Chapter 1The Lottery Consort

I am the Crown Princess of Eldoria, and my father’s only child.

When I was seven, my father, the King, selected four sons from the Four Great Houses of the realm. They were the most handsome, the most brilliant, and they were to be raised at court as my future consorts, groomed to one day help me rule.

The people called them the “Four Lords of Eldoria.”

None of them liked me.

Even the one I adored, Lord Kaelan, had already given his heart to another.

Now, with the King’s health failing, he asked me which of them I would choose to be my Prince Consort. I left my fate to the God, deciding with a simple drawing of lots.

I never imagined I would draw the name of the most unreliable one of them all: Lord Lysander.

On the day the royal decree was to be announced, Lord Kaelan fell to his knees and begged me not to leave him.

* * *

“Father, I choose Lysander.”

I stared at the wooden token in my hand and gave a bitter smile. Perhaps this was fate. Kaelan and I were simply not meant to be.

My father hesitated, his gaze searching mine. “Aurelia, are you certain? Once the royal decree is issued, there is no turning back.”

Of course, I knew that. But Kaelan didn't love me. Why should I force him into a miserable life? Besides him, it made no difference to me who I married. As the Crown Princess of Eldoria, I had duties that outweighed my own desires.

I bowed my head. “Father, my mind is made up. I will not regret it.”

The King sighed and wrote Lysander’s name upon the royal scroll. “In three days, I will proclaim to the kingdom that Lord Lysander is to be your Prince Consort.”

I nodded.

As I left my father’s chambers, I saw four strikingly handsome men walking towards me, each with a god-like grace. My four consorts-in-waiting.

Gareth, my cousin, was the first to speak. “Your Highness,” he said, his curiosity getting the better of him, “we heard the King asked you to choose a consort. Who did you pick?”

My eyes instinctively flickered to Kaelan.

The fourth lord, Tristan, noticed and clapped Kaelan on the shoulder with a grin. “Is there any need to ask? It must be our Kaelan. Everyone in the palace knows the Princess has eyes only for him.”

At his words, Kaelan’s face turned to stone. When he looked at me, his eyes burned with a mixture of resentment and bitterness.

That single glance was a dagger in my heart. For a fleeting moment, I wanted to tell him that I hadn’t chosen him, to beg him not to look at me with such hatred. But then I thought, after all the years I’ve spent chasing after him, let him worry for a few days.

Seeing my silence, Gareth nudged me. “Come now, Your Highness, don’t keep us in suspense. Who is it?”

My gaze fell upon Lysander, who stood apart from the others, fanning himself languidly, saying nothing.

“You will all find out in three days.”

Lysander’s eyes met mine, and he raised a single, inquisitive eyebrow.

I turned and walked back to my wing of the palace without another word.

Tristan was right. Everyone knew I loved Kaelan. But he was a man of immense pride. He saw the idea of rising through marriage to a woman as a disgrace and hated that his life, even his choice of wife, was not his own to control. Besides, he was already in love with someone else, a woman he could never be with because of me. He met all my attempts at affection with cold disdain.

He didn’t understand that my marriage was not a matter of the heart, but a political tool. My father was ill, and despite a harem of consorts, I was his only child. The consort program was a strategy to maintain balance and control over the Four Great Houses. My husband had to be one of them. Whether they wished it or not.

Lost in thought, I was startled by a voice from behind me.

“Your Highness, a moment.”