The Alpha Prince's Purchased Maid
Chapter 173: Cage of Gold

Chapter 173: Cage of Gold

“That just sounds sick...” Leonard spat.

“How long are you going to stay away from her?” Darius asked.

“You don’t have to worry so much about her. I already sent her a gift that I’m sure that she would like,” Leonard replied to get his brother off his case.

“Oh, a gift?” Darius said with pleasant surprise as his grey eyes lit up.

“Yes, a gift. So, you can stop nagging me about Mila now. By the way, can you help me out with my work, brother?” Leonard asked sarcastically.

“I’m always helping you and covering for you,” Darius said with a hint of complaint.

“If you don’t want me to be king, you don’t have to...” Leonard said with a careless shrug.

“Fine. I’ll take some tasks off of your hands. I have a trip coming up, so you’ll have to deal with your own work while I’m away,” Darius said as he finally gave in.

“Where are you going?” Leonard asked with some surprise.

“Abroad. Don’t worry, I’m not leaving you alone here to suffer while I go on holiday. It’s an official visit,” Darius explained.

“Darius...” Leonard called his brother’s name as an idea formed in his mind.

“What is it?” Darius asked as he sensed some trouble.

“Let’s trade. I’ll go on the official visit in your place. What do you say?” Leonard suggested brightly.

“Why would you want to do that? Normally you hate these things,” Darius asked as his eyes narrowed in suspicion.

“Can you stop asking so many questions. Will you switch with me or not?” Leonard asked again.

“Fine. It might be better for the future king to build some relationship with our key trade partners,” Darius finally agreed after a moment of thought.

“Thank you, I owe you one,” Leonard replied before he flashed his brother a smile.

“No, you owe me many...” Darius said with a smile of his own.

Darius decided to take his leave to return to his palace and left Leonard’s study. Once the door closed behind him, he heaved a sigh while he wondered if he had chosen to do the right thing or not. To his surprise, he turned to see Callum standing right in front of him. It was clear that the old man was here to see Leonard.

“Oh, please make it so that Leonard will replace me on the upcoming official visit,” Darius said with a smile.

“I don’t think there will be any issues, but may I please know the reason why you won’t be able to make it?” Callum asked politely.

“I’m not sure but if I had to guess it’s probably because we’re normally required to bring a partner as our escort on official visits...” Darius replied as he made a thoughtful face.

Callum made a confused face, but Darius just laughed everything off and ignored him before turning to walk away down the hallway.

...

The sunset didn’t look as attractive as it normally does today. Its color felt less vibrant, and the sun’s rays didn’t help make me feel warm inside. The reality of my new situation started to sink in, and reality never felt so merciless. It didn’t matter what kind of fancy title they attached to this kind of life, the truth was that I was simply a prisoner locked up in this building called the Sacred Chambers.

The sun had completely set, and the last rays of the sun had started to disappear from the horizon. The lights in the garden had been switched on and the orange light illuminated some parts of the rose bushes down below. I stared off into the sky as the light from the sun slowly faded until night arrived and the entire sky turned dark.

Beautiful clouds disappeared from the sky and were replaced by the twinkle of the stars above. I was sure that the sunset would look much more attractive under other circumstances. The night was silent and the only sound that I could hear was that of the wind howling. I wondered how many days and nights would simply pass by like this without anything happening.

A gust of cold wind made me shiver. My arms folded around my body as I hugged my body as if to protect myself from harm. Staring down at the rose bushes in the garden reminded me of the time when I first spotted the very large black wolf with piercing blue eyes.

Where did you go off to?

The night suddenly got much windier, and I had to retreat back inside of my room. For the first time, I began to fully understand why Madame Sand told me to remember that my life here depended on the favor that I earned from the prince. A self-depreciating laugh escaped my lips and I had to place my hand over my mouth to stop myself from laughing any louder. I should have realized it soon that the prince was my only key out of this place.

The rooms assigned to me had everything that I could ever need. It felt sinful to me at first that one person was given this much room to herself. Not to mention that it came with a large group of overly enthusiastic staff who were more than willing to cater to my every wish. All of that was readily available to me and I had never lived such a life of luxury. However, the price that I had to pay for that was too high for me to accept.

I can’t believe that I traded my freedom for this...

After closing the balcony door behind me, I turned around and was greeted with the sound of someone knocking quite loudly on my door.

Madame Sand?

“Coming!” I called out to whoever was knocking on my door.

I didn’t think that Madame Sand would knock so hard and so loudly on my door like this unless there was something very urgent. It just didn’t seem like her at all...

“Yes?” I said inquiringly just as I opened the door.

“Surprise!”

I blinked rapidly at the joyful faces of my two friends and their cheerful announcement of their sudden arrival. To say that I was surprised would be a little bit of an understatement. The last time those two were here, they were here to deliver me dinner. I looked down at their empty hands and realized that that wasn’t the purpose of their visit this evening.

--To be continued...

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