D-DAY; DEPARTURE
"Are you ready? You didn't forget anything, right?" Amaris was standing in the foyer of Ice castle, dressed in black leather warrior attire, and boots. Her silver hair was styled with jeweled clasps, and a little box was beside her feet.
She nodded and took a deep breath, shutting her eyes briefly.
"I'm always ready."
"Boss, I'm here. The jet is set for departure."
Amaris's heart skipped multiple beats on hearing 'jet'. Damn it! Travelling in such a high profile manner will arouse lots of malicious thoughts and jealousy. Is Harvey truly helping her or does he want to get her into deep shit?
"Your majesty. There's no need to waste jet fuel. Just drop me off at any rail station, and I will find my way. I have my phone to get access to a digital map. You don't need to stress yourself."
Harvey chuckled ambiguously.
"Lunegarde is a magical entity. It's made up of floating islands. How can you get there on your own?"
"But I heard prince Auren went by himself the day he enrolled."
"Of course. He's a man. Do I need to babysit him? Auren has magic, he stopped before Lunegarde and floated past before entering Lunegarde main city. Do you have magic? Can you teleport? Of course, my jet has to take you. Normal planes can't get past the restriction, but my jet has my seal which Lunegarde recognizes." "The jet will take you, and that's final. I have an important meeting today. Otherwise, I would have escorted you."
Amaris's eyes widened in panic and she immediately waved her hand in refusal.
"No, no, no. Go do your thing. I don't want you to accompany me."
Harvey chuckled, knowing the reason for her panic. But teasing her seemed to be his favorite pastime ever since he picked her up.
The first gamma arrived carrying two boxes, with a woman in tow.
Gamma Conrad pretended not to notice Amaris, barely hiding his disdain for her.
"Alpha, everything is ready."
Gamma Conrad was actually born as a beta wolf, with high power. He barely missed the alpha rank. In terms of power, few people in the Northern territory can contend with him.
The red haired petite woman whom Amaris recognized as the chief royal stylist bowed before Harvey, pointing at one of the boxes with a smile on her face.
"Fifteen sets of warrior gears for the training sessions, fifteen custom gowns with different styles for events, casual and corporate wears which totals twelve, in addition to sleep wears."
She pointed to the second box. "Ten designer handbags from the best designers of the factory, fifteen high heels, five combat boots, two sneakers, two cross trainers, two home slippers, and a black casual flat shoe. There is also jewelry for occasions, and hair bands. Since the school will provide other things, I don't see the need."
Amaris's heart dropped further. Isn't this carrying a big sign saying spoiled brat?
"Your majesty. I already packed my bag. There's no need for this. I…"
Harvey chuckled and shook his head.
"If you can't bear the consequences of having too much, then stay back. You're going with them, that's final. Give her the bag of herbs and the pamphlet."
Gamma Conrad obeyed and Amaris added it to the bag she packed. Her heart was beating wildly, and cold sweat formed on her back. For some reason, she suddenly developed cold feet, and couldn't place her fingers on the reason for this bad feeling. Her excitement disappeared, and she couldn't help but look at Harvey suspiciously. Why was he doing things to make her stand out? He didn't even treat his son like that. Did he truly save her with good intentions, or was this an incident of keeping your enemies even closer?
The rest of the things being discussed totally escaped her ears, and she became extremely suspicious of her surroundings, up till the time the car meant to drive her to the hangar arrived. The moment she left the smile on Harvey's face disappeared and he scoffed.
"Your majesty, are you sure about this?" Conrad asked, frowning. Harvey chuckled ambiguously and turned to leave, pretending not to hear.
The moment Amaris left, a maid looked around, her eyes darting like that of a thief. Satisfied that no one was watching her, she slipped out her phone from her apron and darted to a corner.
She was breathing fast, and her hands were shaking, like one doing something wrong. Taking a deep breath, she dialed a number. The person at the other end picked up after the second ring.
"Speak."
"Good day, my lady. She just left."
There was a short silence before the voice at the other end spoke.
"The information you gave me, are you certain that they're correct?"
"Yes my lady. I will never dare to lie to you or give you false information. When she was brought back, she was wearing stinky rags, with a slave brand, nearly dying. The alpha king spent millions on herbs and inviting the sacred healer. He even began to give her preferential treatment. And…"
The maid's voice trailed off, as if she was hesitating on whether to complete her tip off.
"Go on! Do you think I have all the time in the world?"
"She's Prince Auren's mate. Although he didn't accept her and treated her coldly, he didn't reject her either. So…"
"I got it. Anything else worth sharing."
"Nothing. It's just that the alpha king seemed to have bribed the school authorities to get her in, and paid someone to protect her since Prince Auren declined and left in anger, refusing to accompany her. He also gave her lots of extravagant things as she left."
The voice at the other end chuckled wickedly.
"Bribery? They just dug their graves. Hahahaha. What a good chess piece."
The maid stuttered a bit, unable to make her request out of fear.
"I will make sure she doesn't arrive at Lunegarde academy alive."
"My lady…"
"Don't worry, I have it in mind. You will get the money within five minutes. Make sure to keep me updated on everything going on in Ice castle."
The voice on the other end laughed wickedly, still cackling till she ended the call.