The Bride He Hates

Chapter 137: Private Negotiations

Lady Bella was already waiting in a private room when Lyanna arrived, standing by the window, looking relaxed and confident. She turned as Lyanna entered and smiled.

"Thank you for meeting with me."

"Lady Bella," Lyanna said, gesturing to the seating area. "You mentioned this was important. I’m curious why you want to have a private conversation with me instead of the king."

"Because it concerns you, not him. I believe in direct communication, so I’ll be blunt. This courtship arrangement is politically beneficial to all parties involved, but it could also damage your marriage. I wanted to discuss how we can avoid that."

"I’m listening."

"I’ve been watching you and King Azrael since I arrived, and I can tell bond between you two is genuine and rare."

"Come to the point directly."

"The point is that I have no interest in destroying your relationship. I’m here only because House Nightshade benefits politically from this association. But I don’t want to be queen.

So I propose we treat this like a business arrangement. I’ll court His Majesty publicly but in private, we’ll establish clear boundaries to protect your marriage."

Lyanna tried to study what lay under her professional courtesy.

"What kind of boundaries?"

"No private meetings without your knowledge and approval and no touching beyond what’s needed for public appearances." She pulled out a document. "I had my advisors draft a formal contract outlining what I will and won’t do during this courtship. You and His Majesty can review it, modify it, and add whatever restrictions you want."

Lyanna took the document and read it.

"You created a contract for a political courtship?"

"I create contracts for everything." Bella replied. "It’s how I’ve built House Nightshade’s power."

Lyanna put down the document, thinking about her offer.

"This is surprisingly considerate. But I know you’re not doing this for free. Tell me what you want in exchange?"

"Smart question." Bella replied. "I want favourable trade terms with Thornfield after the courtship ends, access to your northern routes, reduced tariffs on eastern goods, and first consideration for future alliance opportunities."

"I need to discuss this with Azrael before agreeing to anything." Lyanna said.

"Of course. But please be quick." Bella said, and left.

Lyanna went to their chambers with the contract and found Azrael already there, sitting on the bed and looking tired.

"How was it?" Lyanna asked.

"Better than Lucia, at least. Eve spent most of the time apologizing. She’s genuinely uncomfortable about the whole arrangement."

"That must have been difficult for her."

"Indeed. I felt like I was the one making her uncomfortable by making her participate in this courtship." He sighed. "She asked about you as well. Whether you were angry. I told her you are fine and that she shouldn’t worry."

Lyanna nodded and handed him Bella’s contract.

"Read this."

Azrael read the document and was surprised.

"This is unexpected."

"She’s treating it like a business transaction."

"Then let’s treat it like one."

They reviewed Bella’s contract together, making modifications, adding clauses, and establishing boundaries for all three courtship candidates rather than just Bella.

"She’s not going to like all these restrictions." Azrael said, reading over their restrictions about Lucia.

"Lucia can complain all she wants." Lyanna replied. "She still benefits politically from participating. But she doesn’t get to insult me while courting you, and she doesn’t get to have private intellectual discussions with you to undermine our marriage."

"What about Eve?" Azrael asked. "Do we restrict her the same way?"

"No. She’s genuinely trying to be considerate. Boring too harsh with her would be cruel."

"You’re being very strategic about how I should court other women." Azrael said.

"Someone has to be. Moreover, I can analyze the situation without being overwhelmed by jealousy or hurt."

Azrael understood the context so he just smiled sadly at her response.

The next morning they received the news that Lady Bella had refused the private meeting due to health reasons. But they knew it was just an excuse.

They also received a formal announcement from the council about the first major public courtship event to be held in three days. A ball celebrating the spring equinox, attended by every major noble house, with the king expected to dance with all three courtship candidates in front of everyone.

"Public performance!" Azrael said, reading the announcement with disgust. "Three dances with three different women, all of it watched and evaluated by nobles."

"Can you fake it?" Lyanna asked.

"I can dance with anyone." Azrael replied. "But I don’t think I can pretend to be romantically interested in them to satisfy the nobles."

"You’ll have to try. This is the first major test of the arrangement. If you fail, Cassius will claim you’re not taking this seriously and might even push for more extreme measures."

"What’s more extreme than courting multiple women while married?" Azrael chuckled.

"Actual polygamous marriage." Lyanna said. "Some vampire traditions allow it. Cassius could argue that your performance during courtship isn’t enough to satisfy the nobles and you need to actually marry one of them to guarantee an heir. You never know what lengths he might go to."

"He can’t do that." Azrael said, but uncertainty crept into his voice.

"If he thinks he can get support for it. He will definitely go for it."

"Then I’ll try my best. I won’t give him another opportunity to trap us."

Lyanna smiled.

"First go and get ready. You have a meeting to attend."

"Fine." Azrael said and walked away to get ready.

Lyanna walked to her desk to review the documents about vampire fertility she had borrowed from the library yesterday.

Most of it had the same information that Maia had told her. But soon she found the text she had read earlier about that intimate ritual. It was written in detail in this particular book.

When traditional conception fails due to transformation damage, the Ancient Bloodline Restoration can be attempted. This ritual requires the female to bond intimately with multiple powerful vampires over a lunar cycle, sharing blood. The combined essences of varied bloodlines can repair internal damage that a single vampire’s blood cannot, restoring fertility through accumulated power.

The ritual requires a minimum of three vampires of significant age and power. Blood must be shared through intimate contact. Physical intimacy is not essential but it increases success rates considerably. The female must be willing and the males must have genuine intent to heal rather than claim."

Her hands were shaking as she read the text.

There was a solution but she had to share her blood intimately with multiple powerful vampires and potentially be physically intimate with them if she wanted the highest success rate.