Sold as the Alpha King’s Breeder by Alice Knightsky
Chapter 72 Ethan Found Out About Papeno
**Ethan’s POV**
“We’ll need to figure out which of the Denali Islands may be used by our enemies.” I met with James and Talon in private.
“Ethan, how are you going to do this? Romero may be cunning, but he is not stupid,” James asked.
I turned to the King with a smirk, “Your Majesty, didn’t you want me to marry Madalynn? I will, in one month.” James stroked his chin as if he was trying to understand my true intentions. “Very well, I’ll have the announcement out this afternoon.”
I knew my decision probably didn’t make Talon super excited, but he didn’t say much in front of the king. “Ethan, why-” Talon chased me out of the meeting room.
I turned to face Talon, and my words were cold. “Because I need Madalynn to come to me.”
He paused for a moment, and I gave him my command. “Tell the guys to get ready for some action.”
Madalynn’s voice rang from the other side of the door. “Ethan!”
I walked over to open the door.
She was wearing subtle make-up, her perfume wasn’t as strong as usual, and she acted more polite than usual. Madalynn may be arrogant, but like her father, she wasn’t stupid by any means. She knew how to carry herself in front of different people.
But I still needed to fight against my urge to frown.
“Is it true?” Her eyes were filled with excitement.
I acknowledged it with a nod. “It’s the king’s order.”
It was obvious I had made her day by allowing her into my suite.
“You’ve agreed that we are getting married in a month?” She tried to get rea*s*surance from me.
I looked at her. “Is the reason why you’re here today to question me?”
Although I didn’t answer her directly, it was enough for her. She smiled and asked, “May I come in?”
I walked back to the living room and sat on the couch.
She hesitated and followed me to the couch. Seeing I had no objection, she took the seat only one spot away from me.
“So do you need me for anything?” I wanted to get this over with soon, but I knew I needed to be patient.
She cleared her throat. “Oh, ahem, yes.” She collected her thoughts. “Now that we are getting married, I figured we have a few things to discuss.”
“Go ahead.”
“I’d like to take a photo for the announcement for the paper.” She glanced at me to check my reaction. “Maybe we can talk about it over lunch?”
It took every ounce of me to entertain this conversation, but I tried my best to even my tone. “When?”
She seemed a little surprised, but her eyes lit up.
“How about today?” It was almost noon.
I nodded, put on my suit jacket, and walked over to the door.
She seemed to be still in a daze. When she finally realized that I was waiting for her, she moved quicker than I had ever seen her move, and before I knew it, we were walking down the main hall towards the small dinning room on castle property.
As we walked towards the restaurant, I saw people look at us curiously.
“Ethan?” She had a victorious smile on her face. “I am glad that we are finally doing something together.” I didn’t respond, but it didn’t change her good mood.
“Just the two of you today?” a young woman asked when we approached.
“Yes. We are celebrating today,” Madalynn answered before I could, and I raised a brow in question as to what she meant by celebrating.
“Oh, that’s wonderful. Right this way please, Alpha… Luna.”
I was displeased with how Madalynn was addressed, but I kept my mouth shut. My silence, however, could not be more satisfying for Madalynn.
As we sat at the table, Madalynn ordered wine with a smile on her face. Then she switched her focus to me, seemingly expecting us to have a conversation.
“Ethan, thank you for coming here with me.” If I hadn’t seen some of her behaviors before, I would even consider her tone graceful.
“Welcome,” was all I could say.
I didn’t consider myself to be polite exactly, but she didn’t seem to mind.
After a few seconds of silence, I started the conversation. “You wanted to talk about the photo taking?”
She stared at me again for a second and then answered my question. “Yes, I wanted to ask you when would be a good time and good location.”
I tried to sound as patient as I could. “Time, up to you, as long as there is no emergency. As for location… I a*s*sume you like islands?”
Madalynn relaxed a bit more. “Yes, I do like islands. That’s where I’m from.”
“Tell me about them.”
She seemed to be happy with the conversation, especially with others looking our way. “What do you want to know about them?”
“Places you would recommend to visit?”
“Um…some islands are best for private parties, some have good food. I don’t like trade ports; they are too busy for my taste. “She placed a small piece of steak in her mouth. “Too many people. I don’t like noise. I’d rather stay on my own islands.”
“You have your own private islands?”
“Of course, I do!”
“I a*s*sume those islands are quiet because they won’t allow large ships?” If so, I had no interest in knowing them because that meant they held little military value.
“You are right. My islands are all like that.” I chuckled.
She was curious. “What are you laughing at?”
I thought for a few seconds. “You’re the only heir. All of your father’s private islands would be yours. So are those bigger and more noisy ones. Seems like you would have quite a lot of responsibilities in your future. Remind me how many public and private port cities are there in total?”
She appeared to be flattered by my comments, but the look on her face was quite ambitious. “There are six, four public and two private.”
“Interesting, I could name the four public ones. Never been to private ports.”
I looked at her, waiting for her to say something.
“You want to go to the private ports?” She looked pleasantly surprised that I would imply such a request.
I encouraged her. “Maybe.”
Madalynn wasn’t too enthusiastic about visiting the private ports. She shrugged. “If you want, of course, I would show you around. But as far as I know, nothing interesting comes from Papeno. I found it quite boring when I was there last year. It’s more like a storage fortress…”
‘Papeno,’ I mindlinked Talon.
‘Got it, Alpha. I will send scouts.’
Now that I’d gotten the information I needed, the rest of the lunch seemed to drag forever.
“But Ethan, why did you all of sudden become so interested in the islands?” Madalynn asked out of the blue.
Did she realize I was fishing for information from her? Did she suspect me?
My gaze grew colder. “Shall I not?”
She was taken aback. “E…Ethan?”
I softened my tone. “I thought we were getting married, and you’d be happy that I care?”
“Ye-yes, of course! Ethan, I am happy, so happy!” She stood up and wrapped her arms around mine. “I’m just… feeling this isn’t real.”
My muscles cringed at her touch, and I tried my best to not pull my arm away from her.
Madalynn sighed for a moment as if thinking over something, and looked up to me again with a smile. “You know, we are engaged, but I don’t have anything of yours to symbolize that I belong to you. That just makes me feel so insecure.”
I frowned again. What did this woman want?
“Like a token, something that I can keep with me at all times.” She looked up at me. “Something that shows I’m yours and you’re mine….”
There was a glint in her eye as she spoke, setting my nerves on edge.
Then she reached out to my hand and caressed the black and gold ring sitting on my right ring finger. It had the symbol of my bloodline, and I never took it off.
Then I heard her say, “Ethan, it would make me feel much better if I could have this ring….”
As she was leaning her head on my chest, I took off the ring and threw it to her. I couldn’t stand her presence any longer.
The victorious smile on her face disgusted me, and I left the room as soon as I could.