Chapter 26

Decision

"Ahh, so many things have happened with you Mr. Taylor," the radio host said with enthusiasm in front of Alfred. Both sat at a table with microphones and Alfred was interviewed for the last time, only if he didn't win. "The big first crushing incident at the banquet, the first date with our Crown Prince, the many balls, the disturbing accident with the dirigible, the accusation that was put on you and the charity event with the last project that went so well!"

The host brushed over his mustache and smacked his lips in delight. "You did some great things and showed that even a card number 5 can make it far but there is one thing that everyone wants to know and that is of course the relationship between you and the Prince. There were some rumors about the two of you and considering that you came that far, they are true, no?"

"You're right on spot there, Mr. Dandelion," Alfred said and winked with a grin.

The host laughed and Alfred joined him. "I reckon there are feelings? After all, you spent a lot of time together these past months."

"That's right, I can proudly say that I am very much in love with the Prince," Alfred said and smiled to himself.

Mr. Dandelion leaned forward intrigued. "Did you confess to Prince Arthur?"

"I did but I won't tell you what exactly happened. Whoever Prince Arthur will choose in the end is the one he loves."

"What are you going to do if you won't be chosen?" Mr. Dandelion brushed through his mustache again to even it out.

"I'll have to live with that and just go back home but I do hope it's me." He laughed and the host joined in but on the inside Alfred was just a tad disappointed.

Later at dinner, the three of them sat together in awkward silence. Arthur didn't answer him on his proposal and he started to doubt their relationship again and believed what Joao had told him. That didn't mean that Alfred gave up, he still longed for Arthur and him choosing him.

"How did your radio interviews go?" Arthur asked to break the pressuring silence. "I didn't listen to them."

"It was great, Mr. Dandelion has a talent with words," Joao said and smiled at Arthur.

Arthur nodded and turned to Alfred who grinned while he chewed on his green salat before he started to speak. "I've told him that I'm in love with Arthur in front of millions of listeners."

"Very romantic," Joao said blankly, his face darkened.

"It really is, isn't it?" Alfred kept on grinning to piss Joao off.

Arthur on the other hand stood up, leaving the table and didn't come back.

-

Alfred followed Arthur after dinner to the small library where Alfred had previously found the magic book.

"Did I say something wrong?" Alfred asked and leaned against a shelf while Arthur sat by the window with a book and shook his head. "Joao makes everything so damn uncomfortable, am I right?" He laughed to easen up the mood.

"It's not about that," Arthur said quietly.

"What's the problem then?"

"It doesn't matter."

"It matters a lot, Arthur. I'd like to know what's going on inside your head and I'd like to know how I can make you smile again," he began. "I want to know every little detail that makes you upset and every little thing that you like. I've known you for quite some time now but there are still so many things that I don't know about you. For example your favorite song that makes you happy or your past or if it's true that you're promised to Joao."

"Where did you get that from?" Arthur asked, surprised.

"Joao told me."

Arthur put his hand on his head, feeling a creeping headache. That was one of those conversations he hoped he'd never had to have. "It's much more complicated than that."

"I'd like to know about it and if I still have a chance of winning."

Arthur stood up and put the book back, then took Alfred's hand. "We should talk somewhere more private."

The Prince led him to his living quarters and Alfred was in awe when he saw Arthur's apartment. It was so big and only for him. When he came in, he stood in a hallway, to his left was a door to the bathroom and to the right was the door to his bedroom while in front of him stood an archway to the living room in which Arthur led him in. He wondered how big the King's apartment was if that was Arthur's.

Arthur let Alfred sit beside him on his sofa but had trouble to start. He fumbled with his brooch on his sleeve and he'd open his mouth but no words came out while his eyes would look at anything other than Alfred and therefore Alfred helped him to find his words again. "Is it true that you and Joao are promised to each other?"

"Partially. It's not official, it's only a promise I gave him because we knew each other from before."

Alfred reached for Arthur's hand which started to pull on his clothes and Alfred wanted to show him that he's not mad at anything he'd say, he just wanted to know the truth. "When did you meet?"

"I was 18 and just broke up with Francis, the King of Diamonds, once again," Arthur said and Alfred remembered the rumors that went around about him and the King which were true as well as it seemed. That's also something that he was curious about but he would ask Arthur about it later. "I wanted to get over him and that he broke my heart and met Joao. He was stationed in town and I was ready to take him as my next mate only to forget about Francis. Joao even asked me to wait for him until he came back again so we could get married but we only met at the Selection again. That's where he asked me again if I still take him as my mate and I said yes." Arthur sighed and Alfred squeezed his hand. "I didn't think that I'd fall in love with someone else."

Alfred perked up at the last sentence and his heart began to blossom with hope on the inside and he grinned. "Falling in love?"

Arthur looked away shyly and Alfred chuckled at his cute face.

"But why didn't you marry him before the Selection if you already wanted it?" Alfred asked.

"Life got complicated when Francis came back to me and when my brother died. The responsibilities overwhelmed me when I became Crown Prince. I had the worst time of my life. My mother watched my every step and tried to control me while making me feel horrible and miserable."

Alfred took Arthur into a hug and wanted him to feel happy and relaxed.

"I still feel miserable with anything I do."

"Do you feel miserable beside me, too?"

Arthur shook his head and snuggled his face into Alfred's neck embracing the warmth from Alfred's body for just a moment. "But it doesn't take the pressure away. I still have to choose between you and Joao but I just can't." He put his head up, finally able to look into his eyes again. "I can't respond to your proposal just yet."

"I understand. You have to choose between a wealthy and educated alpha who you know for years and a criminal," Alfred said, upset at his own words.

"A very handsome and funny criminal," Arthur added in and Alfred grinned and gave him some kisses on his cheek and forehead to which Arthur pushed him on his back. Alfred's head leaned on the armrest and the Prince started to kiss him on his mouth.

They parted and Arthur kissed his nose and Alfred giggled but there were still some things he needed to know. "Do you love him?"

Arthur was silent and hugged around Alfred's head when he laid down on him. Alfred embraced him back with one foot on the floor while his other was on the sofa between Arthur's. Arthur softly brushed with his nose against Alfred's hair and sighed. "I think I might have loved him or at least I had a strong infatuation for him but I don't love him now and I feel bad for giving him false hope."

"Don't feel bad about it, you couldn't know I'd come along," he said and chuckled but Arthur kept on being serious.

"What would you do if I chose him?" Arthur asked the same question as the radio host. "Would you stay with me nonetheless?"

"That'd be unfair to him if I'd stay and I think it would break me if I'd see you marry someone else." He hugged him tighter and snuggled against him. "Whatever you'll choose will be the right decision."

Alfred didn't want to lose Arthur but if he'd choose Joao because of their promise and the pressure of his mother, both had to deal with that.

"Maybe we could just run away?" Alfred proposed as a joke but he liked the idea of him and Arthur somewhere far away and happy with their lives together.

"Where to?"

"The woods?"

Arthur sat up again, Alfred followed his moves. "I'd go crazy in the wilderness," he said and Alfred chuckled at the thought of Arthur trying to survive with him in the forest, they both would probably die out there gathering the wrong berries and mushrooms. "I have duties to fulfill but for a moment it sounded great."

The Prince walked over to his gramophone in the corner and laid out a disk. Rhythmic music began to sound through the room when Arthur walked back to Alfred.

"You wanted to know what kind of music I listen to," he said and pulled Alfred to his feet. "I'll show you mine and you'll show me yours."

Alfred grinned and spun Arthur around before taking him close again and giving him a kiss.

-

Arthur paced around Yao's office and thumbled with his mother's brooch on his sleeve. His mother already set a date of two weeks and was planning the coronation and it made him go crazy. "I don't know what I should do. If I take Joao my mother will be happy but not me and if I take Alfred I'll be happy but not my mother."

"Your mind is telling you to be logical but your heart tells you to make yourself happy," Yao said at his desk.

"I fear if I choose Joao I could regret it but I feel the same thing for Alfred, too. I've promised to marry Joao but I have feelings for Alfred. I met Alfred only four months ago and I have known Joao for much longer. Joao understands more about politics but Alfred only started to learn it. I have no idea what to do."

"Stop thinking for a second," Yao said.

Arthur stopped walking around and frowned. "How is that supposed to help me?"

Yao gestured for Arthur to sit down and he did. "As the future Queen your responsibility is to make the right decisions for the kingdom, to give the citizens a good and prosperous life. Your mother demands to have the kingdom in the old way but nothing will change or improve if you follow her way and I know you understand that."

"She's scared of changes," Arthur said. "Sometimes I'm surprised she came far as the King."

"In order to gain or change something you have to lose something and most people are scared of that. Don't be scared of doing something new and not in the old way. Time changes and so should we. In my opinion it's time for something new."

"What does that have to do with my decision?" Arthur asked tiredly.

"Choose a King that helps you to improve the kingdom instead of leaving it the same way. Choose by heart and not with your mind for once but most importantly, choose a King that makes you happy and who respects you. If the Queen is happy, so is the kingdom."

"I want to be happy," Arthur muttered under his breath and thought of Alfred.

Yao smiled slightly. "Don't let anyone take it away from you. You deserve it."

-

Arthur walked in the garden towards the big tree in the evening. The lamps on the ground already shone and paved the way to the flower tree on which Alfred sat once again.

"I already thought I'll meet you here," Arthur said and Alfred looked up from his book and smiled. "What are you reading?"

"History of politics." Alfred laid the book which he had to read for Yao's classes to the side.

Arthur brushed over his brooch once more and pulled it off. He looked over the blue rose on the black background before turning his attention back to Alfred. "This belonged to my omega mother. She gave it to me when I was little and said it was magical and held true love inside." He handed it to Alfred and he looked over it. The brooch looked old with some missing ends but it had a shining surface. "She told me I should give that to anyone I love because she wasn't able to do that."

"Who'll be the lucky one?"

"He's holding it," Arthur said and Alfred looked up with wide eyes. "I love you Alfred and I want to marry you."

Alfred jumped from the bench, startling Arthur and a wide smile spread on his face. "Do you really mean that?"

The Prince's hands brushed over Alfred's arms while his eyes lovingly gazed at him. "Yes, I choose you."

Alfred grinned even wider and lifted Arthur into a hug and spun him around. "I love, love, love you!"

He stopped spinning him and Arthur leaned down to kiss him. Arthur felt good about his decision to choose Alfred instead of Joao. His mother might hate Alfred but Arthur believed in him and that they could improve the kingdom together.

-

Alfred skipped through the corridor back to his room and his hands brushed over the brooch while thinking about Arthur. He doubted anyone could worsen his mood and couldn't await a life with the Prince.

He didn't mind any guards or servants that walked by until he ran into someone and wanted to apologize but he recognized them as Wright's handymen. There were two of them and they forcefully grabbed him and pulled him into the parliament room where they sat him at the table in the middle.

"Ah, Mr. Jones," Wright said and smiled at him.

"You start to annoy me," Alfred groaned.

Wright stepped up to the table with his everlasting straight posture. "You have to decline the Prince's offer."

"Excuse me? Did you follow me or him?"

"I know about everything that happens in the palace, Mr. Jones."

"Arthur chose me and I will marry him. There's nothing you or your men can do about it," Alfred said and stood up, making his move to the door. He wasn't in the mood to talk to him about anything and just thought that he was going to fire that man when he becomes King.

"You are very wrong. I'm telling you one more time to decline." He was serious and his wrinkles were even deeper than before. "You don't want the Prince to get hurt, do you?"

Alfred stopped and turned around. A glare rested on his face, eyes that could kill pierced through Wright and he gritted his teeth. "Touch him one more time and you're dead."

"Are you threatening me, Mr. Jones? I have a lot of power and can do whatever I want. Not even the King can stop me from that, and the King wouldn't even care if something would happen to him."

Alfred came closer and stood just mere feet away from him. "I won't let you hurt Arthur a second time."

"A second time, huh?" Wright put his hand into his inner jacket and pulled out a necklace which he laid on the table.

Alfred's eyes widened when he saw the fairy necklace he'd gifted Arthur. It was the same necklace the pirates had taken from him. "How did you get that?" Alfred asked not taking his eyes away from it.

"The pirates did a poor job. They just had to keep the Prince until they got their money but then you had to intervene."

"What did you just say?" Alfred asked as he looked up at the disgusting grin of the old man.

"It was a lecture for him for threatening me because of you," Wright said and stood proudly with his nose in the air. "No one comes off without harm when threatening me. And I can do so much worse than just the pirates or the attack. So. Much. Worse." He stared down at Alfred. "Decline."

The attack on Arthur and the pirates were all just because of him and in one of them he even died! All because this man couldn't take a no and let his pride hurt, all because he wanted to have the upper hand and the power.

Alfred furrowed his brows and clenched his fist. "You sick bastard!" Alfred took a swing with his arm and punched Wright in the face.

Wright stumbled back and before Alfred could swing another punch, the other men grabbed him by his arms and held him from escaping.

The nose of the old man bled and he held it in pain and growled. "That's it! I gave you a choice but now I'm done with you completely!" He straightened his back again and took out a napkin for his nose and scrunched it up in pain when he touched it. He stretched his hand out and waved it to one of his men.

The only thing Alfred noticed was someone coming up from behind and hitting him against the back of his head before everything went black.