Food was served after those needless formalities and Felixa was glad she finally got to have her fill. Although she can eat only a little, she needs to train her stomach to handle food other than raw carrots.
"Have some more bread," Maximus passed her another slice of bread and she accepted it with a smile.
She didn't fail to notice that out of everyone sitting at the table, only her father was lacking a plate and food. And she did not feel sorry for him. She still has the memories of Wispy getting kicked off the table even if she begged for food.
Her father did nothing to stop his wife! And now, why should she?
Lord Brayon who was another guest at the table, grumbled in his heart seeing the way Lady Felixa is treated as opposed to Princess Matilda. That beautiful woman faced death at the hands of this warlord while this one...
He wondered what was so special about this woman that makes the Brute pamper her. She looked pale and sickly. Her hands and fingers looked so scrawny and she had covered everywhere else. Her only redeeming quality was… nothing! He could see nothing, unlike Princess Matilda.
He was asked to be an ambassador of His Majesty, no, he is not the King of Deberia anymore. How should he be addressed now?
Lord Horatio? Lord of where? So, is he just Horatio?
Before he knew it, Lord Brayon has stared at Lady Felixa for a long. For some reason Duke Zemfir kept her away from the eyes of everyone. No one has seen her and she could capture the Brute's heart easily.
What secret does she hold?
Maybe she felt his stare, she met eyes with him. Looking at her eyes, he felt a strong emotion rising in the pit of his stomach that slowed down the flow of his blood.
Those blue eyes… They are prepossessing.
That was not fear he felt, it was something more powerful than fear. What emotion is powerful than fear? He didn't know.
Reverence, maybe?
He averted his eyes and focused on the food. He could see that Duke Zemfir is not respected well by his son-in-law. And the warlord- he lives up to his name as the Brute. He is not willing to give face to his father-in-law in front of others.
But… that vulture deserves it!
"Are you finished?"
The gentle voice of the Brute directed at the woman he took to bed last night, made Lord Brayon look at him. Everyone at the table looked at The Brute and they all donned an astonished look. They all knew of the way The Brute treats everyone after all. Of course, that odd gentleness would startle anyone.
"Yes," the one who awed everyone replied in a clear voice. She had no fear for that monster that devours anything in his path.
FElixa avoided the others but she noticed the little furrow line forming in between Maximus' eyes when he looked at her plate.
Well, it's not like she wanted to waste food. She just couldn't eat much.
"Tell Horatio to announce Lady Felixa as the Princess of Deberia," Maximus said, no, he roared at Lord Brayon and stood up.
Felixa stood up with him and she clenched her jaw. His contrasting tone of voice startled her a bit. His voice is thunderous and filled with murderous rage each time he speaks to others.
But for her who has seen battlefields, this shout was nothing. And she found it oddly attractive.
[I could only imagine his roar on the battlefield!]
She craved to be in the battlefield, to watch him.
Lord Brayon stood up and gave a deep bow. There is a lot to process in this order.
If lady Felixa is to be announced as the Princess, is Horatio still the King of Deberia? But he surrendered! Is the Brute ordering Horatio to adopt Lady Felixa as his daughter? And does he have the nerves to demand this of Horatio after what he did to the Princess?
Felixa could see the staleness in the table after Maximus uttered those words. More than anything, she noticed the panic on her father's face.
She understood the implications of Maximus' words. It seemed like he wants her to have a title before he…
[Before he what? What is the planning?]
"Want to go for a walk?" Maximus' voice turned gentle the moment Felixa's image reflected in his eyes.
It was not that he is trying hard to turn gentle towards her. The moment he lays his eyes on her, his heart fills with happiness and it reflects in his attitude.
"Okay," Felixa understood the staleness in the table and decided to leave with him. She checked his plate and he had finished his fill.
They took a walk around the garden and he stopped at a particular spot at the corner of the garden. There was a row of trees in the pathway that led somewhere and under one of the sycamore trees was a small heap that had hardened.
Felixa recognized that it was her mother's grave.
Rather, it is Wispy's mother's grave. It was rather very plain of a burial site for a woman who was a Duchess when she lived and died.
Her heart filled with pain. Or was it Wispy's emotion? Felixa feared that Wispy might come out again. She didn't want that to happen.
"Remember this place?" Maximus asked pointing at the carrot patch five yards from the grave. He was holding his hands behind his back. Like the warrior he is, he was carrying the sword on his waist. She saw him eating with his sword.
As she observed, there was no one following them. She didn't know much but she could say that Kings don't wander around without their Knights. The way he does everything made her think of him as a Knight more than a King.
[But how could that be? He was raised as a Prince! He should be following the etiquettes of the King, not that of a Knight!]
Felixa looked at the carrot patch he was pointing at. This is where Wispy ran to last night to find that stone. And she guessed this is where he met with that boy years back.
She looked at him and he was having a pleasant time dragging words out of her mouth all the while never opening up. She got angry at him for still not openly stating that he was the boy from that other day.
"This is where something so peculiar happened. But it is amusing that I didn't remember it till last night," She saw the corners of his lips twitching and the smile in his face reducing.
[That's right! Don't think that I was waiting for you the whole time!]
That was the truth. She didn't remember it until yesterday. But her intention to tell him that was to tease him at least once. She wanted to return that annoying chuckle of his and make him feel how repulsive that chuckle is.