The Royal Contract

If Alex and Edward had a personal conflict, she believed that she should not involve herself with that since she was not part of it. But she made a mental note of learning more about the relationship between these cousins.

It would be wise to know what caused the rift between the two so that she would not be caught in the crossfire if a war between them ever happened.

"Would you like something to drink?" He offered, seeing one of the servers waiting for his order.

"Sure." She answered, finding the heat was too much, and she was starting to get thirsty. Besides, she did not want to appear ungrateful to one of her hosts. As far as she was concerned, he was still a family of Alex.

He immediately signaled for a drink, and the server hurriedly moved away to get them some drinks.

"I hope that my cousin is taking good care of you. I heard that you got sick while you were here." Edward remembered hearing that from his father in one of their conversations.

"Yes, it was an unfortunate incident, but Alex was very attentive to my needs. He made sure that I recovered quickly." She told him, not wanting anyone blaming Alex for what happened.

"That's good to hear. I don't want anything to happen to such a lovely lady like you under our watch. You are a guest of the Empire, so you should be well treated accordingly." Edward said sweetly at her, showering her with pleasantry.

He handed her the cold drink as soon as the server placed it on their table. She was not sure of how to react to the way he was charming her. She did not want to be rude, but she also did not feel like encouraging him.

Giving him false signals that she was interested in him was the last thing she wanted to happen. But the way she sensed it, he was very interested to know her more, a bit more than she would like. She suddenly felt uncomfortable being around him, especially alone. 

"Would you mind if you excuse me, but I need to use the bathroom?" She could not keep pretending that she was enjoying his company. But she could not wait for Alex to come back to save her from Edward's company. She was not a damsel in distress who needed rescuing. She could get out of an awkward situation all by herself. 

She moved away from him and into the direction of the house. Maybe it was time to check herself in the mirror and see what Edward saw in her to make him interested.

She was glad that she suddenly bumped into Jacky, who dragged her into an empty room. "Are you busy?" Jacky asked as she started pacing back and forth around the room.

"Can you sit down?" She commanded rather than asked since she was starting to feel dizzy with her constant moving around. "What is the problem?"

"It is Marcus," Jacky announced as she looked at her friend, confusion written all over her face.

"What about him?" Dani asked, knowing that whatever Marcus did, she would not like it.

"He told me that he wants to get back together. He kept apologizing for what he did." Jacky told her friend.

"So, what is the problem with that?" She could not see any issue with that unless her friend felt like he deserved a second chance. "Do you still like him after what he did to you?" She asked, not particularly thrilled to hear what she was going to answer her.

"Yes, I think so, but I don't want to get back together with him. I also like Lance a lot. He was a better man than him. But in a few days, we will be leaving this place and going back home. I won't be seeing Lance ever again." Jacky stated, clearly conflicted with her situation.

"You know what. You are the only one who could answer all your questions. The only advice I could give you right now is to think over your relationship with Marcus and Lance. Weigh out the pros and cons." She held her friend steady on her shoulders.

She had not much advice to give her friend since she was going through some relationship issues too. She was not the best one to answer any romantic problems since she was no expert in it.

"But I am confused because I never felt like this before." Jacky finally sat down on the nearest chair to her.

"Figure it out if it is worth going again into a relationship with Marcus or see where your friendship with Lance will lead you. Just don't jump into anything without being sure of what your feelings are and the consequence." Dani commented on his friend's situation.

No matter what she said to her, it would still be up to her on how she would want to proceed with her relationship. But she would always be there for her no matter what she decided. She would always be the friend she could count on when she needed one.

After that, Jacky excused herself to find Lance, who was supposed to teach her how to swim. "Thanks, Dani, for always being there for me."

"No need for thanks. I will always be here for you, just you always been there for me." Dani told her as she sent her off to her swimming lesson.

Finally, Alex emerged from the other room where he had taken the call. It took some time since it was an emergency that he could not ignore. Many lives were counting on him, so it was not something that he could set aside, even if he had to ignore Dani's needs in the meantime.

He immediately looked for Dani and found her in the kitchen, sitting on the kitchen counter, playing cards with the cooks and the help. "Hey, I had been looking all over the place for you." He quickly moved close to where she was sitting, placing his hands on her shoulder.

"Oh, I met these wonderful new friends of mine and offered them some entertainment. I hope you don't mind." She explained, pointing to the smiling staff around them. She did not want these people to get in any trouble for playing with her.

But in truth, she had another reason for being in the kitchen. She was hiding from someone, and the kitchen she thought would be the last place Edward would think to look for her.

"Of course not. I bet that if you met Martha, you would never win against her." Alex said, which the other staff also agreed to. "Right, Mario." He asked the opinion of one of the servers she beat earlier.

"Why? Where is she?" She asked curiously, amazed that Alex knew their names.

"She was on leave for a month." He explained her absence today. "Martha taught me a lot about cooking. Promise next time that we are here, I will introduce you to her." Alex told her excitedly.

"I like the sound of that." She could not help but feel excited too with the idea of them together. It suddenly felt like they were in a real relationship. Something far better from her previous experience.

She could sense that Alex was different from most of the men she knew. She knew that he would never intentionally hurt her, confident that she could trust him. She believed that he was an honorable man.