When Rivals Say I Do

A Chance

It took a lot of effort for Elliot to move Vincent away from him. He basically had to shout until a servant heard him struggling and helped him move the man to his bedroom.

It seemed as though the sudden change in the dose of Vincent’s suppressants had made him sick. Elliot worried about what would happen to him, considering that Vincent had a better constitution compared to him.

He stared at Vincent, who was being taken care of by one of the maids, his silver lashes fluttering as he tried to open his eyes and focus on the world around him. When he spotted Elliot, he smiled at him, and Elliot couldn’t help but feel shy.

When Vincent didn’t open his mouth to spout nonsense, he looked heavenly. The alpha genes worked overtime to make Vincent as pretty as ever, though ‘pretty’ wasn’t the word you would use to describe Vincent Whitehall—more like handsome and strong.

But to Elliot, right then, Vincent was pretty.

It had been two days since Vincent had fallen with a fever, and Elliot had been enjoying his time alone in the mansion. It wasn’t that he didn’t have the freedom to do whatever he wanted, but with Vincent around, he usually raised his guard, not wanting the other man to see him as below him, just a mere omega.

Though, from their last conversation, Elliot had been considering trying to open up to Vincent, to make their marriage work. Because he knew being stubborn wouldn’t really change anything; he might as well have a decent relationship with the other man.

A knock echoed in the library, and Elliot announced for them to enter.

A servant with a letter on a platter entered. He bowed and gestured for Elliot to look at the letter. The crest was from the royal family… again.

Elliot scrunched his face at the letter; no good news had come up every time the royal family had sent him one. He took the letter, and the servant made his exit. He gingerly opened it, afraid that if he was too reckless, the letter might contain a more offensive issue.

To his surprise, the letter contained an opportunity for Elliot. The queen had asked his father for permission to send Elliot to Kaos as a new mediator. Elliot grinned. He knew that if he looked at himself in the mirror right then, he would be smiling from ear to ear. He wanted to jump for joy—finally, it was time to prove himself.

The queen had asked him to come this Saturday, two days from then.

Elliot had no idea how to celebrate; he was buzzing with excitement, and before he knew it, he was marching down toward Vincent’s room. He opened the door and found the other man sitting on his bed, polishing a sword on his lap. Elliot grinned at him. He was glad that Vincent was feeling well enough to sit now, but he couldn’t contain himself.

“The queen wanted to send me as the mediator for Kaos,” Elliot exclaimed.

Vincent raised an eyebrow at Elliot’s intrusion.

“I can finally prove my worth,” Elliot continued. He sat on Vincent’s bed and shoved the letter into his hands.

Vincent put down his weapon and read the letter. “Congratulations,” he replied.

Elliot knew that Vincent had no idea how big of a deal it was for him to be acknowledged by the queen like this. Granted, it was with his father’s blessing, but an achievement is an achievement.

His excitement had finally started dying down, and Elliot had realized that the first person he thought of sharing his achievement with was Vincent.

He looked at Vincent, who resumed his polishing, and Elliot couldn’t help but wonder how he felt about him. Would Vincent do the same and share big news with him in a hurry, like what he had just done? Suddenly, he felt a pang of sadness. It wasn’t like they were close; they weren’t even friends in the first place.

Elliot cleared his throat as he stood up from Vincent’s bed with the letter in hand.

“Sorry for disturbing you,” he said, starting to walk toward the door.

He then heard Vincent say, “Be careful.”

Elliot turned to look at him one last time, nodded, and exited the room.

He went back to his own room, but he stopped in the library first, gathering some books that he thought he might need to prepare for a negotiation. Well, he knew it wasn’t going to be a negotiation; it would probably just be a conversation regarding the sharing of resources with Kaos.

However, Elliot wanted to know more. Why was Kaos sending more of their troops to the borders? If possible, he would try to reassure them that there was no need for hostility.

It still bothered him, and he knew that it had something to do with the sickness of the king.

With Gaea under the rule of Queen Charlotte, it was possible that Kaos wanted to take advantage of it. But if they initiated a meeting with them, then perhaps Kaos had another idea.

Elliot wanted to be positive regarding this meeting. He shook away his negative thoughts and focused more on reading. He wanted to be able to answer any possible questions that Kaos might have for him; he was, after all, representing the whole of Gaea.

It felt like a huge burden, but this was something that Elliot had been preparing for his entire life.

A knock echoed in his room, and Elliot told whoever it was to disturb him later. But the door opened anyway, and Vincent entered.

He was holding a small dagger in his hand. He sat on Elliot’s bed, clearly still sick, but pushing himself to go to his room.

“I wanted you to have this. It’s not something fancy, but you need to protect yourself…” Vincent trailed off and continued, “Sometimes words aren’t enough.”

Elliot wanted to glare at him; of course, Vincent had something to say about the Leightons' method of fixing things, but maybe it was Vincent’s way of sending him off with a lucky charm.

He looked at Vincent’s hand and stood up. He took the small dagger that was sheathed in dark brown leather.