The playboy persona had been carefully constructed, a shield to hide his real ambitions. While his brothers competed openly for their father’s favor, Isaac had chosen a different path. He’d cultivated the image of a useless, decorative prince, a man devoid of ambition or substance. It was all designed to make his family underestimate him, to let them lower their guard.
Then, when the time was right, he would reveal his true nature and seize the crown in one decisive move. It would give his brothers no time to retaliate. He’d be sitting on the throne before they could blink.
In the beginning, the plan had worked perfectly. His father loved him but began asking less and less of him, his brothers outright looked down on him, and everyone stopped viewing him as a potential successor.
