Upon arriving there, the banquet hall of the royal palace was filled with a sea of aristocratic people.
There was a harmonious melody being played by the musicians to lighten up the mood. Lots of meal dishes were being prepared on a long table. The chandeliers had given a delighted atmosphere with the many servants strolling around to serve everyone invited here.
The current monarch, Alpha King Helio, of the Yuanzhong Kingdom was already here, along with Crown Prince Henricus and Princess Eustacia.
Ah, yes. His Royal Highness had a sibling-a sister, to be specific. Her name was Eustacia la Chandelier II. She was the first daughter of Alpha King Helio and the deceased Luna Consort, who never became a Luna Queen, Consort Eustacia.
The two siblings had different mothers. The crown prince’s mother was Eliza Marie, the 1st Luna consort, while Eustacia Tanner, the 2nd Luna consort, was the first princess’ mother.
Alpha King Helio’s mate, who was supposed to be the Luna Queen, had died from an illness. That was when Alpha King Helio became a bastard and started to falter as the Alpha King and spent more of his time with women, despite that he had consorts.
Both his Luna Consorts were deceased because of the illness. Some said that the 1st Luna Consort died from poison while the 2nd Luna Consort died from the ambush. But it was rumored that this was the Alpha King Helio’s doing.
“Huh…” I heaved out a sigh.
While I was quietly sipping on my champagne here in the gallery, I watched Caroline mingle with the other noble ladies the same age as hers. In this timeline, Caroline was 18 years old. She had just celebrated her coming-of-age so she could still be invited to tea parties.
I turned to my right when I felt a familiar built of a woman coming in my direction. It was Natasha who was holding her own drink. “Why are you alone here in the gallery, Dominixe? Shouldn’t you be mingling as Papa ordered?”
I emptied the flute glass before turning at her. “I am already done. I even have some reunions with my peers who are already married.” I shrugged as if it was a trivial matter.
Natasha chuckled. “Ah, yes, we are already too old to mingle with the same age as Caroline. At our age, we are supposed to be married already.”
“Indeed, you are right.” I glanced at her. “I heard from Papa that the second son of Count Addice shall be your betrothed. Is Lord Lazaro Addice that great to you?” I wanted to see her reaction since I failed to notice in the past that she was in love with her mate.
Of all my sisters who were supposed to be married first, Natasha was the first to be engaged. She was lucky that she married her mate, which Papa had engaged her with.
Since Britanny and I were running for heir candidates, Papa decided not to engage us for a while until it had been decided who should be the next head of the House of Cantavalle.
However, once her mate knew what was happening in our household, he attempted to run away with her. But he was caught by Papa’s henchmen. Natasha was there to protect him and told him to run away without her.
Natasha thought he had escaped and suffered severe punishment with a hundred lashes on her back with wolfsbane. She suffered two-degree burns from the wolfsbane while praying for the safety of her mate.
However, little did she know… Lazaro was killed.
He was killed with my own hands.
I hunted him down and slaughtered him by slicing his throat and kept stabbing his chest.
Natasha suffered more upon hearing about the death of Lazaro but managed to get back in her tracks. She learned who the culprits were and promised she would kill me.
I was Natasha’s best friend, but I betrayed her. Papa used me as bait to taint our relationship back then. I realized it too late.
Her abomination was so immense that I had to put my guard on her back in my previous life since she was good at hiding her true emotion back then.
That was why I did not want to witness that one more time. I did not want to do it again. I never wanted her to be suffered since I had experienced that.
This time, I would save Natasha’s mate. I would save her from suffering.
“Yes, indeed. He is handsome and gentlemanly as well.” I snapped back when she chuckled. Her cheeks were tinted red as if she kept thinking about him. “Can I tell you a secret, Domi?”
“Hmm?” My ears were on her, albeit I already knew what she would say. “What is it?”
Natasha drew closer to me. “Lord Lazaro is…” she paused, looking left and right. She wanted to ensure that no one was listening before she looked at me. “… my mate,” she whispered.
I faked a gasp, wide-eyed. “No way!” I tried my best to be exaggerated since I already knew this beforehand. I must be convincing since I did not want her to suspect me. “Are you certain?” I whispered in a harsh whisper when I realized I had almost shouted.
Natasha hushed me and nodded shyly. Then she straightened her back when Papa looked on our way. “Act seriously.”
I cleared my throat and unfolded my fan to cover half of my face. “Congratulations to you, my dearest 3rd sister.” I winked at her.
She unfolded her fan to hide her smile. “Thank you, Dominixe.”
“His Graces… Duke Leveaux of the North, Duke Ivanova of the East, Duke Navarette of the South, and Duke Eveque of the West… have arrived!”
All of us had turned to the door from the announcement of the royal guard. I straightened my back since they had announced the arrival of the four households that had been granted dukedoms and second to the most powerful people aside from the royal lycan family, which people called them as…
“The Four Horsemen of the Yuanzhong Kingdom…” I muttered, holding my breath.
As soon as I said that, the two-way doors swung open to reveal the four handsome, good-looking, bewitching men with sinister auras surrounding them. All of the people here started murmuring when they all entered like they were some sort of royalties.
I held my breath upon seeing Valerian looking dashing in his expensive suit. His deadpan expression was the same as the other three men he was with. I even smelled his scent, making my wolf drool over him. However, on Valerian’s part, he wouldn’t be able to smell my scent since I made certain that I was wearing incantation jewelry to hide my scent.
They all stopped before the staircase where Alpha King Helio, Crown Prince Henricus, and Princess Eustacia were seated.
“We greet the sun of the Yuanzhong Kingdom, His Majesty, Alpha King Helio…” the four gentlemen said in unison with their baritone tone as they bowed their heads together at the Alpha King. “… the little sun, His Royal Highness, Crown Prince Henricus… We greet you a happy birthday…” They did the same to the crown prince, and he nodded, acknowledging their greetings. “… and the little moon, Her Highness, Princess Eustacia.” Her Highness nodded as well.
“It has been a while, Valerian, Marquart, Achilles, and Liutrich,” Alpha King Helio said with a pleasing expression. “How’s everything, my four horsemen?”
I had come to meet Marquart, Achilles, and Liutrich in my previous life when Valerian brought me to attend one of their meetings. He introduced me to them as his mate back then, which shocked me since Valerian and I weren’t married.
Valerian Leveaux, Duke of Alsfield in the North and Alpha of the Nocturnal Crest pack…
Marquart Ivanova, Duke of Lyari in the East and Alpha of the Mystic Ash pack…
Achilles Narvarette, Duke of Zaira in the South and Alpha of the Red Soul pack…
Liutrich Eveque, Duke of Revel in the West and Alpha of the Lunar Bliss pack…
They were considered the four horsemen of the Alpha King. These four households were granted dukedoms to rule on behalf of the current monarch. They were the four cardinal directions: north, east, south, and west, which meant that was the direction where they were settling.
Their households, Leveaux Duchy, Ivanova Duchy, Narvarette Duchy, and Eveque Duchy, were called four horsemen since they had managed to help the very 1st Alpha King of the Yuanzhong Kingdom, Hacon la Chandelier, to establish our kingdom and provide manpower from the first rogue war that happened two thousand years ago.
They were the most powerful aristocrats and Alphas here in our kingdom. No one would dare to mess with them since there would be consequences.
It was why Papa was very careful with them on who he should dispatch to break the four cardinal directions.
I began to understand that Papa wanted to infiltrate the duke of the north. It was my Alpha mate, Valerian, because Valerian’s household was tough, and hard to break the system.
Papa believed that I was the right opponent for Valerian. That was his assessment, he told me in the past.
“Everything is going well, Your Majesty.” I shivered upon hearing Valerian’s voice. It was making me tingle. The way he spoke suddenly made me remind how he fucked me so hard until he made me cum and squirt.
“We have already sent the reports about the expedition,” Marquart said, chuckling.
“There is an issue on my part. But I already dealt with it,” Achilles said confidently.
Liutrich was the last one to speak. “No issue on my part, Your Majesty.”
“I see, I see.” Alpha King Helio opened his mouth while being fed by a gorgeous servant on his lap. “Then, enjoy Henricus’ birthday party. We can talk about the details later.”
I almost scoffed. Talk about the details? Or, more likely, he would summon his son to take care of these four horsemen for certain.
“Thank you, Your Majesty.”
With that, they bowed before them and turned to disperse. But before that happened, my heart suddenly leaped out of my ribcage when Valerian looked up in my direction, where I was still in the gallery with Natasha.
Valerian mouthed ‘honeydew’ in my direction, making my stomach somersault and my hands sweat while he still had his deadpan expression. His upper lip curled up into a small smirk before he looked away and went to mingle with other nobles.
“Oh! Did you see that? Your target is looking at you, Dominixe!” Natasha nudged me.
I smiled bitterly. “I-Indeed…”
I was still in my position after that, immobilized. Why did I suddenly feel nervous when he knew where I was?
In the past, I was not settling here in the gallery. Only Natasha was here. I only wanted to see how Valerian could make his entrance with his three friends. But how on earth did he know where I was settling when that was not supposed to happen?
Should I be threatened that Valerian was getting good at knowing me?
“He is looking at you as if he knows you. Have you met him before?” Natasha asked.
I shook my head, lying. “No, I haven’t.” Way to go, Dominixe. Way to go for lying. I turned to Natasha. “I am famished. I am going to take some food before meeting Papa. Want to come?”
Natasha nodded. “I am alright. I am meeting Lord Lazaro here.” She winked.
I almost chuckled and nodded. “Alright.” I went to the table where lots of dishes were being served there.
I must see Papa since he would introduce me to his peers. This would be the moment when I would meet Warren Porter as well. But it was good that this wasn’t the right moment for my engagement.
As long as I was one of the heir candidates, Papa wouldn’t dare to engage me with any man.
I was picking up some appetizers that would fill my stomach for later, but I felt a menacing presence behind me and smelled the hyacinth scent, making my wolf squirm. I remained still and shivered in delight when I felt a bulky man figure tower over me before a large calloused hand reached for the chicken bites to eat.
I suddenly wanted to run away, and this man dared to approach me in an open area. I knew that he would dare to approach me but not something like this scenario.
“These appetizers are mouthwatering, right?” I gulped when my wolf kept chanting ‘mate’ who was behind me. I freaking knew that! His husky baritone made my knees wobbly when Valerian drew closer to me. “Do you know what is more appetizing, my lady?”
I looked at him. And boy! How the hell he looked so sinful with that lazy smile? “What is it… Your Grace?” I tried my best not to be affected by his presence. But I was sure as hell that I wanted to be buried six feet below the ground seeing Valerian looking at me with hunger in his chartreuse orbs.
He leaned closer to whisper to me. I stiffened when I heard him sniffing my scent. I even held my breath when I felt his minty breath fanning my neck, causing me to shudder. “You…”
With that, my heart stammered when he placed his hand on my waist, making my eyes widen in surprise. “What are you doing?” I asked in a harsh whisper.
Papa must not see me being with Valerian. It would deem questionable if that happened.
Valerian looked amused when he saw my troubled expression. He stepped back and offered his hand to me. “I want you to dance with me, Lady Dominixe from the House of Cantavalle,” he said, smiling meaningfully.