Royally Unfaithful

Chapter 9 Wedding Plans

King Hernandez's funeral was held two weeks later. Jocelyn and all of the royal family, as well as members of parliament and political leaders, attended the funeral.

However, one thing that was quite surprising was the fact that the parliament immediately held an emergency meeting after the funeral ceremony. They didn't give the royal family time to grieve, and no one seems to mind that, including Lucas and Liam, who are now sitting on either side of Queen Theona.

Jocelyn herself was asked to attend the open meeting as a form of respect for her status as Lucas' fiancé. On the agenda of the meeting, the parliament discussed transferring power from King Hernandez to David Alfonso temporarily until Lucas was crowned king. Meanwhile, they also talked about the internal problems of the royal family, where they planned to stop the flow of funds that had always been given to Leiza and Sergio Anderson.

The meeting just finished at 8 pm—just as dinner time started.

"I'll take care of a few things. You go home with Prince Lucas," David said when Jocelyn walked up to him because they had left together earlier.

“I'll just wait. Looks like Lucas is tired and wants to go straight home—”

"Don't argue," David cut her off. "Soon, you will be married. You should be seen together more often so that the public doesn't get suspicious." He looked at her, annoyed.

Jocelyn exhaled slowly, "alright, I'll go home with him."

She stepped closer to Lucas, who was busy talking to a man who was a member of parliament. Jocelyn didn't want to interrupt their conversation, so she stood far from him and waited for them to finish talking.

"You're not coming home?"

Jocelyn turned her head when she heard Liam ask her.

"I'm going home with Lucas." She answered while glancing at Lucas.

"Wanna bet with me?" Liam raised an eyebrow, "he definitely refuses to come home with you."

Jocelyn snorted briefly. “No need to bet. He will definitely refuse to come home with me,” she said confidently.

"You're so pessimistic," Liam laughs.

Jocelyn shrugged nonchalantly, "Isn't that the truth?"

“Okay, just ask Lucas if he wants to accompany you. If he doesn't want to, I'll drive you home." Liam looked at her with mischievous eyes, "Besides, my car also has a Spanish flag on the front. Isn't that what your father wanted? His daughter has to be delivered by a car that has a Spanish flag on it.”

Jocelyn looked at him in amazement, “your idea is amazing! But thank you, I'd rather wait for my dad than go home with you. I don't want to get into a gossip tabloid just because someone saw me in the same car as you." She said as she walked up to Lucas, who had finished speaking.

***

"You want a drink?" Liam asked while holding out the orange juice.

Jocelyn took a short breath while accepting the glass of orange juice that he had given her.

Currently, they were in the Royal Spanish Limousin heading to her house. In the end, she went home with Liam, not Lucas. Because as she had previously predicted, Lucas refused to take her home, and David Alfonso disappeared when Jocelyn tried to find him.

“Are you hungry? You want food?”

Jocelyn rolled her eyes slowly. "Stop acting like this, Liam," she muttered.

"Like what?" Liam raises his eyebrow.

"Like you're okay!" Abruptly, “we've just come back from your father's funeral, and we have to listen to the parliamentary council talk about your family—about their strange plans and various other unimportant things. Stop acting like you're fine even though I know you're sick of everything that's happened."

Liam bowed his head—he seemed to smile briefly, then grabbed the available wine glass in the car.

Jocelyn bit her lower lip, "I'm sorry." she muttered briefly. “I know how you feel. I know how hard it is for you to hold yourself over your father's death. Even if you are a prince, shouldn't they give you time to mourn?”

"Well," Liam says quietly, "from the first time I realized I was the second-placed prince of Spain, I knew that my life would never go my way. Everything in my life is not mine. I dedicate my life to the people of Spain."

Jocelyn looked up and looked at Liam with concern.

“However, you should know that this is not a choice I can refuse, Jocelyn. This is the life I have to live.”

Jocelyn took a deep breath, “I'm sorry if I offended you. I totally—”

"No," Liam shook his head slowly, "you don't have to say sorry. Honestly, I'm glad to know that you care about me." He snorted, then took a sip of the glass of wine, “when everyone asked me to look strong, only you asked me to show my weakness. When I had to look fine so as not to make the Spanish government considered weak after King Hernandez's death, you asked me to cry with you—showing that I was sad. That's means a lot to me."

Jocelyn swallowed hard. The words spoken by Liam moved her to tears—made her feel as if he welcomed her concern.

"However, as I said before," Liam smiles briefly, "you don't need to worry about me. The only thing you need to worry about is yourself. Because maybe you should witness the bloodshed in the Spanish empire. Power struggle, also betrayal. I don't know who will betray, but I can assure you that Spain will be in big trouble this time."

***

When they came home from King Hernandez's funeral, Liam's words still haunt Jocelyn days later.

She had heard many rumours about King Hernandez's death from several members of parliament who had come to her house for an emergency meeting with David Alfonso. Unable to contain her curiosity, Jocelyn often pretended to enter the meeting room with the waitress to deliver food and soft drinks. From their conversation, Jocelyn drew the conclusion that King Hernandez was indeed killed intentionally by someone. His motives are unknown, but everyone is suspicious of everyone—just like Liam had told her. Some of them even suspected Leiza Anderson—King Hernandez's mistress. However, according to Jocelyn, it seems unlikely that the woman killed King Hernandez, and neither should Sergio Hernandez. Their position is the most vulnerable. Without King Hernandez, they are in danger of losing their living allowance. Even without King Hernandez, their position and safety are not guaranteed because no one is on their side.

However, the arrival of the parliamentarian to her house was not only to discuss the case of King Hernandez's death which a royal special agent is now investigating but to discuss plans for Lucas' coronation as king of Spain, which means also accelerating Jocelyn and Lucas' wedding plans.

"The royal family is proposing that the wedding take place in two months at the latest, exactly one month before Prince Lucas' coronation."

Jocelyn turned her head in surprise as she overheard the conversation as she was delivering wine to the meeting room.

“We have come to represent the royal family. They ask for certainty from your family so that the media can immediately highlight the news of Prince Lucas' marriage. As we all know, lately, the rumors about the mysterious death of King Hernandez have been talked about more and more often. We have to find a way to divert the scandal by publishing new, more interesting news stories.”

David Alfonso nodded his head, “well, I know that the royal family is grieving right now. I don't think it's good if we rush the wedding plans. Don't they need time to grieve?”

“The grieving time required by the royal family is three months. So the wedding could be held in two months—three months after King Hernandez's death, to be precise. After all, we should also think about Prince Lucas' coronation. Wouldn't it be better if he was crowned after the wedding?”

"Jocelyn," David touched Jocelyn's arm and pulled her to sit beside him—right between her biological mother. "What do you think? Do you have no objections to this plan?” He acted like he was a good stepfather—who always asked her opinion before making a decision.

Jocelyn turned her head and looked at her mother.

"Just tell me what you think, Jocelyn." A white-haired MP sitting at the end of the room interrupted quietly when he saw Jocelyn flustered. “You're lucky to have a stepfather like Mr Alfonso. He always asks your opinion. If you were my daughter, I would decide everything without asking you. After all, whatever decision you make is in the hands of the members of parliament. Whether you refuse or accept, your wedding will still be arranged by the members of parliament.”

Jocelyn swallowed hard. She clenched her fists to contain her emotions.

Was this how Queen Theona felt when she said that her life, her decisions, and whatever she wanted would always be governed by the monarchy? It's as if they were robots who couldn't decide what they wanted to do. Hell. Jocelyn is really stuck in this circle.

“Jocelyn,” David muttered under his breath.

Jocelyn blinked, then took a deep breath. "What about Lucas? Have you asked about his opinion? This is his wedding too. It would be better if you ask him first.”

"We've asked Prince Lucas what he thinks about the wedding plans. He agreed that your marriage could be carried out immediately. Moreover, it has been one month since the death of King Hernandez. The people need to get clarity about their future king and queen.”

Lucas agreed? she muttered.

Lucas is a man that is difficult to predict. They had known each other for almost two years, but Jocelyn still couldn't understand how this man was thinking.

“Yes, the prince agreed. He told us that it might be difficult to convince you to agree to this marriage as you are still young and not ready to take on the responsibilities of a queen. However, we think you are old enough to understand every task you have to do. After all, we will always help you in carrying out your royal duties. You've also learned a lot about royal regulations during these two years. Therefore, we have come here to convey the aims and plans of the parliamentary council.”

Jocelyn was dumbfounded as she listened to the lengthy explanation. Does Lucas agree? Considering how much he hated her, how could he agree to marry her?

Well, Jocelyn knew that the purpose of their engagement was marriage. It's just that she didn't think that the marriage would happen soon.

“This was very surprising for Jocelyn,” David Alfonso said briefly when he saw Jocelyn still like a statue, “but you don't need to worry. I will try to talk to my daughter.” He said while getting up—gesturing that he wanted the meeting to be over.

Everyone nodded respectfully, then walked out of the room after saying goodbye to David Alfonso, and Jocelyn made no effort to blend into the crowd to leave the room quietly.

However, her steps suddenly stopped when David grabbed her arm and whispered softly, "You won't get out of here until you learn a lesson from me, Jocelyn."