***
If there was any chance for Nicholas Hannenbergh to actually have some time for himself, it was these last few days before he ascended the throne. He left his mother in the care of Karenina and then went to the royal villa.
"Once I've actually become king… I won't have time to go on adventures or do as much as I please anymore," Nicholas muttered to himself as he prepared his horse in the stables of the royal villa.
"In the eyes of many, becoming king is equivalent to power but to me, it is all responsibility," Nicholas said to the dark stallion in front of him. The crown prince was feeling a bit chatty.
Too bad all he could talk to was a horse.
Prior to King William's death, Nicholas was actually popular with events and invited to many parties and balls to enjoy his time and potentially get closer with other nobility.
However, Nicholas avoided them like they were the plague.
Lady Karenina interacted and participated in a lot of parties. However, he did not want to do anything with her, and neither did he want to interact with people who only saw him as a chance to seize more power and influence.
"People all approach me because they want something out of me." Nicholas clenched his fist for a moment before he rode atop his stallion and he fed the horse a sugar cube.
Nobody saw him as just Nicholas, it was always, the Crown Prince or future King of Riga and now those people who were waiting for him to become ruler finally got what they wanted.
A lot of the people were mourning King William's death, but it was only just a week and now they were preparing for the coronation. How quickly the emotions shifted and changed.
"Sure it's probably important that I become king soon to handle the political instability of the kingdom… but why did it have to be only a week after the funeral of my father?" Nicholas let out a sigh and then rode his horse out of the stable.
The stallion moved into the grasslands.
There were a lot of things that weighed heavily on Nicholas' mind and now he chose to cast those fears and worries away into the wind. He rode away from the royal villa and out into the outskirts of the capital.
He tried to laugh into the wind and let out his stress, but it was so hard.
Nicholas truly felt alone in this world.
***
After saying his temporary farewell to his mate, Leland left the capital last night with some of his people. The Alpha set out to meet with his mother and the rest of the Blood River Pack. They used the fastest horses because it was too dangerous to travel in their wolf forms from a big city such as Livstad.
By his prediction, he would be able to meet his mother in three days.
"Please take care of yourself, Leland." Sophie kissed her husband's cheek and smiled warmly at him.
"Thank you, Sophia." Leland kissed his wife's lips tenderly before gingerly pulling back as he looked at her with a loving look. He truly didn't deserve to be with someone as wonderful as her. "I shall return as fast as I can."
"I'll be looking forward to that!" Sophie beamed at him. She wished that she had been able to accompany him, but she must stay in Livstad with her children.
Since her husband was going to be gone for a few days, Sophie actually had ample time to spend exclusive time with her children. She chose to look on the bright side and not miss Leland too much.
He was going to be back soon.
The truth was that Sophie was actually a bit nervous and worried about the man meeting with his mother, but she chose to put her faith in Leland and knew that he was going to be fine.
If anything, Sophie was actually a lot more concerned about meeting with her mother-in-law. Was there anything that Sophie could do to become closer or at least repair the relationship between mother and son?
As a mother herself, Sophie wanted to believe that Leland's mother also had affection and love for her son. Even though it was a little difficult, perhaps it was possible to make Leland happier.
Somehow it reminded Sophie of Nicholas' relationship with his father. Her late husband seemed so focused on trying to please and fulfill the expectations of his family that it burdened him so much.
"Ah, Nic…" Sophie smiled a little sadly as she looked out the window of her manor. She felt wistful and rather nostalgic about him all of a sudden. "I know that I'll have to tell the boys about you when they're a little older and can understand me."
She was so grateful that Leland loved them like his own, but Sophie knew that it was also fair for Luciel and Jan to know about their father even though he was already long gone.
"I am sure that you would have loved to see them." The beautiful woman wiped the tears from her eyes.
***
"Come on, Luciel and Jan. I can also run around with you guys." Sophie teased her children as she took them out of the manor and headed for some fresh air in one afternoon. "Let's go out and get sunshine, okay?"
Her two boys whined a little because the Alpha was gone.
The two of them wanted to go on their morning jog with Leland but since the man wasn't around and left to reunite with the rest of their pack, only their mother was left.
Dinah wasn't that fun of a caretaker because the maidservant tended to be strict whereas Duncan was too relaxed and Max actually turned out to be boring for the two cubs.
Well, Jan thought Max was kind of cool and Luciel thought Duncan was funny, but since their mother was going to take them for a walk, the two lycan puppies eagerly went out with their mother.
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