The Alpha Prince's Luna

Cordelia walks aimlessly around the palace grounds. She is still upset with what she has gone through in her encounter with the prince and his lover. She feels so insulted by Freya and the prince had no care at all to just have sex despite her being his future wife. Freya seems to be flaunting it than being ashamed of getting caught in the act. She is so sad but she has no clue what to do next. The only thing in her mind is that she likes to run away.

Every guard she passes in every corner of the palace grounds does not say a word to her. They just let her roam around without hindering her.

Suddenly, devising a plan to escape becomes Cordelia's focus. She lets herself calm down and observes her surroundings. She pretends to be sightseeing leisurely around the palace but in truth, she is searching for an exit where she can make her escape.

Cordelia notices the wide garden on the right wing of the palace. There are two guards at the entrance of the garden. She walks through it and slowly strolls into the garden. She cannot help but admire the lovely garden. She has never seen such exquisite plants. She is reminded of being out in the fields, in the open spaces.

Cordelia closes her eyes and breathes deeply to strengthen her resolve. She will escape by climbing the garden wall. She is confident that she can do it. The garden wall is not as high as the other walls around the palace. She walks towards the wall. She stares around her first to check if someone is there. When she is sure that she is not followed by anyone, she holds on to a few vines on the wall as she tests if these will hold as she climbs.

She is about to take her first attempt...

"I will not do that if I were you."

Cordelia's heart skips a beat from the surprise of someone's voice.

The voice is calm and not threatening at all. However, it sounds more like a command.

Cordelia turns around, totally abandoning her escape plan. She comes face-to-face with the witch named Zoe.

"You will give me a heart attack." That is all she can think of to say to the witch.

"Why are you trying to run away again?" Zoe asks the same question as she did earlier.

"Why won't I run away? You are forcing me to marry the Prince." Cordelia reasons out to Zoe.

"But where will you go? To your family? They brought you here right?" Zoe asks but seems to know the answers already.

Cordelia remains silent.

"Please, Cordelia, trust in me. I have seen you. You belong here." Zoe says in a gentle tone.

Cordelia stares at the witch. She is right. Where else can she go?

"Do not try to leave anymore." Again, Zoe says this more like a command as she motions to Cordelia to walk back towards the palace with her.

********************

Cordelia stands awkwardly in front of Queen Cynthia, who is sitting on her throne. She notices that the King's throne is empty. Zoe, the witch, stands a few paces away beside Cordelia. It appears that she is being guarded even at her wedding.

Cordelia wears an elegant white dress with a long train full of flowers. Her beauty shines even more. Her future husband wears a matching suit with a single flower in his right vest pocket.

Both Bernard and Cordelia are nervous. They cannot deny the brewing attraction in their proximity. However, they still dislike the idea of this forced marriage.

The wedding takes place even in the absence of King Rob. The King has to attend to certain matters of great importance so he lets the Queen make all the arrangements for the swift wedding.

Queen Cynthia wants to make sure that Cordelia will not attempt to escape once more so she took the advice of Zoe, their witch, to have the wedding now.

The entire residents of the kingdom are present on this very important day for the Royal Family. The people of the Kingdom are also outside the palace waiting to welcome the newlyweds.

Cordelia stares straight ahead, still avoiding even sparing a glance at Bernard beside her. She does not even pay attention to what is being said by the high priest presiding over this union. She couldn't care less whatever it is since she is only forced to this wedding.

Contrary to Cordelia's behavior, Bernard cannot help but steal several glances at his bride. She looks lovelier than ever. He can feel the heat starting again. He tries to concentrate on the proceedings after that so as to make him control his urges.

The ceremony ends soon after and Bernard leads Cordelia by the hand towards the kingdom gates where their people are waiting excitedly to catch a glimpse and greet the new royal couple. There explodes a loud cheering and applauding from the happy people of the kingdom. The people shout their greetings of good wishes for the newlyweds. Bernard and Cordelia wave graciously to the people. Bernard does not let go of Cordelia's hand like the protective husband that he should be.

Cordelia cannot help but blush with their contact but continues to avoid looking at her now-husband Prince. But she keeps her emotions in check knowing that this is only for the show so the people will see that they are happy together. She focuses her attention on the people smiling at her. These people barely know her but she can sense their acceptance of her as the new member of the Royal Family. She feels light-hearted and that she somehow belongs here. She smiles genuinely at the people.

When they finally return to the palace, Cordelia relaxes a bit. True enough, Bernard lets go of her hand.

The wedding reception follows and the banquet is really wonderful.

Cordelia could have been truly happy with the arrangements made for this occasion but she is very well reminded that she is just a forced bride. Just the same she allows herself some food to eat because she is very much famished from the events of this day.

Bernard stays by her side but does not speak to her at all. He keeps glancing around as if looking for someone. She ignores him too. After all, she is the one who should be upset for her husband is undeniably in search of his immoral lover of his.

How dare he?! Cordelia puts her emotions bottled up. She must get through this whole wedding event without any fuss. She just likes to rest after this.

*********************

Cordelia sits on the edge of the bed still in her wedding dress. She feels too exhausted to do anything else. She is glad the banquet has finally ended. The whole affair made her tired physically as well as emotionally. As she sits on the soft bed, she wonders what she will do now that she is part of this kingdom. What do they expect her to do? What responsibilities does she have to undertake as the wife of the Prince?

Suddenly, her expression becomes dark in the realization of what a wife is basically expected to do. She blushes uncontrollably with the thought. She has mixed emotions because her husband is undeniably attractive but she cannot accept that he has sex with another woman.

Like timing, the door to her room opened unexpectedly. She almost jumps to her feet for she is not expecting any visitor.

Bernard appears and is looking at her with a serious expression.

After her dark musing a while ago, Cordelia cannot help but panic at the sudden intrusion of Bernard into her room. She stands to ready herself in case her husband approaches any closer to her.

"What do you want?" Cordelia exclaims rather a bit louder than usual. She even sounded angry.

Bernard looks at her in surprise for her hostility. He raises an eyebrow and smiles mockingly.