The Cursed Prince

Chapter 967: King Draco's Plan

King Draco Roseland was upset because he had such a useless daughter. Rowena was beautiful, smart, and trained to be the perfect woman. He could see no man was immune to her charm.

From nobles to commoners, humans to even gods like the young god who was now in his court, Draco could see they were all smitten by her.

However, she was so useless because she didn't want to use her charm to her advantage. It was so easy for her to wrap those men around her fingers, yet she never tried to do it. King Draco had tried to make her see that she had the power to make them do whatever she wanted. Yet, he always had to do the work himself.

Why was she not interested in power?

King Draco had even used Julian as an excuse to make her do it, but she was still too slow. She needed another intervention.

King Draco was not proud of what he was about to do, but he really had no choice. Raphael was here and he still seemed interested in Rowena. King Draco had to take advantage of Raphael's feelings for Rowena to get what he wanted.

If he let this one opportunity go, perhaps, he would never be able to return to Cretea and meet the love of his life. It's now or never.

It only took one potion that night.

He immediately summoned the kingdom's best apothecary to make him an aphrodisiac. He would use it to make sure Raphael and Rowena sleep together, no matter what. Then, he would demand the seventh prince to marry his daughter.

"It's embarrassing that I have to resort to this," the king muttered to himself in disgust. "Damn you, Rowena. You're so useless!"

***

"Hey," Rowena's steps halted when she saw Raphael standing with his back toward her. The man was admiring the garden. He noticed a sea of purple flowers to his right. He remembered seeing these small flowers in Rowena's hut in the valley where he was staying with her for three months.

He didn't remember them being planted here when he was still living by Rowena's side as Lucent. So, they must be new. He wondered if Rowena liked them so much and had them grown in the royal palace.

"Hey," Raphael smiled when he heard Rowena's voice and turned around. For a moment, he was rooted to his spot, admiring the beautiful woman. She looked extremely happy to see him and that made his chest flutter.

She still looked sad and distant, but her eyes glint sincerely at seeing him. He could tell she was truly happy by his presence.

"Are they new?" Raphael asked Rowena, pointing at the small purple flowers. "They were not here the last time."

"How did you know?" Rowena stepped forward and stopped right before Raphael. "Have you been here before?"

Raphael blinked his eyes and scratched his head. Gosh, he almost uncover his secret that he was here before, for quite a long time actually. He was not ready to share that part of his life with Rowena.

Fortunately, he remembered that he did come here two years ago when he was looking for Rowena. He smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I came here once because I was interested in knowing more about you after I heard about the letters that King Draco sent out to people to help him look for you."

"I see," Rowena was not sure why would Raphael came to Ashland two years ago, but she didn't chase him to tell her more. She thought the man would share it with her if he thought it was important.

"You really like cris?" Raphael asked her again. "That's the name of these flowers, right?"

Rowena nodded. "Yeah. They are beautiful, aren't they?"

Raphael didn't think so, but he nodded his head. He remembered Rowena's first trip outside of the palace. She went to Almere with Lady Liz and they made a stop at the lake where cris grew by the shore. It was the first time Lucent ever saw Rowena looking genuinely happy and her laughter was crisp and sincere.

"They usually grow near water," Raphael commented.

"Yeah. I asked my father if I could have a small pond built for me, so cris could grow," Rowena explained. "I really like them."

Raphael nodded in understanding. He thought King Draco had changed quite a bit. He now allowed Rowena to do things she liked. She could grow the plants she loved and she also seemed to enjoy archery.

Maybe King Draco had truly regretted his strict treatment of Rowena after his daughter left him. Now, he was trying to do better so Rowena would stay.

"You seem happier now," Raphael said with a smile.

Rowena faked a smile and nodded. "Yeah."

She was only happy because he came. However, she didn't say anything. They conversed about trivial things and enjoyed each other's company until a servant came to them and told them King Draco was waiting for them at dinner.

"This way," Rowena touched Raphael's hand and motioned him to follow her to the dining room. The man's heart fluttered when their hands touched. He looked at her longingly and wished he could hold her hand.

However, she had already walked in front him. The man had no choice but to follow. When they arrived in the dining room, they could see King Draco was sitting at the head of the table. He motioned them to sit on each side.

"You are our guest, I hope you will enjoy the meals we prepared for you," said King Draco to Raphael.

The man nodded. "I will."

He sat down across from Rowena and soon dinner was started. Rowena's guard was down as she smiled and enjoyed a hearty dinner with her father and Raphael.

She had no slightest suspicion that her father would put aphrodisiac on her plates. She ingested it with her meals. She was smiling and in a really good mood.

King Draco didn't want to do this, but he had no other choice. He focused his attention on his food, but secretly, he checked Rowena's condition to see if she had started to show the desired effect of the aphrodisiac.

This couldn't fail.

Raphael enjoyed his meal and his light conversation with Rowena and King Draco. He also had no idea of what the king was planning.

After some time, Rowena finally felt a stir in her stomach and grew incredibly faint.

"A-ah, pardon me." Rowena's face became flushed as she stood up.

"Rowena are you alright?" Raphael looked worriedly at her, but Rowena simply smiled.

"I-I apologize, I have to retire early tonight," Rowena said. She felt warm and didn't want to make the man worried. Maybe she was exhausted after the hunt earlier today. She nodded at him and said, "I will see you tomorrow, Raphael."

Once Rowena left, it didn't take too long for Raphael to excuse himself.

"Pardon me, I will be heading to my chambers." The Seventh Prince said. "The trip has exhausted me, Your Majesty."

"Do not fret about it. There will be other times." King Draco bade them goodnight.

Once the two disappeared, the man resisted the urge to snicker as he pulled out a simple parchment of a letter.

He took a quill and simply wrote down a quick note that invited Raphael to Rowena's chambers to talk in private.

It didn't take too long for a servant he ordered to slip it down the bedroom door of Raphael.

King Draco truly doubted that any of them would get some sleep that night.

He chuckled and picked up his wine goblet.

"If you want to do something right, you have to do it by yourself."

***

Raphael couldn't sleep, he was worried about Rowena but held himself back from visiting her. Unlike in the kingdom of Verona, Ashland valued their crown princess and he was sure that if Rowena even had an itchy throat or sneezed once—its kingdom's doctors would do everything to take care of her.

This was why when he heard a shuffle of footsteps and the rustling of a paper, he was instantly surprised and came to pick it up. The invitation was short, simple, and sweet.

A request that came from none other than Rowena herself—a secret rendezvous behind her father's back. She

begged him to come and see her, she had something important to say.

Raphael gripped the letter and gulped slightly.

"She wants to see me?" he muttered to himself.

He didn't know what Rowena wanted to say to him, but since he once took care of her in the hut that used to belong to her and Julian… she probably didn't care about the environment.

"I… I can't simply ignore this," the seventh prince sighed. "She might need my help and didn't want to talk in front of her father. I have to see her and see what she has to say."

It was why Raphael ended up seeing Rowena in an incredibly vulnerable state.