression unreadable. “Now, tell me about this very sensitive allegation you have placed on your father.” Claire rolled her eyes inwardly. “Why don’t you believe me, though?” she asked, her brows knitted in a frown. “Why should I believe you? You could be saying this to play mind games on me. You want me to believe I can trust you and believe that you care enough to betray your father for me.” Dario seemed nonchalant and unbothered, but a part of him needed to get to the bottom of this. ‘King Tunde wants me dead??’ he asked himself in confusion. ‘How could someone who I did a favor and is also an ally, want me dead?’ Claire smiled sheepishly, playing with a loose strand of her hair. “Well, you’re right about the part where you said I want you to believe you can trust me and that I care enough for you, but you’re wrong about the rest.” Dario’s eyes narrowed slightly as he studied Claire’s face, trying to
Claire’s heart raced faster as she ran after Damian. “Wait! Please!” she called out, her voice tinged with desperation. Abruptly Damian stopped in his tracks making Claire reduce her pace as she got closer, her breath coming in short gasps.He turned to face her, his eyes blazing with fury. “Is everything you said in there a joke?” he asked, his voice low and dangerous. “You’re in love with him?”Claire’s eyes darted around, unable to maintain eye contact with Damian. “I… I’m sorry Damian. I didn’t mean for you to hear all that.”“You didn’t mean for me to hear all that?” he asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “I guess you would have preferred I kept fooling myself with you while you’re in love with someone else.”Her brows knitted together and she pressed her lips together, her heart filled with guilt. “Damian I… I love you and you know it…”“But?!” he interrupted, his head tilted, prompting her to speak.She sighed sadly. “I don’t know how it happened. I just fell in love with
Later in the evening, Dario slowly walked to and fro in his room as he received a call from Claire. His expression was serious with fury burning in his eyes. Her voice was soft and urgent as she spoke. “I overheard my father making new plans so I thought to inform you for your safety,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper.She had to whisper so her father or anyone else doesn’t hear anything she says to Dario. She knew that if her father heard her, she would be dead before the next day. “He’s planning on hiring assassins from the northern tribes. And trust me… “ she paused to peep outside her door to be sure no one was listening. “Trust me, they are ruthless and won’t stop until they have completed their mission,” she said, her tone laced with worry. She loved this. She loved that Dario was interested in a call with her. ‘Another step forward,’ she thought to herself. Dario kept her for the sake of gathering and providing him as much information as he would need. “Thank yo
Dario walked into the throne room with his expression hardened, his eyes flashing with anger. Someone within his trusted circle had betrayed him and he was determined to find out who!“Silence!” he shouted, his voice commanding total silence in the room. The workers had gathered nervously in the throne room, murmurs of confusion and fear had filled the space until Dario’s order for silence. “What’s happening?” “I have no idea.”“Why do you think he called to meet all of us at this time of the night? It seems very urgent. They had all asked questions and guessed Dario’s reason before he got to the throne room. Dario took a seat on his throne while Aisha took her seat on her own throne just next to Dario. The entire room was as silent as a graveyard. They had never seen their emperor this angry so they were all scared to their bone marrows!Dario scanned the room slowly, his gaze boring into each of them. The longer he took to speak, the more tense the entire room became. “Who po
“For what reason did Prince Damian bribe and threaten my maid to poison my meal?” Dario pondered. “I don’t even know or have a relationship with this man.” The following morning, when it was bright, Dario had an agent to make research on Prince Damian from Hudson Kingdom. Dario never really knew him nor did he know how he looked. Though he had heard about him maybe once or twice. After a short while, the agent returned to the mansion. And he made his way to the throne room to meet Dario. “Greetings, Your Majesty,” he bowed. “I have been able to get some information about Prince Damian.”Dario looked up from the newspapers in his hands and nodded, prompting the agent to keep talking. “He is the eldest son of King Samuel of the Hudson Kingdom, and has a reputation for always causing drama and stirring problems. He is very ambitious and fiercely competitive.”“Okay?” Dario asked. He was not satisfied with these answers because none of them connected to why Damian would want to poiso
Just a few hours after Damian left the mansion, Dario was informed that he had a visitor the wasn't expecting to see.Claire’s heels clinked as she walked through the halls to the throne room. She had rushed down to Persian after hearing about what Damian had done. Dario didn’t bother informing anyone about it, but different versions of the news was everywhere in the empire “Oh my god! Your Majesty,” she said as she walked into the throne room and approached Dario’s front, her voice tiny and laced with relief. Dario was seated on his throne and had newspapers in his hands. He was not surprised to see her, it was as if he expected it.“I heard what’s happened,” she began, her words coning in a rush. “I can’t believe Damian would do such a thing.”Dario averted his gaze from the newspaper to her and watched her speak, his expression unreadable.At this moment and before, he has been thinking about being more careful moving on and not trusting anyone at all. “I’m so sorry, Your Majes