Chapter 917: The King’s Assurances
Yvonne’s conversation with the other noble girls closer to her age came to an end in the next minute as newer guests entering the Banquet Hall had caught their attention.
Among them, the last families to make their appearance were the Tanner couple, and following right after them was Marquess Yona who had brought the Marchioness and their daughter, Cecily along with him.
As expected, the moment Cecily Yona entered the Hall, her eyes sought her beloved and upon finding him next to his parents, she rushed her parents to join their group as well.
At first, Marchioness Yona had no desire to follow her daughter’s urging but soon changed her mind when she noticed that too many influential people were gathered in one place.
Marquess Sullivan Samed, the Royal Tutor of the Princess, had also found his way to this group when he saw that his elder sister and brother-in-law, Duchess and Duke Tanner, were here as well.
Not to mention that building a better relationship with the Earl and Countess St. Claire was something she needed to accomplish for her son’s sake.
Therefore, Marchioness Yona pushed down her displeasure at the thought of being next to Marchioness Jorbin who was also present in this group, and stepped in their direction.
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She was doing this for her two children’s sake so she was willing to put up with that outsider who was also standing in the midst of so many influential people of this Kingdom.
With such thoughts in her mind, Marchioness Yona brought out her best smile as she stepped forward to greet those present here.
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It wasn’t just Yvonne and her group of young girls who were watching this scene from afar as a few pairs of eyes were doing the same from a hidden area of the Banquet Hall as well.
Now that every family invited to this event had arrived, the Royal Chamberlain was on his way to inform the King that they could commence the celebration as soon as he was ready to make an appearance.
Right now, the King and Queen were seated in a comfortable parlor connected to this Banquet Hall which none of the guests were aware of.
“Your Majesty, would this truly be alright?” Queen Zena seemed nervous and distracted as she played with her fingers, twisting and pinching them as she questioned the man seated next to her.
The Royal couple with the highest status in the entire Kingdom was alone right now so the Queen did not mind displaying her vulnerability before her husband.
Ever since they had that deep conversation in the Greenhouse regarding her past attitude toward Felicia many months ago, their relationship had only grown stronger.
She could express her thoughts, worries, and desires to the man with whom she had shared her wedding vows and he too was considerate toward her and was also a very good listener.
Therefore, moments before the celebration could begin, Queen Zena let her anxious thoughts be known to the King.
King Ophire smiled as he placed his large hand over hers, covering both of her tiny palms at once.
“I’ll be right by your side, my Queen.” He reassured her when he heard the slight tremble in her voice.
His decision to invite all the women and children to this event was something he had discussed with his wife beforehand.
Though she seemed hesitant and confused about his attempts to bring changes to a perfectly functioning system that was already set in place, she had decided to stand by his side regardless of what decision he made.
Thus she too had tried to pay attention to what he was trying to achieve and found some meaning in his endeavors.
When she recalled that Rosenhyde had slightly better views about the status of a woman when compared to her maiden Kingdom, she pursed her lips.
In her native land, polygamy was acceptable in most royal and noble families where the women were treated below men at every turn.
She had suffered from harsh treatment and neglect despite being a Princess so she could only imagine how the lives of those in lower positions could have been.
However, Rosenhyde was better than her native Kingdom in terms of the respect given to women.
Though they weren’t involved in any matters that held great significance, they at least weren’t treated too harshly.
Nevertheless, it seemed that her husband had been unwilling to stop at just this much and wished to improve their status further.
This event was also in accordance with his plans of bringing women into a better position where they could express their thoughts and views regarding important matters without being suppressed.
Her husband had asked for her support for this event and his sincerity was enough to strengthen her heart to do her best for his sake.
While she had spoken big words with confidence back then, now that it was time to put those thoughts into action, she was beginning to feel anxious.
“You will be great.” A soothing voice whispered in her ear pointing out just what she had been worried about.
When Queen Zena glanced at her husband who was looking at her with those bright blue eyes filled with affection, she could only nod her head to accept his assurances.
“P-Princess and the Prince?” She stuttered when she noticed his face drawing closer to hers.
King Ophire who had tried to sneak a sweet moment with his wife faltered when he heard her mentioning their children.
“They must be wandering about.” He continued to whisper as he leaned further in, decreasing the distance between their faces.
However, once again they were disturbed, this time by the gentle knock on the door.
“We are ready to begin, Your Majesty.” The couple heard the voice of the Chamberlain who had spoken from the other side of the shut door.
“Go find the Princess and the Prince first!” King Ophire commanded in an impatient tone which made the Queen giggle as she knew what had gotten him annoyed.
Shifting his gaze from the door where he sensed the chamberlain to the Queen whose face now had a smile, the King raised his brow before circling his arm around her waist.
“You find that funny, my Queen?” He questioned, curling his lips to form a mischievous smirk which his wife of many years was very familiar with.
Queen Zena was just about to respond but was cut off before she could even begin as her lips were captured in the next moment.
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Standing outside this secret Parlor which was one of many in this Palace, the Chamberlain who had been next to the King for a long time realized his folly.
Hence he did not make another sound so as to not disturb the couple and headed in search of the Royal siblings as he had been commanded to do.
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“Why can’t Uncle join us?” Princess Felicia pouted as she glanced down from the balcony high above where she stood with two older boys on either side of her.
This balcony was on a higher floor overseeing the entire banquet hall so the three who stood here could gaze at everyone down below.
They had been here ever since the guests had begun to arrive in the Palace and had been observing this sight for a while now.
The two boys, both with beautiful blonde hair just like hers, chuckled before shaking their heads at the same time.
“You know that Uncle is shy, Felly!” The Young Prince exclaimed as he glanced at the soon-to-be young man from the older generation and bit down on the snicker that had just erupted from his mouth.
Prince Draco did not even have to look at his nephew to discern that he was being teased right now.
However, this did not mean that he would let his actions slide without consequences.
“Looks like your daily training hasn’t been difficult enough. Shall I add some more?” The Prince with stellar emerald irises flashed a smile at his nephew, causing the other person to shudder in response.
“Anything but that!” Prince Fritzen gasped, unwilling to accept any more training than what was already on his plate.
He was already learning under Duke Brodie’s care who was the Head of the Blue Dragon Knights, the knighthood that served to protect the nobles of Rosenhyde.
He also had been training with the Black Shadow Knights who served the Royal family directly under the supervision of his uncle, Prince Draco.
If he added the training he underwent at the Royal Academy to this mixture, there was already too much on his plate.
Therefore, hearing that his Uncle whose strengths surely were on a different level than his, wished to increase his workload, Prince Fritzen could only shake his head profusely to reject that offer right away.
Watching this scene, Princess Felicia could only shake her head at how easy it was to fool her elder brother.
“Brother, why are you so anxious? How can Uncle train you when he isn’t here most of the time?” She reminded the Prince of their Uncle’s busy schedule.
Felicia’s words were meant to ease some of the terror that had flashed across Fritzen’s face.
However, the young Prince, who knew just how scary and strict their Uncle could get, wasn’t comforted even when he knew that she wasn’t entirely wrong to say so.
‘I can just send my men to oversee your new training module, can’t I?’ Prince Draco stood behind Felicia such that she could not see him as he uttered these words.
Hearing the voice of his uncle echoing in his mind, Fritzen froze as he was still unfamiliar with this new method of communication.
However, he did not have time to care for it when he saw the scheming glint that had flashed across his uncle’s eyes, in a place where the innocent and ignorant Felicia could not catch sight of it.
‘No, please!’ Fritzen gulped while rejecting such harsh punishment for his attempt to tease the other person.
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