**Many years before** Bradon’s point of viewI didn't want to believe in the common stereotypical belief that rainy days would turn out to be bad days; however, that rainy day truly felt like one of the worst days of my life at that time. Apparently there was an important party Alfred Vulkan hosted and Anthony needed to be in attendance as heir of the host family. The problem was that Anthony had caught a very bad cold, and not surprisingly I was the only one who could take his place and attend the party. At least, that was the short story that my father came up with when he informed me of what I needed to do. What would have felt like nothing in the present was actually quite a difficult task for me back in the days when I first started impersonating my younger brother. At that point I have only had a few successful experiences of taking my brother's place and all of them were in private family gatherings or in pretty safe environments. Our father made it very clear that I needed to

The instructor helped lead the horse outside as I walked by its side. So far, Anthony's horse appeared calm but I wondered how long that was going to last. Alfred was waiting for us outside and we found him chatting with a few of his guests. His apparent bright mood seemed to vanish when his eyes landed on me. I could tell that he was displeased that I was not yet sitting atop the horse. “Sir, if I may…this might be a bad idea. Are you sure that we need to use this horse when there are so many others available?” the instructor asked my father with a pleading tone. Although I appreciated the instructor speaking up for me, I didn't dare have any hope that my father would change his mind. Keeping up appearances for the family was more important than the safety of my life.“We will use this horse. It was gifted to Anthony by the royal family. How could we use some other horse? That would be highly disrespectful,” My father replied curtly.That was that. Without a word, my father led t

“Why are you here?” I asked before I could stop myself.I glanced nervously in Dahlia's direction just to find that she had already closed her eyes. Because I knew that she was just awake not so long ago, I knew that she was just pretending to be asleep and that was probably because she didn't want to deal with the unknown visitor. Other people might have thought that what Dahlia did was completely rude; however, it worked well in my favor. I stared at the woman who just entered the room and felt thankful that Dahlia had decided not to pay her any attention.Why is my mother here of all people?It was rare for my mother to attend any kind of parties or events hosted by the Vulkan family and that was because she wasn’t allowed to do so without explicit permission from Alfred. However, there must have been a good reason why she was standing in the same room with me while I was still actively acting as Anthony. The grim looked on her face and the cold way that she was staring at me told

I didn’t think that I was a nice person at all. If anything, I must be one of the most deceitful and selfish people out there because I’m always doing things for my own survival or just to get by. Even now, I was lying to her and putting on an act to shield my mother from blame. I didn’t even want to think what kind of face Dahlia would make if she were to find out the truth. Not wanting to lie to her any further, I simply put on one of my best smiles. “You should leave now. I want to talk privately with my fiancé,” Dahlia ordered my mother before she smiled politely.My mother stood up emotionlessly as if she was a robot, and without looking our way, she made her way out of the room. Once again I was left alone with Dahlia and I wondered what it was that she wanted to talk to me about.“Why did you let her talk to you that way? I mean, she’s your nanny…but still…” Dahlia snapped at me and it was clear just how frustrated she was. She bit on her lower lip as a troubled look appeared

I glanced at the screen on my phone when it lit up and vibrated on my bed. I had gotten used to receiving text messages from Desmond asking me to meet him. If this had happened before my argument with Bradon, I would have headed out right away to meet up with the prince no matter the cost. Although I knew that it would be better if I met up with him, my mood wouldn't allow it, and I found myself rejecting all of his invitations.‘Do you want to go out?’ read the short text message that I had received from the prince. ‘Sorry, but I'm not feeling too well,’ I texted back even without thinking about it. Nothing had happened that would warrant me going out to see the prince. There was no news regarding the change in the king's condition and that meant that our plans couldn't go forward. I honestly wanted to know if the time of the king's death was nearing, but it wasn't like I could simply ask Desmond if his father was going to die any time soon or why it was taking so long.‘Is there a