Chosen Bride of the Seven Dark Princes

Candi winced.

"Should I be worried? I'm too young to die."

Dante laughed.

"She's OUR assassin. Her job is to assassinate those who seek to harm you, and to keep you safe."

"I see. Thank you, Dante." Candi reached up and gave him a peck on the cheek.

He blushed and cleared his throat.

"I spoke with Leo a few minutes ago. He and Slate will be here within the hour. He does not want to bring Slate too early because Slate is only allowed to be here for about an hour before he has to return to the hospital."

"That is smart. Does that mean Leonardo will only be here for an hour as well?"

Dante nodded. "Leo's not really a party animal either. And he has no skin in this game."

"What skin are we talking about?"

"He's already made it known to Dear Old Dad that he wants to marry you, so his choice has been made clear. He won't be looking at any other marriage candidate, Avgo or not."

"I am interested in seeing the choices that the other Princes will be targeting."

Dante tapped her on the nose.

"You already know what my choice is."

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The Royal Ball began promptly at the seventh hour mark. All the invitees along with their attendants and partners had arrived and were mingling in groups, waiting for the Royal Family to make an appearance.

All the women were dressed in gowns of every color under the sun. The fabrics and jewelry were decadent and showy, a flagrant display of lavish wealth that the nobility prided on having.

Here and there, Candi was surprised to find that she could actually recognize some of the twins' signature clothing and jewelry. After all, she did own quite a few pieces of their clothing that were specifically designed for her.

By the time Dante took her out of the inner sanctum, into the main ballroom, Slate and Leonardo had appeared.

Candi saw them enter through the main entrance and her eyes lit up.

Leonardo wore a turquoise blue suit that complemented his aqua blue eyes. His tie was a darker shade of aqua and his long blond hair was tied at the nape. On his finger was a huge Paraiba tourmaline signet ring of an exquisite aquamarine color.

He was walking alongside the Seventh Prince who was sitting on a white hover chair, moving at a sedate pace. Slate wore a pristine white suit over a crisp white shirt with a mandarin collar.

The bright white contrasted sharply with his handsome bronzed face and long raven black hair that he left flowing loosely around his shoulders. He had no jewelry on and wore no other color to break the expanse of white around him.

The only color to shine from him were his brilliant blue eyes which met hers across the crowded room.

He smiled and gave her a wink.

They were both coming towards Dante and Candi.

"Slate and Leonardo are here!" Candi said to Dante with excitement and was about to make her way to them when a gaggle of women converged in front of her.

They all began to crowd around Slate and Leonardo, introducing themselves and in general, trying to get some of their attention.

She was pushed backward by the tide of women rallying around Slate and Leonard.

"Candace!" She heard Dante call out to her and turned to him only to see another tide of women rushing between Dante and herself as he too was beset by women of every color, creed, and persuasion.

The Princes were starting to get mobbed.

"This way." Coral took hold of Candi's arm and moved her toward the long table reserved for the Royal Family in front of the stage.

She sat Candi down at one of the places.

"If you sit here, you will be safe from the women."

"Are they in any danger? They're completely surrounded!" Candi's eyes darted back and forth between Leonardo, Slate, and Dante.

"This is a Royal Ball, Milady. Other than being surrounded by adoring females, they will be fine. They will soon be coming this way since no one else is allowed at this table except for the Royal Family."

"But I'm not part of the Royal Family."

Coral turned to her with bright eyes.

"Second Prince Dante has told me to care for you. This means that he has confirmed clearly that you are part of the Royal Family." She sniffed with pride. "I only take care of Royal members."

Candi nodded, not sure what that meant. She cast her eyes back to the groups of women who were still hovering around the Princes.

She gasped as she saw Leonardo trying to move towards the Royal Banquet Table where she was seated, with Coral standing behind her in attendance.

He wasn't making much progress, but beside him, moving in the same sedate fashion was Slate in his hover chair. He continued advancing in her direction, irregardless of who was in the way.

As the women made a hasty retreat from Slate's advancing chair, Leonardo followed immediately behind, taking advantage of the chair's movement to clear the way for him.

Slate plowed forward, uncaring if someone in front of him would get plowed over or not. He was not moving swiftly and they could jump out of the way if they did not want to get knocked down and stomped on by the other women around them.

On the other side of the room, Dante was having the same problem of being inundated with females. He was, however, not as gentle as Leonardo was to the women around him.

Raising his hands up into the air, blue sparks crackled from his fingertips.

"If you don't want to get shocked, keep your distance from me." He warned with a growl.

A large-chested woman with a huge blonde beehive hairdo disregarded his warning and gave a sudden lunge.

Dante turned to her and threw his hand in self-defense, aiming an energy bolt at her body.

She reached out, flailing as her fingers caught onto his iridescent pinkish gold neck tie, ripping it off his pristine white shirt.

The tie tore off in her hand, sending the large diamond into the air.

Twinkling with brilliance and fire, the stone flew above everyone's heads and landed in the middle of the gaggle of women.

They screamed and began scrambling for the diamond, not because it was a diamond but because it was the Second Prince's diamond.

Dante's face was frozen into a mask as he stood there glaring at the woman who had just torn his tie off—the precious tie that spoke out loud who he was escorting to the Royal Ball.

The woman stood with her painted red mouth wide open, clutching at a scrap of the iridescent pink orange tie that she had ripped off his body.

A hush enveloped the entire ballroom. This was not going to end well for the buxom blonde. The Second Prince was famous for one thing.

His bloody temper.