Mateo pressed a kiss to Maia's head watching her sleep. She was so exhausted after they had lunch that instead of the afternoon of erotic indulgence he'd planned, he ended up giving her a massage and she'd been fast asleep ever since which was probably for the best. Maia clearly needed to rest and he had some business he still needed to take care of.

Getting out of the bed, Mateo tucked the blanket around her and pressed another kiss to her cheek before he slipped out of their room to his study down the hall. He sighed, sitting at his desk and opened a secure folder on his computer to read over the intel Willem and Lars hacked from his brother's not so secret server he shares with his council loyalists.

Things were far worse than he expected with Jorien and his ties with Arnaud Haro's conglomerate weren't a recent development like he thought. Jorien had been planning to sell out Oost den Burg to Arnaud behind their father's back and under Mateo's nose for nearly five years.

And to make matters worse, Jorien and Gesina had been planning this together. Their father had it all wrong, Gesina wasn't Jorien's trophy wife and they're very much in love. So, Mateo's plan to help Jorien see the value of love to be a better king and get him out of the deals he was making with Arnaud was utterly pointless.

Jorien and Gesina knew exactly what they were doing and they were happy to use Saskia to get Mateo out of the way for their take over of the kingdom.

Mateo dragged a hand over his face. Now he truly had to decide if he wanted to leave them to it or stay and fight for his country.

"How bad is it?"

Mateo looked over his computer at Eline leaning against the doorframe with a worried look in her bright blue eyes. "How bad is what?"

"Don't do that, Mateo," she said, walking into the room. "You know what I'm talking about. I'm not stupid." She huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "How bad is Jorien about to mess up this country?"

"Well." He sighed. "It won't be bad for you or any of the wealthy Burgonians, but the majority of our people will be forced to leave or live in the slums."

Eline raised an eyebrow. "The slums that don't exist and haven't existed since the eighteen hundreds?"

"Yes."

Eline scoffed, shaking her head. "And what are you and father going to do about this?"

"Father is leaving it up to me and I...I don't know what I'm going to do, Eline," he said, dragging his hands through his hair. "I thought it was a case of saving Jorien from this, but he and Gesina want this and they planted Saskia in my life to get me out of the picture."

Eline slid a hand over her mouth. "Oh fuck," she whispered, plopping down in the chair in front of his desk. "That rumor was true?"

"Mm-hm. I still don't know who started it, but that's besides the point."

"I did."

Mateo's eyes grew wide. "What?"

"I just wanted everyone to stop talking shit about you and I was pissed that Jorien was so happy you were gone," Eline said, hanging her head. "So, I started the rumor about him sabotaging you, but I never thought Jorien would do something like that."

"Neither did I, but Eline," Mateo said laughing softly as he reached across the desk to take her hand. "If you didn't start that rumor, I don't think we ever would've found out what Jorien and Gesina were up to."

"You're welcome I guess, but what are you going to do?" Eline said, squeezing his hand. "You've never wanted to be king and I know you don't want to drag Maia into our family's mess, but can you really leave the people to suffer under Jorien and Gesina?"

"No he can't and I wouldn't want you to."

"Maia," Mateo said, standing from his chair as she shuffled across the room to him. "I wouldn't decide anything without speaking to you, liefje."

"I know, but there's nothing to talk about," she said, leaning up to kiss his cheek. "We're doing this. I just need you to explain what I've missed while I was dead to the world."

"I can do that," he said, sitting down with her over his lap.

"And I should probably let you two talk this out," Eline said, chuckling softly as she stood.

"No, I think you should stay," Maia said, opening the silver case of blunts on the desk and taking one out. "You might think otherwise Mateo, but I think it's time you include Eline in this. This is her home too and it seems to me she cares about the people just as much as you do."

"I do." Eline nodded. "But traditionally things like this have always been dealt with by the kings and princes in our family."

"That's true and as much as I'd like to keep you both out of this," Mateo said, holding up a lighter for Maia. "Maybe it's time to do things differently."

Jorien roared with laughter in the company of Gesina, his loyalists and Saskia while they had a conference call with Arnaud Haro. "My brother is an absolute moron." He laughed, wiping his tears. "He thinks I'm being coerced or manipulated into this new vision for Oost den Burg as if I wasn't the mastermind behind this."

"Ah, but isn't that what I told you they'd think?" Arnaud said, chuckling as he smoked on a cigar on the screen. "You're far more capable to lead this country than your father and Prince Hendrik."

"I am." Jorien nodded. "But that rumor is ruining my approval with the people."

"Oh who cares about them, darling," Gesina said, sliding her hand over his thigh. "They were on your side when you got rid of Hendrik the first time."

"And they will be again when you capitalize on their sympathy," Saskia said, grinning. "You'll be able to do whatever you like once that happens."

"Precisely, Your Highness," one his loyalist said as he slid a document across the table to him. "And once he's gone your father will have no one left to stop you from reaping the benefits of this union with the conglomerate."

"What's this, Bram?" Jorien said, scanning the document.

"The plans for the memorial after this weekend."

Jorien's heart clenched. "This weekend? But that's so soon."

"Yes dear, the faster we get rid of him and there's less of a chance the people's approval of him will surpass yours," Gesina said, holding up her phone to him. "Especially since they seem to adore his fake engagement with Maia."

Jorien scowled at the charming picture of Hendrik and Maia leaving the library together with the favorable headline insisting the couple were deeply in love.

Arnaud relit his cigar and smirked. "You don't want the tides to turn in his favor and have the Burgonians calling for his ascension to the throne, do you?"

Jorien looked up at the screen at Arnaud's disapproving gaze and shook his head. "No I don't," Jorien said, turning to Saskia. "I trust you have this under control and there won't be any leaks from a certain actor?"

"Of course not," Saskia scoffed. "Sven is on a very tight leash and our people are ready once you give the go ahead."

"Good," Jorien said, threading his fingers through Gesina's. "I don't want any of this traced back to me or Gesina."

"It won't because you have no idea what we're going to do to them," Saskia said, taking a drink of her tea. "None of us do, besides my father's men."

"And that's to protect you all for the next phase of this operation," Arnaud said. "If you're ready Prince Jorien, I'll let them know it's time."

Jorien nodded, squeezing Gesina's hand. "I'm ready."

A/N: 🤨Pretty sure Jorien is being manipulated, but yeah alright. And Eline! good for her for starting that rumor! I mean, sort of. Mateo wouldn't have been called home if she didn't, but then none of this mess with the country would've come to light...and I'm really concerned about this deadly plan for Mateo 😬 But let the drama and the action ensue, ya'll 😈