Moonveil Academy: Trapped With The Five Kings

Chapter 34: Blind Date

Lorien:

My head had been throbbing for the better part of an hour, and unfortunately, the reason had nothing to do with paperwork, academy affairs, or even the seal I’d spent the evening studying. It was the thought of what awaited me tonight that made me want to bury my head beneath a pillow and refuse to leave my apartment.

A blind date. Again.

The Regents had apparently decided that running Moonveil Academy, maintaining the balance between the noble houses, dealing with political disputes, and searching for threats wasn’t enough responsibility for me.

Now, their second greatest obsession after the newly returned Princess Argentis seemed to be finding me a wife. This was the third blind date I’d been dragged into this month, and I already knew better than to ruin another one.

The first woman had been the daughter of a powerful family, and the second had been connected to one of the Regents’ closest allies. I’d politely declined both, which had resulted in hours of lectures about responsibility, alliances, succession, and the importance of maintaining relationships between the ruling houses.

Sometimes I genuinely wondered whether it would simply be easier to agree to whoever they placed in front of me and put an end to this ridiculous nuisance. Unfortunately, I knew myself well enough to understand that I’d rather walk into an ancient battlefield than willingly marry someone I didn’t love.

And that was exactly why I found myself sitting in the back of a black sedan tonight, staring through the window while wondering how much longer the Regents intended to test my patience.

The car eventually slowed outside one of the city’s most prestigious restaurants, its entrance glowing beneath elegant golden lights. My driver stepped out and opened the door for me, and I climbed out with a quiet sigh. The moment I stepped inside, the familiar scent of expensive food and polished wood greeted me.

A member of the restaurant staff recognized me immediately and bowed before leading me through the crowded dining area toward a private section reserved for high-ranking guests.

I followed without saying anything, already mentally preparing myself for another evening of polite conversation and carefully controlled expressions. When the door to the private room opened, I found the woman already seated at the enormous table.

She stood immediately, her smile brightening as soon as she saw me. "Regent Moonveil," she greeted politely.

I gave her a small nod before taking the seat opposite hers. "Good evening."

She introduced herself almost immediately, thankfully saving me from the embarrassing necessity of admitting that I’d completely forgotten her name. Her surname, however, caught my attention. I recognized the family instantly. One of the influential houses operating under a particular Regent.

Wonderful. I didn’t even need to guess which Regent would be offended when I eventually rejected this woman. Apparently, I wasn’t attending a blind date anymore. I was participating in another political negotiation disguised as dinner.

She began talking soon after I sat down. I listened. Or at least, I made a convincing attempt to. She spoke about her education, her interests, her travels, her family’s estate, and several other subjects that probably mattered tremendously to her but had absolutely no place inside my mind tonight.

I responded whenever necessary, offering polite nods and brief answers while allowing the conversation to flow around me. Yet despite my best effort, my thoughts slowly drifted elsewhere. To someone I had absolutely no business thinking about while sitting across from another woman.

Princess Argentis. Eleanora. Elara.

Whatever name she preferred, she had somehow taken up permanent residence inside my thoughts since the first moment I’d seen her. I didn’t understand how it had happened. I had met countless people throughout my life. Powerful nobles, gifted students, ambitious politicians, dangerous enemies, brilliant professors, and countless people who wanted something from me. None had managed to occupy my mind the way she did. Somehow, every few hours, my thoughts found their way back to her without permission.

I remembered the night I’d opened that SUV door and found her staring back at me with those silver eyes. She had been terrified, grieving, confused, and surrounded by people she didn’t know, yet there had still been something incredibly stubborn about her. Something that refused to bend. Since then, every encounter had only reinforced that impression.

She was strong. Far stronger than she realized. But beneath that strength was something fragile, something that had already been damaged more than anyone her age should ever have endured. One hard enough push might break her, and strangely, the thought of that happening made something inside my chest tighten painfully.

I hadn’t been able to forget yesterday’s session either. More specifically, I hadn’t been able to forget the single tear that had escaped her eye when I told her where her family had been buried. I could still remember the exact path it had taken down her cheek. I had wanted to reach across the distance between us and wipe it away. My fingers had actually itched to do it.

But I hadn’t. I couldn’t. She was my student. The Crown Princess of Starfall. The lost heir whose return had already disturbed the political balance of the entire supernatural world. There were boundaries I couldn’t cross, regardless of how difficult it was becoming to remember where those boundaries actually were.

Every time I saw her, something about her pulled at my attention. Her stubbornness. Her anger. Her refusal to bow simply because someone possessed a higher status. Her grief that she tried so desperately to hide. Even the way she argued with Reign had been impossible to forget. She was unlike anyone I’d ever known, and perhaps that was precisely the problem.

"...and I was wondering what you thought about that?"

The woman’s voice finally dragged me back into the room.

I blinked once. "What?"

She smiled uncertainly and repeated whatever question she’d asked.

I was about to give her an answer when my phone suddenly began ringing. I frowned. Almost no one called me during personal engagements unless something was wrong.

I pulled the phone from my pocket and glanced at the screen. It was my assistant.

I answered immediately.

"Yes?"

The voice on the other end sounded tense.

"Regent Moonveil, I’m sorry to disturb you, but something has happened."

I straightened."What happened?"

There was a brief pause before came the words that made every thought about the dinner disappear from my mind.

"It’s Princess Eleanora."

I was already standing before my assistant had finished speaking.

"What happened to her?" I didn’t bother waiting for an explanation. "I’m on my way."

I looked toward the woman seated across from me, offering her nothing more than a brief apologetic glance.

"I’m sorry. I have to go."

Then I turned and walked out of the private room before she could even respond.