Marriage Of Convenience: Part 9

Now, however, he realized that even though he was alone, his life would always be completely better than he'd ever dreamed it could be. All he wanted was for him and Lina to be able to live happily ever after...And perhaps it wasn’t only in this life that they might be able to do that.

***

While in the palace, princess Iris was sitting quietly in her bedroom, deep in thought. She sat beside her bed with the book she had been reading before, but this time she had not even begun to read. Instead, she stared off into space as she tried to think of a solution to the problem she and her father had caused the people of Gildea. And now only a marriage of convenience could solve this problem. As long as they stayed together, there wasn't any reason to try and find another way for the people to unite peacefully and protect themselves against the threat from the monsters that plagued Gildea every night. If the two of them separated and married elsewhere, that wouldn't happen anyway. No, there were simply no other options. Now thinking about this, she asked herself where her groom-to-be was.

She stood up from her place on the bed and left her room and went straight for the stairs leading up to the second floor. She stopped midway when she noticed that the door to the guest room was open slightly, and soft light was coming from within. Curious, Iris pushed the door a little further open and peered inside, then gasped audibly once she laid eyes on him. Prince James was fast asleep on top of the bed, lying on his front, facing the centre of the room. His clothes had come loose while he slept, and he was completely shirtless with one leg dangling loosely off the edge of the bed. Iris couldn’t tear her eyes away from the sight. How could she not be mesmerized by him? Her gaze wandered to his bare chest, then moved up his body until it rested on his face. She stared at him for some moments longer; it was hard to believe that he was her fiancé's brother. Her heart raced and her breath became rapid. This was going to be the most challenging decision of her entire life. However, she knew that it was ultimately up to her whether or not she would make the right choice. With that thought in mind, she finally decided to wake him up. She placed her hand on his shoulder in an attempt to wake him up and shook him gently. “Ha-have you seen prince Kirby?" both looking deeply into one another's eyes. “I haven’t seen him since yesterday night and…and I was hoping that he might have already returned to your room and that we could catch up this morning,” she said quietly, sounding slightly flustered.

“Prince Kirby?” James asked, blinking drowsily a couple of times in surprise. “What happened? Is everything alright?”

“No, not really,” Iris answered. “I was hoping that you might have seen him?”

James blinked his large brown eyes a few more times as he yawned. He shook his head slightly. “Sorry,” he murmured apologetically.

"That's okay,” she mumbled. Her gaze remained glued to him. “I hope that you'll be able to help me,” she said hesitantly. "I know that you must hate our engagement as much as I do, but..." he pulled her in before she could finish and pressed her beneath him on the bed.

“But what?” he whispered into her ear huskily. Her cheeks reddened. He ran his hands down her arms slowly. He then slid one hand behind her neck and began caressing her soft hair. He felt her shiver. She then lifted her arms around his shoulders.

To be continued…