Substitute Wife for the Mafia King R18-Chapter 286: Enjoying Ourselves

“Do you know the prince? Forget that, how long have you known the prince? Are you two close?” I bombarded him with questions as I closed the distance between us as if I could prevent him from escaping.

If he already knew about this, then he must have always known that Desmond would end up helping me. I wondered how long he had known the prince and if he was aware of my past relations with Desmond.

“Have you ever thought about what will happen to this country when it no longer has a king?” Bradon asked to suddenly change the direction of our conversation.

Even I had to admit that it was a very fair question and that I haven’t had much time to put enough thought into it. I wasn’t quite sure what changing the governance of a country entailed and what would be the impact to the various parties.

“Desmond told me that the country will improve and move forward. He seemed very convinced that it is for the better, and I would like to believe in what he says,” I replied truthfully.

“It’s going to be a risky move for everyone involved, and that includes you as well,” Bradon pointed out as if I was not already aware of that fact.

A short moment of silence passed between us while I wondered just how Bradon was involved with Desmond and whether or not he was involved in the prince’s plan.

“You’re also involved in the prince’s plan, aren’t you?” I took a guest based on my gut feeling.

There was simply no reason why Desmond would tell anyone about his plan if that person wasn’t involved. Neither would he disclose such a risky secret if he didn’t trust that person highly.

“The election will be postponed for sure after the king’s passing. In fact, I expect it to be postponed for quite a while even after Desmond’s coronation,” Bradon informed me instead of answering my question.

By that time I was already convinced that he was well aware of the prince’s plan way before me and that he had purposefully kept silent about it. I let out a sigh while I tried to convince myself to let this slide. Of course, I would have very much preferred for Bradon to let me know all about what the prince was plotting but I guessed there was no helping it. Because of its objective, the plan was understandably top secret. Now what was left was to find out how exactly the prince planned to involve Bradon into his scheme. What can Brandon possibly do to aid the prince and what does he plan to achieve in exchange. Just like how I had struck a deal with Desmond, I was certain that Bradon had a deal with the prince as well.

“My dear father will definitely scream like the house is on fire when he learns that the election needs to be postponed,” I said before I couldn’t stop myself from smiling as if that was the best news that I have heard in a very long while.

In my mind, I could see my father’s darkened red face as he is forced to deal with the stress and disappointment of the election’s delay. Because of the king’s support, he had been so sure that he would win the election. However, when the king is gone and he no longer has that support, I wondered what would happen to the odds of him winning the election. Regardless of whether or not he was likely to win, there was no denying that he would have to wait for some time longer for his glory. That alone made me feel so satisfied that I couldn’t stop smiling to myself.

“You seem to be enjoying yourself,” Bradon commented passively.

“Oh, how can you tell?” I asked teasingly before I continued smiling.

To my surprise, Bradon let out a small laugh as if he was also enjoying himself.

“You’re really not going to tell me about how you fit in this elaborate plan?” I asked in another attempt to pry the truth from him.

Bradon stared at me in complete silence before his lips curved into a teasing smile. That was when I was fully convinced that his lips were firmly sealed regarding the matter.

“You’re really not going to tell me anything, huh?” I said before letting out a sigh and rolling my eyes upwards towards the ceiling.

It seemed like there was no point in pushing this any further. Although I didn’t like it, it was clear that all I could do was wait and see how things would unfold.

“What about the surprise that you mentioned before I left?” I asked when I was suddenly reminded but he mentioned that he would have a surprise for me when I got back.

“You remember...” he murmured.

“Of course,I did. Did you think that I would forget?” I replied, although the truth was that I was too preoccupied with dealing with Desmond that it had completely slipped my mind until that moment.

“ So what’s the surprise?” I asked when Bradon didn’t seem obliged to reveal the surprise that he had in stall for me.

“It’s not time yet,” Bradon said before showing me a pleased smile.

I knew that he extracted so much joy from teasing me, but I wasn’t in the mood to argue with him.

“If that’s the case, shall we go ahead and eat the tarts?” I asked as I held up the bag from the bakery that we had just visited.

“Feed me,” he demanded before grinning at me.

Perhaps it was because I was in such a good mood that I felt like it was the perfectly natural thing to go along with his demand.

...

**3 days later**

It’s been three days since I met the prince at his palace and the king was still alive. While taking the prince’s advice to lay low, all I did was laze around inside of Bradon’s mansion. Those were a very peaceful and uneventful three days. Because it truly felt like the calm before the storm that everyone likes to talk about, I decided to take it easy and relax. My brief moment of absolute quiet was disturbed when someone knocked a few times on my bedroom door.

–To be continued...