After the vampires got the Female Blood from the hunters, weeks later, Grand Duke Arthur was ordered by the emperor to attend the board meeting with the board members for his stead. The Grand Duke arrived at the company and went to march his way to his office with his PS alone, is what it was supposed to be.
His face deadpanned because his nephew—Prince Nikolai—came with him, which was a rare sight for him. He knew nothing of what the youngest was thinking right now. But what he does perceive is that his nephew neither comes to play nor does sightseeing.
Grand Duke Arthur couldn't help but ask as he raised one of his eyebrows while suspiciously stare at him.
"Why are you here with me, again?"
Prince Nikolai met his gaze then back to the corridor he responded with complaint in his tone because of disappointment he felt toward his uncle.
"Because you forgot something."
His uncle was confused as to what he had forgotten for his nephew to be this upset. He thought of many possible things he must have said or promised to Prince Nikolai but nothing came out. He concluded that it must have been related to that human.
"Your father and I already spare that human's life as promised." He presumed.
"Uncle, you senile." Prince Nikolai insulted his uncle while pouting as he went ahead of him.
The Grand Duke was left dumbfounded by his nephew's remark whereas his closest friend, his personal secretary named Kalios Marcos almost burst out of laughter upon hearing the young prince's words. Few royal guards, wearing a black suit undercover, followed the third prince as per order by His Highness.
The Grand Duke didn't know what to do to his nephew who sulked and ignored him at the same time. His Highness continued to reminisce about everything he might have forgotten, however, to his dismay, nothing comes to his mind.
He thought of possible solutions to get his nephew into a good mood. He knew that Prince Nikolai is disappointed in him, but he never saw him this disappointed, ever. He decided to not mind it for now and to focus on the way to his office.
When they arrived, he immediately gave instructions to the four royal guards to station themselves at the door and made sure no one came unless he said so. To be honest, he never needed royal guards to escort him, one or two bodyguards would have been enough. However, because his nephew came with him, he has no choice but to bring them.
He and Prince Nikolai went inside as he walked toward his seat to check the papers for the meeting that starts in 30 minutes. As for Prince Nikolai, he went to the sofa and read his mother's diary all over again. Kalios excused himself to make preparations for the meeting, which the Grand Duke allowed him to.
The two Adonis were both busy minding their own business, however, that didn't mean Prince Nikolai wasn't trying to make his uncle feel guilty. His uncle slightly glanced as he felt a gaze going back and forth as if trying to get his attention.
Grand Duke Arthur waited for a few minutes to see if his nephew gave up, but nothing changed. Instead, he gave up and sighed as he placed the files down. He was about to say something but got interrupted when Kalios knocked and went inside to inform him that the board members were waiting.
Prince Nikolai drooped when he saw his uncle stood up and was about to pass through him. However, Grand Duke Arthur stopped from his track and approached his nephew.
"Nikolai, do you prefer staying here or coming with me to the meeting?" he asked.
The third prince neither said anything nor looked at him. Silence filled the atmosphere as he continued ignoring him.
The Grand Duke sighed and said, "I will help you train after this if you stop sulking and ignoring me."
Prince Nikolai glee as he silently piped out with joy, "So you remembered now?" he asked.
His uncle was confused about what he meant and was about to ask but Prince Nikolai interrupted, "You remembered the promise to train me?" He asked again, waiting for his uncle to reply.
Grand Duke Arthur felt the pressure by the expectation and beaming look from his nephew. So, he pretended to remember.
"U-uhh…Mmm! Yes, I remembered." He declared.
The young prince felt happy and immediately answered his uncle's question earlier.
"I'll go with you to the meeting. I'll train hard." He replied.
The uncle felt relief for not being caught by his nephew. The two Adonis along with the PS and royal guards went their way. Walking through the corridors with a glass window that is slightly tinted on their left side which allows you to see the views outside. Upon arriving in the meeting room, the huge door opened widely and as usual the guards were left outside the room.
They all greeted the Grand Duke as the vice president, there were humans and vampires among the board members. Aside from the vampires who knew that some of the groups were not one of them, the humans knew nothing about it. They only thought that they were humans with high and exceptional business partners.
All the board members saw a young teenager beside the Grand Duke. Some of the board members already knew that it was the youngest sibling among the little trio Adonis Brothers. While the humans of the board meeting knew that he existed but never once saw him.
A human board member, around his early 40's noticed the young prince.
"Vice President, who could this child be?" he asked with a slight confusion in his tone.
The Grand Duke glanced at him coldly and responded as he approached his seat and his nephew followed then sat first beside him.
"He's my nephew. Why? Is there a problem?"
Prince Nikolai didn't bat an eye towards the people's staring. He minded his business while the others were curious about him. The man who asked the Grand Duke had a flustered look on his face that was visible in the sight of everyone around him.
He quickly replied, "N-no! No, Vice President. It is indeed good to see him."
Unlike his two older brothers, Prince Nikolai usually isolated himself inside the villa. He never attended anything related to business, he was never interested in it to begin with. To make things clear, this was his first appearance to the board members.
The board member asked again, "But, will it be alright for him to be here, Vice President? I mean… won't he find this meeting boring?"
He slightly laughed from his little joke; however, the Grand Duke found it not even close to entertainment. Grand Duke Arthur glimpsed at him while giving him a sedate and intimidating aura.
"Are you making fun of me, Mr. Mackenzie? Whether he finds it BORING or not, is up to him." He expressed his displeasure with emphasis in his words.
Mr. Mackenzie, in his early 40's, knew that he was at a disadvantage that he hurriedly cleared things up with him, "No! No, no…I would never, Mr. Vice President."
Grand Duke then faced the rest of the board members then challenged them, "Does any of you dare to question me? You may leave the meeting room this instant."
With his declaration, the tension of the room heated up and everyone who was inside the meeting room went silent. Most of the board members—either vampires or humans—would glare or blame Mr. Mackenzie in their minds.
Grand Duke Arthur slightly glanced at his nephew to see if he was fine. However, he was stunned when he saw his nephew busy playing games on his phone with earphones plugged in his ears.
He stared at the people in front of him and said, "Good. Start the meeting." Then he sat on his chair comfortably.
The one presenting immediately started and discussed the result of a market project that was proposed to him and the emperor before. They found out that some of their products were illegally sold and some of the market sales were suborned. This greatly affected the company's reputation and it ended up not even close to the expected sales they were anticipating.
After the presenter summed up from the top till the end of the discussion, some of the board members felt outrageous about the outcome. Chaos started to fill the room, a minute of contemplation, the Grand Duke finally decided to speak up.
"Mr. Johnsons, I believe this was the market plan you proposed to us, am I wrong?" he asked without bothering to glance at him.
Mr. Johnsons immediately stood up and apologized to the Grand Duke as fear started to overwhelm him. Mr. Johnsons glared at Mr. Mackenzie while the man in early 40's glanced back then gave him a mocking smirk. Grand Duke Arthur noticed and confirmed his assumption which made him grinned evilly.
"Care to explain, Mr. Mackenzie?" the Grand Duke asked.
When Mr. Mackenzie heard his name, he stood up and felt cold sweat dripping down his face. He tried to act dumb in front of the Grand Duke whereas Prince Nikolai silently listened to their discourse.
"What do you mean, V-vice President?" he asked while trying to hide the nervousness he had been feeling with a smile.
Arthur snickered and he crossed his leg over the other. He leaned his jaw line on his fist as his elbow rested on the armchair as he cued his personal secretary, Kalios, to hand over the folder to Mr. Mackenzie.
"Oh please, Mr. Mackenzie. Did you really think I would come to this meeting unprepared?"
"It seems you've been having too much free time in your hands to even engage yourself to unrelated business while using the name of this company. Was it a black market? And when Mr. Johnsons accidentally found out your hugger-mugger errands and dirt, not only you blackmailed him. You even bought his customers with your own money."
As soon as the Grand Duke announced his schemes, it made everyone gasp in disbelief.