After a moment, a hint of a smile tugged at the edge of Kentario’s mouth. “Thank you.” Another minute passed in silence, and then Kentario seemed to pull himself out of his reverie. “So how was dinner?” he asked, changing topic. “Another lecture from your father about staying inside the palace?”
Ryu chuckled, a bitter sound. “Nope. Apparently the whole issue of his only son and heir being kidnapped has been swept under the rug. The most important topic of today is which idiot in a frilly dress I’m supposed to dance with at the Festival of the Goddess. You know,” he said suddenly, “I have a theory. About my soulmate and my parents and why they’re being so bloody difficult about the whole thing.”
Kentario raised an eyebrow. “Do tell.”
“I think they already know who my soulmate is.”
That got Kentario’s attention. He sat up, his dark eyes fierce and watchful. “Are you serious?”
“Honestly, I don’t know for certain,” Ryu said. “But it would make a lot of sense. And more to the point, I think they’ve decided that whoever it is isn’t an appropriate partner. Mum was going on and on at dinner about the couples getting married at the festival. She said she’d tried really hard to find ‘suitable’ couples, with no skeletons in their closets and that the public could admire and respect with no shadows hanging over anyone. And everytime we have a ball or a festival or whatever, she keeps trying to get me to go find a partner I like and start wooing them. Why would they need to do that unless they were going to stop me marrying my soulmate?”
Kentario let out a slow breath. “But she’s always said people should honour the Goddess and accept the soulmate that’s been chosen for them.”
“It wouldn’t be the first time the nobility has suddenly changed their mind. And honestly, what noble omega is going to turn down the chance to be a princess, soulmate or not?”
Kentario didn’t look convinced, but the more Ryu thought about it, the more sense it made.
“So who would it be that they think they’re so irredeemable?” Kentario asked.
“Maybe it’s a beta. There’s always been a huge emphasis on continuing the royal line. If my soulmate couldn’t have children, that could throw a spanner in the works. Or maybe it’s someone with a shady past, a dishonourable family, criminal connections. Maybe that’s why they’re so desperate for me to find someone I like before my birthday. Maybe they’re hoping I’ll decide to abandon the whole soulmate thing and marry someone ‘suitable’, Goddess be damned.”
“But once you turn eighteen, you get to register your mark and find out for yourself.” Kentario snorted in sudden amusement. “What if it’s a homeless omega male from Arctesia? What would you do then?”
Ryu couldn’t help but chuckle. Such a match would most certainly fall outside his parents’ ideas of an acceptable partner. Or what if, he thought suddenly, instead of picking a prim and proper omega woman, he decided to choose a certain noble alpha? That would surely upset his parents’ machinations, though not in the direction they’d hoped.
But for that to happen, Kentario would have to agree…
“What about your soulmate?” he asked, trying not to sound too curious. “You’re twenty-one. Why haven’t you found yours yet? You have actually registered your mark, haven’t you?”
“My parents registered it for me when I was five years old. I don’t even remember it,” Kentario said with a shrug. “When I was eighteen, my dad signed over the account to me, but I haven’t heard anything from SoulWorks since then. To be honest, I’m not in a rush. When I get matched with someone, I’ll deal with it, but until then, I’ve got plenty of other things to keep me busy.”
Kentario’s disinterest was something of a surprise. Most alphas were chomping at the bit to hook up with a beautiful, willing omega. For all the stereotypes, it was one of the aspects of their secondary genders that still held true. One whiff of tangy omega pheromones and most alphas lost their ability to think rationally. But he refrained from saying so. His own lack of interest in the superficial omegas at court was example enough, and he wassure that Kentario’s father would have put enough pressure on his son to continue their own auspicious family line that further nudging from Ryu would not be appreciated.
“Maybe I could just sneak out of the palace and go register my soul mark myself,” he said, not entirely joking.
“Or you could just wait a week and a half and do it when you’re eighteen, like your parents said you could.” Kentario caught the glare Ryu was aiming at him and rolled his eyes. “Don’t even ask whose side I’m on. We both know the answer to that. I’m just saying, given where we are now, is it really worth all the hassle of having your parents throw a fit when they find out?”
Ryu grumbled to himself, unable to come up with a decent answer.
Kentario glanced at the clock on the wall, then stood up. Was it Ryu’s imagination, or did he seem unusually reluctant about it? “I should get out of the way,” Kentario said. “Your parents will be back soon, and they tend to get antsy if they catch me spending too much time here.” That small fact, too, made little sense, though Ryu had never given the issue too much thought. But now that Kentario mentioned it, Ryu realised he was right. On the odd occasions his bodyguard had visited the apartment, Ryu’s father had been eager to get the man out the door again as soon as could be considered polite, and he’d never, ever been permitted to go inside Ryu’s bedroom, for all that they’d been childhood friends since they’d both been old enough to walk. He didn’t think it was a class issue. Danag was welcomed with open arms whenever he wanted to visit Sou in the apartment, given that with the official title of Lord Amagarda, Danag – and by extension, Kentario – were only one step down the social ladder below the royal family.
But Kentario hesitated by the door, turning back with a look of apprehension on his face. “Are we good?” he asked, an uncharacteristic worry in his voice. “I mean, about what happened today?”
“It’s cool,” Ryu assured him. “It wasn’t your fault. And like I said; I believe in you. No matter what Maro and my father have to say about it.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
It was just past nine o’clock in the morning when Ryu meandered into the palace kitchen. He’d slept badly last night, tossing and turning as a thousand different thoughts had played through his mind; the kidnapping attempt; his final exam coming up on Thursday; the mystery surrounding his soulmate. And just when he’d thought his mind had exhausted all the possible problems currently disrupting his life, his thoughts had turned to Kentario; the anxious, almost tender look on his face as he’d left last night. The tantalising curl of the jaguar tail that peeked out the neck of his shirt. The way his pecs had flexed beneath said shirt, in a way that invited far more illicit thoughts than how much weight he could bench-press in the gym. And the fact that his parents would throw a right royal hissy-fit if he even considered the idea of pairing up with his alpha bodyguard. He’d finally fallen asleep around three in the morning, then slept in and missed breakfast.
Fortunately, at this hour of the morning, he wouldn’t be disturbing anyone too much by raiding the kitchen for an impromptu snack. The breakfast clean up was more or less done, and it was too early for the staff to have begun preparing lunch. There were a few kitchenhands tidying away the last of the morning’s dishes, but no one else was around at the moment.
Ryu headed for the fridge where the fruit was stored, ostensibly looking for an apple, if anyone happened to ask. But on his way, he took a small detour past the ovens, casting an idle glance around to see if anything was cooking…
“If you’re looking for some of Chie’s cookies, they’re on the top shelf,” a voice said from behind him, and Ryu turned around, trying not to look guilty about it. Saki was standing on the other side of the nearest work bench, wiping her hands on a dishcloth. She was the manager, in charge ofrunning the entire kitchen; a woman in her fifties who had been working in the palace since before Ryu had been born.
“I was just-”
“I know,” Saki said, with a raised eyebrow. “Just looking to sneak away with a snack while no one’s looking. You’ve been pulling the same stunt ever since you were five years old, and getting away with it, on the basis of looking too damn cute for any of the ladies to resist your charms.”
