Chapter 4 Frozen

"I want you to meet someone," Jai declared as he stared straight at Malia who sat across the table from him.

"Who is it father?" Malia asked immediately, as she felt a bad premonition of what she was about to hear.

"Gregory Brine, The man you are going to marry." He responded before going back to his meal like he did not just say something so shocking.

Everyone at the table froze as they started at King Jai in shock.

Malia was the most shocked of them all.

"The man I am going to marry? What do you mean by that father? Is this some sort of a joke?" She asked urgently, panic seeping into her voice.

Jai did not care about her disrespectful tone and replied to her slowly.

"You heard me right. I do not joke about matters such as this." King Jai responded with a serious look.

Cecilia clenched her fists till her nails dug deep into her skin as she was enveloped in jealousy. She was careful not to change her expression, so the only indication of her displeasure was her pale face.

Why does this bitch get to have such an accomplished man? I am the one who deserves someone as good as that!

Everyone at the table aside from Malia had heard about Prince Gregory, the second prince of Sylvia.

Gregory was an accomplished prince who had gone on many quests for his Kingdom, so even though he was the second prince, he was awarded the respect of the first.

If not for the strictly binding familial laws, he would have been made crown prince.

It was also said that he was a very handsome gentleman who never slept around like other men.

Men like that were rare!

"Father, you cannot just make such a decision about my life and expect me to happily go along with it. I normally listen to you and take whatever suffering is being dealt to me because I feel like I spoiled your family, but you cannot just dictate who I will spend the rest of my life with. That's just crossing my bottom line", Malia complained firmly, feeling totally aggrieved.

How the hell was she supposed to spend her entire life with someone she didn't know? For all she knew, he might be a perverted psycho. He might also be a ruthless beast who liked to beat women to show his power.

No! I will not let this go on! A devil you know is better than a devil you are not aware of! When I asked for an escape route, it was definitely not this!

King Jai's fave twisted in displeasure as the pressure in the room mounted.

His wolf was threatening to come out at the challenge of its authority, but he restrained himself as much as he could lest he tore her apart.

"Little girl!" He roared in a dominant voice that made everyone in the room besides Malia whimper.

The king was truly angry now.

As much as Cecilia agreed with Malia on not letting her marry Gregory, she still secretly felt overjoyed that her father would reprimand Malia.

He had never gotten angry with Malia before, as he was totally indifferent, so she was happy at his outburst.

Malia, on the other hand, weirdly did not feel scared as she stared straight at her father.

He noticed that she was not scared and it made him raise his brow in surprise. He suddenly saw a reflection of the valiant and brave woman who he had tainted forcefully in her and it made him back down.

"I do not want to repeat myself, as it would be a waste of time. Just know that you were raised by me for this moment or did you think you would continue to freeload in my house without payment? Since you are my child though, I will be a bit more lenient towards you" he announced firmly.

Malia's hope increased when she heard that but his next words dashed her hopes totally.

"I will give you a chance to have three dates with him so you can get to know him better, but after that, you will both get married. Look at you complaining like a child. You ought to be happy that you managed to attract the attention of such an accomplished prince with your lowly mother's bloodline. If he hadn't specifically asked for you, I would have let Cecilia marry him instead, so be grateful." He said self-righteously like he did Malia a big favor.

Malia wanted to cry so badly but she did not want to give him the satisfaction of watching her at her lowest point, so she did not respond and stood up immediately to walk back to her room.

As she turned to leave, she halted when she heard his voice again.

"You are to meet him today, so go and prepare. You can stay in your former room as we do not want Gregory saying we maltreat you. It's bad for my reputation. Make sure to dress very prettily, as I don't want him to change his mind because you are too shabbily dressed. Dress to impress!" He instructed, stating at the back of her head.

Malia just stood there like a statue as her heart broke a million times over.

"You can go and prepare now as the time for your date will soon be here." He said, dismissing her

Malia walked away from the table with fast strides and she felt really suffocated.

When she was in the comfort of her closed room, she finally broke down.

She cried and cried as she imagined her life after this date.

......

Malia walked into the high end restaurant and looked around.

She was currently wearing a white pleated gown that had black stripes at the edges.

She had packed her hair in a bun and decorated it with black pins.

She currently looks like a proper princess.

Her eyes soon stopped on the table.

There was a man sitting by him there, so she guessed him to be Gregory. She examined him carefully and couldn't help but appreciate his looks even though she didn't want to marry him.

He looked to be in his twenties and he had maroon hair. His face was very chiseled and defined. He screamed strong beauty.

That was not enough to move Malia though.

He seemed to have sensed her, so he looked up.

She happened to see that his eyes were auburn, but since she wasn't close enough, she couldn't see it clearly. She couldn't tell clearly.

She walked towards him and sat down before dropping her bag beside her chair.

She looked up and suddenly froze as she stared at his eyes.

"Mate!" He suddenly called out and that snapped her out of her thoughts.

Wait what?