The Royal Contract

"Please, I'm sorry. I will take all the blame for all the things that happened to you this morning. You are a guest in my home, and I should have been better as your host." Alex kept apologizing to Dani after their incident in her room.

He did not mean to do all the things he did. Although he did find it funny, he knew that it was wrong. He had to make up for his mistake. He needed Dani to forgive him.

"I could not believe that you can be so childish. Did your parents not raise you right?" She was still irritated at his actions. None of the things she experienced this morning would have happened if he only acted with his brain and not his. She did not finish the thought, not wanting her mind to go somewhere forbidden.

"That is why I am asking for your forgiveness because I am ashamed of the way I acted or my lack of action." He was unsure what he was sorry for, but he had to beg for her forgiveness if they were to last a week together.

"Ok. We could not act mad at each other anyway, or our families would start questioning us more." She conceded. "Although I would expect you to act better."

She did not want to involve their families more in whatever was their arrangement. If they could slip away from this breakfast, she would gladly do it. She did not want to be under the constant scrutiny of both their parents. Well, not now or the rest of the weeks remaining if they could do something about it.

"Of course, but lighten up a bit. Didn't you even find the entire morning a bit funny?" He could not help but smile upon remembering the incident.

"No." She looked at him with daggers in her eyes. She was not in the mood for his games, not when their family was looking at them. He just put up his hand as a silent surrender but never spoke a word again.

"There you are. We had been waiting for the two of you." His mother greeted them as she and Alex approached the table where they served breakfast.

"We are sorry, we are slightly late." Alex was the one to speak first. He could sense that Dani was still slightly mad at him.

"No worries. Come on, take a seat." Fred, this time offered the seat next to him.

Alex immediately helped her to the seat while he took the one next to her. Dani saw that her father was on the other end of the table with her mother on his right side.

Then, Marcus finally joined them too. He sat on the other side of Dani's father, next to Alex. As she expected, Jacky was nowhere in sight. Breakfast resumed as everybody dug into the food placed in front of them. 

"What do you think of duck hunting?" Fred asked Ethan, who was sitting opposite of him on the rectangular eight-seater table. "There is a nice pond not far from here." He pointed to the other side of the castle.

"Sure. I could use some exercise." Ethan accepted the offer.

"What about you, Alex?" The duke asked his son as he drank his coffee.

"If you don't mind, I have to pass. I promised Dani that I would take her out to the old castle." He made his excuse. When Dani looked at him funnily, he had to pinch her to agree with his alibi.

"Yes, we already had plans to go out this morning." Dani pinched him back. She had not agreed to any plans with him, but she had no choice.

"What about you, Marcus? Would you like to join us?" Fred looked at his son's friend.

"I'm sorry, but I already arranged to meet Jacky." He also excused himself from the task of spending time with the patriarchs of the family. He did not want to be in the middle of the two imposing men.

Dani looked at Marcus upon hearing her friend's name. There was no way Marcus was meeting Jacky, she thought. But she figured that Marcus was only using Jacky to get away from going out with them.

"I'm sorry, I forgot, but Jacky asked me to tell you that she could not make it today. So, I believe that you have the whole morning free to join them." Dani informed Marcus in front of their families.

She wanted to sympathize with her friend for what Marcus did. It was payback for ditching her friend for another girl after asking her to be his date.

"Then, you are free to join us then, Marcus. That is great." Ethan announced, wanting another man to buffer between him and the duke.

"I guess I am." Marcus looked at Dani, questioning her action. But when she saw the expression on her face, he already knew that she was out for revenge. He could not blame her. It was indeed his fault.

Alex just tapped him on the shoulder and wished him good luck. "Just enjoy it." Alex smiled at the fate of his friend.

Alex did not know what brought the wrath of Dani on his friend, but whatever it was, it must have something to do with Jacky, who was missing at this breakfast table.

"What about you ladies? Any plans for today." Ethan asked her wife.

"Katherine asked me to join her in her missionary work today," Laura informed her husband. 

Then, the ladies both smiled. They were not going on any charitable campaign but a mission to pamper themselves.

"We were about to ask Dani to join us, but it would seem that she already had plans," Katherine said with disappointment in her tone.

"I am sure Alex and Dani can still postpone their trip to another time. It is such a waste if they would miss out on spending some time with their families. It is such a rare occasion." Marcus pointed out, looking both at Alex and Dani, before focusing his attention on their parents.

"Then it is settled then. The men are going hunting, and the ladies can do whatever they like." Fred said, not at all fooled by her wife's plans.

Marcus was not about to suffer by himself, not if he could help it. He looked at his friend, who was shooting daggers at him. "I would rather enjoy this with you." He whispered to Alex, who was seated at his side.

"Great job, man," Alex also whispered to his friend, making sure to put a lot of sarcasm on his voice. He could only smile at his friend. 

Anyway, he could not blame him if he did not want to be stuck with the other older men alone. As the saying went, one for all, all for one. "I have a better idea. Call Evan and David. They are also coming with us." He told Marcus.

Their friends were still probably sleeping right now in one of the rooms, he thought. He was unaware of what happened to them last night since they were all busy with their activities.

"Great. The more, the merrier." Ethan seconded the new plan. He was looking forward to spending some time not only with the duke but also with his son. He could not wait for their morning activity to start. The hunt was on.