The Bride He Hates

Chapter 135: The Candidates

Lady Eve of House Silverwood stepped out from the second carriage. Where Lucia radiated cold power, Eve looked nervous and unsure.

She was still lovely with soft brown hair, warm eyes and delicate features. When she saw Lyanna in the window, she didn’t smirk or calculate. She looked away quickly, embarrassment or apology flickering across her face.

Lady Bella of House Nightshade emerged from the third carriage.

She had strong features and beautiful eyes. She looked like someone very powerful and surveyed the courtyard like a general assessing a battlefield.

When she looked up at Lyanna and Azrael, she just smiled.

"Shall we go greet them?" Azrael asked.

"Do we have a choice?"

"Not really."

The formal greetings were the perfect performance. Lady Lucia approached them first.

"Your Majesties, House Blackwood is honoured to participate in addressing Thornfield’s succession concerns."

"Lady Lucia, thank you for coming." Azrael replied formally.

Lucia then looked at Lyanna, and her smile became sharp.

"Your Majesty. I’m so happy to finally meet you properly. I’ve heard so much about the human-turned-vampire who has captivated our king."

The words were polite, but the subtext was clear:

You’re not really one of us.

"Lady Lucia," Lyanna replied calmly. "I’ve heard about House Blackwood’s long history. It must be gratifying to have bloodlines stretching back millennia, even when they haven’t produced anything particularly remarkable in recent centuries."

Lucia’s eyes flashed with anger but she controlled herself and stepped aside.

Lyanna might have limited emotions, but she could still understand condescension and respond accordingly.

Lady Eve approached them next, and the contrast was stark. She looked a little nervous and awkward.

"Your Majesties, I’m... House Silverwood sends its respects. I’m honoured to be considered for this... arrangement."

She couldn’t even look at Lyanna.

"Lady Eve," Azrael said gently. "Welcome to Thornfield. I hope your journey was comfortable."

"Yes, thank you, Your Majesty." Eve said, finally looking up.

She looked at Lyanna’s briefly, and Lyanna could tell she didn’t want to be part of this at all.

Finally, Lady Bella approached them.

"Your Majesties. House Nightshade appreciates the opportunity to strengthen ties with Thornfield through this arrangement. I look forward to productive discussions about how we can best serve mutual interests."

"Lady Bella," Azrael said. "Your reputation precedes you."

She bowed in gratitude, looked at Lyanna with professional courtesy rather than contempt or apology and left.

That evening, a formal dinner was organized to let the candidates meet the king and queen properly without any formality.

The candidates were seated together on one side of the table while Azrael and Lyanna were on the other.

The meal began like any other formal dinner. But Lucia decided to drop her act.

"Your Majesty," She turned to Azrael. "I’ve been studying the history of Thornfield. You’ve built this kingdom from nothing into one of the most powerful vampire territories in existence. This kind of long-term vision is rare even among our kind."

"Thank you." Azrael replied.

"Sustaining that vision requires a deep understanding of vampires. Acknowledging that we can’t be governed by humans or limited by human emotions."

Her gaze flicked briefly to Lyanna before returning to Azrael.

"Some of us forget this truth and start thinking vampire society can or should accommodate human values. It’s our weakness."

"I disagree." Azrael said. "Adapting to change while keeping core strengths is intelligence, not weakness. A vampire society that refuses to evolve becomes stagnant and eventually irrelevant."

"Evolution, yes. But there’s a difference between adapting strategically and compromising our nature to please inferior species."

"Inferior species?" Lyanna asked.

Lucia turned to her with fake sympathy.

"Oh, I don’t mean personally, Your Majesty. I’m sure you were exceptional by human standards. But objectively, humans are prey, pretending otherwise because one of them was turned and married into power doesn’t change that reality."

Azrael’s hand tightened on his wine glass, hard enough that the crystal cracked slightly. Lyanna reached over and placed her hand on his to calm him down.

"Lady Lucia, I don’t think..." Eve began.

"You don’t think what, child?" Lucia cut her off. "You don’t have the experience to comment on this topic."

Eve flushed but said nothing, retreating into embarrassed silence. Bella had been watching this exchange with keen interest.

"Lady Lucia, while your views on species hierarchy are traditional, this dinner is meant to establish relationships for a political courtship. Insulting our hostess doesn’t serve that purpose." She said and then turned to Lyanna.

"Your Majesty, please excuse Lady Lucia’s directness. Those of us from more practical backgrounds know that politics requires collaboration."

It was neither an apology nor a disagreement with Lucia’s contempt. It was just an acknowledgement that insulting the queen wasn’t a good strategy. And somehow, that felt worse than Lucia’s open hostility.

The dinner continued in strained discomfort. Lucia made more barbed comments about humans, Eve looked uncomfortable and Bella steered the conversation towards safe political topics whenever tension flared.

Azrael responded to them with minimal courtesy, his body language screaming that he wanted this over as soon as possible. Lyanna maintained perfectly neutral behaviour, her lack of emotions actually helped her not react to Lucia’s provocations

When the dinner ended, Azrael stood up immediately.

"Ladies, thank you for joining us this evening. We’ll arrange individual meetings over the next few days to discuss the courtship arrangements in more detail. For now, please allow our staff to show you to your quarters."

The candidates departed with different expressions. Lucia looked satisfied with the disruption she had caused, Eve looked relieved to escape and Bella remained professional.

The moment the dining hall doors closed behind them, Azrael turned to Lyanna.

"I can’t do this."

"Azrael..."

"I cannot spend the coming six months courting the women who look down on you. I cannot sit through dinners where Lucia insults you." He said and paced the empty dining hall in fury and frustration.

"Did you hear her? Inferior species? Prey? She called you prey, Lyanna, to your face."

"She was trying to provoke me. But I won’t let her succeed."

"I want to throw her out of Thornfield and never see her contemptuous face again." Azrael said, angrily.

"I know." She held his hand. "But right now, we need this arrangement. Cassius is still plotting. Backing out now would prove him right about you being unfit. So you need to court these women, and I’ll have to watch you do it."