When Amie had left, Lord Samuel turned to his daughter with fury evident in his eyes, "I hope you see what you have brought about." his gaze was unwavering as he glared at Lady Brena who had her head lowered.
Leon stared at the father and daughter, realizing that Brena had done something to institute the earlier nuisance.
"I'm sorry, Father." she feigned apology and even Leon could tell she was not in any way sorry for what she did.
"Sorry for yourself!" Samuel spat as he walked away from there.
Brena wasn't the least bothered. As soon as her father left, she came to Princess Alice's side to pat her back and console her at the insults her sister had rained on her.
Leon turned to Matthew and whispered, "You can excuse yourself if you're not okay." he said, seeing how his face was still bright red from the slap but Matthew shook his head and brushed it off.
"Don't worry. I'm fine," he assured.
It wasn't the first time he had been treated like this. In the past, it was even worse for him because he had no one backing him then. By the way, he had gone through a lot more so what was a slap?
Leon now walked back to his throne, the people's eyes fell on him as he majestically climbed it and sat.
They could tell he was not done and still wanted to punish someone or say something.
The King looked to his sister who had her head lowered in embarrassment and shame, not meeting anyone's gaze. His thoughts wandered back to what Matthew had told him last night and suddenly, he rose from his seat, startling the crowd.
"A lot of things have been going wrong since my father's death." he started as he walked down from his throne to meet the people's level. Only his voice echoed in the hall and it sent shivers down their spine.
His shoes clicked as he kept walking around the hall, "Some of which you have all gotten away with." the crowd had their eyes widened at his words.
He spoke as if he was well aware of everything that had been happening behind his back and some of them turned wary, feeling exposed. "...And some of which I would rectify today...tonight," he concluded as he drank in their appearances.
Some showed indifference. Others dread and the rest were confused.
What did the king know that he wanted to rectify? They wondered.
"Firstly, I am nullifying the betrothal of Lord Nicholas' son, Julian to my sister, Princess Alice." With those words, Julian's ears stood as he looked at the king in confusion.
The rest of the crowd gasped, knowing that it was an abomination to cancel a betrothal given by the late king.
It was supposed to be honoured as it was the last wish a royal child could fulfil for their dead father.
But Leon did not look like he gave a damn about that.
To hell with his father's wish if it was going to end up hurting his sister. Not that his father would even want Julian anymore if he found out he had slapped his daughter. The betrothal would have been dissolved.
Alice too was shocked by the revelation as her brother had never discussed that with her before.
"What are you talking about, Leon?" Julian asked, even having the guts to address him without his title.
He was not done having his revenge yet for all they had done to him, especially that useless advisor, Matthew and the stubborn maid, Melina so why would the king take down his betrothal? That was his only way to step into power.
Leon turned to Julian and slowly began to walk over to where he stood, stationed like a manic.
Julian felt the urge to move back as the air around Leon was suffocating but he stood his ground instead, trying to act brave.
"You want me to repeat myself?" Leon questioned as the fire in his eyes glimmered. "I haven't spoken yet about how you dared to slap my sister and bruise her lip."
Hearing this, Julian became alarmed and he attempted to move back but it was too late. The punch Leon intended to send connected with his jaw, precisely the part where Leon had wounded him that night in the library.
His reason for punching the idiot that day was for Melina. This time, it was for his sister.
"My King-" Lord Nicholas attempted to intervene seeing what the king was doing when Leon raised his hand to stop him.
"Say one more word and I will rip you of your chieftaincy title for life." That one threat had him shutting his mouth and swallowing back his words.
Alice was looking wide-eyed at her brother and slowly, her gaze turned to Matthew who met hers as well but said nothing.
Her mouth was left ajar. Hadn't she begged him not to tell her brother?!
Leon turned to the crowd and for a fleeting moment, his eyes locked with the redhead maid and his gaze hardened before he said, "That is not the only atrocity he has committed.
He even had the effrontery to sleep with a palace maid and force himself on another. Right under this palace."
The people were not done recovering from the first shocker and they gasped at another one.
Why would an elite want to sleep with a maid when they are enough courtesans? That was a different level of debauchery. Most elites didn't even want to have anything to do with low-borns.
"This would be my most polite punishment to you. From now on, you would not be allowed to step foot close to this palace or I would make sure that would be the last time your family will see you alive." The people in the hall didn't dare gasp this time and could only gape in shock as guards suddenly pulled over to where Julian lay on the floor with a cracked jaw.
Without needing to be told, they dragged him out of the place but Julian attempted to struggle.
Alice noticed how strangely Julian looked extremely angry but didn't utter a word as he glared at her brother and Matthew. He only let them pull him out of the hall in disgrace and her heart skipped a beat when he gazed at her.
She was sure by the way he was acting that he was not the least bit sorry for his actions. And somewhere within her, she had a wary feeling that he would try to do something stupid or avenge this moment.
Immediately the rascal was out of sight, the music that had been stopped before began to play, taking the room back to its earlier atmosphere but Leon stopped it, apparently not done with what he was saying.
All the while, Queen Sonia had not spoken a word. She left everything to her son who was now king and she also felt her daughters should be old enough to handle themselves.
Instead, her gaze was smouldering at a certain red-haired girl, who was oblivious to her stare. Sonia trained her eyes on the maid, remembering how her son had been looking at her not long ago. The incident that happened in the carriage also left her wondering who this girl was.
Her aged brain had a feeling that it had seen her before but she couldn't properly remember where or when.
"What I am about to say applies to every single one of you, whether male or female." With his words, the crowd had their ears standing and they all waited to hear what he wanted to declare.
"Henceforth, taking advantage of any maid in the palace would not be tolerated by me." he let his words sink into their heads before continuing, "These maids are the heart of the palace and deserve to be respected as humans. They should not be mistreated for any reason or I will see to it myself that the one responsible for such action will be severely punished."
His words had the elites slightly baffled as they did not expect the king to make such a decision.
The servants were their only way of getting solace from their stressful life and they did that by pouring their frustration on the poor young maids who would come to care for them. Now King Leon was saying they couldn't do that? What was this king smoking all of a sudden?
"For the men, if you cannot keep it in your pants, then you have enough courtesans to do your bidding. Abstain from harassing these young maids or I know just how to help you do that." His statement was blunt and the men could hear the underlying meaning in his last words.
However, they didn't dare complain or challenge him, knowing he now held finality.
With that, the music began to play again but Leon did not stop it this time.
Some of the guests who were unperturbed by Leon's earlier words walked over to their females to ask for a dance.
In no time, a handful of couples were on the dance floor, twirling and spinning in each other's arms.
Leon's gaze was still trained on Melina as she diligently served everyone on their table and it seemed as though he found more pleasure in just watching her than in engaging in any of the activities that were before him.
Sonia watched her son's excitement as he was taken by the girl and she could confirm now that he had certainly fallen for the maid. So this was why he told her he didn't want Jordyn?
Now, she was curious to know more about this girl.