Chapter 85: LEFT UNSAID

The atmosphere turned dense as the father and son stared at each other sharply. Both have different thoughts running in their minds.

Arthur's mood turned gloomy as he realized that his father and brother had the same character when it came to reaching their personal interests. They are both cunning but it never occured to him that he would serve as Darius' dummy! He felt utterly insulted!

'*So Darius decided to stepped down from his positions because there was something else behind it? He has known that he was set for a betrothal and he wasn't willing to give up his mate that's why he passed it on me? Very well... Darius to make your life easier, you chose your brother to reap the bitter fruits for you?*' he thought sullenly.

On the other hand, Vladimir thought very carefully about the pophecy. '*Since Darius has found his mate, could it be that the heir referred to in the prophecy was Arthur? But how could it be possible? I have chosen Darius and even trained him for a long time...'

His head began to spin as confusion started to mess up his mind therefore he blinked, giving out a huge and exasperated sigh. "*Arthur, call your brother for me. I need to see him right now.*" he demanded.

Arthur was snapped back to his senses and even if he was upset, he tried to reach his brother through his mind but after a few attempts, he was left frustrated. Hence, he lowered his head down and said, "*I'm afraid he was true to his words. He must have gone somewhere with Mystica.*"

"*What did you just say?*" Vladimir had his eyes darkened as he asked. "*Are you trying to fool me?*" He sounds completely doubtful with his son's words which made Arthur feel even more upset.

"*If you doubt me then why don't you call your trusted servants to find their Master Darius?*" He sneered and went, "*I better be going now, Lord Vladimir. I really hope that I was just trying to fool you or you might felt devastated for trusting too much with your filial son.*" At that, he turned around and left without hesitation.

Vladimir watched his son storming out from his sight then he began barking out loud.

"*Servant!*" he yelled through his door.

One of his servants hurriedly stormed in, vowing his head helplessly, "*My lord,*"

"*I want you to find Darius for me right now!*" he demanded.

"*Y-yes, My Lord.*" The servant replied before he went off the chamber in a hurry.

Antonia then stormed in. "*What's the matter, Vladimir?*" She asked him curiously after seeing the servant scurrying his way out...

Vladimir throws out an exasperated sigh and said. "*I don't know but I had a hunch that something bad is about to happen.*"

"*...what? What do you mean?*" Antonia looked scared out of her wits as she asked her mate anxiously.

"*Antonia, we better be ready for this unexpected outcome. I'm afraid everything won't turn according to what we planned.*" Vladimir warned her seriously as he went on, "*...Arthur came to me earlier from the boarder.*"

"*What did he say?*" Antonia's eyes brimmed with joy, feeling proud of her son.

However, Vladimir was fast to rip off that joyous expression in his mate's face as he said, "*...nothing much. He just dropped by to tell me some nonsense.*"

Antonia's brows swiftly changed. From pleasant to frown as she demanded, "*what nonsense? Tell me.*"

He gave out a cold snort as he said, "*He said nothing but pure lies. That son of yours has turned outrageous as days goes by.*"

Sadness crept up within her heart but she took a deep breath to remain calm. Hearing some awful words coming out from him was kind of stabbing her heart over and over again and to think that she couldn't even defend their son in front of him, it was like she tolerated him from looking down at their second offspring therefore she gathered her courage and retorted, "*Arthur has been so dedicated to please you all this time. Why do you still doubting him? Can't you even see how he exerted so much effort to everything he did?*"

Vladimir raised his eyebrows, chuckling, "*You're defending him now?*"

"*I'm his mother,*" she said. "*I've been watching you treating him unfairly all this time but I chose to remain silent but now I can't endure it any longer. Vladimir, it hurts me so much whenever you tried bring him down. I know that he wasn't as excellent as Darius but he was special too. He has the same genes similar to Darius but you never gave him a chance. You only had your eyes to your eldest, completely forgetting the fact that you also had Arthur who needs you the most!*"

Vladimir stared at his mate with pure disbelief printed in his chiseled face. He recalled that ever since they began the journey of being mates, he never saw nor hear her lashing out on him like this. This was the first time and she was defending their son in front of him. Somehow, he felt a little guilty for being so hard on Arthur but this is just natural for him for he was trained by his father more harshly before and he couldn't just tell her about it. It was all in the past and retelling them will only bring him immense pain so its better if he just keep his mouth shut and move on.

'*I'm treating our son just fine. If he was there in my shoes when I was young, he would definitely know this harsh reality.*' he thought to himself as he continued to look at Antonia whose tears are now streaming down her face. He didn't know what to do. Should he pacify her or leave her like this? Vladimir wasn't used to seeing her break down like this as he preferred to look at her in a wilfull manner. Strong and calculating yet here she was crying her eyes out which somewhat made his chest tighten. Out of instinct, he was about to rub his mate's back to comfort her, however, a series of knocks berated outside his doors which caused him to freeze.

And just like that, Antonia stopped weeping, turning back to her old self while Vladimir cleared his throat and grunted, "*Come in!*"

"*My Lord,*" The alluring voice belongs to a female creature.

The door burst open and emerged Lady Minerva, looking glorious and proud with all her might but the next moment, her face turned sour when she saw another creature sitting beside him in his long cushioned chair. She halted, frozen in her current spot.

"*What are you doing here?*" Vladimir questioned, frowning at his unexpected visitor.

"*I didn't know that you're waiting for someone, Vladimir.*" Antonia said, standing up. "*I guess I should be leaving you two. Excuse me.*"

"*I... I'm sorry if I interrupted your conversation.*" Lady Minerva stammered, lowering her head down.

"*No. You're not.*" Antonia replied though she wasn't sure if the lady was projecting her words to her or Vladimir but she was familiar with the ache rising in her chest. She would never forget that her position as Vladimir's other half started as a mere agreement to both their elders which means that they are secretly forced to become one.

Throughout their journey as a couple and rulers of Aerouant Kingdom, she learned to put herself in her right place as to not cause anymore trouble to Vladimir. She appeared to be affectionate in everyone's eyes to cover this fact even in front of their offsprings but when they are alone in a chamber, she felt like she was talking to none other than Lord Vladimir Cage whom she never treated as hers for she knows that she would never get him under her possession. All of these were left unsaid 'till her last breath.

Vladimir cast a sharp look at his mate then to Minerva before he spoke, "*Were actually talking about something important and yes, you interrupted our conversation. Can you close the door when you left? We still had a lot to discuss, if you don't mind.*"

Antonia turned dumbfounded as she cast a baffled look at her mate. She was about to say something more but she saw him looking at her intently like he was telling her not to talk nonsense in front of the lady therefore she pursed her lips and swallowed hard. Then she remained silent.

"*My Lord, I'm leaving.*" With that, Lady Minerva stomped her feet, turned around and stormed out of Vladimir' chamber, slamming the door shut.

Vladimir then faced his mate then he yanked her down to sit beside him again. "*What were you thinking?*" he asked.

"*Nothing.*" She swallowed, saying. "*I think I should get going now, Vladimir.*"

"*Antonia, I think we need to settle something, right here, right now.*" he said.

Her heart somehow skipped a beat. '*Could it be that he was going to tell me that we should began to...*' her thoughts halted as she heard his next words.

"*You should know that were mates for how many years now ...*" he mused.

She looked at him in confusion as she couldn't understand what he meant. "*So? What are you trying to say?*" she tried to ask.

Vladimir then continued, "*Since you saw her coming here, do you feel like you were being betrayed?*"

"*Why are you asking such a thing?*" she countered.

"*I just want to know. Tell me.*" he demanded while looking at her face.

"*Vladimir, this is not the right time to discuss the matters between us. Were discussing about Darius and Arthur, remember?*" She reminded him as she couldn't bring herself to answer his inquiry as it only meant that she has to be honest with him.

'*Forget the matters about them for now. I need your answer.*" he grumbled in a demanding tone.