Chapter 16: Birthday Party

Hagon calls his siblings and friends to meet him in hospital, making it sound like a very important and serious matter so that they all hurry over without asking any questions.

"Guys, where were you? Why are you so slow?" he shouts at them through the mind link. He is back to being arrogant, ordering them to come quickly even though they all dropped everything to obey him. Habits never change.

Since he is the King, they all hurry to the hospital as fast as possible. Since Hagon never asks them for personal things, they think that something serious has happened, so they are all sweating over what they have to deal with. Since Stella is due any time soon, Ezra carefully carries her in his arms, bridal style.

Hagon has actually rented the rooms next to Carol's for safety reasons, so he is waiting for everyone he called for in one of those empty rooms. They all enter, frightened because they have been victims of his horrible mood for five years. They don't want to be on his bad side.

When they enter, they see that Hagon is thinking about something deeply. When he feels their presence in the room, he asks them to sit on the couch. "Ok, listen. I have a project for you. I want to marry my Carol, so I want ideas for a proposal that can't be rejected. I'll give you two days max to submit an idea since I have arrangements to make, and I am proposing on my birthday. Do you understand? Only two days," he orders them.

That's when everyone snaps. Their eyes widen like they are looking at an alien. Hagon thinks that they are surprised about the fact that he is going to propose so soon.

Stella is the first to say something. She sighs. "Big Brother, I thought there was some emergency in the kingdom or company. But you called us to prepare for a proposal? Huh. I can't believe this."

"Brother, how could you do this to us? I left my mate at home so that I could help you. But this is what I get. Really?" Oliver says dramatically. "I really respect you, Hagon. You are a wonderful CEO and a righteous ruler. But I am thinking of changing my mind. How could you treat us like this?" He wipes away his fake tears.

Hagon is confused. Why is everyone acting like this? They usually never question him and do what he orders them to do immediately. He doesn't know what he did wrong for them to act like this.

"What did I do?" he asks them. His voice lowers, and he seems like a lost puppy as he looks at them.

Arlo never talks too much. He is the youngest of them all, but he is very straightforward. He never plays around and always tells the truth. "Big brother, how could you order us to prepare a proposal? You should have asked for help," he says. That's when Hagon notices that nobody is calling him by his title but instead by his name or their relationship with him.

"Ah, I am sorry. I never had a proper chat with you guys, and I'm so used to ordering people around that I didn't even think to ask. Please forgive me. I'll change my attitude little by little," Hagon says sincerely. Everyone looks at him in awe. 'Is this really our Hagon?' they think. 'He is even apologizing.' "Will you guys please help me propose to Carol? You know I don't want to waste any more time. I want to claim her immediately, and you know that humans have a different culture. I want to respect it since she is human. According to their rules, I want to mark and mate her on our wedding night," he explains.

"Brother, you know I have to tease you at least one time. This is like a dream come true," Oliver exclaims dramatically while holding his hands up like he has won a very difficult race.

Everybody laughs at that. Even Hagon, who first glares at his brother, can't help but laugh with them.

"Ok, so what is your plan?" Stella asks.

So they discuss what to do at Hagon's birthday party, helping him rethink his proposal since his original plan was not so romantic. Oliver plays a major role in teaching his brother how to be romantic.

"Bro, I'll teach you how to be romantic. You know I am the most romantic guy. You can ask Rachel," Oliver says proudly.

"Ewwww. You are not romantic at all. You waited seven years to mark your fake mate. Brother, you can learn from Ezra. He is the most romantic. I can guarantee that," Stella teases.

"That's why I am romantic. I felt that she was not really my mate, and I didn't fall in love with the fake. As soon as I found my real mate, I marked her and mated her. You know, she might be pregnant already," Oliver counters. These twins…whenever they get a chance, they start fighting over nothing. All the others stay quiet since these two will quiet down soon. Otherwise, anyone who tries to stop them will become their victim.

After their discussion ends, everybody heads out to prepare for the big day. Hagon goes back to Carol's room and sees that she is still sleeping because of the drugs. She'll be discharged the next day. When he goes back home, he refuses to go back to being like the old Hagon. He has to clean out his room and the house so that they will be livable. He wants to take Carol directly to his room when they go home, but he will wait since she is human, and he wants her to be comfortable.

Carol, on the other, expects Hagon to directly take her to his room. So when she is discharged the next day and accompanies him to his house, she is disappointed that he puts her back in her old room while Hagon goes to his room by himself. Her insecurities increase day by day since Hagon is now busy preparing his proposal and then the marriage—all within two days.

Any time they do manage to meet and talk, it is only for a brief moment because Hagon is always busy. Carol's mind starts playing games with her. Sometimes, she thinks rationally about how Hagon is a King and president of the company, and he has spent so much time with her in the hospital that he must have work to catch up on. Other times, negative thoughts swallow her whole. Maybe Hagon accepted her and stayed with her at the hospital only because she saved him, and now that she's been discharged, he feels that he has finished his responsibilities and is now avoiding her. These thoughts always feel stronger because before the incident, Hagon never showed any care towards her.

Besides, she's seen how mates are. Hagon's parents, Stella and Ezra, Oliver and Rachel—they're all inseparable. They're like magnets attracted to each other, but seeing Hagon is very rare for Carol. She misses all the time she had with him at the hospital. If she knew this was going to happen, she would have found some excuse to stay there for a few more days.

She still doesn't know about how much Hagon has loved her for all her life and how he even thought about taking his own life to be with her in heaven.

Days pass by, and today is Hagon's birthday. Everybody is busy. Carol wants to wish Hagon a happy birthday, but he is nowhere to be found. Suddenly, the other women drag her into her room, and without telling her anything, they start preparing her for the party. Everybody is whispering quietly amongst themselves, and because Carol is human, she can't hear a word they are speaking.

It's already 6:30 p.m., and there's still no trace of Hagon. Carol even thinks that he might have left to go wherever he was planning to fly off to before the incident. But then why is everybody preparing for a party? Maybe…maybe he found someone else to be his mate.

Now, guests are entering the party hall one by one. Carol receives and welcomes them all with a polite smile. Even though she is freaking out inside, she doesn't want to ruin the moment.

Then, the party starts, but there is still no Hagon. Carol almost makes up her mind about the fact that she will never see Hagon again. Tears gather in her eyes, and she is on the verge of crying.

Suddenly, Sofia drags Carol to the middle of the party hall. There, Hagon is waiting for her in a black suit. Upon seeing her, he gets down on one knee before her with a velvet box in his hand.

Carol is shocked. She didn't expect any of this, so she doesn't know what to do. No words come out of her mouth as he speaks.

"Carol, my love…I've loved you for 15 years. I will love you even after my death. The first time I saw you, I fell in love with you. I know that we've only truly known each other for a very small amount of time, but I know that we will be with each other until we take our last breath. So I don't want to waste any more time getting to know each other. We can do it gradually on our life's journey. I want to marry you. Will you do the honor of taking me as your husband?" Hagon proposes.

Everyone at the party laughs at his silliness, and he glares at Oliver since this was his romantic idea. Then, everyone looks at Carol, waiting for her answer.

Suddenly, she starts crying. She hugs her knees, buries her face in them, and cries loudly.

What do you expect will happen next?