The day of the ring ceremony arrived soon when both the empires came together to celebrate this auspicious moment.
It was one of their kind to know that a human was being wedded to a vampire. Though it did sound unusual to most of the people present there, yet some believed it is absolute for the betterment of the Kingdoms.
Only if they knew the unseen aims of the parties….
Flora got ready in her chamber when her mother pressed her hands over Flora's shoulders to pass her an assured smile. "You don't have to worry about anything, my child."
"But I..I.. do sense that.. some things aren't right. Mother, what if His Highness gets alerted about our plan?" Flora asked worriedly.
"He won't. Since we have agreed to do this ring ceremony, he will never have any idea of our intentions. The only person we have to deal with is... Alice." Ira's eyes sparkled when she realized that Alice was the only stone in their path.
The lady in the entire empire hinders and overshadows her status in this castle. 'Her mother also didn't have that power… hah! How will I let a mere weakling girl like her challenge me?'
At this mere thought, Ira's eyes narrowed and this didn't go unnoticed by Flora as well.
She wore a beautifully embroidered gown, with her hair left open. The flowers were already picked and used as the crown over her head. Tons of jewelry was allowed to be worn by her since His Highness never let this occasion be any ordinary one.
Despite this being termed as an ordinary alliance, King Vilas wasn't interested in letting Flora feel inferior.
At the same time, Alice along with Prince Dominic made her way towards their chamber to arrive and notice the mother and daughter already dazed out.
She slightly coughed to again their attention when they turned around to stare at Alice and Dominic who stood at the entrance. "Oh, Princess Alice!"
"Prince Domonic. Welcome." Ira and Flora both turned around and bowed slightly to the man.
In return, Dominic only gave a slight nod and Alice blinked her eyes twice.
"I hope Flora is ready for today," Alice answered while taking the step towards inside.
"Perfectly." Ira's eyes moved to see Flora smiling to which Flora also nodded her head softly, "For the very first time she is going to meet her husband. The Prince of Gazelle land."
"He isn't how you assume him to be.." Dominic muttered in between his breath when he noticed the longing and pigment that lingered in his aunt's eyes.
The words were slow but enough to be heard by Alice. Giving her brother a look from the corner of her eyes, she shook her head.
Once again shifting her eyes towards her aunt, she gave a sweet gesture of smoke, "That would be wonderful. I hope Flora gets all the happiness of the world."
Meanwhile, Alice turned around to look at Mary who carried a box in her hand. Beside her were the two maids, holding a plate covered with a red cloth.
"Mary.." signaling her, Mary stepped forward and brought the box near Alice to open it. What came in their view was a beautiful bracelet embedded with the jewels. Taking the same in her hand, Alice walked ahead and held Flora's hand into her hand.
"This is a small gift from my side. Take it as your wedding gift from both of us." Alice made Flora wear the same.
As expected, Flora's smile winded when she took the peak of the gift, 'That is surely beautiful...hmm... if I sell it in the market to any jeweler, it will give me more coins..' Her grin only reached her eyes when she understood the importance of the same.
"I'm grateful for this. Thank you Princess Alice and… Prince Domonic." Flora's excitement already reached her eyes and Alice and Dominic noted the same.
However, they never let themselves utter a single word. Instead, Alice eyed the other maids to remove the cloth. Following her orders, the maids did as instructed to finally showcase the coins present, with a necklace as well.
On this sight, Ira, as well as Flora's eyes, started to narrow. Their mouths opened slightly when no words seemed to come out. "T-th.-this.."
"For you both. After all, we are blessed that you agreed to this alliance between the two Kingdoms." Alice broke the news but it appeared that no one was interested to hear the same.
Ira walked closer, where her eyes never tore from the two plates filled with coins. Her hands surfaced on them as if this was the most valuable treasure she came across.
"Princess Alice and Prince Domonic surely have a big heart for you to give us this…" Ira commented to which Dominic spoke, "Take it as a token of appreciation for your sacrifice …"
While Flora and Mrs. Ira were absorbed in their admission for the necklace, coins, and the bracelet gifted, Alice and Domonic took the opportunity to leave.
At the end of the day, this was just her choice done from their side. While walking in the direction of the main court, Prince Dominic maintained an expressionless face.
On the other side, Alice appeared calm yet her mind was already involved in tons of emotions.
"Why did you give them so many things? They are hungry wolves. This won't satisfy them." Prince Dominic commented as he saw his sister never give him any beneficial explanation about her actions back in Flora's chamber.
Initially, Alice didn't utter a single word. She stayed quiet but the nudge from Prince Dominic's side, made her finally open her mouth, "You are correct. They are wolves and won't be satisfied with this."
"But…" stopping in a middle way, she turned to face him while adjusting her shawl on her hands, "This will at least make them believe that we do trust them. Otherwise, they will always be alarmed."
Hearing this, puzzledness started to trace Prince Dominic's head as he asked, "How do you know that they are.. not honest in this?"
Alice's eyebrows lifted from their place as if she was very much amused to hear her brother's question. Was he still blind to not taking notice?
"Why will a lady like Mrs. Ira agree to marry her dear and precious daughter to a monster? There is no answer to this. Moreover, the second man won't have agreed to this until they have planned something.."
Alice was confident in her speech since she knew that her family members aren't the easiest to handle. They are the most cunning people she would ever come across. 'Why do we need enemies when we are ourselves feeding them?' This thought a lot of times raised in her mind to add to her worry.
In response to her, Dominic's hands went behind his body to lift his chin, "...And we will have to find their motive before dawn tomorrow."
A faint smile curved on her lips when she answered, "Absolutely correct!"
"But how are we supposed to do that?" Dominic asked with his curious eyes. The time was limited in their hands. An entire day? Will it be enough for them to go to the lengths and find out the motive?
In contrast to his uneasy mind, Alice stood still with her eyes shining brighter than that of the sun, "Let's get this ring ceremony over once..If that Prince's aloofness scares her or not.."