The Royal Contract

"Dani?" A man's voice repeated to call her name. "Dani! Hey, wake up." He insisted. "We are here."

The last words finally registered in her muddled brain, making her instantly open her eyes. The words she thought she heard earlier were just a figment of a dream.

The image of the beautiful house suddenly vanished in her mind as reality dawned on her. She finally woke up from her enchanting vision of what she wanted for a home.

She tried to focus on the source of his voice, and her sight landed on his face. "I'm sorry. I dozed off." She excused herself as she straightened herself on her seat. 

She could see him continuing to stare at her. It would seem that he was looking at her funnily. She wondered if there was something on her face.

She quickly rubbed her face, then down her chin, wiping it with the back of her hand. "Is there something wrong with my face?" She finally asked when she could not see anything wrong with her.

"Nothing is wrong with your face." He affirmed what she already thought, but he continued to sport his amusement on his expression. "But you were talking in your sleep."

"What?" She was surprised by what he said, unaware of what she did while unconscious. "What did I say?" She hoped that it was nothing embarrassing. 

She had learned to be comfortable around him, almost not embarrassed with most of what she did. But she could still think of a few things that she still might not do in front of him.

Maybe not ever, even if they were already married and had kids. But then again, he might also felt the same way. Her mind began to enumerate things they had not tried to do together.

"Do you want to know?" He withheld the information, forcing her to work for it. "Are you sure? Well, I will need something in return." He began to think of a suitable price in exchange for his answer.

"Fine, what is the deal?" She knew that she would not squeeze anything from him until she gave in to his demand.

In truth, the information was not that valuable to her. But, she was enjoying the game that they were playing. She did not mind letting her fiance win in this round.

"Well, you have to tell me something that you feel most embarrassed about." He could tell that it was what was running in her mind at the moment.

He had learned to read most of her mannerisms. He knew most of her quirks and habits. Still, he wondered what else was she keeping from him.

"But, maybe after we have ordered something to eat." He stopped her by placing his fingers on her lips even before she could utter a single word. " I am starving," Alex continued, holding on to his almost empty stomach.

"That is fine with me. I also need to put something on my stomach." As if on cue, her tummy started to make some crazy sounds. "I told you." She justified with a small laugh.

They entered a small establishment that they had visited before. They enjoyed the quiet ambiance of the place even if it was not the same as the other more expensive restaurants around the area.

It had been a long day for both of them. Food had been the last thing on their mind until now. Luckily, the service in this tiny joint was fast, but the quality was not that bad at all.

"I heard from Jacky that Lance would be staying here again to train with you." She began their small talk, remembering that Jacky had mentioned that Lance dropped by the apartment.

"Yes, the Council would like to resume his training since he had learned a lot. They feel that he would improve more as he continued working with me." Alex explained to her.

He did enjoy having his cousin around, shadowing him in the business. It would help their business, at the same time, the economy of their country if the kingdom kept growing.

He also thought that if there was a possibility that Edward would fail in taking over the throne, maybe he could insist on Lance as the new successor.

He believed that aside from him, Lance was the next suitable king in their kingdom. He possessed the characteristics of a great leader compared to Edward, who he believed would only bring chaos to their nation.

"That is great. I am looking forward to seeing Lance again." Although she had heard of what happened between Jacky and Lance, she did not harbor any ill feelings for him. 

She understood that not every relationship would work, just the same way as hers and Alex did. Maybe Jacky was just not meant to be with him. She could not blame any of one of them.

Although, she did think that Jacky and Lance did look good together. They would have been a great couple. But she would not know what went wrong unless Jacky figured out how she truly felt about him.

"I am sure that he also feels the same way." He knew that Dani formed a friendship with Lance during the short time they had known each other.

Compared to Edward, Lance was an easy person to get along with, besides being funny and charming. He knew that Lance treated Dani as if she was already part of the family.

But he also heard about what happened between Lance and Jacky. He was disappointed that the Council felt the need to meddle in his personal life.

But as of now, there was nothing that they could do. It was the law of their land. They needed to abide by it to keep the honor of their family.

"Anyway, we seem to be forgetting our topic earlier." He referred to their discussion back in his car. "I believe you have something to share."

"Ok. Fine." She did not forget about it. She had searched her brain for something until she came up with a few choices. 

She realized she could tell him everything. She could share anything with him without judgment. She had nothing to worry about him, thinking the worse of her.

"Let me hear it." He waited excitedly, enjoying the slight discomfort she was feeling. "Come on, here is another deal. Whatever you say to me would remain between us."

Then, he added before she could reply. "As a bonus, I will also tell you something equally embarrassing as what you will tell me."

He did not want her to feel that he was pressuring her. He only wanted them to have a free conversation about everything. If they were going to get married, keeping things from each other should stop.

"You are right. I don't have to feel embarrassed about sharing things with you, no matter what it is." She nodded in agreement with him. He held her eyes, encouraging her to continue.

Another thing she now understood was that Alex had accepted her with all her flaws. She might as well open up to him about everything about her, whether it would be good or bad, embarrassing or not.

He might laugh with her, but he would never laugh at her.. She could trust him that whatever she would tell him would be their little secret.