The Crown's Entrapment

Closing the door behind him, Gilas made sure to keep quiet after making sure that Clara was already settled in her own bedchambers inside the castle.

Turning around to walk out into the hallway, he was making his way back when saw his father Nasser along the way.

"Ride with me," his father suddenly said.

Acquiescing her father's request, Gilas quietly followed his old man outside the castle, where he found that a carriage was already waiting for them to take them home. With their pack occupying the majority of the Cordonian northside, he and his father had their own respectively assigned bedchambers within the castle should they want to rest in the capital.

However, it would seem as if his father had something confidential to talk to him about tonight; enough for him to decide to go out of the castle and wait for him. And to even have them come to their pack's territory for it... It must be something of importance.

It... It was peculiar, but it didn't surprise him one bit...

Stepping inside the carriage, the two of them were barely on their seats when the horses moved forward. His father didn't waste any time as he then spoke, "You've been hovering around Clara often, Son. I do hope you're still sticking to the task at hand. Have you successfully gotten her to our side?"

Gilas kept up his blank expression as he stared at his father. Turning to the side, he moved the curtains barring the window apart to look out at the dark view of the nighttime outside. As expected, it was dark, and yet everything was still clear to his wolf's visions.

He frowned, his face as dark as the night sky as he casually replied, "Clara will come to me sooner or later. She took the bait, as reckless as the move was all because of love..." He let out a silent scoff, "Once she loses face before Darius, she'll become desperate to come and seek my aid."

Even as he spoke, he could still feel his father's scrutinizing gaze hovering above him. It didn't bother him, however, as he kept his eyes glued to the outside world.

"Remind yourself that Clara is nothing but a tool to us, Gilas," Nasser quickly pointed out.

"You must refrain from harboring any feelings around her. It is clear that she will never have feelings for you, that is simply a fact that you must live with. It is Darius who she wants, and no matter how much you try, you will never be as good as him in her eyes."

He then firmly added, "You will never have her so long as you're unable to remove the hindrances out of your way, something that you've failed to address ever since you lost the throne."

Gilas kept his thoughts to himself. He hated it whenever his father would point out such a thing. It wasn't like it was the first time that his father had done such a thing. Hell, he should be immune from it at this point. But still... his scathing words would never fail to hit him hard. It was enough that the pain from it kept drilling holes inside of his heart, instilling a deep hatred and agony within him.

This time, he turned his head to his father. With a wry smile, he grunted, "Just like how you got rid of the man who was a hindrance for you to get Mother on your side?"

"Hah!" A proud scoff came out from his old man as he boasted, "Your mother is my mate. Death is inevitable to whoever stood in my way to get to her. In the end, I succeeded."

Gilas didn't bother commenting as he turned his gaze back outside. That one fight for the throne he had with Darius was far from easy. He had thought he had the upper hand at first, but Darius proved to be a tough opponent. The man wasn't all strength, and he quickly found his weakness and turned it against him.

In hindsight, the would-be king was refusing to get the upper hand; Darius simply letting him think that way so that he could put his guard down for a decisive final blow that caught him off guard. It was a clever move that he didn't see coming, all things considered.

Sometimes, Gilas even wondered why he was still alive to this day. Darius was a generous man despite his potential for ruthlessness. He was sure that the man would never spare him the second time around. It would either be him killing Darius, or him being killed by Darius should they ever clash once more.

"That human, Princess Xenia... She sounded confident about the Five Trials," his father pondered with a scheming look.

"We need to know where this confidence of hers is coming from. I know that she's far from being a normal princess since she has the training of a well-trained warrior. Clara will definitely fight her in the finals because of it. Still, I can't sense the confidence in you that you can bring Clara to our side... If so, then you leave me no other choice... I will have to prepare Pinra for the final trial."

"Pinra?!" Gilas burst out. In a single instant, all of his attention was directed towards his father.

Pinra was his cousin; a very dangerous woman who also secretly practiced black magic under his father's protection. Pinra always craved for the flesh, and killing became her habit once she got the hang of it. And to add to her advantage, she had a certain angelic face that none would even think of her as being a hideous person underneath the facade.

It was simply common sense. Anyone who would fight Pinra would end up facing a tragic death. She would never fight fair and square, and that was a certainty.

"But-"

"Pinra must win the survival of the fittest in the final round."  Gilas couldn't continue with his words as his father's sharp glare threw him off.

"We have no other options. We need more people under us inside the court! You failed us ten years ago, and that's why I have to work this hard to make sure that our Clan, our pack, can finally get a hold of the throne!" Nasser barked aloud. "If I can't rely on you on this, then it's only prudent that I better rely on your cousin!"

Gilas gritted his teeth at what his father was saying. Still, he kept his calm as much as he could.

"Fine. You can rely on Prina, but don't expect me to clean up the inevitable mess that she'll surely make in the process," Gilas stoically pointed out. "You know Prina well enough, Father. Her actions can and will backfire against you, or even against our whole pack for that matter."

"Hahaha! You don't have to worry about that, Son," Nasser confidently scoffed. "I have a plan for every situation. Just focus on handling the military affairs, and make sure that when the time comes, Darius wouldn't have enough influence over his army except through you..."

There was a pause before his father added, "Your mother... She misses you already, so I'll be generous and allow you to see her tonight." Nasser haughtily chuckled, "You should be grateful. I might just stop being this generous if you keep on failing me, Gilas."

Gilas remained quiet as the sound of the carriage's wheels ground on. He was powerless. He could only ball his fists as he seethed, blood dripping off his hand as he kept himself from lashing out.