Seto stared at the book in front of him. He was sick of studying. While he was technically the new king, his uncle had become a regent until he turned eighteen. In other words, he had no real power since he was still a minor.

A knock on the door interrupted his studies. Seto glanced at the book again and closed it. He was done for today whether his uncle liked it or not.

"Come in," he called.

A moment later, a head full of long black hair poked its way in. "Hi, Seto."

Seto smiled at his younger brother. "Didn't uncle tell you not to bother me?"

Mokuba gave a sheepish smile. "Yeah, but we really never listen to him anyway. Besides you're the real king, Seto, so you're in charge."

"I told you, Mokuba, until I'm eighteen, he's in charge."

Mokuba frowned. "Well, that's not fair. He's just jealous that he was younger than dad so he never got to be king."

"While that may be true, I can't do anything about it…yet," Seto smirked. One day his uncle would get what he deserved. While he was related by blood to that wretched man, that was all they had in common.

"Well, when you're eighteen, you should have him exiled from the country," Mokuba declared and laughed at the thought.

Seto gave a small smile. "Yeah, something like that."

Footsteps were heard approaching the room. Mokuba and Seto looked at each other. Unsure of who it was, Mokuba leaped under Seto's pillows so that he would be well-hidden if it was their uncle. If he saw Mokuba in here, he knew his brother would be in a lot of trouble.

To Seto's relief Halima appeared in the doorway instead.

"Your highness, forgive me, but have you seen your younger brother. He was supposed to begin music lessons today and the instructor is here," Halima told him. She surveyed the room as if she knew Mokuba was in there.

Seto's face remained blank and he pretended to think about it for a minute.

"Nope," he finally said. "I haven't seen him since breakfast. I'm sure he's probably playing outside."

Halima did not look convinced but she nodded her head anyway. "Yes, of course. I will go check outside for him."

She bowed and began leaving the room before turning back. "If you do see your brother, tell him the instructor is a friend of your uncle's so naturally he's an awful man. If I was Mokuba, I'd stay out of sight for the rest of the day."

Seto assured her that he would tell Mokuba, if he did happen to see him, of course. Halima winked in the direction of the bed and left the room.

"That's why she's one of my favorites," Mokuba said revealing himself.

"She knew you were here the whole time," Seto answered. "You should probably hide better the next time in case it's our uncle."

Mokuba smiled. "Oh, Halima is much smarter than Uncle any day. He never would have realized I was in here."

"Well, even so, we need to be more careful. Besides, he's not as dumb as he looks."

Mokuba sighed. His brother was right. His uncle was very sneaky to say the least. Still, he was sure that his hiding place was good enough to fool him. Still he would find a better one the next time. He didn't want his brother to get in trouble because of him.

"Okay, Seto."


The new regent, although he preferred to be called king but for now this would do, sat in the throne. He hated his nephews. They stood in the way of the crown. If he could just get rid of Seto, Mokuba wouldn't even be a threat. Seto, however, was far too smart to fall for any of his tricks so for now he would employ the help of a beautiful princess. Her name was Aphrodite, quite an appropriate name for the seductive beauty. With her silky black hair, tanned skin, and piercing green eyes, she attracted much attention.

"Beautiful Aphrodite," Seto's uncle, whose unfortunate name was Harpalyke, began, "I'm so glad too see you again. I have a favor to ask of you."

"You would not be the first," she answered breezily. "I will only help if I benefit from this as well."

"Even though I helped to raise you?"

Aphrodite scoffed. "You gave my parents some money which they repaid you. That hardly counts as raising me."

"Smart and beautiful," Harpalyke said covetously. He looked over her, his eyes filled with lust. She did not turn away in disgust, however, since she was quite used to it. Men of all ages had looked at her this way before.

She smiled. "If I wasn't, I'd be taken advantage of. I learned that a long time ago."

A mischievous smile lit up his face at the thought. This time a shiver ran up her spine, but he was too lost in his daydream to notice. "Don't give me any ideas, my dear."

Her impassive face hid her disgust. Instead she gave him a playful smile.

"Not now," she purred. "Let's not get off topic. Why did you want me to come here?"

"I have a nephew who is technically the new king since my brother's untimely death."

"Yes, I have heard about him," Aphrodite replied. "Seto, right? I hear he's quite popular with the ladies."

He scowled. "Yes, he inherited his mother's looks. He lacks his father's charming personality, though. In fact, I'm quite sure he will never find a girl to settle down with."

"Which is where I come in," Aphrodite supplied for him. She knew where this was going.

He gave her an appraising nod. "You are much more intelligent than people give you credit for. I want you to seduce him, make him fall in love with you, earn his trust. Then you are to get rid of him. I don't care how you do it. If it means breaking his heart so that he commits suicide or killing him yourself, I don't care. Either way it needs to look like an accident so no one traces it back to me."

"And what do I get from this?"

"Besides the pleasure of getting the most-cold hearted sought after prince to fall in love with you?" Harpalyke asked.

"Well, you see that's just it. I could do that and then marry him. Then I'll become the queen. So why should I do it your way?" she asked.

He laughed. "Your brilliance is uncanny."

"Yes, you've mentioned that."

The regent looked her over again. "You'll marry me and become my queen."

The laughter erupted out of her before she could stop it. He couldn't be serious.

"I think Seto is more my type. Plus he has a younger brother. If something did happen to Seto, his brother would become the next king, not you."

"As for Mokuba," he said. "Leave that to me. He's of little concern to me. As for you, my darling, if you do not agree, that little country you call home will soon be mine. You know if we went to war, your people wouldn't stand a chance. You wouldn't want to endanger your people, would you?"

Instead of arguing and simply telling him he was out of his mind, Aphrodite gave him an innocent look. "You've got a deal."

Little did he know just how cunning Aphrodite could be.

Serenity was passing a room when she saw the most beautiful woman. She couldn't help but feel a tinge of jealously, but she quickly pushed it away. She was a slave so of course she didn't look like that. Still she couldn't help but wish she did.

"You, slave girl, where can I find Seto?"

Serenity realized that the dazzling woman was not only now in front of her, but also talking to her. She blushed in embarrassment. "I'm sure he's in his room studying. He's almost always in there."

"Are you going to show me where that is or are you going to make me guess?" Aphrodite asked rudely. She hated incompetent slaves.

Serenity looked at her and blinked in surprise. She was not used to being talked to like this. Occasionally, Harpalyke would make some rude comment but he mainly just ignored her. Besides Halima said he was a greedy, arrogant man who should do the world a favor and just die. Of course, she only said this when they were in the slaves' corridor.

"Well?" Aphrodite asked angrily. When she was through, she'd make sure that this girl was cast back onto the streets where she belonged.

"Oh, yes. I'm very sorry. I'll take you there right now."

Aphrodite followed Serenity through the twists and turns of the castle. It was quite impressive, much bigger than her home. She would fit in quite well here.

Serenity suddenly stopped and Aphrodite almost ran into her. The girl pointed at the room a few feet away. "That one. That's his room."

"Aren't you going to introduce me? Don't you slaves do anything around here?" Aphrodite muttered.

Serenity held back her anger. Jut because this woman was beautiful and royal didn't mean she could treat everyone else like garbage. Instead of yelling at her, Serenity simply nodded and knocked on Seto's door. She didn't really want to talk to him. She mainly avoided him since it was obvious he could care less about her now.

Seto opened his door carefully and looked outside. His eyes pierced into Serenity's and for a moment she forgot what she was going to say.

"Your highness," she finally began. "You have a visitor."

He eyes flickered over to the other woman and then back to Serenity. "Tell her I'm busy."

With that, he shut the door. Aphrodite was in too much shock to become angry. No man had ever been so cold to her before.

Suddenly, the door opened up and Mokuba peered out. He smiled at Serenity and then looked at Aphrodite, letting out a small gasp. "Big brother, she's so pretty."

His brother reappeared at the door and looked down at Mokuba. "People aren't always what they appear to be. Don't judge a book by its cover."

Finally, Aphrodite found the words to voice her irritation. "What is that supposed to mean? No one has ever spoken to me this way before, and I don't intend to let you."

His eyes blazed with anger and she took a step back. "While you obviously don't know who you're speaking to, I know exactly who you are. Aphrodite, daughter of Fernando and Augustina, princess of Spain. Your parents have tried to find you a husband for many years but you prefer to have orgies with your numerous lovers. Princes, knights, and even some kings have tried to tame you but they always fall victim to your trap. It's all a game to you. Seduce them and then break their hearts. Sorry, but I'm not interested. I have much more important things to deal with than whores."

She looked like someone had slapped her. Obviously, she was not used to hearing the truth. Serenity barely contained her laughter. She was glad someone had told this girl off.

"Serenity, obviously this woman can't take a hint, would you kindly show her the way out," Seto asked.

Aphrodite glared at him. "You call a princess a whore but yet you treat this slave girl with respect?"

"If it isn't trash, then I'll show it some respect."

At this, Mokuba giggled earning a sharp look from Serenity and a death glare from Aphrodite. He quickly hid behind the shelter of his big brother. Seto stood patiently at his door. Finally, Aphrodite stormed off, telling the 'slave girl' that she didn't need her help.

Seto remained at his door and looked back at Serenity. His penetrating eyes caused her to look towards the ground.

"I'm sorry," he finally said.

Serenity look at him her eyes full of questions. He shut his door before she could ask any of them.


First off, thank you to all of you who reviewed or added this to their favorite/ alert list. I wasn't sure about this, but I'm glad people seem to like it. Your opinions matter a lot to me, and I appreciate you taking the time to review this.

As for those wondering about Seto's uncle's name: Harpalyke. Obviously, it's a very uncommon name. I picked it for a number of reasons. First, I said earlier that it was an unfortunate name, well at least for him. It's a female name given to one of Jupiter's moons. Three women in Greek mythology bore this name. One was a hunter, one married her father, and one committed suicide. Obviously, not a very good track record with the name. Finally, the first part of the name, harpa, most likely comes from the word harpy, or a beast "which snatches" so obviously it's a fitting name for the man.

Oh and I realize Aphrodite is a Greek, not Spanish name. Her mother, however, comes from Rome and chose the name for her daughter due to a fascination with mythology.