Leo POV
The Westbrooks? Who would've thought?
"It's a pleasure your highness," The father Westbrook said. I can't remember his name but his appearance is something I couldn't forget. Even with his big belly and long blonde beard that is so common nowadays.
He sat at the other end of the table in front of the King while sitting beside him was his wife.
Charles looked at me and looked down, I looked at him confused, I was so used to him giving me a cocky attitude. He looks a lot different now. It's like his confidence went downhill. He has bags under his eyes, his hair looked almost unkempt, and he looked like lost a lot of weight. What the hell happened to him.
I was still looking at him when a girl sat beside me who has shoulder-length blonde hair.
She smirked at me and her red lips caught my attention and that's when I remembered her. She's Charles' sister.
I smiled slightly out of courtesy then I faced the King waiting for an explanation.
"I guess we should start by addressing our situation," the king said and turned his attention to my father.
My father nodded and cleared his throat. He glanced at me and faced the Westbrooks.
"Sir Westbrook. You offered a proposal to help my daughter, can you please elaborate" my father said.
Sir Westbrook nodded and started to speak "I heard about your Longford situation and I want to help," he said and looked at me "I want you to marry my daughter"
My eyes widened, this is the first time I heard about this. At the same time I heard Princess Alia choke on the water she was drinking and the King reached over to her and gave her a napkin.
"Sorry" Alia mumbled cutely after she stopped choking.
I glanced at my father and he nodded slightly to signal me to talk.
I cleared my throat "What do you want in return Sir? Not to be rude but I don't think you'll help me without gaining anything" I said respectfully.
He chuckled deeply "You're right, we would need to gain something and you marrying my daughter is already a gain" I looked at him confused so he continued "Have you left this castle at all? You are a very well respected person in this kingdom now and you will bring respect to our name when you marry Carina" he smiled.
I nodded and looked down. Now I understand everything clearly. I feel like it's a win-win situation. I won't be imprisoned because they control the fields where the Longford gets their resources. Nepotism at its finest, and they will get the respect they desperately want but why does it feel so wrong.
I glanced at Alia and saw her glaring at the table with her jaw clenched.
I sighed. Maybe because she's the only one that feels right.
Alia looked up slightly and caught my eye and she only bit her lip with sad eyes, and somehow that made me feel more wrong.
The King stood up and faced the Westbrooks "Thank you Westbrook family for helping. We'll send a letter to your home for the final arrangements" the King smiled and gave them a scroll to sign.
After that, we all stood up and I saw Sir Westbrook wearing a winning smile "No, I should be the one to thank you, your highness" Sir Westbrook smiled.
The King only smiled and nodded. The Westbrooks stood up and headed for the door but not before Carina stood in front of me and inserted a folded paper in my front pocket and winked before leaving.
I looked back and saw Alia glaring at the door where the Westbrooks just left.
My father stood beside me, both of us faced the door where the Westbrooks left "I guess now we know where they suddenly got the idea" he said and patted me on the shoulder "You definitely got your charm from me" he chuckled before going to the King.
I sighed. I noticed that I do that a lot lately.
I followed my father and heard him speaking to the King "What did they sign your Highness?" He asked the King.
"Don't worry about that. It's just their promise to stay quiet about everything that we talked about here" He explained.
"We should probably go to bed. It's getting late" the Queen said.
They nodded and started to pack up their things. I looked at Alia but she won't look at me. She kept avoiding my gaze.
The King patted my back and that made me look away from Alia and face him "Everything will fall into place" he said before holding his wife's hand and they headed for the door.
I looked for Alia hoping to talk to her but she was already behind her parents and out the door.
I ran my fingers through my hair with frustration.
My father and I walked out of the room, he said goodnight then headed to his room while I walked to mine.
I went straight to change my clothes and did my nightly routine.
I lied down on my bed and stared at the ceiling waiting for sleep to take over me but it never did.
I stood up and walked to my balcony to look at the kingdom below. I feel so high up here seeing the small houses below. It feels freeing, like nothing matters when you're high above. Everything is so insignificant even your problems.
I looked behind me and saw my book still on the table where I left it.
I sat on a chair and reached for my book. Maybe it will help me sleep.
I was on my fifth page when I heard something behind me, it sounded like it came from the door. I slowly put down my book and headed for the door.
I twisted the knob and was shocked to see Princess Alia standing behind it. She was ignoring me most of our time at the meeting that I wasn't expecting her to come see me.
"Your Highness, what brings you here?" I asked while opening the door for her. She walked in slowly like she's debating what she would do. I closed the door behind her and waited for her to speak.
"Alia," I said softly to get her attention.
She looked up at me glaring. I instinctively stepped back, scared of the look she gave me.
She started pacing across my room while breathing hard. I never saw her this angry especially since it was directed at me.
"Are you okay Princess?" I asked carefully.
Suddenly she stopped pacing and glared at me "Am I okay? You want to know if I'm okay?" She narrowed her eyes.
I stepped back once more "U-um I think so" I stuttered.
She started walking towards me and I continued to move back until I hit the wall.
"My father told me about the war that you're planning. Why the hell did you not tell me? Do you think I'm a child that can't handle that kind of information? You already told half of our population but didn't have the thought to tell me?" She ranted.
I held my hands up trying to calm her down "I'm sorry Princess. I was going to tell you, the time when we were in the forest. The news of my arrest distracted me from telling you. I'm sorry" I said truthfully.
She moved back and visibly calmed down then she looked down sadly "When we were at the forest, most of the women already knew. You had a lot of time to tell me, maybe you just didn't see the need to. Somehow in the midst of all that's happening and the things that happened, I feel like you forgot about me" she said sadly and it broke my heart to her like that.
I looked at her "I could never forget about you" I walked closer to her and tried to hold her face but she moved away.
"Maybe you should," she said quietly that I almost didn't hear it.
I shook my head "How could you say that" I said in disbelief.
She only shrugged her shoulders slightly and avoided my gaze.
I walked towards her again and held her face and this time I didn't allow her to look away.
I held her face gently, feeling her soft skin on the palm of my hands. When she finally looked at me in the eyes, it's like my body turned softer "I could never forget about you, even if I wanted to" I said softly.
I looked at her green eyes and her soft pink lips that always made me weak and it made me forget what I was about to say.
The only thing that's left on my mind is ... this is what I want to come home to.
I feel my self-control fading "Damn, I really want to kiss you" I whispered.
She bit her lip while looking at me "Then kiss me" she whispered. I saw her close her eyes so I leaned in and kissed her.
I felt her lips moving perfectly with mine. The softness of her lips is driving me crazy. She drags her hands on my shoulders then wrapped her arms around my neck to pull me closer.
The mood in the room suddenly changed. Her anger was gone, the sadness was gone, and the worry was gone.
It's just me and her, and nothing mattered.
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A/N: Smut next chapter? 🤔
Thank you :))