An invitation?
Almeru couldn’t help but frown when he first heard about Matthew’s invitation. But soon, the frown on his face vanished. A smug smile replaced it.
"Are you sure this is fine?" Aira asked as she examined her clothing. She was wearing a fiery red dress. Something that perfectly described her personality.
"Absolutely," Almeru answered. "He must have realized that his witch would suffer if he continued to refuse my... request."
"No. I’m talking about my dress."
"Oh. Ah... does that even matter? He will take it off anyway." Almeru leaned back. "This is the fiftieth dress that you tried and— "
"Thirty-second dress."
"Right. Thirty-two dresses. Doesn’t that exhaust you?"
"Of course not! I want it to be perfect!"
"I already told you... men don’t care about your clothes. Especially the ones who just want to fuck you anyway."
"You— "
"I already accepted the invitation. I don’t want to keep him waiting. You should decide what to wear or I am leaving without you."
Aira glared at him. "I am going to wear this dress."
"Good. We should go."
Almeru nodded and led his sister towards the car that was waiting for them outside of their hotel rooms.
"What made him change his mind?"Aira asked. "Did you send people to hurt his witch?"
"I did."
"If you succeeded then it only means the witch was weak. How could she support the future King if she’s weak?"
"Precisely my thought." Of course, Almeru wasn’t planning to tell his sister that all of his attempts to hurt Ava failed. The only thing that succeeded was when he leaked Ava’s files to the other board members of the company. Obviously, they wouldn’t trust a witch who used to work with Trillium around them.
Chaos would surely ensue.
Almeru smirked.
By the end of the day, Matthew sent over a dinner invitation.
He succeeded.
Almeru had a smile on his face until they reached Matthew’s mansion. Of course, his smile slowly vanished when he saw Ava standing closely to Matthew when they arrived.
"What is that bitch— "
"Aira... calm down." He lowered his voice. "You promised to behave. We can’t antagonize Matthew now."
"Tsk."
"Your highness..." Almeru smiled, trying to remain respectful. "The de Cene family is very glad to hear about this invitation. We are pleased to give you what you need."
"Follow me," Matthew said curtly. He then turned around without even greeting Aira and started walking towards the large dining hall. "Take your seats..." Matthew said as he pulled out a chair for... Ava.
Seeing this, Aira’s face reddened. She glared at her brother as she waited for Matthew to do the same for her.
But Matthew took his seat after making Ava comfortable.
"What are you waiting for?" Matthew asked. "Is there something that bothers you?" Matthew eyed the long rectangular table with a black setting. Aside from the flowers and the napkin, the only thing white on the table was the tableware. The candles and flowers were all pitch black.
One would especially notice the dark classical music playing in the background.
"With all due respect, your highness... the de Cene family did not expect an engagement like this." How could Matthew do this to the de Cene Family princess?
"Engagement?" Matthew snorted. "What engagement?"
"Didn’t you call me here to finalize... the offer?" Aira asked, her tone sharp. Hearing this, Ava lifted an eyebrow.
From the information that she had gathered, Ava was certain that Aira would never prefer a low-key dinner party. Especially when she thought that this would be her engagement dinner.
Ava especially chose this motif and design just for this event.
To appease her for not allowing her to hurt Almeru, Matthew actually agreed to everything that Ava asked. That included changing the chandelier and the lighting in the dining room. Even the carpet was changed into an elegant black color because she suggested it.
And seeing Aira’s ugly expression made Ava smile. Right... this was the reason why she insisted on changing everything. This was going to be a night that these two people will remember for the rest of their lives.
"No. Didn’t your brother tell you that I only invited you for dinner?"
"What?" Aira turned towards Almeru. Seeing the woman’s reaction, Almeru immediately grabbed his sister’s hand and led her to the chair next to Matthew— the chair across from Ava. "What is he talking about?" Aira asked.
"Sit," Almeru uttered, he too had an ugly look on his face but it looked like he was trying to endure everything. It looked like the man’s ambition really ran deep! Even Ava couldn’t stop herself from smiling.
Some people were born powerful. Some were destined to be more powerful in the future and then there were... the type of people that would do everything to become powerful.
And Almeru and the de Cene Family were exactly that type of people. ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com
Ava didn’t like it very much.
"Good... now that everyone is seated. Let’s serve dinner... shall we?" Matthew said. Almost immediately, men and women in black and white uniforms lined up with trays in hand. They placed the first course on their plate and disappeared without saying a word.
"So this dinner...." Almeru started. "I thought it was to finally acknowledge my sister as your mistress. Was I wrong?"
"Wrong," Matthew said almost immediately. "I am not planning to take your sister as a mistress."
Almeru’s face darkened. He clenched his jaw. "Are you planning to reject the help that the de Cene family offered?"
"Help?" Matthew snorted. "I never wanted to be King... Mr. De Cene."
"You— "
"Brother what is he saying?"
"So... if you didn’t want to take my sister— "
"Why don’t we first eat and enjoy dinner before — "
"Shut your trap!" Almeru glared at Ava. "This has nothing to do with you! Witches aren’t supposed to join us for dinner! If you were in the Kingdom, you would have already received some punishment just for sitting at the same table as your master!"
Ava gaped at him then she looked at Matthew.
Really?
Matthew’s silence said it all.
Wow, Ava thought inwardly. It looked like her perception of the Lycans was getting worse every single day!
"I can see that you are not even aware of the simple laws that the Kingdom— "
"Eat!" Matthew growled. Interrupting Almeru’s words.
To Ava’s surprise, both Almeru and Aira flinched at his words. She immediately looked at Matthew and discovered that Matthew’s eyes were already golden.
"We shall talk about this matter after dinner," Matthew’s words were not loud but they held something... intimidating. Ava wasn’t sure if Matthew did it on purpose or if it was the wolf’s impact.
Soon, the four of them started eating their food without saying another word. But every now and then, the stifling silence would be interrupted by Matthew slicing Ava’s food. Or Matthew adding more food on Ava’s plate.
The action was extremely cheesy. Something that could have easily embarrassed Ava. But the latter looked oblivious of his actions. He continued doing it until they finished their dessert.
How embarrassing! Ava thought inwardly as she patted the napkin on her lips.
"So... what is it that you want to tell us?" Again, Almeru was the first one who spoke. "Do you really think that offending the de Cene Family would do you any good?"
"The de Cene Family is one of the oldest families of Lycans to ever exist." Matthew calmly said. However, he was looking at Ava. It was as if he was explaining things to her. "They were mainly known for kidnapping lesser werewolves... and making them their bride or husband to try and... maintain the purity of their bloodline."
Ava nodded at that.
"They tend to ruin families who... didn’t like their practices," Matthew added as he enjoyed his red wine.
"You— the only reason why we were able to do whatever we want is that... We are strong. The House of De Cene pride itself on the purity of our bloodline. If you think— "
"Almeru... calm down. I am not trying to embarrass your background or your House."
"Then what is this Matthew? How could you ask your witch to even sit at the same table as us and even tell her the things about my family? Aren’t you trying to embarrass me? Or are you doing this because you are looking down on us?"
"Hmmm... your imagination is a bit over the top." Matthew smiled. "The reason why I wanted to have dinner is to apologize to the de Cene family." Matthew was smiling as if he didn’t just growl at them earlier!
"What?"
"I cannot marry your sister simply because... she does not qualify to become my bride."
"What?"
"What are you talking about?" The twins spoke almost at the same time.
"Well... I don’t want my family to become the laughingstock of the entire Lycan community."
"A laughingstock?"
"Ah... it seems that you don’t know." Matthew looked at Aira. "Then... would you like to tell your brother about the things that you did or?"
"What?" Aira paled. "I— I don’t understand."
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