Slate gritted his teeth. His handsome face stoic and frozen.

Dante leaned back with a satisfied chuckle and held up two fingers.

“Second. Sometimes, being second is actually a huge blessing. Let me tell you something about being second, Baby Brother.”

“It’s very difficult to take first place.” He licked his lips in anticipation. “But it is very easy to get second. Actually, any place after first is easy to get.”

“You sound like a moron.” Slate scoffed.

“On the contrary, Slate. I sound like a man who knows how to place my bets. How do you think I can gain so much wealth, given the fact that my mother’s family is the poorest of all of our consort mothers? I know where to place the bets.”

He turned his green eyes at Slate. “Your mother’s family owns more wealth than all the other mothers combined, and yet, it does not come close to what I’ve been able to acquire.”

Slate narrowed his eyes.

“Get to the point, Dante.”

Dante crossed his arms across his chest.

“If it were up to me, Candace can win any place she wishes except first place. Just like you, I don’t want her to win first place. That’s because I’m the second oldest, which means—I get second choice.”

Slate froze.

“Dante. If she does not win, Earth will go after her.”

“I can protect her from them.”

“How, Dante? How are you going to protect a fugitive? Even our laws don’t allow that sort of inter-galactic interference.”

“Laws can be changed if you throw enough money at it.”

“That takes time. Meanwhile, Earth is going to throw its armed forces at her.”

“You honestly think they care that much about one female?”

Slate turned away, pretending interest in the cobra head behind Dante.

“Do you know why I have to leave Candace here with you, Second Brother?”

“Pray tell.”

“The Earth Ambassador has already proclaimed that Candace is the legal proxy female for Dahlia Halloway. In essence, her stuntwoman body-double. Anything she achieves will go to Dahlia.”

Dante jumped up from the table, his chair flying behind him. He threw a bolt of energy at the wall, causing a huge burn hole that destroyed the sabre hanging on its mounting frame.

“They don’t dare!”

Slate’s blue eyes were frosty.

“Not only have they dared to do so, they have already done it. In their eyes, Dahlia Halloway is a royal princess. She shouldn’t have to physically do all the rough difficult things.”

“That’s preposterous!” Dante spat with intensity.

Slate gritted his teeth.

“It gets better. To them, Candace is a nobody—a plebeian. To them, it is her duty and honor as a commoner to win the event for the Princess Dahlia.”

“We’ve got to do something about this.” Dante snarled, his green eyes bloodshot with rage. “Does Byron know?”

“I don’t think so.” Slate shook his head. “Father has been keeping him away from all of this because he truly has no choice at all. He’s stuck marrying the first place winner.”

“We need to tell him.” Dante yanked at his blue hair with frustrated hands.

Slate stared at Dante. No matter what transpired between him and his brothers, Candace’s best interests were always first in their hearts.

Being cheated of her Avgo wins because her world had legally declared it would go to someone else was absolutely unacceptable to all of them.

Slate nodded and waved a hand.

Within a minute, the 3-D image of Byron popped up in front of them. His long red hair was tied up in a high ponytail and he had a band around his forehead.

“I hope this is important. I’m in the middle of training.”

The visual zoomed out.

Byron was half naked.

His sculpted muscular torso was glistening with sweat and oil. Behind him were rows and rows of equipment used for body building.

“How important is Candace to you?” Dante asked without preempting.

Byron ripped the black weight-lifting gloves off his hands and threw them to the ground.

“What’s going on with my Princess???”

“She’s not YOUR Princess, Big Brother.” Dante asserted. “In fact, she’s not an Earth Princess at all. She’s only the LEGAL PROXY for the real Earth Princess, Dahlia Halloway, who is going to receive all the accolades and winnings that Candace gets.”

“What?” Byron’s eyes widened with disbelief. “Is that even possible?”

“No, it’s not.” Slate shook his head. “But it’s always been our policy to not interfere in other worlds’ legal policies as long as they don’t cause damage to any other worlds.”

“But this is affecting Erenveil!”

“How?”

“That’s my future wife they’re messing with!”

“Your future wife is the winner of this Avgo contest,” Dante corrected. “They’re not messing with that directive. They’re only saying that whatever Candace wins will go to the real Earth Princess, Dahlia Halloway.”

“How is that not messing with my future wife???” Byron shouted.

“It means you get a wife, no matter what happens and whether or not Candace wins first place. It does not affect the Avgo event at all.”

“And the two of you just sat back and allowed this to happen???”

“Of course not.” Slate scoffed. “My troops have been battling and taking pot shots at Earth warships ever since this Avgo Event started! Had I not done that, she would have been taken away by the Earth Delegates the very first night.”

Slate’s mouth pressed into a thin line.

“I’ve been skirting the line between aggressive threats against an Alliance World and starting an inter-galactic war just to try and keep her safe.”

“In fact, there will be a planned skirmish soon and I have to be there to make sure it does not escalate into full-blown war. That’s why she’s with Dante in his Moon right now.”

Byron sighed.

“Good. Keep her within the Moon until it’s time for the next Event, then bring her straight back to Dante. You are our Prime Warrior. You command the entire space force of Erenveil.” Byron shot Slate a fierce glance full of concern.

“You are the only one who has the military power to be able to fight. Do what you must, but be careful, Baby Brother.”

Slate nodded.

Byron’s red eyes grew even redder. His rage was so palpable, it was roasting the two brothers on the moon flying high above the Erenveil Royal Palace.

“How dare they!!!” Byron grounded out. He yanked his hair tie off and threw it viciously to the floor. His hair sprang out in a wild red mane, making Byron look like an enraged male lion.

Slate and Dante glanced at each other.

Between the three of them, there was a chance they could fight against this huge threat to Candace.

Byron scratched his head with frustrated hands, walking back and forth, his body cutting a swathe through the conference table and back at them. He muttered half-swallowed curses of the most vile nature.

And then he turned back to look at them with wild, untamed eyes as an idea took root within that wild untamed red head of his.

“LUCAS!!!”

Before Slate and Dante could ask him what he meant, Byron began muttering to himself.

“Lucas is perfect. I have to get Lucas on. Give me a moment.”

Dante and Slate looked at each other. What did Lucas have to do with anything?