Chapter 101: Marry Again

Olivia’s POV

"What?" Lucas replied, spreading his hands innocently. "Am I no longer allowed to visit my younger brother without being accused of something?"

"Stop pretending, Lucas!" Lucian snapped. "I know exactly what you’re trying to do."

Lucas sighed, and the playful smile on his face disappeared. "You know what, Lucian? I’m getting tired of these accusations. I told you I had nothing to do with Princess Annabel coming here, but you seem determined to blame me anyway."

"Because I know you!" Lucian snapped.

"Then you should know that I don’t need to hide behind Princess Annabel or anyone else to get what I want," Lucas replied firmly. "If I wanted to interfere in your marriage, I wouldn’t need to bring some princess here to do it. Besides, I can see Olivia whenever I want. I don’t need to arrange anything behind your back."

Lucian’s expression darkened. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Lucas glanced at me, and my stomach immediately tightened. Oh, goodness. Here we go.

"Lucian, there’s something I need to tell you," I said quickly, stepping forward before Lucas could answer.

Lucian turned toward me, his brows drawing together. "What is it?"

I hesitated briefly before speaking. "It’s about Lucas and me. We had a conversation earlier, and he asked me to give him three months to get to know me better."

Lucian stared at me. "And?"

"And I agreed," I admitted.

For several seconds, he said nothing. Then he slowly turned toward Lucas before looking back at me. "So you agreed?" he asked, his voice unusually calm.

"Yes, but Lucian, please let me explain. It’s not what you’re thinking. I haven’t promised him anything. I only agreed that we could spend some time getting to know each other, and..."

"No problem," Lucian interrupted.

I blinked. "What?"

"I said there’s no problem," he repeated.

Without another word, he turned and walked toward the staircase.

"Lucian, wait!" I called after him, but he didn’t stop. I watched him disappear upstairs, confused by his reaction. I had expected him to be angry, but I hadn’t expected him to simply walk away without letting me explain.

"Well, that went better than I expected," Lucas remarked beside me.

I turned toward him and sighed. "Lucas, please stop annoying your brother. You know how easily he gets angry whenever you’re involved."

Lucas smiled slightly. "Okay, Olivia. I’ll stop."

"Thank you," I replied.

"Anyway, I’ll see you tomorrow evening," he added.

I nodded. "Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow."

He gave me a warm smile before teleporting away. I cared about Lucas, too, and the last thing I wanted was for my feelings to cause more problems between the brothers.

I spent the rest of the day in my bedroom, but I couldn’t stop thinking about Lucian. He hadn’t come to see me, and I hadn’t heard anything from him since he walked away earlier. By evening, I decided to speak to him myself. I wanted him to understand that agreeing to spend time with Lucas didn’t mean I had stopped caring about him.

I left my bedroom and headed toward his study. When I reached the door, I was about to knock when I heard Leo speaking from inside.

"Your Highness, are you certain you want to proceed with this?" Leo asked.

"Yes," Lucian answered firmly. "I want everything prepared as soon as possible."

"But Your Highness, Princess Annabel has returned, and everyone knows that your marriage was arranged between you and the princess. If the truth becomes public, the council will certainly have questions."

I stopped, realizing they were talking about my marriage.

"Then let them ask their questions," Lucian replied. "I’m not going to keep pretending that my wife is someone she isn’t."

"Of course, Your Highness," Leo continued. "But officially, your marriage certificate bears Princess Annabel’s name. Olivia’s real identity was never recorded. If the council discovers that the woman you married wasn’t the princess, they could declare the marriage invalid."

My heart skipped a beat.

"What would you suggest, then?" Lucian asked.

Leo hesitated. "We could petition the council to recognize Olivia as your lawful wife, but there’s no guarantee they’ll approve it. Some of the elders may insist that the original marriage agreement was based on deception and should be canceled."

"Then we’ll get married," Lucian replied.

My eyes widened. What? Had I heard him correctly?

"Your Highness?" Leo asked, sounding surprised.

"You heard me," Lucian replied. "If the council refuses to recognize our marriage, I’ll marry Olivia. This time, under her real name, so nobody can question who my wife is."

I stood frozen outside the door, hardly believing what I was hearing.

"But what about His Majesty, Alpha King Lucas?" Leo asked. "I understand that Lady Olivia is the woman he has been searching for."

"I know," Lucian replied.

"Then perhaps it would be wise to wait until those three months have passed before making any official arrangements," Leo suggested.

"No," Lucian replied firmly. "I’m not putting my marriage on hold because my brother has decided he wants my wife."

There was a brief silence before he continued. "Olivia is free to make her own decisions. If she wants to spend time with Lucas, I won’t stop her. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to stand aside and pretend I don’t care. She’s still my wife, and until she tells me herself that she no longer wants to be with me, I’m not giving up on her."

My chest tightened at his words.

"Understood, Your Highness," Leo replied. "I’ll begin preparing the necessary documents tomorrow morning."

"Good," Lucian said. "And keep this between us for now. I want to speak to Olivia before anything is announced."

Realizing I had heard enough, I stepped backward, intending to knock properly. Unfortunately, my elbow accidentally struck a decorative vase on the table beside the door. I quickly caught it before it could fall, but the noise had already attracted their attention.

"Who’s there?" Lucian demanded.

Before I could answer, the door opened, and Lucian appeared in front of me.

"Olivia?" he said, looking surprised.

I gave him an awkward smile. "Hello."

He looked at me for a moment before stepping aside. "Come inside."

I obeyed, and he turned toward Leo, who was standing near his desk.

"Leo, you may leave us," Lucian instructed.

"Yes, Your Highness," Leo replied.

Leo bowed respectfully and left, closing the door behind him. Lucian turned back to me, his expression softening slightly.

"I suppose you heard our conversation," he said.

I nodded. "Yes."

He sighed and walked closer. "Then you know what I’m planning."

"Lucian, are you really planning to marry me?" I asked.

"If that’s what it takes to make our marriage official, yes," he answered.

"But what if the council refuses?" I asked.

"They can refuse to recognize our first marriage, Olivia, but they can’t stop me from choosing the woman I want to marry," he replied.

I stared at him, unsure of what to say.

"Listen, Olivia," he continued, taking my hand. "I know our marriage didn’t begin the way either of us expected. You were forced to come here under someone else’s identity, and I didn’t treat you well when you first arrived. But things are different now. I know who you are, and I want everyone else to know that my wife’s name is Olivia."

I swallowed as he continued speaking.

"Now that Princess Annabel has returned, the council may decide that our marriage was never valid. If that happens, you’ll no longer be legally bound to me, and I won’t have any right to ask you to remain here as my wife."

I waited nervously for him to continue. He held my hand a little tighter, his eyes searching mine.

"Olivia, if our marriage is declared invalid tomorrow, would you willingly marry me again?" he asked.

I stared at Lucian, unsure of how to answer his question. Did I want to marry him again? Of course, I had feelings for him, and the thought of losing him frightened me. But I also had feelings for Lucas, and I had just agreed to give him three months to get to know me better. How was I supposed to make such an important decision when I didn’t even understand my own feelings?

"Lucian, I..." I began, struggling to find the right words. "I don’t know what to say. You know I care about you, but everything is happening so fast, and I’m still trying to figure things out."

He watched me quietly, waiting for me to continue, but before I could say anything else, my eyes wandered toward his desk and landed on something that made my heart skip a beat.

A bracelet.

I stared at the small piece of jewelry lying beside a stack of documents. It looked strangely familiar. In fact, the longer I looked at it, the more certain I became that I had seen it before.

Wait a minute.

Wasn’t that my bracelet?

Four years ago, I had lost a bracelet that looked exactly like the one sitting on Lucian’s desk. I never knew where or how I had lost it, and despite searching everywhere I could think of, I had never found it.

But what was it doing here?

"Olivia?" Lucian called, noticing that my attention had shifted. "Is something wrong?"

I barely heard him. My eyes remained fixed on the bracelet as I slowly moved toward the desk to get a better look. The design, the delicate chain, and even the little charm attached to it looked exactly as I remembered.

"Lucian," I said, pointing toward it. "Whose bracelet is that?"

He turned to see what I was pointing at, and for a brief moment, his expression changed. His eyes widened slightly, and I noticed the way he stiffened before quickly looking back at me.

Was that panic?

"That bracelet," I repeated, looking directly at him. "Who does it belong to?"

Lucian hesitated for a moment before answering.

"It’s my little sister’s," he said. "Lillian’s."