The Baron immediately rushed to prepare for the king's arrival.
The townspeople became very busy to clean up their town and make it look presentable to the royals.
Houses and signs were repainted, the Baron's manor was cleaned and decorated, and the people got their best clothes ready.
During this time, Hyreona was unable to meet with Damien as he had to help his father prepare.
She noticed that the town became more lively than usual, but wasn't informed about the king till the day before he was set to arrive.
That was the first time she was able to see Damien in a couple of days.
He had snuck out of the manor to meet Hyreona and told her that the king was coming.
She didn't think that the king would be such a huge matter. After all, she had only ever known the town and the snowy forest.
Sitting in the field of grass which separated the town from the forest, Damien played with a lock of Hyreona's white hair, twirling it around his finger.
The season had already changed to summer so the weather was a bit hot and it was currently a little after noon.
"I won't be able to go out and play with you for the next week or so. I have to stay at home and entertain the king and prince." He sighed.
Hyreona didn't mind Damien's action. She brought her legs up to her chest and rested her head on top of her knees.
"Hm... is the king very important?" she asked curiously.
"Yes he is. He's the one who rules over the land we live in. So him and his family hold a lot of power. They're also really strong when it comes to magic, but they're not the only ones. Their knights are equally as good, if not more so." Damien recited what he had learned from his tutors.
"Can you tell me more about it?" Hyreona softly asked.
"Well, the king is named Killion Wayfore. He rules over the Wayfore kingdom that you and I live in. The royal family consists of one son, the Crown Prince Edmond Wayfore, and two daughters, Princesses Deliah and Yasmin Wayfore. I think the queen died five years ago and was replaced by Consort Lena Veitri. The Wayfore royal family all specialize in fire magic. I specialize in earth if you didn't know. Anyway, the Crown Prince is 11, and the princesses are twins so they're 10. Rumors say that the prince is especially talented even among the royals."
Damien looked to see if Hyreona had any questions. She shook her head.
He continued.
"The royal family has their loyal dogs which is the Shade Legion. If I recall correctly, the Shade Legion was named that way because all of them specialize in shadow magic. They're the only branch of the knights that aren't made up of nobles. Oh, I heard that the legion's leader is really young and even more talented than the crown prince. He was personally picked up from living on the streets by the prince himself. I don't know his name though. Let alone his real age, so I could be wrong."
Hyreona pondered about the royals after Damien finished explaining.
'Wow, such people are coming to the town...'
He suddenly stopped playing with her hair and got up, dusting the grass off of his pants.
"I should probably return home before someone notices."
"Alright. I'll see you when the king's gone then." She answered with a small smile.
Taking her by the hand, Damien helped Hyreona get up before running back to the mansion.
He didn't forget to turn around and wave to her goodbye.
Hyreona looked up at the sky and saw that it wasn't even close to sunset yet. Standing there, Hyreona didn't really know what to do.
She didn't want to go to the orphanage because the boys there became mental when she would visit. Plus, Clarissa was always hostile to her for no reason. The Baron's place was also off limits since they were getting ready for the King.
'Should I just wonder around town or go home...?'
She sighed and then walked straight into the forest.
What she didn't know was that the Shade Legion already arrived a day early and was observing the town and its people, looking out for potential threats to the safety of the royals.
Due to her eye-catching looks, she was immediately followed by one of the Legion knights.
The knight did not follow her into the forest and instead left when she entered to go back and report to the Crown Prince who was still on his way to the town. It wasn't that she was a threat, but more so because she was exceptionally stunning that she was mentioned to Edmond.
Of course being a prince, he had seen his fair share of beauties, so the news from the knight did not arouse his interest in any way.
In his mind, he just thought that she was another pretty girl similar to all the ones mentioned to him before.
"Why are you telling me about another girl?" Edmond questioned the knight, irritated.
The knight became nervous seeing the Crown Prince annoyed.
"Y-Your highness. I can swear to you that she—"
Edmond lifted his hand and cut off the knight without hearing the rest.
"Yes, yes. She's a pretty one, my age, I get it. I don't want to hear about a girl."
"Yes your highness."
Inwardly the knight felt like he wanted to cry.
'Your highness! That wasn't what I was about to say...'
Edmond let out a long sigh.
"Go back and look for anything suspicious. I don't care about these immature girls."
The knight bowed to him before leaving to return to the town.
'She really is an ethereal beauty though.' the knight thought.
Back in the forest, Hyreona was picking some flowers with the intention of decorating her hair for tomorrow. Since everyone else was going to dress nice, she might as well do it too.
The flowers she picked were off-white and blue in color and ranged from small buds to fully blossomed petals.
She still planned to wear her usual attire, white dress and high socks, but ones with small silvery embroideries.
Coming home, she placed the flowers on a table then went to make some food for herself. After eating, she took a nice long bath before heading to bed early.
Hyreona decided that she would come to the village a little earlier than usual to witness the King arriving.
When she woke up early before dawn the next morning, she washed up and dressed in her slightly fancier clothes. Once she got into her clothes, she began to put her long, straight, white hair into one big, loose braid.
Then she embellished her hair with the flowers she had picked the previous day.
Hyreona was already extraordinarily stunning, but today, one could really mistake her for an ethereal goddess.
Finished with dressing up, Hyreona left her house and walked to the town.
She made it there about 2 hours after dawn, joining the crowds that were forming on the street all waiting for the King.
When she got there, she attracted the eyes of everyone in the town. This included the Shade Legion that was on watch.
No one could take their eyes off her seeing that she had dressed up. It wasn't until the sound of the King arriving that made them tear their eyes away from her.
Hyreona didn't notice their looks as she had become immune to it ever since she started visiting.
Reyland and Ballard were in the back of the crowd holding their foreheads. The orphanage headmaster was also there with them laughing and pointing at their expressions.
Hyreona's appearance really did cause a commotion.
If it weren't for the King, the townsfolk would have been frozen in time, just staring at her.
The king's carriage came into the town and onto the streets not long after. It was surrounded by knights on all sides.
Inside of the carriage sat Edmond and the king. Edmond, who was looking out of the carriage window, spotted a small white head in the crowd a short distance ahead of them.
When the carriage passed by, he was able to catch a glimpse of her face. His face immediately turned pink and he tried to get a better view by pressing closer to the window.
Edmond's heart thumped loudly when he saw Hyreona. Because the prince got closer to the window, some of the girls were able to clearly see him.
They squealed and tried to come as close to the carriage as possible, pushing and shoving others.
Hyreona was accidentally caught up in the commotion and was pushed back further away from the carriage, disappearing from Edmond's sight.
Edmond became a little disappointed when he wasn't able to see her anymore, but he did promise to himself that he would try to go out and meet her personally during his stay.
Soon, the carriage arrived at the Baron's estate where both Damien and his father waited.
A servant opened the carriage door and the king and prince stepped out. The four exchanged greeting and other pleasantries before going into the mansion.
While walking to the lounge area, Damien looked at Edmond up and down. Edmond was slightly taller and had a more muscular build than him. He also had honey blonde hair, clear blue eyes, and an attractive face.
Edmond would be the definition of a picture perfect prince.
While this went on, Edmond's mind was actually stuck on Hyreona. She was more beautiful than anything he had ever seen.
All of her components, white hair with a tinge of blue, pale skin with a perfectly shaped face, reddish lips that contrasted her skin, and her blue gray eyes which sparkled in the sun, made her seem almost unreal.
Only one thought currently occupied his head.
'Let's try to get through this as quick as possible and see her.'