Conquering His Cold Heart

Everard whined like a child upon realizing that he slept for 12 hours straight because he was still feeling sleepy even after sleeping for that long.

And although he would have loved to pull the blanket and go right back to sleep for a few more hours, he knew that he couldn’t do so since today’s ceremony would be incomplete without him.

He forced himself to drag his body out of the sofa and then sluggishly walked towards the bathroom.

Seeing the King finally awake, Jerome ran out of the King’s chamber so that he could ask the maids to prepare his bath and breakfast/dinner.

Everard was lazily brushing his teeth with his eyes closed when he heard a few maids greeting him. He simply waved his hand at them and let them rush in and out of the bathroom.

After a while, a maid informed, “Your Majesty, your bath is ready.”

Everard was still closing his eyes when he stepped inside the tub, and he nearly slipped and fell down. Startled, he was finally fully awake.

Several maids helped him with the bath so that they could make the King ready by the deadline that was given to them by Jerome. As soon as Everard was out of the bath, they dried him and then led him to his dressing room.

.....

Everard examined the new suit and mumbled to himself, “It’s a shame that it will tear into several pieces in a few hours.”

The maids helped him get dressed within a few minutes. And like before, quite a handful of them were hovering around him. Some of them were combing his hair, some were helping him choose the accessories, and some were helping him with his shoes.

Within 5:30 PM, Everard was ready to head towards the dining hall.

He was presented with several mouthwatering dishes. “Ah! I’m famished!” he mumbled as he inhaled the aroma that was floating around in the dining hall.

As soon as he took his seat, he began munching on a huge piece of turkey leg. Since he hadn’t had proper food last night, he stuffed himself with several other dishes until he couldn’t breathe anymore.

Jerome soon entered the dining hall and when he saw the King leaning back on his chair, he asked, “Your Majesty, shall we head out now? All the preparations have been done.”

Everard raised his hand and mumbled while making a stopping gesture, “Give me a minute. I need to breathe.”

Jerome pursed his lips and kept on standing right where he was until the King was ready to get up and leave.

“Okay.” Everard finally got up on his feet. And as he was walking down the corridor, while being followed by Jerome, he asked, “What do I need to do as soon as I reach there in the hall?”

Jerome heaved a deep sigh before answering, “You will be an audience to the competition where the candidates for the beta of the clan will fight against each other.”

“Oh!” Everard looked excited upon hearing that. “Then I will see you in your battle mode today, huh?” He squirmed with excitement and squealed, “It’s going to be fun.”

Jerome scoffed because he was under so much pressure right now, and Everard was enjoying it.

Sensing the anxiousness of Jerome, Everard gave him a pat on his shoulder and said with a bright smile, “I know you are going to prevail over the others. Just relax and show them who the boss is.”

Jerome gave a nervous smile and said, “You really have too much faith in me.”

“That I do.” Everard smiled and turned to look at all the carriages that were waiting in front of the main entrance. He looked back at Jerome and then said while beaming, “All the best, Jerome. I hope to see you as my Beta. So, you better win.”

Jerome looked at the King. He could feel the warmth that Everard was emitting. And he felt somewhat proud that Everard didn’t continue to spiral down the wrong path.

Seeing Everard’s innocent and warm smile, he felt motivated to win. ‘I have to protect this smile of his. I cannot forgive myself if he goes back to behaving the way he did right after losing his father.’

His eyes glistened when he recalled the vow he had made to the late King. ‘He won’t forgive me if I fail to protect the King,’ he thought to himself and looked ahead with a determined look on his face.

—

Not just the castle, the Atkinson Mansion was also bustling with all the preparation that was going on for the night.

Unlike the King who was heading for the Great Hall for the ceremony, the members of the Atkinson clan had gathered in the Atkinson Mansion for the ceremony to instate the alpha and the beta of the clan.

“How long until the ceremony begins?” Regulus restlessly asked Jake.

Jake was busy looking at the guest list. He was checking to see how many of the guests were yet to arrive for the ceremony.

He lifted his head and then answered Regulus, “About an hour left, Milord.”

Regulus sighed and then began tapping his leg on the floor. Ever since he had that coincidental encounter with the coachman and learned that it was the King who was the real culprit, he was restlessly waiting for this night to arrive.

He intended to crash the gathering of the Crestfire clan and confront Everard for killing Romulus in front of the mass so that Everard wouldn’t be able to sweep the matter under the rug.

Regulus stepped out of the mansion to stare at the sky. The full moon was yet to rise. He narrowed his eyes at the empty sky and thought to himself, ‘Just you wait, King Everard. I am going to make sure that you pay for what you did.’