chapter one

Eric POV

Tears blurred my eyes as I stared at my brother's photo. His memory was still fresh in my brain like it was yesterday. We were so happy; he was getting his dream and finally becoming the king of Elorida, and I was happy for him.

Until he was shot, minutes before his crown was placed on his head. His blood stained my shirt, gushing through him as his hand held on to me tightly like he was fighting for his life until he closed his eyes and died.

Today makes it a week.

And all of a sudden, I became seen. I became the next heir. I was usually referred to as the spare son, and now everyone is waiting for me to take over my brother's place and become king.

A situation I cannot allow to happen.

One, I don't like the role.

Two, I am gay, and gays can't be king. It has been a long time tradition.

My phone's ringing tone echoed around my room, drawing my eyes from my brother's photo. I reached out for my phone, which was by my bedside.

A smile graced my lips as I stared at the person calling. It was Mike, my boyfriend.

“Hello, babe, how…”

“Don't call me babe!” he shouted across the phone. His voice was filled with anger.

I furrowed my eyebrows. Mike has never shouted at me. Never, not even when we had an issue. So what the hell is going on?

“What happened? Did I do something wrong?” I asked quietly.

“Did you do something wrong?” he asked, his voice laced with heavy sarcasm. “You visited my house yesterday, fucked me, and today you announced to the whole country that you are getting married to some stupid girl, and you ask me if you did anything wrong?” he asked, his voice trembling, shaking with pain as he sniffed.

Marriage? I don't remember discussing marriage with anyone. For someone to get married, the person has to have a girlfriend, and I don't have anyone.

Or maybe it was some false news.

I heaved a sigh. All these bloggers! Taking in a deep breath, I tried to assure Mike that I was his and would always be.

“I don't know who told you, but that news is fake. Okay? I am not getting married to anyone. I can't get married without a fiancé, and besides, I have made it clear to my mum that I don't want the crown,” I explained.

“Really? Then how come your mother took it upon herself to go live on TV and announce your marriage with her own mouth, and it is happening in three days' time! Eric, three fucking days. I told you not to break my heart, and you go and shatter it in the worst way ever! I hate you. I hate you so, so much, and we are done! Screw you! The queen and whoever you are getting married to!” he shouted and cut the call before I could say a word.

I rushed towards the TV in my room and turned it on. The colour drained from my face as I watched my mum standing before the crowd with a beautiful smile as she announced the wedding ceremony in three days.

A petite, slender girl stood beside her with a smile as she introduced her as the future queen of Elorida, and I could swear on my life that I had never seen her before. Not even in my dreams.

I curled my hands into fists, grabbing the duvet that was covering me. The realization dawned on me that my mum was the one behind all this.

She did this, and she knew fully well that I would not accept it; that was why she announced it without my knowing.

Gosh! I hate this woman.

As if on cue, Amelia, my maid, a middle aged woman in her late forties, walked in with a smile. “The Queen asked me to call you for breakfast.”

I rolled my eyes as I watched her leave. A heavy feeling settled in my heart, making it hard for me to breathe; tears rolled down my eyes.

Mike had been the only one who loved me and cared about my decision, about how I felt, not what my mum wanted. He saw beneath the spare prince that everyone saw me as, and he loved me, and now he has broken up with me for something I know nothing about.

Something I did not even do.

I dragged my broken self out of the bed with a heavy heart. I took my bath, got dressed, and walked downstairs to the dining room.

Immediately, I laid my eyes on my mum, my anger increased. Adrenaline rushed within me as I watched her talk with the girl.

A dark hunger that I had been suppressing for a long time crawled within me. To walk towards her and snap her neck, kill her, make her cry, and get on her knees and beg for my mercy.

To make her see me not as the weak son but the strong one. Someone she should fear.

I swallowed hard, repeating the same words my brother had told me to say in my head. “It's okay. It's okay. You are okay. You are enough.”

I pushed the anger down and walked towards them with a smile. Immediately my mum saw me, she stood up and walked towards me, her eyes glittering with pride.

“Eric, I am sure you saw the news this morning. Meet Katherine, your fiancée,” she said with a smile.

Katherine walked up to me and smiled, bowing her head down slightly.

I turned to my mum. “I never knew I was getting married,” I said through gritted teeth, ignoring the girl's presence.

She plastered a fake smile and held my hands. “You know it is required of you to get married so that you can take the throne and become king. The people need you.”

I shook my head, utterly disappointed in God for giving me this woman as a mother. All her life, all she ever wanted was power. To retain her position as queen, make everyone smile at her. She never cared about what we, her children, wanted or what our father wanted. It has always been power and nothing else.

“The people don't need me. They need time to mourn their dead prince. It has not even been up to a week since Abel died, and you are already making arrangements for me to get married? What about the one month mourning period that we all observed when a royal died? What happened to that?”

She scoffed, rolling her eyes. “Well, we are done mourning. After all, he is dead. We can't bring him back to life. We have to move on. His reign is over; it is your time, and we have enemies who would want to attack us, especially now that we have no leader,” she said and smiled at me before turning to Katherine.

“She is lovely and would make a good wife. She would be just like me. Don't worry; you would love her once you get to know her.”

I shook my head at them, at everything that has happened within the last two months. Dad died a month ago from food poisoning, and now Abel was shot, and Mother seems not to care.

She is not even bent on finding who killed them. All she wants is for someone to ascend the throne.

The urge to crawl into my skin again, itching me like ants on my skin. To kill her, pull out a gun and shoot her. It would end all your torment, and you would be free to do as you like.

I shook my head, shutting the urge down, and turned to my mum. “I would never ever get married to the woman of your choice. In fact, I would rather die than marry someone who looks like you or behaves like you. A failure to her kids and her people. Tell her to get out of here and never return because I am not getting married anytime soon,” I warned and walked away.

“Eric!” my mum shouted at my back as she walked towards me.

I hastened my steps, making her run toward me. As soon as I got to my room, I immediately turned to close the door behind me, but she put her feet in between the door, stopping me.

I stared at her feet, wondering if I should use all the force I had and slam the door against them. So that she would feel a fraction of the pain I felt. So that her bones would crack like my heart broke.

And once again, I pushed the thought down and allowed her to walk inside. Immediately she entered inside, her hands flew across the air, landing a resounding slap on my cheek.

This bitch! I would have done what I had in mind some minutes ago.

“How dare you walk out on me? How dare you defy my order? You sit in your room mourning your brother all day, Eric, a weakling that you are, while I do all the jobs. The least you can say is thank you. Thank you! That is all I should get from being the parent to a fool like you.

“You think crying over your brother would make you a king? No! It won't. I don't know how long it would take for you to come to your senses, but the wedding is going to happen. Get prepared!” she snapped, panting heavily.

She walked towards the door and turned to me again. “All my life, I have always counted you as one of the mistakes I had. Even your dad agreed with me. If you want to prove me wrong, get married to Katherine. Be the son I have always wanted,” she said in a low voice.

I looked at her with a smile as her words pierced through my heart. I should be used to it. To her painful words, yet here I am being weak.

The only person who had made me feel worthless was my mother. My own mother.

I shoved my hands into my pocket and walked towards her with a smile. “For the first time, Mother, I am okay being the weak son, and if you force me to become the king, I don't want to be. Rest assured that you would pay for my lifelong pain.

“For the emptiness you created in me. Be reassured that you and your bride would not live to see the next day after our wedding,” I warned and grabbed her hands as I pushed her outside and banged the door in her face.

A smile crossed my lips at the memory of her eyes when I threatened her. She wasn't worried. She was afraid. Fear passed her eyes like a living thing.

And for some reason, I wanted to continue seeing that feeling in her eyes.

I pulled out my phone immediately after she was gone and texted Mike to meet me at the gay bar, hidden in the outskirts of the town.

It was marked as read, but he didn't reply.