003

"How do you find me ?". Mirco asks me, twirling on himself.

"Beautiful, you are beautiful Coco". I respond, smiling widely at him.

And it was true, my brother was truly magnificent in his today's attire.

Mirco was wearing a beautiful black gown, the top of the dress hugging perfectly his soft curves, its long sleeve made of see through material, a neckline starting from his collarbone and stopping right just above his navel. The voluminous skirt of the dress adorned with thousand of small diamonds.

"But is it really necessary for you to wear such attire ?". I question immediately afterwards, glancing at him, from the comfortable couch I was resting on. "After all, you are simply going to meet your fiancé today, the ball is still scheduled for tomorrow's night". I add, seeing as Coco turned on himself, sending a questioning look towards me.

"Please, do not use the term fiancé to describe that man—". He says, grimacing as he did so. "He is more like a forced business partner kind of sort in my eyes". He grunts and I chuckle. "And I am well aware of the date of the ball Ady". He adds, sitting back on the chair in front of the dressing table, turning to face me once again.

I sigh, "Then why are you wearing such an extravagant dress—?". I question, gesturing at his clothing. "Wouldn't it be wiser to not scare him off this early ?".

Mirco frowns at my choice of words, "Scare him off ?". He asks, sounding innocent, and I roll my eyes. "I do not intend to scare him off Ady, I only wish to show him who he is going to spend his forever with". He grins, and I can not help the light chuckle that escapes my lips.

Even in an orthodox society such as ours, it was still uncommon and frowned upon, to have men, may them be Alpha, Beta or even Omega, dressed up in 'typical female' clothing.

And if the people of Aldora had long ago accepted, and welcome such thing, it was still heavily frowned upon in other Kingdoms.

And for a Kingdom as rustic and closed off as Nidarhs, one could only think the worst of it's people on the matter of such subject.

"If that future husband of mine finds me anything other magnificent in such attire, then—". My brother starts and I laugh.

"Then ?". I mock, one eyebrow raising, amused by my brother's antics.

"Then, he does not deserve a single ounce of my attention". He grins widely.

"But—". I start, eyeing the beautiful wolf that my brother was. "I find it difficult to believe that anyone would find you anything other than beautiful Mirco". I smile, and it was the pure truth.

My brother, Mirco Alry, Second born of his Highnesses King William and Queen Lia of Aldora, was truly a sight to behold.

The mere thought of someone not finding him to their taste, was inimaginable for me.

Mirco was all a wolf could dream and wish for in a partner. The perfect Omega—,

Whilst I was socially awkward, and choose most of the time to keep to myself, Mirco was the complete opposite, outgoing and so good at making friends.

I had no doubt that even if their relationship started as an arranged one, that Alpha Prince from Nidarhs would in no matter of time, fall for my brother.

Contrarily to Sunny and I, Mirco was a really friendly person, always the center of attention wherever he went.

"You are right". Mirco says suddenly, glancing at his reflection in the mirror, his voice succeeding in snapping me out of the myriad of thoughts I was losing myself in. "There's no way that unwanted future husband of mine would find me anything other than what I am—beautiful".

I snort at his sentence, Mirco was maybe a little to conscious of his beauty sometimes.

Hearing my not so discret snort, he turns around and take a look at my clothing, frowning as he did so.

"Is this really what you intend to wear to meet your future brother in law ?". Mirco asks me, nose scrunching up in disgust, as he continues to glare at my clothes, making me chuckle lightly.

"In fact—". I start, glancing down at clothes, playing with the hem of my shirt. "I was thinking about staying inside my chambers today, I was not really planning on—".

"You cannot be serious Ady !". Mirco suddenly cut me off. "You cannot be thinking about leaving me alone in such an important moment !". He exclaims, and I roll my eyes at his dramatics.

"You won't be alone Coco, stop dramatizing". I sigh, crossing my legs. "Father, Mother, Alexandra, Harrison and even Sunny will be with you, I fail to see why my presence is even needed". I add, glancing at my brother.

Brother who roll his eyes at my words, "You know perfectly why it is you that I need by my side Adrian". He says, tone serious and I sigh. "I cannot count on any of them to care about my feelings, not even Sunny. He surely is coming only to enjoy the show, you know how he is". He continues, and I can only agree with his words.

Mirco was right,

Father and Harry would be too preoccupied talking about politics to pay attention to Mirco's uncomfort at the whole situation.

As for Mother and Alexandra, the two of them would only have the ball and the future wedding's preparations on their mind, Mirco's apprehensions and fears completely forgotten.

And Sunny, like Mirco said, would only be there to enjoy the show, little gremlin that he was.

I sigh again, admitting defeat, Mirco was right, I was actually the only one who would stick by his side and hold his hand through the whole meeting, and maybe even through the time before the wedding.

Mirco seemed to have sensed my change of decision, since he started smiling, "I knew I could count on you Ady !". He exclaims euphoric, leaving his chair to come sweep me in a tight embrace.

"Huh huh". I grumble, earning myself a swat at my head.

"Stop acting like it is the end of the world—!". Coco exclaims, and I refrain myself from telling him that it was, at least for me. "And come, we need to find you better clothings !". He continues, dragging me towards his dressing, ignoring completely my protests.

One hour later, I found myself glancing at my reflection, dressed in a light peach pink smock waist shirt, a white wide leg cotton trousers and a pair of white leather moccasins.

"You look amazing Ady". Mirco says, chin resting on my shoulder and smiling softly at me.

"Thank you Coco". I said, smiling back at him. "You look beautiful as well". I add, complimenting him once again.

"I know". He replies smug, and I cannot help but chuckles at his antics. "We should probably head for the throne room, before Father call for us". He adds immediately after, dampening the mood.

"Hmm—". I agree, glancing at my reflection once more. "You go first, I have something to retrieve from my chambers". I add, Mirco frowning at my words. "Do not worry Coco, I do not intend to abandon you, not after you put so much effort in dressing me up". I smile, reaching for one of his hand, trying to reassure him.

Mirco nods, and I let go of him, "I will not last long, I promise". I assure him, leaning in to kiss softly one of his cheeks.

I watch as Mirco exhale softly, glancing down briefly at his clenched fists before looking right back at me, "Okay, just come back quickly". He says, attempting a small smile.

I nod, "I promise". I repeat, smiling back at him, before walking out of his chambers.

As I walked through the castle's corridors, hurrying my steps a little more than usual, I kept thinking back to Mirco's arranged marriage. Will the same fate fall upon me one day ?. Would Father ask of me to marry for politics one day as well ?. And what of Sunny ?. Were we all, all four sons of His Highness King William and Queen Lia doomed to the same fate ?.

Certainly, Harry had found love in Alexandra, but they were betrothed since birth, to ensure peace between our still recovering Kingdoms after the war. The love they felt for each other was real yes, but they union was still the results of an arranged marriage.

And now Coco, will all four of us marry for politics ?. Or will Sunny and I actually marry people we ourselves would have chosen ?.

For all the comfort I provided to Coco, it actually terrified me to even imagine what he must be feeling, and it terrified me even more to envisage that maybe one day, I might be in his place.

"Prince Adrian—". Someone calls next to me, startling me a little, I was so lost in my thoughts that I had not sensed the guard slipping next to me.

"Ah—! Sir Johnathan !". I exclaim, recognizing the Beta guard next to me.

"Forgive me for interrupting your walk my prince—". He starts, bowing in apologies. "But the entire royal family is waiting in the throne room. Allow me to escort you—".

I raise a finger, cutting him off gently, "There is no need Sir Johnathan, I am well aware of the location of my family, I am merely going to retrieve something from my chambers". I explain, smiling softly at him.

"But my prince—". He starts, shutting off as I shake my head. "Please allow me at least to escort you back and forth". He insisted nonetheless.

"There is really no need for you to do so Sir Johnathan, I know my way inside the castle, I can perfectly—". I halt myself as I hear commotion coming from below us. I walk a little closer to the border of the guard rail, glancing down to find a little group of people, clothed differently from usual Aldora's inhabitants going up the stairs.

I immediately recognize them as Nidarhs's convoy. The man leading them must then be—,

"His Highness Prince Lars of Nidarhs". Sir Johnathan suddenly supply, cutting my train of thoughts.

I hummed in approval, gaze fixated on my soon to be brother in law as he walked up the stairs of my home, with the uttermost grace of a King.

He was relatively.... handsome, from what I could see, standing so far away from him. I only hoped of him to treat my brother right, with the uttermost respect he deserved.

"As I was saying, there is no need for you to escort me Sir Johnathan, I am sure you are much needed somewhere else". I say, eyes still fixated on the moving form of Prince Lars, without me knowing why.

There was something about him, something that made it difficult for me to remove my eyes from his figure.

It was weird, I had never felt so intrigued by someone before, I didn't know why but, something was off.

My eyes remained on him for a few more minutes, for a brief moment, he stilled, looking right and left, it felt as if he was searching for something, or someone ?. But, the minute after, he resumed walking, as if nothing happened.

I watched him do so intrigued, when a sigh from behind me me forced me to take my eyes of the betrothed of my brother.

"I will do as it please you my prince". Sir Johnathan forced out, clearly not happy at having been dismissed from what he considered his duty.

I smile apologetically at him, before walking past him, resuming in my journey.

I had to hurry, Prince Lars was already inside the castle, and he is without doubt heading for the throne room, I had to hurry and go back to my brother's side.

As I nearly reached my chambers, an unsettling feeling crept up my body, it felt as if someone was following me. The uncomfortable feeling made me frown, was it Sir Johnathan who chose to ignore my orders and followed me anyway ?.

It was... weird, the unpleasant feeling of being followed around. Anger growing by the seconds, I readied myself to turn around and scold whomever was following me, when my wrist was suddenly sized, my body yanked backwards and turned around, my face colliding with someone's hard chest, a strong scent assaulting immediately my nose.

Still a little bit dizzy because of the sudden and forced movement of my body, I fail to immediately break free from the sudden embrace I was forced in.

However, as the stranger started smelling my hair, groaning softly as he did so, I come back to my sense, jolting away quickly from the embrace.

Ready to confront whoever had the audacity to manhandle me in such way, touching me without permission I look up, only to be flabbergasted, as my eyes fall upon the smiling face of my brother's betrothed.

What in the name of Gaia—?!.

Taking advantage of my shocked state, the Alpha grabs my hand, roughly pulling me against him once again, my head dizzying at the strong scent coming in wave from him.

"I finally found you". He mumbles inside my ear, apparently unaware of my shocked state.

What was happening ?!.