The queen started to get emotional when she saw the two adorable boys.
Ahh... if only five years ago Nicholas immediately married Lady Karenina, surely now Queen Marianne would already have a grandchild who was the same age as the two children. Her own grandchild would be just as adorable as these two boys.
Thinking about it made the queen want to cry. Tears were slowly forming in the corners of her eyes.
"Sorry," Luciel said quietly. He thought he hurt the old woman he bumped into her just now. "It was an accident."
When she heard the boy speak, Queen Marianne wiped her tears, then cupped the cheeks of the two children alternately. With a warm smile, she asked, "What are your names?"
For a moment, Luciel and Jan looked at each other.
"Luciel," replied Luciel.
"Jan," answered Jan.
"Oh... those are such wonderful names."
It wasn't long before Sophie arrived. She immediately curtseyed to show respect to the queen.
"Your Majesty... I am so, sorry... My children must have startled you." With a regretful tone, she apologized to the queen and the princess beside her.
Fortunately, the queen said she didn't mind. Queen Marianne smiled more broadly and touched Luciel's shoulder. Then, she looked at Sophie. "You have very sweet and handsome children. You are very lucky."
"Thank you, Your Majesty is too kind," said Sophie. She turned to her sons and asked them. "Have you apologized?"
Both boys nodded vigorously. "Yes."
"Ahh.. that's good." Sophie bowed a little and thanked the queen, then led Jan and Luciel back to their table.
Meanwhile, Princess Karenina looked at Sophie intensely as the other woman was walking with her back to her. For some reason, Karenina didn't like this woman. Secretly, she felt inferior when she saw such an elegant and stunning woman.
Karenina felt like she was like an evil witch who was feeling jealous of Snow White's beauty. She hated that feeling.
***
Meanwhile, in his room, Nicholas was busy getting ready. He took out all his best clothes to wear to the party. He had taken out so many different outfits with accessories and even had all three of his crowns lined up on the dresser.
He had to look stunning in front of Duke Romanov's wife...
Oops, what Nicholas meant was, he had to look stunning in front of the guests.
As the king of the well-respected Riga Kingdom, he had to look handsome and impressive, right?
It's totally not to impress Sophia Romanov.
Not at all.
Not far from him, several servants were standing together, looking confused. The servants who used to help Nicholas get ready for the party were astonished because they had never seen King Nicholas so concerned with his appearance.
"Your Majesty, have you decided what to wear? You're late," said one of the servants when Nicholas still couldn't decide what to wear. "Uhm... the party has started half an hour ago."
"How about a green robe? But the black one is good too." Nicholas scratched his head. "Uhm… how about the blue one?"
"You look handsome in anything. Your Majesty, your mother must have been waiting for you," said another servant.
His face was filled with worry, imagining the Queen scolding them for not being able to help the king get ready for the party on time.
"You guys should have woken me up," Nicholas complained, still busy choosing clothes. "Now, I am late."
'Actually, we wanted to, Your Majesty, but you slept like a log... or even like you're dead,' the servant said.
Of course, he only said those words in his heart. There was no way he would dare say that directly. He just lowered his face, and didn't say anything.
All night last night, Nicholas was busy dealing with the problems with the influx of Armerian nobles coming to Riga to seek refuge. He didn't sleep until morning and overslept during the day.
When he finally woke up, the first thing he asked wasn't 'Has the party started yet?' or 'Am I late?' but, 'Have Duke Romanov and his family arrived yet?' and when the butler said 'Yes' he rushed to take a bath.
However, when the king was about to get dressed, suddenly he couldn't decide on which outfits to wear. He wanted to impress Duke of Romanov's wif— ahem, the guests...
So, he had to choose his clothes carefully.
And that was what took him forever to get ready. After more than one hour, his servants had become frustrated.
**
Back in the ballroom, Queen Marianne and Princess Karenina officially opened the party. The music was playing and food was served. Everyone was having a good time and socializing over wine.
Princess Karenina was starting to feel embarrassed because the guests noticed the lack of someone's presence. She could hear people whispering from around her, asking each other why the king didn't come.
"Now, she is no longer a withered flower but a discarded flower."
"It's been five years, right? Will they ever get married?"
"At this point, I don't think so."
"But if the king won't marry her, why did he organize this glorious birthday party for Princess Karenina?"
"I don't know. Maybe this is his way of making up to her? They might be announcing their separation soon and so the king decided to throw this party to give her face."
"She must be so dumb or so hopelessly in love to wait this long and still no clarity on when the king would marry her."
"Hey, I heard gossip that actually the king holds this event because he wants to announce their upcoming wedding plans. Just you wait."
"If that's true... then, where is he?"
"Yes.. where is he? If he really wants to make such an announcement, he would already be here now."
"Ahh.. you are right. It's too suspicious."
Karenina clutched her wine glass tightly. She felt like she was being stabbed in the chest whenever those gossipers talked about her and mocked her.
"Where are you, Nicholas?" she bit her lip, trying so hard to hold back her tears.
.
.
________________________
From Missrealitybites:
Be patient. The king will show up in the next chapter ^^
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