The Cursed Wolf’s Love

Adolphus wandered his eyes around the grand hall. He wanted Iris to be around him, but she could not be seen. He even asked Anthony about the same, but even he had no idea. He was pissed off that Iris didn’t follow his command.

His emerald green eyes scanned every corner of the hall, but among so many people, he could not even find her. He grasped the gold wine glass and sipped the wine.

“Find Iris,” Adolphus told Anthony in a low voice. Anthony bowed and walked away.

Adolphus faked a smile upon hearing the pack leaders and continued to act like he was enjoying all this.

The ball would start soon and everyone had their eyes on Adolphus, whom he would ask for the dance. A melodious tone of music had started and all of the eyes fell on the King and the Queen.

Xavier grasped the hand of his Queen, Lucia, and stepped down the stairs with her. Thus, the King started the evening’s ball and then his brothers joined them, along with their respective wives.

Nicholai glanced at his daughter, Juvia, who went to Adolphus and greeted him. “The Crown Prince shall join them with me,” Juvia said, with a bright smile on her lips.

Adolphus saw the curious gaze of the courtiers on him. However, he refused her. “Forgive me, Miss Juvia, but I am not willing to dance,” Adolphus politely refused. He tilted his head to look at Edon, who came forward and asked Juvia for the dance.

Nicholai, who was standing a meter away from them, noticed that. He didn’t like that Adolphus refused to dance with his daughter. No matter how much effort he tried to make, Adolphus tried not to be close to Juvia.

Juvia could not refuse the prince and also hide the embarrassment that she received from Adolphus. She wanted to forget it and also did not want people to gossip about it.

Anthony returned to Adolphus and whispered in his hair about Iris. Adolphus once again scanned the hall with his eyes and looked in the direction that Anthony mentioned.

Adolphus scrunched his brows as he found Iris was serving the wine to the guests.

“Your Royal Highness, the Queen has appointed Miss Iris for this duty,” Anthony whispered near Adolphus’ ear. He continued to stare at Iris and he got mesmerized.

As the tray emptied, Iris stood near the wall and was tip-toeing to see the dance. Adolphus was drawn to her by the look of curiosity on her face.

He wondered if she had ever danced with anyone. If not, then it would be his pleasure to dance with her. He would be her first partner in dance, and the mere thought of it made Adolphus smile.

The ballroom was soon filled with more couples as more appeared on the dance floor. Adolphus gradually walked to Iris, ignoring everyone around him. The guests greeted him, but his focus was completely on Iris.

Iris went to the small room after a while to put the tray down. Almost every guest was served. The faint piano music could still be heard. Iris’ feet moved on the floor, and she swirled to put the tray on the table.

However, her foot twisted before she could complete one swirl. She almost fell, but a strong arm wrapped around her waist and prevented her from falling. She widened her eyes and saw that it was someone from royalty or nobility.

Immediately, she stepped back while holding the tray tightly around her chest and bowed. “Thank you,” she said, “Sir,” unable to understand what to address him.

Radulf looked at her in amusement. Did she not know he was the prince? He decided not to reveal his identity and said, “I wanted a glass of wine.” He looked around and found the other servants were not around.

Iris brought a glass of wine for Radulf and handed it to him. She smiled at him, unbeknownst to her that Adolphus’ cold pair of eyes were focused on her. Radulf thanked her and sipped the wine.

“You love to dance?” Radulf asked her.

“I do,” Iris replied, keeping a tiny smile on her lips. She bit her bottom lip, cursing herself internally because this mysterious man saw her dancing.

Adolphus clenched his fists, seeing the way Iris smiled at Radulf. He wanted to take Radulf’s eyes off her to gaze at his woman.

Wait! Did he just think of Iris as ‘his woman?’

He left in anger because if he walked in, then things would have turned dangerous for both Radulf and Iris. As the Crown Prince, the Future Alpha, he could not create any scene which would attract unwanted attention. Iris could have gotten harmed by all that. So, Adolphus gulped his anger and silently left the place.

“Thank you, Miss Iris, for this wine,” Radulf said with a faint smile on his lips and left her sight. Iris wondered how Radulf found out her name.

“Iris, what are you doing here?” She suddenly heard the voice of a fellow female servant. “Come, we have to prepare for the feast.” Iris lifted her dress a little and went with the female servant.

She went to the hall adjacent to the ballroom, where large tables and chairs were placed around them. At the front, the tables for the royalty could be seen, where the servants had started to put the dishes on the tables.

Once they finished setting the tables, the chief head of servants, Martha, told all of them to stand a foot behind the chairs.All text © NôvelD(r)a'ma.Org.

Iris went to the high-rising platform where the Crown Prince’s chair was placed. She stood behind the chair, her right hand rested on her left hand, and she rested them on her belly. She lowered her head and listened to Martha’s instructions.

After an hour, the large mahogany doors of the hall opened. King Xavier entered with Queen Lucia, followed by the King’s younger brothers and the princes. The courtiers and the other guests followed after them.

Iris wanted to lift her head, but fearing the King and the Queen, she put her head down. Xavier took a seat with his Queen. The royals had taken their seats, but Adolphus was not present. She wondered what could be the reason behind it. She finally lifted her head to look around when her eyes fell on Radulf, the mysterious man who saved her.

‘He is the Prince?!’ she thought when the deep voice of Xavier fell into her ears.

“The Crown Prince had to leave urgently for important work, so he could not be present at today’s feast,” Xavier stated. “Let’s begin the feast,” he announced and lifted the gold wine glass for the toast.

Iris wondered if she should stay behind or leave since Adolphus wasn’t present.