Chapter 4 Ultimate Alpha Heir

"You seem distracted and moody. Still having problem sleeping?" Darius asked with concern.

"Yeah...sort of..." Leonard mumbled in reply.

He had been taking pills to help him go to sleep at night, although it didn't seem to help much. He glanced at Darius's worried face and decided his brother didn't need to know that.

"Back to the topic. We can't send Florian. The reason is simple: he turns up to that event often enough of his own will that it doesn't make sense to make him represent the nation," Darius explained smoothly.

"Well...fuck..." Leonard cursed under his breath.

Suddenly, a few knocks sounded from the other side of the door to the room. The two men heard it at the same time. Prince Leonard rolled his eyes before throwing his head back and closing his eyes. If he could choose, he would decide to disappear into thin air without a second thought. Darius shook his head slightly before he got up from his seat and approached the door.

"It's me. The King's senior advisor, Callum," a low and stern voice, introduced himself from the other side of the door.

Wordlessly, Darius opened the door and gestured for the older man to enter the room. He knew that Leonard also knew who was at the door, which explained his reaction. Leonard still had his hands covering his face when the two men approached the table.

"You won't succeed in hiding behind your hands, Prince Leonard," Callum said without mercy.

"What do you and my old man want?" Leonard asked without bothering to hide his annoyance.

Callum narrowed his eyes when he spied Leonard staring at him through the cracks in his fingers. The older man was already in his fifties and couldn't wait to retire. However, the next king who would take over the throne had yet to be decided, and that was one of the main things standing between him and his long-awaited retirement, on top of the security and stability of this Kingdom.

"The king and the ministers have assigned me to inform you of the items we expect you to choose and purchase from the upcoming auction. This is the list of things we would like your assistance at procuring at the auction tomorrow," the old man said before he bowed and presented a printed booklet to the prince.

Seeing that he didn't seem to have a choice in the matter, Leonard took the booklet from the older man and began flipping through it with no signs of interest. The older man began going through the items on the list, starting from the top. Leonard wasn't bothered to listen to the older man as his eyes quickly scanned the items listed. Nothing was unusual or unexpected. Rare artworks, vintage jewelry, sculptures, and ancient rocks from some historical building that he had no interest in. Everything seemed normal and good until his eyes landed on the last item on the list.

Leonard sucked in a breath and held it as his clear blue eyes narrowed in distaste at the last item listed on the list: a virgin woman.

"As for the final item on the list. The King and ministers have insisted that you purchase a virgin woman of your choice..." Callum said, his tone serious.

"Wow. It seems like they are truly getting impatient if they're going as far as to purchase a woman. As if there isn't enough of them in the sacred chambers already," Darius said, sounding more amused than surprised.

The implications of what the King and the minister had in mind were clear to Leonard, which disgusted him even more. Suggesting that he buy a woman...

"Well, all you have to do is choose and buy her. It's not that bad. She can become a maid or something in the castle," Darius said to lighten the mood.

"It's my job to purchase her. That's it. My role doesn't extend beyond that, and I don't intend to have anything to do with her..." Leonard stated coldly.

"Always so cold..." Darius said before sighing.

"If there is nothing else, you can leave..." Leonard quickly dismissed Callum.

He didn't need the older man to remain here longer. His objections wouldn't be resolved even if he raised them to Callum. Orders from the king were absolute, and that was that. Callum bowed politely before quickly making a quiet exit out of the room.

"I don't want to hear that from you. The ministers have been bugging me about your refusal to select a mating partner from the sacred chambers," Leonard shot back at his brother after he was sure that Callum was out of earshot.

"Instead of wasting my time on those matters, I would rather focus on how to put you on the throne as fast as possible," Darius countered with a smirk.

"It would put my soul at ease if you're the one sitting on it instead of me..." Leonard replied without a second thought.

"Please don't say something like that, and please don't ever voice this in front of anyone except me. The one who will take the throne will be you and no one else. I will make sure of it," Darius stated confidently.

"You were born first anyways...why couldn't we have switched mothers..." Leonard mumbled wistfully.

"You will be the next king, Leonard," Darius said firmly.

Leonard shook his head. Producing the ultimate alpha heir to take over the throne was complicated and something he didn't intend to do. It was a miracle how the current king managed to father three ultimate alpha heirs who all qualified to battle each other for the throne as his next successor. Many things about the current regime disgusted him, but at the core of it all, he hated that he was born a wolf...and an Ultimate Alpha on top of that.

--To be continued...