Prince Kain had another pressing issue on ground. His father's health was deteriorating. He preferred to have an overbearing healthy father to a sick, carefree one. At the moment, his father no longer cared to ask for the expenditure accounts of the fashion house.
His father never had a personal assistant, but Kain had informed him that he needed one. His father had shrugged his shoulders in acceptance. It was very unlike him to accept Kain's decisions without objecting.
Despite his failing health, he insisted that Kain would find a woman before he inherited his properties. What if he died before Kain found a mate? What would happen to his properties? His distant relatives would spring up for sure to devour everything he had toiled for. It was very disheartening that his father had made such a ridiculous decision.
Kain had sent word to the king's court council. He needed to know more about the witch who had cursed him. Where she lived, even.
Kain sat in his father's place in the courtroom. His mother sat on the other side, beside him. He hated meetings like this, especially when it had to do with his current predicament. The elders had given him a handful of information on where the enchantress lived. That one went down his throat and sat there. However, one of the elders revealed that the enchantress had a daughter.
A lump formed in his throat, refusing to slide down.
"Do we need to organize a search party for her?" His mother asked. Kain chuckled. A search party? Was she Cinderella?
"Why should we do that? Does she possess magic too?"
"No. But if you are to inherit your father's properties, his empire most importantly, then you have to search for her. She could lead us to her mother, the enchantress." One of the elders, Silvero, answered. He had been silent throughout the discussion. Kain eyed him.
"That would be later. I'm supposed to focus on finding a woman who will stand by my side. I don't have to love her…"
His mother cut him short.
"No. You're supposed to find a mate. Your destined mate." The eight men in the king's courtroom murmured in agreement.
"I've been cursed never to find a mate! What do you even think? I can't just pick a random woman to stay by my side. She'll only be a concubine." Turning to the elders, he lifted his left hand as a sign of dismissal. He had gotten what he wanted from them, they were of no use anymore.
"That will be better than having nobody at all. Your father is…"
"Go, all of you." Kain didn't allow Silvero to finish whatever he was saying. He wasn't going to take his advice, or that of the others.
As they left, his mother glared at him, obviously not happy with what he had just done.
"Your father would be disappointed." She told him without batting an eyelid.
"He should be. Can't you see the spectacle I have become? The cursed prince. It would make a cheesy story. I have to find a mate when my heart has been frozen by some witch who lives in the outskirts of the town." His voice attained a thick and scary crescendo.
"So are you just going to sit and fold your arms? If you have any plan in mind, then you have to be quick in executing it."
"Mother, I want to be left alone. I hate my life enough already, don't add to my problem." His mother knew better than to talk anymore. She heaved a sigh, wondering where she had gone wrong. All she wanted was her son's happiness. He was supposed to start a new generation of the Zander bloodline. For almost sixty years, the Zander bloodline didn't choose any of the sons born into the royal family.
Twenty eight years ago, her son was chosen to carry on the Zander's lineage, and the enchantress just had to go and ruin it. She was going to consult the elders in secret. Her son would be the weakest Alpha in the history of the Zander wolves if she just sat and watched things unfold.
Esmeralda's sisters watched with anger as they plotted her entry into the royal fashion house. She had finally agreed to roll with her mother's plan.
"Why does she have to be the one, mother?" Margot asked distastefully. Their mother ignored her and focused her attention on Esmeralda.
"I have a bird in the royal fashion house who tweets back to me occasionally." Esmeralda raised her brows.
"A spy? You have a spy in the fashion house?" Esmeralda asked.
"Yes, a spy. They put up a job vacancy for the position of a personal assistant. She works with the HR. She will submit a letter of recommendation to the prince. She claims the prince longs desperately for a personal assistant, so there would be no interview. This will be your only chance, Esmeralda. Remember, the art of seduction."
Esmeralda kept mute. Greta snorted loudly, munching an apple noisily. There her mother went with the art of seduction.
"We don't have all the time. Margot and Greta won't be far if you need them. You'll need all the help you can get at some point. Give me a notice once Ravina messages you." Her mother made to rise from her chair, but Esmeralda's question held her down.
"What if the prince recognizes me?" Esmeralda asked. Greta and Margot giggled.
"How do you mean? Do you have social media accounts?" The last question was more of an accusation. Esmeralda had been denied access to interactions of any sort on the internet. Her mother had said it would be a disastrous distraction for her.
"You don't have to worry about the prince recognizing you. You're not even popular." Margot said, laughing.
"I have somewhere to be. If there's anything you need, Esmeralda, you know where to find me." Esmeralda nodded limply. Did she even have a choice?
Prince Kain had gotten to that stage of his life where he no longer cared two cents about what people said and didn't say. He was focused on finding a way to unfreeze his frozen heart.
In the previous Zander generation, Alpha princes lived longer than the Omegas and Gammas. If he would be able to sustain his almost hopeless bloodline, he needed to find another alternative. He didn't have to love any woman. Loving his mate wasn't compulsory, but it was part of what was supposed to keep his mate plastered to his side.
His ears perked up when his door creaked open slowly. Ravina, one of the executives in HR, stuck her head out.
"Your highness, I have something for you." Kain waved her in and the rest of her body came into view. Ravina was one of the many women he had slept with. Something he never thought would put him in hot soup until he saw her at work one day.
"I have a letter of recommendation concerning the job vacancy you asked us to put up." She dropped a brown envelope on his desk in front of him. Her hand lingered on the envelope and Kain looked up finally to give her a wary look.
"Open it." Ravina picked the envelope and tore out the seal. She had only planned to drop the letter and leave right away. Rustling of paper filled the room for a few seconds until she pulled it out. She stretched it out to him.
"Read it aloud. Just the name and her previous work experience." Ravina nodded.
"Esmeralda Furler. Content Writer at Romania Book Tower." The prince stopped scribbling for a minute. Ravina lowered the paper to take a peek at him.
"What name is that?" He asked, wondering what person bore such a rare name. And why was Ravina recommending a woman?
"Romanian." Ravina's voice quivered as she spoke. The prince nodded and resumed scribbling. Something about the lady's name seemed to interest him. Esmeralda? As in Emerald?
"Do I have to go through it? Send whoever it is an email already." Even as he spoke, he was repeating the name in his head. Esmeralda. He hoped she wouldn't be like most strong-headed women that had worked with him in the past. He didn't like timid women either. The last woman left and never returned when she heard he was from a wolf bloodline.
The last personal assistant he had was a man who thought him to be a product of some science experiment gone wrong.
Whoever the new woman was, he hoped she would be…. Submissive, maybe?