Alpha's replacement bride is destined mate-Chapter 60 Will You Have a Mistress?

The King’s Palace

Emily sat on the swing in the small garden, her body swaying aimlessly as the events of the day replayed in her mind.

At the hospital, she had insisted on bringing the injured woman back to the palace, while Marx had disapproved of her decision. As a cautious beta, Marx saw it as a risky move to bring an unknown woman into the palace.

Caught in a stalemate, Emily decided to call Klaus to mediate the matter. In the end, Klaus neither endorsed nor rejected Emily’s decision outright. Instead, he instructed Marx to investigate the woman’s identity before making a final decision about allowing her into the palace.

Marx eventually escorted Emily back to the palace, leaving the injured woman to be investigated by him.

There was a hint of impulsiveness in Emily’s decision to bring the woman to the palace, coupled with a deep sense of pity. When she saw the injured woman by the roadside, it was as if she were looking at a reflection of herself.

Heidi awakened a fierce protective instinct in Emily, who longed to provide her with a home. Emily refused to let another girl like Heidi endure any more pain and suffering.

Emily made up her mind to help Heidi, regardless of whether Klaus approved or not.

As night descended, Emily sat on the swing and sighed, recalling Queen Mary’s words to her.

Life in the royal household proved to be more complex than she had anticipated. She wondered what path she should take. Did she have to be like Queen Mary?

She had been a free bird, but now she found herself confined within a gilded cage, unable to soar into the vast expanse of the sky.

Just then, a soft voice interrupted Emily’s thoughts.

"Why don’t you turn the light on, my love?" Klaus stood in the dimly lit room, peeling off his suit jacket to reveal a sleek, dark gray shirt beneath, as he slowly approached Emily.

"Did you miss me today?" Klaus halted before Emily, gripping the swing with one hand and gently stroking her cheek with the other.

"I’m so sorry, so much happened today that I forgot to think about you." Emily’s tone held a trace of apology.

"Did you forget about our earlier agreement?" Klaus tenderly lifted Emily’s chin. "I want you to think of me every day, just as I think of you."

Oh, the bargain. She had indeed forgotten it.

"You don’t look well. Is it because of that woman?" Klaus peered down at her. "Don’t fault Marx for allowing her into the palace; he was merely fulfilling his duties as a beta."

"I understand his position." Emily recalled the argument she’d had with Marx at the hospital over Heidi’s admittance to the palace. She felt guilty for being harsh with Marx, for he had never been anything but conscientious.

"I promise you, if that woman checks out, I’ll let her stay in the palace," Klaus said to Emily, his tone affectionate. "So, are you content now?"

"Thank you, Klaus," Emily smiled up at him.

"Just a thank you?" Klaus grinned mischievously. "I thought you were going to offer me some other kind of reward."

"What do you want?" Emily pondered for a moment before answering, "One of those jewelry pieces I won in the contest. You can choose any one you like."

"Kiss me," Klaus said, dipping his head slightly as he tilted his face towards Emily’s.

Emily then took the lead and pressed her lips to Klaus’s. As soon as their lips met, Klaus deepened the kiss, swiftly taking control.

Emily was enveloped in his arms, and he kissed her repeatedly, each time drawing out the moment until she gasped for breath before reluctantly pulling away.

"Klaus," Emily purred softly.

"Hmm?"

"Will you have a mistress someday?" Emily asked cautiously, her eyes searching Klaus’s face with uncertainty.

Only a fleeting huff crossed Klaus’s face, his brow furrowing slightly. "Why do you ask that?"

"Because," Emily said, taking a deep breath to gather her courage, "because we don’t have a mate bond linking us, and those nobles often send their daughters to the palace to serve as potential mistresses for the prince, right?"

"You think I can’t remain faithful to you?" Klaus’s tone grew stern, his hands gripping the sides of the swing tightly. His solid frame seemed to form a wall, blocking Emily’s view.

"I don’t know," Emily whispered, her head hanging low, her voice barely audible.

Even as she spoke, she could sense Klaus’s anger rising.

"I will have no mistress," Klaus declared, lifting Emily’s chin so that their eyes met. His tone was resolute. "No matter how many girls those nobles send to the palace, I will reject them all. My mate is only you. Is that clear?"

"But isn’t it the unspoken rule of the royal family to send those nobles’ daughters into the palace to serve as mistresses?"

"Who told you that?"

"It’s..." Emily gasped, hesitating to reveal that Queen Mary had been the source of this information.

"Queen Mary?" Klaus inquired, deducing the answer from Emily’s evasive gaze.

Emily bit her lower lip, neither confirming nor denying the truth.

"You won’t have to see her again," Klaus’s tone was frosty. "That’s her life with my father, not our future together."

It turned out that Klaus had been keeping a sordid secret about the royal family, and Emily was jolted out of her reverie.

"Why didn’t you ever tell me any of this?" Emily asked suspiciously.

"Because you didn’t need to know," Klaus replied. "My father and I don’t handle things in the same way."

"But our marriage is based on an alliance between two nations, and the essence of our union is no different from that of a king and queen’s marriage," Emily whispered.

"I’m not my father, and I don’t care solely about power like he does."

"Then what else do you care about?"

Klaus fell silent, his green eyes fixed intently on Emily. It was as if a dark tide were rising in those depths of emerald.

"What I care about, don’t you know?"

Emily gazed at Klaus, her eyes clouded with uncertainty. "What do you care about?"

Klaus’s fingers silenced Emily’s lips, and this time he responded with a kiss that was all the more intense.

"I only care about you, now and always," he replied before continuing to kiss her.

Klaus’s arms tightened around Emily like steel, pressing her body intimately into his strong embrace, and for a long time, he didn’t break the kiss.

Until Emily finally pushed him away, panting, "Klaus, I can’t breathe."

"Are you hungry?" Emily hastily changed the subject. "Maybe we should go to dinner first."

"I’ve decided to feast on you first," Klaus said with a mischievous grin, scooping Emily up and carrying her into the room.