Chapter 96: Dinner With His Majesty
She instinctively stiffened at the mention of the Palace of Light, where it held no fond memories, and Ivan noticed it. His molten red eyes glanced down to gauge her expression, but she quickly masked it and said, "Well, I knew of some of them in my room, but I never got to find all of them around the palace."
Her voice trailed off as she remembered how she was restricted from entering most parts of the palace, and no one ever bothered to tell her about the secret passages until she discovered them on her own.
Ivan was intrigued by her answer, so he decided to press a little further just to check if she would respond. "But doesn’t every royal need to know about the ins and outs of their palace’s secret passages for safety reasons?"
When she didn’t reply, he chose to lighten the mood, "Don’t tell me that you were a naughty little princess who liked to seek out those passages," he said teasingly.
To which she finally responded, "I did not! For your information, I always used to follow the rules," she lifted her chin proudly.
"Hm.. I wonder why is that so hard to believe, considering how naughty you have been with me," he continued teasing, making her blush bloom across her pale cheeks.
"I cannot believe you could be so shameless. You know...your looks are really deceiving.’ she murmured under her breath, but Ivan heard every word.
"Oh? And how are my looks perceived?" he asked with intrigue.
"You know... a devil in disguise behind an angelic face," she blurted before she could stop herself.
Ivan’s lips curled up into a slow smirk. "I’ll take that as a compliment," he replied coolly, making Eve shake her head lightly before she went back to resting her head on his broad shoulder. Her fingers, which were wrapped around his neck, unconsciously began to play with the edge of his neatly set hair.
Ivan drew in a sharp breath and whispered darkly, "Continuing doing that and I’ll take it as you have no intentions of going to this dinner anymore, you’d rather spend your time with me...to resume where we had left off in the morning."
Eve’s eyes widened, and she immediately halted in her actions. Ivan’s lips twitched, seeing her getting affected so easily, ’How adorable,’ he thought to himself.
Soon they reached one of the doors, and he pressed on one of the bricks with his foot at the bottom. Once again, she heard the familiar sound of the gears moving, followed by a click, and the door creaking open. Eve would have never guessed that one of the bricks was some kind of a hidden button to open the room.
Once Ivan stepped out, they were instantly enveloped in the light of an expansive room that looked like a luxurious suite. When Eve’s eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness, she spotted a tall man clad in a crisp black regal attire with intricate golden thread work forming a dragon sigil at the pocket of his expensive coat. He had clean-cut dark brown hair, a natural air of a superior being that made him stand out, but what caught her attention was his eyes. They were the same as Ivan’s dark red eyes, but they held kindness as he gazed at them.
Eve instantly realised that he was none other than the King of Versailles, King Iskara Ignia De Ashen.
But then her embarrassment took a whole new depth when she heard his deep, resonating voice, "That’s one way to make an entrance, son." His wise eyes danced with mirth when Ivan continued to hold her instead of putting her down.
’What the hell! I didn’t expect the king to be waiting for us right at the end of the passage! Oh my god, maybe I should just fall flat on the floor and pretend to be dead rather than deal with this situation.’ she screamed inwardly.
Eve burned scarlet in mortification, while Ivan just stared down at her with amusement, as her face flushed to the point it positively resembled a ripe apple that tempted him to take a bite of. His lips quirked up in a small smile as he continued to hold her.
When he didn’t make any move to put her down, she whispered urgently, "Ivan!" prompting him to put him down.
"Hm?" Ivan replied, not being subtle at all.
She looked at him in disbelief and spelled it out to him, "P-put me down!"
"Right," Though enjoying every bit of her flustered expressions, he decided to end her misery by finally placing her down.
On the other hand, King Iskara, being a pure-blooded vampire, clearly heard their little banter with his ever-sharp ears and held by a chuckle that was forming in his throat.
Ivan then turned to his father and greeted him with a slight bow, "Father, meet Princess Evelyn Lumeath Starforged, from the Kingdom of Luminear." He formally introduced her.
Eve let out a sigh in relief and straightened her posture. She then bowed gracefully in courtesy and spoke, "Your majesty, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you."
Iskara’s eyes softened at the young ethereal beauty standing next to his son, and he replied warmly, "Welcome, Princess Evelyn. I am pleased you accepted my invitation on such short notice, even though I heard you were still recovering."
"The pleasure is all mine, Your Majesty. Thank you for inviting me to dinner," she replied in a calm and composed manner.
Iskara smiled gently, "Why don’t we carry our conversation at the dinner table?"
"Certainly, Your Majesty," she responded and started to follow his lead, with Ivan trailing behind.
The King settled himself at the head of the small table in the suite, followed by Ivan to his right, and Evelyn beside Ivan. He pulled the chair for her like a true gentleman and waited for her to settle before taking his place.
Once everyone was seated, the king rang the small silver bell kept next to him, and a much older man with grey hair and red eyes with a monocle in a gold frame attached to one of his eyes stepped in. With his immaculate uniform, one could tell that he was a royal butler who was assigned to the king’s side of the palace.
He stepped in carrying some drinks, followed closely by Arthur, who brought in several dishes. Together, they started setting them on the table with practiced etiquette.
The king then turned his attention back to Evelyn and asked, "I trust your recovery is going well?"
Eve flushed a little and replied, "Yes, Your Majesty. The healing potion helped me recover much faster."
"That is good to hear," Iskara said with a satisfied nod.
Soon, the butlers left them in their privacy after settling up multiple arrays of dishes.
"So, how has your stay been in the kingdom of Versailles so far?" The king asked.
’Wonderful! With the gothic nightmare of an academy, deranged professors, and scornful students who have tried to kill me with every chance they get, I’d say the stay has been a joy,’ she thought dryly to herself.
She replied in a dignified manner like a true princess, "It has been adventurous, Your Majesty. Bastian is a very beautiful city."
Ivan’s lips twitched as if he heard her internal monologue, but he remained silent and continued to sip his wine.
"Yes, I believe it is, but I understand it is also a very different landscape from the Kingdom of Luminear. I don’t know if you remember, but I had visited the kingdom when Ivan was only five years old with my wife."
This came as a surprise to both Ivan and Evelyn, and Ivan asked, "We did? How come I have no memories of it?"
Iskara chuckled and responded, "You both were very young at that time." He then looked at Eve and continued, "My wife had become good friends with the Late Queen Selene. I must say, Ivan was very taken by you then; he kept on insisting on going back to the kingdom once we left."
Eve coughed at this information and politely excused herself to swallow the food that got stuck in her throat. Ivan moved with the most natural ease and began rubbing her back to help her, before picking up a glass of water and handing it to her.
She blushed and accepted the glass of water, "Thank you," she murmured softly to him.
Iskara watched their whole interaction and was immensely surprised by his aloof son’s attentiveness to the young lady, which he never did even if someone was dying.
Once she settled, Eve apologised, "Forgive me, Your Majesty, for my rude interruption."
Iskara smiled, "Be at ease, Princess Evelyn, there is absolutely nothing to apologise for."
She gave him a grateful nod and was about to get back to eating her meal when Ivan started serving her more dishes and said, "Eat more."
Eve felt like she was going to drown in embarrassment with Ivan’s sweet behavior towards her, even though it greatly warmed her heart.
They all continued their dinner in peace when Iskara asked, "So, how is King Solan doing? It has been a long time since I last interacted with him."
Eve stiffened at the mention of her father and just responded politely, "He is doing well, Your Majesty. I don’t get to see him much because he is always busy with work."
