Everyone stared at the king, not expecting an apology from him. With his proud personality, I already expect a fight with him for something as simple as an apology. But I did not expect how Marquise McClare's words could affect his attitude and even his pride to actually give an apology.
"I apologize for the things I have said." The king simply said. He did not say which ones he was apologizing for, neither did he mention who it was for. It was merely general.
I thought hard for a perfect comeback that could trigger the king. I wanted a specific apology addressed to my father and sister.
"I accept your apology." Father suddenly replied while nodding his head. "Kids tend to hurt each other so I didn't think it was too big."
Father's reply caught us off guard as he was very confident in his acceptance. He even rubbed his chin thoughtfully before patting Athy's head.
The side of the king's mouth twitched when he heard my father. He did not expect him to reply casually like that. But he could not do anything either as father has already accepted his apology!
Marquise McClare placed a hand on the king's shoulder again. This time it was to stop the king from saying anything bad again. The kind looked at him before taking a deep breath, calming himself down.
I narrowed my eyes at the marquise.
"By the way, Marquise McClare, we liked your gift." I said smiling at the blond man standing beside the throne who looked at me questioningly. "We will make sure to send one back."
The marquise smiled back.
"Then, we will be expecting your gift my lady." He replied.
As soon as those words left his lips, a servant came running to him and whispered something secretly. Marquise McClare's eyes went wide at the news the servant gave him. He looked at me menacingly and I replied with my most heart-stopping smile, even showing both of my dimples.
Seeing the smile I gave him confirmed that I was behind the news. He whispered something to the king before giving me one last glare and walked out of the banquet hall in a rush.
The other nobles saw him rushing out and became noisy with questions but the king changed the topic.
"Father, we should head back." I said as I turned to my father.
"We should." Athy immediately agreed. I know she was more than willing to get out of here and enjoy the celebrations on the streets.
"I already got what I wanted, I'm fine to go back." Uriel said with a smile.
"If that is so." Father said while placing his hands around mother's tiny waist.
On our way to the door, Count Polit approached us with his wife.
"Are you going back now, your grace?" He asked making father turn to look at him.
"We have already finished our duties here." Father replied looking at the throne. "It's time for us to get back."
Count Polit also glanced at the Throne where the bulging man with a crown was drowning himself in wine.
"Then, until we meet again." Count Polit bowed respectfully.
Father gave him a nod before we continued on our way out.
The generals, Haktor and Marionne, were waiting for us just outside the door with Loki. When they saw us walk out, they immediately flanked us and escorted us out of the main castle. The carriages were waiting at the end of the steps with Ragnar and the other knights stood waiting. When they saw us approach, Ragnar immediately opened the door to the first carriage while Loki opened ours.
I took one last look at the royal palace on our way out the main gate.
"Such a beautiful palace, too bad only idiots live in it now." Athy sighed as she looked back at the brightly illuminated castle.
"Well, at least I was able to build a connection with the delegates from other kingdoms." Uriel said with a flip of her hair and wiggled her eyebrows. "And I even made friends with the fourteenth princess of Therodyn Kingdom."
"That's a lot of princesses." Athy frowned. "Their king must be veerryy hard-working."
Uriel and I giggled.
"My ladies." Loki called from Athy's window. "Are we heading back to the mansion now?"
Athy looked out at him and shook her head.
"No. We will stop by the street party." She answered.
"Do you need new clothes to change into, my lady?" Loki asked knowing that we would stand out in the crowd with our luxurious ball gowns.
Athy looked at me questioning, I thought for a second before shaking my head. We don't really care about standing out, but I do want the word of us being at the street party to reach the king. That way he will know that we preferred to join a commoner's party than his fancy banquet.
"No." Athy relayed my answer. "We're good."
"Understood, my lady." Loki nodded and galloped to the front to inform the coach.
We sat back and rested for the rest of the ride back to the city.