The Royal Contract

Ethan noticed that the parents of Alexander still had no clue of their son's association with their daughter, basing on the expression on the other man's face. Even his wife seemed to be caught unaware.

"What my husband is trying to say is that your son, Alexander, is currently dating our daughter, Daniella." It was Laura who finally clarified the situation to the other couple who was seating across from them.

Laura did not favor his husband's plan of meddling with their daughter's affair. When she found out that he was planning to visit the father of Alexander, she tried to stop him. But his husband was a stubborn man, so when she could not stop him, she decided to join him.

Although Ethan promised that this was not a business meeting, but just two families, wanting to get to know each other. She would still stick her nose into his business making sure that her daughter's interest would be their priority.

"You have to forgive my son if he had not yet introduced your daughter to us." This time, Katherine answered for their side, defending his son's actions. "Maybe he was still waiting for his birthday." 

Katherine was a bit surprised that Alexander had not mentioned that he was dating anyone. Although she knew that his husband was forcing him to find a wife because of their tradition, she was expecting that Alex would at least tell her about the girl he had chosen to marry.

Their discussion was interrupted by the head butler, informing them that the dinner was already served in the main dining room. The host couple invited them to follow them into another part of the house where they could continue their conversation during the meal. 

"If you must know, Alexander is celebrating his birthday this coming weekend. And in our tradition, he is supposed to present us a fiancé that he has to marry within six months." Fred told their visitor who he assumed had no idea of their customs.

"What are you saying?" This time, it was Ethan who was not made aware of this latest development. This was not included in the report he got from his investigators.

He could not believe that such a tradition still existed in this day and age. Although he was quite aware of marriage because of mergers and business tactics, still he did not condone using her daughter in such a manner.

Although he tried to find her a suitable suitor, he always left it to her to choose who she would fall in love with. He wanted her to find the fairy tale romance that he found with her mother, Laura.

The only mistake he made was to trust Nick completely, leaving her daughter vulnerable and hurt in the end.

"You said that he is currently dating your daughter, then it is more than likely that she is the one that he will be introducing to us as his fiancé." Fred surmised what he believed to be the only logical explanation to their children's relationship.

He looked at her wife, questioning her in his stare if she had any knowledge of this. But when she seemed to be dumbfounded by the news herself, then he knew that his daughter was keeping from both of them her plans.

He could not just sit here and let his daughter marry someone that he was not sure he could trust not to hurt his daughter. He had to think of something and fast.

"I think if they felt that they are ready to commit to each other, then we should not meddle to their affairs." Laura finally voiced out her opinion on the matter.

She could already see the wheels on his husband's mind turning, coming up on ways to interfere in their daughter's decision. She would not stand idly by and allow him to intrude again in their daughter's affair.

"I agree with Laura. I think we should let Alexander and Daniella make their decisions on their own life." Katherine disregarded his husband's glare. 

She knew she was going against their tradition, but he loved his son more. If his son would like to marry Daniella then that would be well and good, but if at some point, he wished to back away from the marriage, she felt that he should.

"But Katherine, it is not as if I was forcing him. It is a tradition that we can't break. He willingly agreed to follow the tradition." He informed his wife and their guests as well.

They should know that if their son asked her to marry him, then their daughter also willingly agreed to marry him without any of them forcing them.

"We understand that our kids can be stubborn sometimes, thinking that they already knew better whatever they needed to learn about life. But we are here to make sure that they are not making any mistakes that can jeopardize their future." Ethan opened up the conversation with his thoughts. 

He was not a man of many words. He did not like beating around the bush. If he wanted to discuss something, he would immediately say it without using too many colloquial words that meant nothing to him.

He was not letting her daughter date a man, let alone marry him, that he was not sure of his background and character. He had learned his lesson and he would make sure that this time around, the man would earn his place in his daughter's side. 

"I could not agree more," Fred said with approval as he raised his glass to Ethan. "So, what do you have in mind?"

The two women at their side could only speculate what the two were talking about. But they would be listening vigilantly to make sure that their husbands would not go overboard with their plans. Katherine and Laura knew that their husbands would not put their kids in harms' way.

That they were only thinking of what would be best for their kids' future and their families. 

Both wives would stand by their husbands' decision as long as it did not impede too much on their children's freedom, to live their life according to their wishes.

But with the two fathers teaming up, the two women were not sure if they could match up.