The Crown's Entrapment

Outside the arena…

“I still can’t believe that you and Princess Freya went out in a disguise like that,” Bella commented to Jayra as they waited for her brother Bartos outside the arena. She had successfully won all her matches so far without too much effort, and she was about to go home for the day when a familiar lad suddenly approached her.

Her sister-in-law had been more than ready to play a trick on her. But unfortunately for her, it didn’t succeed since her brother instantly scolded her in front of her.

“I was supposed to do it alone, but Princess Freya saw me before I left the castle,” Jayra shrugged. “From there, she simply tagged along with me.”

“And the guards let you out that easily?” Bella asked.

“Yes, they did, seeing as we had our identification tabs with us,” Jayra explained. “Besides, Princess Freya authorized it anyway, saying that she had informed her mother about her leaving to meet Commander Gideon in the arena. She simply emphasized the need for her to have disguised as her being averse to wanting any kind of attention towards her.”

“And you just left her alone now?” Bella worriedly asked as she saw that Freya wasn’t with them. “Will she be alright?”

“Lord Gideon also recognized her earlier. And he and Bartos had already talked telepathically about it,” Jayra informed her with a grin. “Lord Gideon had already assured Bartos that he will bring Lady Freya back to the castle. In turn, Bartos told me to leave Freya through mind link and let Gideon handle her, so I quickly scooted out of there.”

Bella nodded in understanding. Her lips then suddenly curled up as she teased, “I’m surprised Brother recognized you so easily.”

Jayra had a frown as she retorted, “I made sure to hide my scent and everything, but Bartos is simply that sharp to see through me.”

“Hah! What’s with the long face, Sister-in-law? Isn’t it better that he’s able to recognize you that easily?” Bella pointed out with a grin. “It’ll be very disappointing if he couldn’t tell that it’s you, don’t you think?”

Jayra simply shrugged. “I guess you’re right about that. I would’ve been utterly disappointed if he didn’t recognize me,” she shook her head as she grinned. “Anyway, congratulations for winning the first round, Sister.”

Bella rolled her eyes as she mumbled, “Ah, it would’ve been much easier if not for Lady Rea wasting so much of my energy. I had to make sure not to hit her too hard or put a single scratch that would mark her skin, or else she wouldn’t stop complaining about me to my mother whenever she would visit the manor.”

She sighed as she let out a light scoff, “She said she doesn’t care, but having known her for so long as being my mother’s acquaintance, it would definitely be a big deal for her. I warned her numerous times, but you know how the elders get… You simply can’t win with them.”

She then added, “By the way, we can go back using the horse. Why does Brother need to shift in his wolf form to carry us?”

“I don’t know,” Jayra casually shrugged. “He only said that we should arrive early before dark since we have a guest…”

Bella lightly narrowed her eyes at the lack of a definitive answer. She was about to ask more when her brother Bartos finally arrived in his wolf form. Without any fanfare, the two of them climbed onto Bartos’s back, and soon enough, they finally left the Capital City as they traveled directly back to the Lock Heart Pack territory using the known path through the woods.

As soon as they arrived inside the mansion, her mother quickly urged her to change and dress properly.

“What’s going on? Why are you in a hurry?” Bella suspiciously asked, seeing how her mother had even followed her into her bedchamber to make sure that she wouldn’t take too long. She even chose the dress she had to wear and have instructed her servants to prepare Bella right that instant.

“Admiral Osman will join us for dinner, and he’s already on his way with your father,” Livia coolly told her. “So make haste. We don’t want to waste too much time…”

“What?!” Bella burst out with snapped eyebrows. This had been an unexpected turn of events.

“You heard me, Bella,” her mother drawled out while staring at her hair, ignoring her lifted eyebrows. She then instructed the servant as to what to do with her daughter’s hair.

As if to appease the frown on her face, her mother added, “The admiral has been in the city since yesterday, and your father and I decided to invite him into our home, which he gladly accepted. Just treat him nicely. He’s a respectable man, Bella. It’s just dinner. It’s not like you two are going to be engaged already, so why not take your time in knowing the man first as a friend?”

Bella let out a sigh at her mother’s actions, deciding to not say a word about what she just heard. Instead, she simply let her mother do what she wanted with her, letting the older woman pretty her up for this potential husband of hers.

[Aren’t you excited? Who knows? He could be our mate,] Poona commented. [I’m going to try and condition my nose to make sure I smell his accent.]

Bella rolled her eyes at what she just heard. Poona was just dying to meet their mate, and her wolf was still hopeful that they were blessed to experience the Mate Pull like Princess Freya. Still, Bella simply couldn’t care less. Maybe because she had fixated herself on just one man since she was young, which was Calypso.

[Stop sulking. Let’s meet the Admiral first, alright?] Poona encouraged.

Bella forced her face to relax as she smiled at the mirror. Poona was right. There was no harm in meeting Admiral Osman. Honestly, she was even curious to personally meet him knowing how much her mother had invested in praising the Admiral in front of her.

“They’re here,” her mother informed her. “Come  and go with me to greet him…”

At her mother’s word, Bella stood from her chair and immediately followed her going down the stairs. She was somehow feeling nervous, and when she saw the silhouetted figure of a man’s back talking to her father while she went down the stairs, her nervousness only went up further.

From what she could see, he was tall enough, probably as tall as her brother Bartos. He had wavy dark brown hair, and he obviously had broad shoulders on his back. She could only watch as his father looked at her with a smile, to which Bella returned with a smile of her own. The Admiral then moved as he turned around to probably look at where his father was looking.

Standing still, Bella bit her inner cheek when she suddenly felt her heart beating erratically at the sight before her.

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Oct. 10, 2022 AN: More chapters for today. Thank you for voting. Please send more Golden Tickets to our book. Also, don’t forget to leave a REVIEW on our cover page if you haven’t… Please? Thank you and have a great weekday ahead everyone. *kisses and hugs*