Crownprince

I AM DEFINITELY BLUFFING AND ITS WORKING

I am practically applauding myself for being such a good actor. I mean I definitely see doubts coming up her little head but I can also feel that she is too surprise to even let herself believe that I was lying. She is definitely, slowly and surely falling to my trap and I can't stop now.

When Drey told me what was her reaction with all the gifts and flowers, things make sensed to me. I knew then what I must do to get her and what I must show in order to fully make her go circles in my hand. She is too easy to please, little things like branded things wont work for her so that means that simple actions like sincerity and humbleness will make her believe that I'm slowly changing and damn its true that when women see guys changing for them, its melts them to the bones and because of that, I'll definitely be able to win and succeed with my plans.

But of course to every plan there will always be a variable. Though every variable can be fixed, for example, lady Isabelle just became my first variable. Something unexpected but manageable.

When the lady servant reported to Drey that Lady Isabelle arrived and went directly to where Lady Danielle was staying, I knew from then on that someone already told her. It didn't take long for me to come up with a solution, I only needed her to act the way she always does and used that to my advantage. So I went to where the ladies are, told the servants to wait for my signal before going in and waited for the right timing to come. I knew that when Isabelle told Danielle who she really was things were getting heated and when Danielle answered disinterested, I knew that the time if finally coming. Because if theres one thing I know so well about Isabelle, its that she hates it when people doesn't mind who she really is and what shes capable of.

I quickly went inside the villa and told the lady servants to come in aswell but what made me moved faster in between the two ladies was when I saw Isabelle raised her hand to slap Danielle. I wasn't expecting for her to actually use force and I was hoping that I would just stop her from saying another verbal abuse to Danielle but things just gotten more interesting and its helping my plan go into complete success.

I stopped Isabelle from laying her hands on Danielle and it surprised both the ladies and the servants. Surely they weren't expecting me to intervene this way, I mean this is so out of the normal. I never join girls fight and this is the last time I'll ever do so because this could make a great impact on my plans.

"I will never tolerate this abusive authority under my chin" I pretended to be disappointed of Lady Isabelle just to make the act more believable. I have to show everyone including the servants that I'm not going to tolerate Isabelle attacking helpless ladies from now on. Since its not enough to just fool Danielle, I also need words floating around the castle about my action and the lady servants are the perfect people for that to happen. To add that cherry on top I even showed a little worry to lady Danielle by asking her if she was fine. When she nodded I turned my attention back to Isabelle and told the servants to bring her to my office since I actually need to make sure that she doesn't speak of this to her father.

I was left alone with Danielle and when shes not showing any signs that she wants me out I knew then that shes slowly letting me in.

"What did she want from you?" I asked her as if I was really curious though i'm pretty sure I know the reason why Isabelle was having her tantrums around Danielle. But I have to be curious in order to find out more of what Danielle thinks of Isabelle. It could help me some day.

"The same thing you want" she answers back without minding her tone which I had to ignore and pretend to be okay with. I can tell just by looking at her that shes not done yet and she's definitely going to use this opportunity to make me feel stupid for even asking her that kind of question "She thought I was here to steal you away from her so she warned me and told me where my place is. I just gave her a piece of my mind and thats how you saw her almost slapping me because she didn't really like my response" she continues "Just another person assuming things about me" she murmured that last part, well tried to because I definitely heard her loud and clear. At this point I can't really say anything else but sorry. I have to be on her good side and win her, for that to happen I'll need to up my game and do what most gentle and changed man would do.

"Well, I would like to apologize for that" I openly admitted which made her to look at me with questions written all over her face. She was naturally surprised that I even know how to say sorry, if I was in her place I might be surprised as well. I can even tell that shes having an internal battle because of this. She pinched herself which was amusing but I guess she just wanted to make sure that this was reality shes experiencing.

I remember Drey telling me to be nice and show that I truly regret what I did so I decided that this is the perfect opportunity to tell her I was sorry, not just for what happened between us but also for the things that happened today. Especially now that shes confuse and don't know what to feel.

"Since I'm already here, I might as well apologize for what I did during dinner the other day and also Drey told me you were not pleased by my actions earlier so I would like to apologize for that and for the other things that occurred" I tried my best to sound as sincere as I could and she seems to be buying it little by little.

She seems to be thinking about what I told her and shes making this ridiculous face that makes me want to laugh but couldn't or she would figure out what was I up to. So instead I flicked her forehead and made her look back to me. She scrunches her face while rubbing her forehead.

"What was the for?" She asks.

"You were obviously overthinking things and needed to go back to this moment. I am being sincere here. I know what I did was wrong thats why I wanted to do something nice for you. I thought giving your things would make you accept my apologies but Drey told me that that didn't settle well with you so the we hoped that the dinner plans would work. And this happened" I explained trying to make her believe "I actually wanted you to see that I was being sincere and I didn't go earlier because I was thinking that you didn't really want to see me so early in the morning and that it might cause you to even hate me but it turns put that I should've really gone and met you instead. So for that I'm really sorry. I hope you could forgive me and I'm still hoping that what happened this hour wouldn't change our plans for the evening?" Since I already stoop this low, I have to do it all the way, so I gave her the best charming look I could give, hoping that she'd eventually fall for it and agree to everything that I said.

She looks at me with no words coming out of her lips, at this state we won't be able to finish this conversation and we'd be stuck here the whole day. I still have some things to do and I still have a fuming Isabelle waiting in my office so an answer from Danielle now would be really great.

"So?" I broke the silence so to snap her away from her thoughts, again.

Danielle fixes herself and faced me confidently.

"I guess theres nothing wrong if I give this plans of yours a chance. Just make sure this things don't happen again" she finally answered, clearing her throat in the process as well. She looks like she's starting to regret her decision so I had to step in and make her brain stop from working, literary.

"I promise you, you regret giving me a chance to redeem myself" I raised my hand to touch the strand of her hair and tucked it behind her ear, making her back away from me. Conscious and blushing.

"We'll see. For now, maybe you should go back to your busy schedule. I don't the whole royal family to think i'm keeping you away from your work. Prince" if I didn't know better, I'd assumed she's trying to mock me or test me. But, I know better and I'm not going to let her see through me.

"Then, i'll see you later this evening" I trace my hand lightly on her arms and I felt her shiver in my touch making me smile inside my head. She moves a little bit way from me, avoiding my touch. I smiled for the last time and left her to attend to my other plans.

Now I just have to face Isabelle and talk to her about keeping her mouth shut. I mean, making her shut up is easy. She is still into me and I can use that to my advantage. I'm pretty much acting like a total playboy but theres nothing I could do more in this situation. I chose to make Danielle believe that I'm willing to change for the sake of making a good relationship with her, Isabelle has to play the part as well. I can't just let her lose and not think of what she could do. She needs to act the part and do what must be done.

I informed Drey that everything is in motion, I also assigned him to do some task and his reputation within the palace ladies is going to play a big role with my plans.

As I reach my own place, the servants I was with earlier are now fidgeting outside my villa waiting for my return. When they saw me approaching, my main servant lady Julie, welcome me with a bow and a worried face.

"Welcome back your majesty" she says in a hush tone and everyone followed by bowing their heads.

"Whats wrong? Why is everyone outside?" I fear that even before I asked this question the answer was already playing inside my head, but I still have to ask. The servants lowered their heads even more and Julie diverted her attention away from me to avoid my question. As if, they could shake me off, they can't do that since i'm the prince and they are obliged to follow and listen to everything I say. I know i'm being an a.s.s but I have to use my authority so they'd speak up. "Are you all refusing to answer your prince?" I raised my tone and they all look at me with fear.

"Please excuse our hesitation your highness, Lady Isabelle sent all the servants away and demanded to be left alone. One of servants hesitated so the lady ordered the guards to seize her and send her to the disciplinary quarters" Julie explains , lowering her head, obviously afraid of what I might do.

Under the royal law, no one is actually allowed to order our servants not unless they were permitted by the royal family, as far as I know, Isabelle never had that kind of permission. So it was only natural that the servants would hesitate at following her orders but because she too confident of what she has and because half of the people inside the palace fears her father, they don't have any other choice but to follow her.

After hearing Julie's explanation I released a sigh and watched the other servants tremble.

"Go and fetch the servant that was seized, tell the guards that its my order. You can all go for now" I ordered and they all bowed their heads before excusing themselves.

What Isabelle did was not right and she should be reprimanded or something but I can't do that if I want to settle her down. She's obviously in raged and I can't add gas to her fumes so the best way to approach the situation is to calm down.

I went inside my villa and walked straight to my office, preparing myself for the worst that could happen. Isabelle tends to be really violent when provoked. I took a deep breathe and opened my office door.

Isabelle was patiently sitting on my couch, waiting for my return. Which is a little alarming, because if you know Isabelle, calm is not one of her vocabulary. She always has her way to show you how impatient and bossy she is, that is why seeig her calm and collected is making me even more mindful of my action.

¨So, is there something you wish to tell me? Or am I just making myself look stupid here?¨ she asks the moment I sat at my chair. Instead of being mad, all I can feel was pain and sadness from her voice. Maybe its because of her father that there are times that I forget that she is also a human being and capable of being hurt. Though she´s no different from her father when it comes to ruling ideals.

¨I apologize for making you uncomfortable but I have a great explanation why I had to act that way¨ I softly said ¨As you already know Danielle has both my parents and the royal regents favor, I need her at some point but it doesn't mean that i'll choose her in the end. I just need to earn her trust, enough to make my grandmother get off my back. Once they give me the freedom that I need, I'll eventually get rid of her. You just need to sit back and wait for that day to come." She should know that I always get through with my words. I atleast need to show her that she'll become my choice once that day comes but of course, it would all be just a lie because I never intended to choose her to begin with.

"How can I just stand back when she's threatening what is supposed to be mine?" She's scared, thats the first. She should be confident enough that she's going to get what she wants. I mean with the kind of connection she has within the council she should be sure for life, but for some reason, Danielles presence suddenly shakes her up. This may actually just work. If I can get Danielle to open up to me and make her close to me, maybe I can also get rid of Isabell, push her and make her regret ever dreaming of becoming my crownprincess.

"She doesn't stand a chance, she may have all the support she could get but the final decision still comes from me. You already know that, plus if you do something crazy again, my grandmother won't stand down. She adores Danielle so much that she even made me clean the whole stables after the fight I had with that lady." I was being honest and she should know that if she gets my grandmother even more against her, she might totally lose her chance of getting near the throne. "You should stay back for now, just let me handle Danielle and focus your strength on gaining their favor instead." She looks at me, unsure whether she should trust me or not. Though at this point, she doesn't have any other choice. She needs to believe my words.

"My father won't be happy about this" she states and I've already prepared myself for this.

"Your fathers word won't get anywhere. He may lead the council but the council listens to the final words of his highness. He may w.h.i.n.e and lash out but he also knows that if he pushes to get involve with the affairs oof the inner court, he is just fighting a losing battle" Prime Minister Orlins hates when he is losing so he always choose the battles he fight. He never gets involve with how the inner court works since he'll be messing with both my grandmother and mother, with the amount of influence my grandmother has, he might just lose the job he very loves.

"Fine, i'll stand back for now, but if I see her gaining more than I do, I wont stop at nothing. You know that I always fight for what I want" Isabelle points out. For now its enough that she doesn't do anything, well, nothing until I become sure that Danielle is totally into me. She can make her life miserable as much as she wants and I can play the hero Danielle wishes to have.

Isabelle eventually excused herself when Drey comes in my office to inform me that I have to attend some schedule I never knew existed. When Isabelle left, Drey changed his stature and went to get some drink from my mini bar.

"You owe me one for saving your a.s.s from that one. Another hour longer with her will make everyone in the palace think that you two are actually doing something." I rolled my eyes realizing that everything he said before with Isabelle was a lie, though I can't say I hate what he did, in fact, he did good.

"How did the thing I asked you to do go?" Drey grins, grabbing two glasses of rum then walks to my side to hand me one.

"Everything is as planned, you'll be the best date lady Danielle could get" Drey slumps his whole body on my couch with his devious smirk plastered on his face.

Earlier this day, after preparing all the flowers and gifts for Danielle, I also tasked Drey to make sure that everything is set for my little date with lady Danielle. If i'm to impress her, I must do everything perfectly. So I decided to bring her to one of my supposed to be secret spots, its the place I used to go with Drey and its the perfect spot to show Danielle the whole view of the kingdom. Its not that far but no one really knows about this spot, its also not that secluded but people just don't care about this place because of how high it is and how near it is to the kingdom. The place is not that important to me though its a perfect hiding spot, I already have that special space and I'm not just going to bring anyone there. This place i'm going to bring Danielle is also a part of my great plan, I just hope that Danielle falls deep so all this lying and effort wont go to waste.

"By the way, how did Lady Isabelle react to this play pretend?" Drey also knows that I'll need Isabelle's influence to make my plans go through. Thats why, her reaction to all of this was important.

"She fell through of course. She's playing her role right. Once she becomes full, she'll eventually blow up and make her own move. When that happens, we have to be prepared and become Danielles shield" I grinned knowing full well that i'm not just playing with one but two ladies. Its not usual for me to lie this much, i'm already used to always following what others wants from me, but this time, some one has to follow my own satisfaction.

"If things go right, you are killing two birds in one stone" There was a moment of doubt in Drey's voice even after stating the obvious success of my plans. He goes to my mini bar again to refill his glass and faced me with concern in his eyes. "If this goes through, you are hurting not just one but two people Luke. Are you sure you are willing to do such deed just to make a point?" He asks me with concern. Drey is not the kind of person who cares about this trivial things, if he somehow sets his mind on something he usually just go through with it. Plus, between the two of us, he is more of the heartbreaker than I am. So why is he so concerned about my plan? This is not something new to him and the only difference is that i'm the one doing the hurting and not him.

"Is there something you wish to tell me? Why are you suddenly bothered by this?" I stood up from my chair and walk my way towards him.

"I'm just worried that if your plans go south, it might just become your end." Drey walks to the other side of the room, where a picture of me and my brother was placed on the top of my side tables. He grabs it and looks at it like he is recalling something. "I made a promise to your brother that i'll protect you the same way he protected me Luke. Mark made his decision, decisions that eventually affected his life. We both witnessed everything he had to sacrificed just to protect the very throne you have today, I hate to see it all go to waste just because of some lady." He slowly explains.

I almost forgot how Drey used to admire and idolize my brother. Back when we were both such jackasses, Mark would always defend us and help us when we both get into so much trouble. Because of that Mark also became a brother to Drey. We both saw what Mark could do just to make sure the power is equally used within the palace and how far he could go just to protect the people thats important to him that when Drey finally became an official of the courts, he swore that he'd follow my brother and serve him as his payment for my brothers kindness. When my brother died, Drey promised that he'll continue serving him by serving me. Aside from being my best friend, he wanted to honor my brother by staying at my side,no matter what the cause, he'd be there. You know how the council was so against this idea, but eventually he was able to prove himself and served me up until now.

"I won't let that happen, I wont change this much just to throw everything away, you can trust me on this Drey." I assured him and I have no doubt that he trusts me more than anything now. I won't let the plans fail. I still have greater goals than what is in front of me. "This is just to start of everything we've been preparing to do"

"Lets just not drift far from our original goal" he says without changing his tone. I understand that he feels like were delaying what we originally planned to do as we succeed, but this is just a slight detour from our original way, we'll eventually get to the place where we need to be.

"We won't. Just remember to do your part well, everyones eyes will be on us from now on" he nods drinking the rest of his drink while watching my brothers photo on my desk.

I feel like if Mark was here and hearing all of the things I planned to do, he might just smack me in the face and let me do some l.a.p.s to make my mind clear. He will never tolerate the kind of lies i'm making and he will never be happy to see his brother doing stupid things. Well stupid for them but this is the only way I could do to ensure the safety of my family. I don't want to hurt anyone but if its the only way, i'll do it over and over until everything goes right.

Danielle may have no history of hurting my family but with the current things happening since her arrival, she can't really blame me for fearing that she might eventually hurt them and I can't just stand back and let that happen. As for Isabelle, her family has made tons of things that endangered my family from generation to generation,I know I can't blame her for what her ancestors did or for what her father is doing to corner the royal family but she has the same ideals as her father, even if she someday chooses to listen to me and go against her fathers d.e.s.i.r.e, she can still cause chaos. She's the kind of risk i'm not willing to take.

Marriage or falling in love is never a part of my plans anyway, so its better to get rid of them now before they fall deep and get even more pain when either of them realize that I never wanted to become theirs on the first place. I maybe acting conceited but its never a doubt that girls so fall in love with me quicker than I hoped for. Maybe its because of the bad boy aura but nevertheless, I never feel the same way. My heart might have forgotten the feeling of actually loving someone after experiencing its first heartbreak. Not that i'm hoping for it to start again. I'm much grateful that I don't have to worry about falling in love and feeling pain again, this way I could put all my focus on making sure that my family will be taken care of. For now they are my priority, no matter what the circ.u.mstances, my family comes first.

"By the way, theres news on the other thing you asked me to do. There has been movements" Drey starts again but this time turning his once worried voice into a serious one.

Aside from the date, theres been other things Drey had to supervise. This things are private and no one could ever know. We always have to be discreet about it and make sure that no one would ever hear the things we talk about.

I made him come near to me to whisper what he learned so we can discuss the next steps we would do. Aside from the things that are happening in the inner courts, I also have to face things that concerns the palace council and the laws that makes it up. I have to work my way up and stride slowly in order to make the right call. Learning about what the enemy is doing is part of my strategy to success.

Drey told me everything he learned so we could come up with a perfect plan to counter any kind of trouble we might face. This is the reality of becoming a royal, one must always prepare for the worst and not the best. In order for us to become the rightful person to lead this country, we have to face tons of ordeals and dangerous, l.u.s.ting for power people. Knowing what matters now is important for the future. Its not all fun and games, power is earned and blood is always washing the place we are all fighting for. This is the sad reality of becoming the most powerful man of the country.

"I guess things are about to get interesting from now on. Nice work" I nonchalantly said just incase someone decided to wiretap me, though my place is the safest place there is still around the palace, its better to be safe. Drey knows what i'll do anyways without telling him.

"Then, i'll excuse myself first your eminence" Drey sarcastically said lowering his head as if someone is actually seeing his action, he raised his head a little smirking before fully standing up and leaving me to attend to my other royal duties.

Things have piled up on my desk and there are things I have to sign, maybe some alone time could make me clear my mind, prepare a bulletproof plan for today and for the rest of the days to come.

-ISABELLE-

Hearing Luke say that he was only pretending to actually like that little lady, it somehow helped my mind to be at eased. He is the only one who can save me within the inner palace, even with the connection my father has within the palace, no one can really give me the thing that I want. The inner courts has their own law and the Queens and Royal Regents words matter. The fact that the Royal Regent hates me makes its even more troublesome for me, being liked by Luke can make a huge difference for my part. For now I'll need to only listen to his plans, if my father gets involved, Luke will never see me as his own again.

Back when we were still seeing each other, though it was only for fun, at some point Luke told me that the only thing thats unlikable to me was the fact that I was the daughter of the Prime Minister. I don't hate my fathers ideals but there are times that I wished he would slow down, he always had this ways to make the whole country hate him even when he only wants peace within the nation. This facts would usually make me and Luke fall into a disagreement and we would fight until someone surrenders and that someone would always be me. Luke finally thought that seeing me was just making things harder for both our families so he broke things off with me.

I didn't like the fact that we broke up because of how complicated our families relationship are so I asked my father to make something happen, turns out, I actually have a chance on becoming Lukes crown princess. I grabbed the opportunity and I thought that when Luke learned that i'll be fighting for the throne next to him, that he would somehow help me because we did have the history of actually liking each other. But that never happened, until today.

This is why I feel like i'll need to follow his words right now since this might be my chance of actually gaining the royal regents favor. I still have that Amber to deal with, she still has whats mine and getting rid of her was getting harder. I've done tons of bad things just to get her on a spot where she could lose everything but the royal family is still backing her up. They are all protecting her and because of that child of hers, they become untouchable. Plus, I feel like Luke would do everything just to make sure that they are protected and well taken care of. I've seen him hundred of times how he would do everything just to make sure that they are safe, its like, he made is upon himself to continue the supposed to be works of his late brother. I understand that its like an obligation but then he doesn't have to act like a love sick puppy every time princess Amber gets hurt. It only makes me think that he actually loves Amber more than just a simple family member.

For now, i'll do everything I can just to get what I want. It doesn't matter if I stepped on someone dignity I just need to get to where I need to be.