Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder

Chapter 1453 - 52 : Royal Expectations

*Saoirse*

I could see the vulnerability on Rhys’ face as he held the staff in front of me.

“Choose,” he repeated as I stayed silent.

My rage faded as I looked at how upset he was. I felt myself taking a step closer to him. Instead of reaching for the staff, I reached out to touch his face.

“I love you,” I said, my voice cracking slightly, “more than anything.”

Rhys sighed and leaned his face into my hand, but I wasn’t done talking.

“But I can’t just ignore the encroaching threats that need my help,” I said slowly. “You realize that if the dragons fall, we will be next. That is why I work so hard to protect them. I can’t just give up the staff. It responded to me for a reason, and I will not give up the power that could help us save our people, no matter how uncomfortable it makes me at times.”

Rhys continued to stare at me for what felt like forever, not saying anything. I questioned whether this was such a big issue for him that he would consider leaving me. My heart throbbed even at the idea.

He still hadn’t said anything, but he suddenly handed the staff to me and then proceeded to wrap his arms around me. I buried my face into his chest and wrapped my arms around him, resulting in him squeezing me even tighter.

We stood like that for a moment, both just enjoying each other’s touch and closeness. He was the only one who could bring me any sort of relief from my stress, so I greedily took a deep breath in and remained where I was. I would not break the hug first, especially since he seemed to be questioning my feelings for him.

“I understand where you are coming from,” Rhys whispered against my head. “Can you at least promise me that once this is all over, you will get rid of it?”

“I promise that as soon as everyone is safe, I will return it to the dragons,” I promised.

“Then that’s all I’ll ask for for now,” Rhys said, continuing to hold me tight. “I guess we have a wedding to focus on anyway.”

In the days following, the wedding seemed to be the only thing the castle was worried about. Well, everyone was focused on it except the king, Rhys, and Axureon.

The three of them continued to make plans in regards to Pyroth and finding the surviving dragon shifters a new home. Now that the mountain valley was compromised, it wasn’t safe for them to return there.

Rhys seemed to relax even more once Axureon left to ready the new area and lead the dragons there. I knew Rhys didn’t like Axureon much, but it surprised me that he was still so jealous. His ring was on my finger, so I wondered what other proof he wanted that I chose him.

Despite Axureon leaving, I still felt Rhys’ absence every day. He was still busy planning stuff with his father, and everyone was still busy trying to plan with me. A wedding planner had come in to help me with everything. She seemed to be making my life harder instead of easier.

“Hold your breath," the woman grunted as she tugged on the corset strings.

It was another full day of wedding preparations for me while Rhys spent the day catching up on his duties from when he had been absent. I understood that he had responsibilities, but at that moment, I simply wished we could trade places.

At least the idea of Rhys standing here in a wedding dress was enough to make me smile and distract me from the painful yanking behind me.

I questioned how I was supposed to hold my breath if I wasn’t even able to breathe. When I voiced my concerns to the woman in charge of the wedding planning, she just laughed humorlessly.

"That means it’s working," she said. "Beauty is pain, my dear. It will be worth it in the end, trust me."

I didn’t trust her. So far, she hadn’t taken a single thing I had suggested into account. At this point, I wasn’t even bothering to speak up anymore.

Part of me wished that Rhys’ mother was still involved, but I knew that important business had come up. She was the queen. She didn’t have time to sit around and plan a wedding all day.

But apparently, I did.

My restlessness of being in the castle was growing every day. As much as I wished it would feel like home, it just didn’t. I had no purpose in the castle.

"Ow," I said with a wince as she knotted the ends of the strings tightly.

"Don’t worry, dear, we’re almost done," she said, but her voice didn’t come across as comforting at all. It was too detached for that.

After a few more minutes of being subjected to pounds and pounds of fabric, the woman turned me around so that I could face the large mirror. I could barely find myself within the fabric that I saw. When I finally did, I didn’t recognize the girl looking back at me.

This wasn’t the Saoirse I knew, the humble village girl who had a modest upbringing with none of this wasteless grandeur. While I understood that marrying a prince might change my life, I didn’t want it to change me.

I shook my head before I even realized what I was doing. "No, this doesn’t work. It’s not right."

The woman began to laugh. "Trust me, dear, it’s right."

"Well, I said it’s not," I said, my tone becoming more upset as I couldn’t look away from the stranger in the mirror. "This isn’t me."

"So what?" she scoffed. "Are you telling me you want to get married in some dirty country dress that looks like you made it yourself?"

"No, I’m just saying I think–"

"You better get used to not always getting your way when dealing with the politics of being a royal," she said with another of her humorless laughs. "It’s all about public image for you from here on out."

Before I could answer, I heard someone clearing their throat from behind us. From my view in the mirror, I could see the queen stepping further into the room.

"I am sure you mean well, Katrine," the queen said to the wedding planner. "However, please do not speak on matters you know nothing about."

"Yes, Your Highness," Katrine said with a low bow. "I was just speaking based on my experience."

"You can have all the experience in the world, and you would still not understand what it truly means to be royalty," the queen continued in a calm voice as she stepped closer. "Royalty is about the character and valor of the person, not how good they look. Or do you think that I just spend all my days worrying about what clothes I will wear?"

"No, of course not, Your Highness," Katrine said, keeping her head bowed this time. I was sure it was more out of embarrassment than respect at this point.

“I am afraid we are no longer in need of your services, Katrine," she said, turning to look at the genuinely shocked woman. "We are going to go with a different route for this event. Thank you, though, and you will still be compensated for your time."

Katrine stood there in shock, not moving a muscle.

"You are dismissed and may leave now," the queen emphasized as Katrine remained standing there with every passing minute.

"Of course, Your Highness," Katrine stuttered, trying to gather herself. "If you change your mind, you know where to find me."

"That won’t be necessary," the queen turned her back on her and focused her attention on me as the woman left the room. "Now, how about we get you out of this hideous thing."

"Yes, please," I said in relief, turning so she would have access to the corset strings above all. If I was honest, I was starting to feel a little lightheaded from lack of oxygen.

The queen made quick work of calling over the handmaidens to aid her in removing the fabric that was enough to cover a full dragon. She even went as far as to ask one of them to fetch some other dresses for me to try on, with specific instructions on style and type.

It was too bad I knew nothing about fashion. I couldn’t even understand their words.

I sucked in a deep breath as the corset strings suddenly loosened around me. It felt like I had been underwater, and my head had just breached the surface.

"Thank you," I gasped, still sucking in the air like I was afraid to lose it again.

"No, thank you for having patience with everyone," the queen replied. "Most people here do not understand country living and how different it is from castle life or even city life."

"Do you?" I asked, hearing something in the way she had said it.

"King Xander and I had a tale not unlike yours and Rhys’." She smiled at me. "It wasn’t an arranged marriage, like a lot of royal weddings. It was a marriage of love. I didn’t come from this life, but that didn’t sway Xander in the least. He always said he knew I would make a great queen, despite my lineage."

"He was right," I told her with a smile of my own. "I have only ever heard amazing things about you, Your Highness. The people love you."

"Thank you, Saoirse," she said. "I understand what you are going through better than you think. If you ever have any questions or need help, just come and find me."

"I will," I said. My voice shook a little. "This is all out of my comfort zone, and I am just worried about doing something wrong and disappointing Rhys."

"You could never disappoint him. Rhys is completely smitten with you, which means that in his eyes, you can do no wrong." She brushed my hair out of the tight bun that Katrine had put it in. "Rhys thinks you will make a great queen as well, and I have to say, based on what I have seen so far, I would have to agree."

Had the queen really just said that to me? I was in shock and didn’t even know what to say. Lucky for me, at that moment, the handmaidens came in with a rack full of more white dresses.

The queen wasted no time picking one and bringing it over to me, carefully helping me step into it. This dress was completely different than the last one. I could already tell. The weight alone was a significant difference.

When I turned around this time, I gasped for a better reason. I looked stunning.

The dress was tight in the right places and loose and flowy in others, with long lace sleeves and a deep plunging back. My hair was half down with my curls flowing down onto the bright white, the red and white accentuating each other perfectly. And the shape of this one was perfect to not drown my petite figure in layer upon layer of fabric.

"It’s perfect," I whispered. I wasn’t sure if it was to myself or the queen.

"I am glad you like it." The queen beamed from beside me. "This one just felt more like you to me, and I think it is much more flattering."

"Agreed," I said with a nod of my head.

We stared at my reflection in silence.

"Rhys is going to love it too," the queen said. I could hear her choking up.

"It’s alright, don’t be upset," I said, turning around to grab her hand.

"I’m not upset. I’m just happy," the woman with tears in her eyes said. "My son is so happy now, and I owe that all to you. Don’t worry, Saoirse. I will make sure that we do whatever you want for this wedding. This wedding will embody the feelings of true love and romance between the two of you rather than forcing us to uphold royal expectations."

For the first time since starting the wedding planning, I finally was excited for the wedding itself. And it couldn’t come fast enough.