The Alpha Prince's Luna

King Rob smiles appreciatively at the couple whom he notices holding each other by the hand.

"Welcome my son and Cordelia. Congratulations and best wishes to you."

"I apologize for not being able to attend your Royal Wedding. I have some very important matters to deal with immediately. However, your mother was there with you so I think everything went tremendously well." King Rob summarizes everything in one speech.

Prince Bernard remains silent as if he is still in a bad mood. He seems to dislike his father's warm greetings for Cordelia. He is all the more reminded of this forced marriage thing.

"Thank you, King Rob. Welcome back too." Cordelia replies politely to the King as a courtesy, since she notices that Bernard has no intention to say anything at all. She feels obligated to be nice to the King.

"I have requested both your presence here to tell you that I intend to hold a Royal Banquet to welcome Cordelia as a Princess into our family. This will signify her legitimacy as your wife and formally introduce her to our kingdom." King Rob excitedly explains to the newlyweds.

Both Bernard and Cordelia cannot hide their surprise but try hard to control their personal protest against this announcement.

"Cordelia is a strong addition to our Royal family. Besides, our people love her already." The King continues happily without noticing the reactions of Bernard and Cordelia.

"Really father? That's really great!" Bernard says annoyingly but yet again unnoticed by King Rob.

"I have commissioned our royal seamstress to design a beautiful dress exclusively for Cordelia. It is the least I could do for my absence from your wedding. Consider it as a gift from your father." King Rob says proudly to Cordelia.

Cordelia notices Bernard's annoyance with all these and she decides to go along with King Rob's excitement to infuriate Bernard further.

"Oh, that is truly so thoughtful of you King Rob. I am very much thankful for your gift. I cannot wait to try out that dress. I am so excited." Cordelia exclaims in a very enthusiastic manner.

King Rob even claps his hands in delight at Cordelia's reaction to the dress.

This makes Bernard really disgusted. Bernard keeps imagining Cordelia in that exclusive dress. He is trying to picture her in his mind. He attempts to think of bad reactions like Cordelia will be unattractive and will still look so plain. He gets upset even more because his mind is debating with him too in disagreeing that his wife will not be pretty at all. Bernard just shakes his head with a sour expression on his face.

King Rob notices Bernard's actions and then says to him,

"Oh my son, I am sorry to take Cordelia away from you for a while. You will have her back after she tries the dress on." King Rob misreads his son's irritation as his refusal to be away from Cordelia.

Bernard just crosses his arms in response. He is unable to say anything anymore.

"My dear Cordelia, you can head on to the right-wing of the palace. You will pass the open park on your way there. The seamstress will be waiting for you there." King Rob instructs Cordelia where to go to try the dress on.

"Thank you, your highness." Cordelia says to the King as she curtseys. She turns around to leave.

Bernard attempts to follow Cordelia.

"My son, please let your wife go for a while. Stay here first and spend some time with your father." King Rob tells Bernard in an amused way, still implying that Bernard cannot seem to let Cordelia out of his sight.

Bernard shrugs his shoulders and stays with King Rob.

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

Cordelia takes her time walking to where King Rob instructed her to meet the seamstress. She feels good a little for fulfilling her goal to upset Bernard. She feels satisfied with herself. At the same time, she is grateful for King Rob's warm acceptance of her. If she is honest with herself, she feels that being accepted here will not be so bad at all. She can always continue to annoy her husband anyway. As a girl from her simple foster family, she is also excited to see this dress that is specially made for her at the King's request. No one has ever given her anything special even when she was young. As she recalls, everything she had is handed down by her older stepsister Sofia. Cordelia stops these thoughts about her sad childhood. She is in a lighter mood now when she reaches the park that the King has mentioned earlier. She is near the place now.

As she passes the park, she cannot help but admire the abundance of flowers here. The beautiful flowers come in different colors and the fragrance makes her feel even more refreshed. Since she does not feel the need to hurriedly return to Bernard, she lingers in the park. The place is very tempting for her. Again, this is a wide area with lots of breathing space for her. This gives her a sense of freedom, even for just a few moments. Cordelia approaches the colorful flowers to smell them closely. She leisurely walks toward them with a bright smile on her face.

Maybe this will be one of her favorite places in the palace to visit, just like the garden she saw the other day when she tried to make her escape but was caught by the witch Zoe. She laughs to herself as she remembers how she planned to climb the vines to get over the palace walls. That was really one desperate moment for her.

As Cordelia reaches the thicker bunch of flowers, she is startled by a furry animal that sprang from the flowers.

"What the..." Cordelia exclaims in total shock as she backs up a safe distance away from the animal.

The furry creature suddenly made a strange howling sound. The howling sound gives a chill to Cordelia's nerves. It is undeniably a wolf, and a big one to be exact. This wolf seems out of place here. Presently, it seems focused on Cordelia who is staring at it with terrified eyes. The wolf starts to rush ferociously towards her.

Cordelia knows what is about to happen but she is paralyzed on the spot. She cannot even afford to scream from her surprise and fear to see such a creature on its way to attack her and definitely kill her. She closes her eyes in her panic and awaits her death with her nowhere else to run.