Chapter 621 - King Ophire's Watchful Eyes
At the same moment that a voice was heard coming from behind, a stifling aura enveloped the entire garden.
Everyone present here had pale faces due to the abrupt burst of potent aura that had been released.
With a sense of danger looming over them, the men were quick to act.
As only men with etchers or those children who had awakened their dormant powers could resist this aura, they immediately tried to guard themselves against it.
The others who had no aura in their bodies felt as though they were suffocating even when there was an abundance of air around them.
Taking matters into his own hands, Rutherford surrounded his aura around his wife who was next to him, ensuring that she was no longer struggling to breathe due to the heavy pressure aimed at all of them.
Similarly, most men did the same with their wives.
However, there were a few who had not done so.
One was Earl Blaise, who was trying his best to safeguard himself from the fierce aura and also to protect his heir, Standley, from the same.
The other man was Viscount Valente who only glanced at his wife Trisha who smiled at him to assure him that she was alright.
He then turned towards his sons who stood on either side of their mother, protecting her from harm's way.
After making sure that she was fine, he turned to his niece and nephew who were standing with Trisha and the twins.
Yvonne and Howard were holding hands but he knew that the little girl was using her powers to protect her brother who had awakened his powers but had not yet found his etcher.
Turning around, his eyes landed on the pitiful Countess Blaise whose face was pale as her husband had made no movement to use his aura to shield her despite standing right next to her.
A trace of disgust flashed across his face before he decided to lend her a little of his aura because she looked like she might faint at any moment now.
However, before he could do so, the stifling aura looming over them had been withdrawn without a trace.
The women who had been breathless a moment ago were drawing in deep breaths to regain the color on their faces.
Even if their husbands had tried to shield them, it was inevitable to face backlash as the one who had released that aura was on a much higher level than all of them.
Now that they were able to regain their composure, everyone made haste to greet the one who had arrived.
Their earlier frozen bodies veered in the direction of the voice from earlier and they bowed at once.
"Greetings, Your Majesty, Our King and Her Highness, Our Queen!" They exclaimed in one voice, using the standard greeting meant for the Royal couple.
King Ophire walked forward with his wife, holding Queen Zena's hand in his.
Behind them were two others but as they were a short distance away, the others only focused on the Royal family members ahead.
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A few minutes ago, Queen Zena had gone to the Throne room, urging the King to hurry along as it was high time that they began their tea party.
Despite the King's request to begin without him, she had insisted that he be present during the event and had asked the nobles to mingle among themselves before everyone arrived.
Thus, seeing her adamant nature to follow the rules, King Ophire did not have the heart to dissuade her and chose to follow her words.
He completed his meeting with the last noble and along with them and his Queen, made his way to the garden.
As they were walking along, his keen senses had allowed him to listen in on the conversation going on in the garden which continued even when they were about to enter the venue of the tea party.
Therefore, the moment he entered the garden, he made his presence known by releasing his aura.
However, ever the loving husband, he made sure that his Queen was safe from all harm as she stood right next to him.
Even the noble family who had accompanied them were safe but those inside the garden and had taken part in the conversation were not spared.
As soon as the stifling aura filled the air, he watched how the men shielded their wives.
Regardless of their opinions about men being higher than women, they chose to protect their partners as they loved and cherished them dearly.
What was even more surprising was that the heir of the Tanner family has used his aura to single-handedly protect every child who had been standing in his vicinity.
During the chaos that ensued thanks to the King's aura, he had made some fairly unexpected discoveries.
'Hmm… So they found their etchers, huh?' He nodded while making note of the faces whose bodies were radiating auras.
His eyes then fixed on the child whose body was also radiating aura and a trace of confusion flashed past his sparkling blue eyes.
However, soon that confusion faded when he saw the little girl holding hands with her elder brother.
Finding the explanation for that anomaly, he continued glancing around.
Thus, he had found the Countess of the Blaise family who was on the verge of losing her consciousness.
Her husband was more concerned about protecting his heir that he had failed to even discern the pitiful state his wife was in.
That son whom he was yearning to shield, however, was already safe being enveloped by the blanket of aura the Tanner family's heir had made to protect the children around him.
Noticing that the Countess's condition was deteriorating, he pulled his aura back and instantly found her gasping to catch her breath.
In the next moment, everyone bowed to greet him which brought him back from his recollection and to the present.
___
"What was it that the Viscount was speaking about?" He questioned even when he had heard a good part of their conversation.
Viscount Marcus Valente bowed towards the King before, without missing a single word, repeated everything that had been said from the moment he had arrived at this garden.
King Ophire raised his brow at this man's ability to memorize and parrot every single aspect of the events that had taken place until now.
"I see…" He nodded his head once Viscount Valente's narration had come to an end.
Having said this, the King turned his gaze and fixed it on the other party in this confrontational conversation.
While the Earl was shuddering under the King's watchful eyes, Yvonne had her eyes fixed on her uncle.
'How did you know?' She questioned in her mind and was sure that her Uncle was able to hear her as he glanced at her for a brief moment before looking away.
Ever since this conversation had been, her uncle could have used the final argument right at the beginning and easily defeat the Earl.
However, she witnessed in silence as he dragged out the incident by involving the two other men, Duke Tanner and Marquess Kiron, into the conversation.
By the end, he was just repeating what everyone already knew so she was having a tough time trying to decipher the reason why he was doing so.
However, the moment she felt the King's aura just as her Uncle's question had come to an end, she received her answer.
Her Uncle had only been stalling for time and just when he got to the last part of his defense, the King had arrived.
This was too much of a coincidence for her and she wasn't naive enough to believe that her uncle had no part to play in this.
'There was only one family left after ours and even then, a maid had come to inform the King that the Queen requested him to hurry.' Uncle Marcus's voice reached her ear in the next second.
This was enough explanation for the little girl whose speculation had been proven to be right.
Viscount Marcus Valente had kept them busy in conversation and just when he thought that it was about time for the King to arrive, he diverted their conversation towards that particular direction.
Since Earl Blaise had the courage to utter false accusations in the King's Palace then he should be able to bear the consequences of the same.
Thus, all the kind and loving uncle had done was to make sure that the conversation fell into the ears of their Ruler who could do the rest for them.
As expected, King Ophire was furious to hear everything that Viscount Valente had relayed and his attention was now only on the man whose family name was Blaise.
"It looks like the Earl has forgotten a certain conversation he had with me in the past." The King's voice wasn't too loud nor was it too low.
However, the chilling aura that surrounded the man was enough to indicate that he wasn't in a good mood right now.
In fact, even Queen Zena had a slight frown on her face at what she had heard upon entering the garden.
She had just been away for a few minutes but such a huge accusation had been thrown on her husband which had infuriated her as well.
Despite her anger, she chose to remain silent as this was a matter for men to deal with and her unnecessary interference would only make matters worse for everyone.
Thus, she stood at her husband's side and would rather watch him deal with the Earl than step in.
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