The Royal Contract

"Mom, Laura. I hope you don't mind if I borrow Dani for a few minutes." Alex interrupted the discussion about some latest fashion that was on the trend today.

He could see her struggle to keep up with the two, too polite to excuse herself from the ongoing argument. But he could see right through her facade. She was dying of boredom and needed some rescuing. 

He knew that it was time that her knight came out of hiding and saved her from her current situation. His instinct told him that she would appreciate it if he meddled with her affair at this point.

"Sure, go ahead. Have fun with the two of you. Enjoy the night," Laura encouraged her daughter to go with Alex. 

She would forever be thankful that Alex became a part of Dani's life. They were so perfect together. She could already see them in their wedding clothes, about to march the aisle. 

If only they could move it earlier because she could not wait for them to be married. And, of course, they could not wait for their grandchildren.

"Thanks," Alex said, whisking Dani away from them and towards the end of the ballroom.

"Look at the two of them," Katherine whispered to her friend. She watched his son holding Dani as if she was the most precious thing in the world. "I only wish them happiness, like what we have."

"Yes, I can't wait to see Dani's face later when Alex presents his final gift tonight." Laura giggled at the thought.

When she first heard of Alex's plan, she was ecstatic about it. But she was also slightly confused. But Alex managed to explain to her that he just wanted it to be perfect.

"Me, too." Katherine was so proud of the son she raised. He had grown up to be a fine man.

Dani was lucky to have him, but she believed that his son was fortunate to have met a girl like her. She could never find a flaw in Dani. She checked every box that his son would need in a life partner.

Alex, on the other hand, ushered Dani into an open door. He had reserved this lounge room only for the two of them. He knew that he would require a space where they could escape during the event.

"Thanks for rescuing me out there." She sighed in relief as she walked forward to the couch and dropped dead on the soft cushion. She did not care anymore if she looked like a sack of potato.

She was exhausted after dancing and standing for a long time. She could feel her feet were about to declare a protest. Not to mention her entire body and her muscles that were starting to complain.

"I can see that you needed a few minutes of break." He stood beside her on the couch and leaned forward to her.

He started massaging her neck and shoulders, trying to relieve the stiffness of her muscles. He wanted her to relax and to enjoy what was about to happen next.

"How come you know what I always need? As if you can always read my mind." She questioned him while she closed her eyes.

His hands worked their magic on her skin. His fingers penetrated every sinewy muscle on her body, untangling the stress and releasing the pressure the night had created. 

She felt like she was in heaven as he continued to work on the tightness of her body. However, another form of tension was building inside of her, another need that wanted attention.

"Because you always tell me with your action or through your expression what you want from me." He whispered through her ear, tickling her with the vibration of his voice, making her shiver in delight.

"Come here." She looked up to him and stared at his face. "Sit beside me." She tapped the space beside her, wanting only to feel his arms around 

"What's going through your mind?" He asked, moving around the couch, and sitting beside her.

She held his hands and stared at his eyes. All she could see was the love that was circling in its orbs. She was sure that the same emotion was reflecting in hers. 

"Thanks so much for doing all of this for me. I see all your effort to make this perfect." She held his face in her hands as she felt a tear dropped down on her cheeks.

"Why are you crying?" He asked, wiping the tear with the palm of his thumb. He never liked seeing her cry. "Did I do something wrong?" Alarmed that he might make a mistake.

"No, you did the exact opposite. You made everything so beautiful. All because you want to make me happy. I feel so blessed to have you." Dani confessed, smiling despite the tear on her face.

"It is nothing compared to what you have brought to my life. You have changed me in so many ways." If not for her, he would still be in his quest for the meaning of his life. 

"Well, I hope that we are not keeping score." She suddenly teased him, laughing in between her tears of joy. 

"I'm positive that I am leading the scoreboard." He responded with a chuckle as he enveloped her in an embrace.

He liked it more when she was beaming with happiness. He would keep telling her all his bad jokes that he could come up with if that would bring a smile to her face.

"But seriously, enough of this crying." She grabbed the white hanky that he produced from his pocket and dabbed it on her face. Careful not to ruin further her makeup. 

She still had to face the crowd outside later. She did not want to look like a monster with her face smudged with the different colors on her face.

"I want to tell you something." "I have something to tell you." Both of them simultaneously said to one another, which both of them ended up laughing.

"Jinx." They both said again.

"Double jinx." This time, it was too much of a coincidence.

"Anyway, you go first," Dani said because she could sense that what he was about to say was very important.

Although she believed what she was supposed to say was equally important, he should tell his opinion first. But before any of the two of them could utter a word, a knock on the door interrupted them.

"Excuse me, Sir, to disturb you, but you are requested to come outside." His secretary said. From the expression on her face, there was some urgency in it. 

"I think we should go and check it out," Dani said, seeing that it might be a problem that they needed to handle.

Occasions this big always ended up with a problem or two, even if it was almost at its end. But at least, the entire program was soon ending, and the situation did not happen at the very beginning.

That would have been a nightmare for the organizers and Alex. At least, this one would surely be easy to fix. "What's going on?" She heard Alex asked Alona.

Alona hardly said anything yet when she saw the problem standing on the stage. She could hear a familiar voice was speaking on the microphone, broadcasting his message to the guests who cared to listen.

She saw Edward together with Nick as they neared the stage.. As the speech became more audible, she understood now what might be the big fuzz as whispers circulated among the crowd.