The Ministers looked at each other and conversed for a short while. The first one who spoke was a bearded middle-aged man named Minister Rowan, who gazed at Ely's back. He couldn't help but stare at her voluptuous body in those tight clothes, "I suggest she be brought to my residence for a stricter interrogation, your Highness."
The King furrowed his eyebrows. "Do you think she wouldn't be interrogated properly in MY palace?"
"My King, there are women interrogators in my residence. I think she can speak the truth if she-"
Hearing the Minister, Ely used her knees to move forward towards the King's feet. "King, I am speaking the truth!"
"Did I ask you to speak?" The King narrowed his eyes on the crying Ely, but he let her stay kneeled in front of his feet. His eyes then glanced at the ministers, "Any opinion about Minister Rowan's suggestion?"
Minister Anna, one of the few female Ministers of the King, raised her hand, "I refuse…"
Minister Rowan glared at her, "Anna, why are you-"
"I think it will be better if she stays here during the investigation, Your Highness. After all, the safest place is undeniably Your Highness' palace."
Again, the minister retorted, "But… But the King's life will be in danger if she's here-"
"Minister Rowan," the King said, interrupting his excuses, "Do you think I am going to be killed by this woman that easily? Do you see me as a weak person?"
"Ah… no, Your Highness, I-"
"Then let Minister Anna speak… Minister Anna? Continue your explanation."
"Your Highness, I think we should consider if this is related to the artifacts. After all, ever since the royal artifacts were stolen by the bandits, there have been some unexplainable things happening around our nation."
The King nodded at Minister Anna's words, "Yes, like the frequent thunderclouds we could see recently, as if the gods are furious?"
"Yes, I suggest a wider search for the royal artifacts, as well as the hidden temple. According to the elders, the Priestess of Destiny, who's living in that temple, knows how to calm the gods... and she also knows everything about this world."
"Alright. You lead the search, Minister Anna."
"Yes, Your Highness. I shall do my best-"
"My King! Do you really plan on having this young woman lead the search?" a loud voice echoed the room. The Clan Leaders had just arrived, wearing fur vests made from coyote skin. It was the eldest, Clan Leader Owen of the Pho Clan, who retorted, "I disagree that a woman will lead the search team. I volunteer myself, Your Highness. I know more about this nation's land than a woman who only lived for thirty years."
This angered the King. Not only that the Clan Leaders were late, but Clan Leader Owen even dared to talk back to him!
Stressed by this, the King took a wine glass, which was eventually filled with white wine. "Everyone, what is my number one rule?"
"To follow his Highness," the Ministers and the Clan Leaders said at the same time.
He spoke furiously, "If you already know, THEN WHY ARE YOU DISOBEYING ME?" He threw the wineglass towards the floor; the sharp glass shards scattered, and the white wine splattered on the floor.
The King wasn't just an ordinary King. Everyone respected him, yet they feared him. Criminals, who were locked up in the basement prison, would be tortured while being interrogated and they would be killed if they wouldn't answer his questions. Everyone in the nation knew about this, that was why they wouldn't even think about disobeying the King's orders.
Everyone bowed down to the King. But Clan leader Owen uttered, "I apologize for my rudeness, Your Highness. The decision is still up to you. I am merely suggesting an option that I think is better for the task-"
"DO NOT MAKE ME REPEAT MYSELF!" He shouted. If Owen's daughter had not married the King's younger brother, he would have killed the man because of his arrogance! "This interrogation is finished. This woman… will continue to stay here under my supervision. Return her to her room."
With his order, Ely's arms were grabbed by General Lum's armed men. But the glass shards from a while ago pricked her foot, and it bled.
"Ouch!" Ely shrieked. Two glass shards wounded her on both feet, but the guards still made her walk. "Hey, it hurts! Please let me go, I need to clean my wound!"
The King heard her cries, and he ordered them to stop. They let her sit on the cold floor, and then she took a look at her own feet.
"Oh no… Can you give me some cotton and soap…" Ely's tears fell down from her cheeks. Realizing that everyone was looking at her and no one dared to help, she cried and cried her husband's name. "Adam… Why do you need to die… If only you're alive, then I wouldn't…" She placed her hands on her face, sobbing.
"Your Highness. What are your orders?" asked General Lum.
The King stared at his prisoner. It did not look like she was faking her tears, and he felt her sorrow as she cried on the cold floor. But even if she cried, she still looked beautiful. He thought, if only she was royalty, he might have pursued her.
"I want to go back home…" Ely uttered, still crying her heart out. "I am the Queen of Ballad! Why do I have to experience this-"
"You are… a Queen, you say?" The King raised his brow.
Ely stopped crying, "Yes, I am," she remembered her fans who had always made her songs the number one in the music charts. "I have many supporters… and they all love me!"
The room stayed silent as she yelled because of her frustrations. The Ministers and the Clan Leaders who heard her had refused to believe that she was a Queen.
But the King, who was already smitten by her beauty, wanted to believe that she was really a certain 'Queen of Ballad', whatever that title meant. As the King's eyes scanned Ely from head to toe, he convinced himself that she might belong to a royal family because she seemed different from everyone else.
"I want to go back---- Waa!!!" She got startled when the King suddenly carried her in his arms!
The guards were shocked, "Your Highness, let us-"
But he glared at them, "You do not even know what to do in this situation, return to your posts at once!"
The two men panicked, and they bowed down to their King, nervous that they disappointed him.
"Uhm… King…" Ely said in a soft voice. "Thank you-"
"I will spare you because you said you were a Queen. I wouldn't want another war to happen here if your people attack my peaceful nation because of your death... But once I find out about you lying to me, I will behead you in front of my people."
She gulped, "Oh… I see… But I am really the Queen of Ballad," Ely uttered. She convinced herself that she did not lie; she really was the Queen of Ballad... just not the kind of Queen that they thought of. Perhaps it was a good decision to say it, seeing that the King withdrew his plans of harming her.
A luxurious room with velvet cushions and curtains was opened by two guards, and the King approached the wide bed. He carefully brought down Ely, making her back rest on the velvet blanket.
As Ely laid down on the bed, she wondered why she was brought to that wonderful room. She wondered if she would be given that room because the King thought she was a true Queen.
"Uhhh… King, is this bedroom mine?" she asked as she panned the room.
"No," The King uttered in a low voice, "This is my bedroom."