The Royal Contract

She went straight to the living room as soon as their escort delivered them to the Rose villa. She preferred staying in this little house in comparison to the castle.

She slumped down on the soft cushion of the sofa, putting her feet up on the center table. She allowed her body to relax, closing her eyes on the process.

"I'm sorry." It was the only words that came out of his mouth, but she already knew what he was apologizing for, from the way things went with their meetings.

Their parents kept telling them that their opinion mattered. They had the final say in what will happen at the wedding. But when they both saw the extent of the ceremony, both Alex and Dani were not prepared.

"Did you see the size of that cake?" She uttered in disbelief, recalling the picture and the details of the wedding cake.

But that was not the only thing that surprised her. The enormity of the guest lists was beyond her imagination. When she said that she would prefer a smaller wedding ceremony, this was not what she was expecting.

"Honestly, I have no idea that they could bake a cake like that." But he did love the taste of the raspberry combined with white chocolate. "In any consolation, the selections were quite good."

He did not find any fault in the food tasting as everything was done exceptionally well. But he did agree that their parents had overdone the preparation.

"With that amount of food, we could probably feed a quarter of your country." She said exasperatedly. Although she had exaggerated her estimation, she still believed it was just too much.

She was just not a fan of too extravagant gatherings, but she knew she could not fight their tradition. Still, she could not help but protest.

She opened her eyes to stare at her fiance, who was now looming over her. He stood in front of the couch, staring at her miserable existence.

"Come on. Maybe we can let it slide just for now. After all, it is just one day. After that, we have the entire future together." Alex allowed his body to sink on the sofa beside her.

He rearranged her body until she was aligned with the sofa, lying down comfortably with her head on a throw pillow, and her feet on his lap.

He could tell that she was exhausted from the busy schedule since they arrived. Even he could feel the tiredness of his muscles and the aching of his feet from the stressful day.

"What else can I do?" She resigned to her fate. Despite the numerous things that she never envisioned in her dream wedding, she had to push through with the ceremony.

She could not disappoint her mom and Katherine after all the effort they had put into this event. They were only thinking of what would be best. She could not find fault in that.

Besides, she was marrying a prince. She should have already expected this kind of situation. It was her fault for not being hands-on in the preparation and letting them do all the heavy lifting. Now, she had to accept the consequence.

"I suggest we just enjoy the ride." Alex could not think of any other way than to let the inevitable happen. 

He started working with his hands in her foot, easing the tension on her muscles. Then, he allowed his fingers to move around her toes and then applied some pressure on the sole of her feet.

Judging from her silence, she was already enjoying the massage he was giving her. He believed in that aspect. There was something he could do to help her.

"I am certainly enjoying this one." She finally breathlessly muttered as he hit another pressure point under the sole of her feet.

Her foot was killing her from moving from one place to the other, then from walking the long hallways of the palace. She wondered how anyone could ever live in such an enormous space.

She had grown up in a huge mansion, but it was still relatively small compared to the palace. The ballroom alone was massive that she could already imagine the number of people that would fit in that enormous room.

"Then, allow me to ease some of your tension." He could feel in her tense muscles the strain of the wedding on her. 

She only just recovered from her accident. Alex did not want her to relapse into another ailment because of the pressure of this wedding.

"Thanks. I really needed this." She could call for a professional masseuse to help her relieve her strained muscles. But she preferred his hands over her body because it also gave her other pleasures that no other hands could provide.

With his skillful hands, all her troubles were slipping away. But she did remember something that caught her attention earlier during the meeting with the coordinators.

The only thing that she had loved about the plan that they made was the church where they would take their vows. It was a magnificent archaic work of art, an architectural structure worthy of praise due to its beauty and grandeur.

She already fell in love with the place from the pictures. She could not wait to see it with her own eyes. She could already imagine its colorful designs and its intriguing history.

So far, it was leading in her list of things she liked about this wedding. Except, of course, her groom, who would always be on the top of the list.

"Can I still suggest that we run away tonight and head out to the courtroom?" He jested as his hands worked on her ankles, slowly working their way up her calves. Slightly teasing her, promising for something more.

"I suddenly wish that we run away to Las Vegas and allowed Elvis to perform the ceremony." She answered back with disappointment in her voice.

But her protest was short-lived as the next sound that came out of her lips was far from a complaint.. Her words slowly turned into a series of moans as she felt his magic touch.