After a week of vacation in the Sionels territory, Esther and Arthur immediately returned to their castle. Originally, the two of them wanted to extend the duration of their vacation. However, unfortunately, a letter came from Lucius telling them to return immediately without telling the reason.
Reluctantly, the mother and son returned to the palace. When they got there, they found out the reason they were asked to return to the palace early. It turned out that the reason was that the state founding party would be held tomorrow along with the welcoming party for Arthur that she had missed.
The feast of the founding of the state required all the wives and children of the king to be present in order to show the power of the King in his household. In addition, many nobles or families from other allied kingdoms will also be invited.
Esther had a bit of a trauma with such a damn event. The plan was, she didn't want to join the event no matter how much Lucius forced him to. However, since her son was the main character that day, she didn't mind attending the event.
The next day, Esther and Arthur had started getting ready. All matters of Arthur's dress and make-up are arranged by Anne. Esther entrusted it all to Anne, because she was sure that the woman would take good care of it. This was proven when Anne took care of the appearance of the current Emperor Maurice from his childhood until his coronation party.
As for herself, Esther entrusted everything to Helena. Helena certainly knew Esther's sense of dress because she had taken care of Esther since she was little. Besides that, Esther also wants to make up as flashy as possible so that she can show her own charm like when she was in the Maurice Empire.
It just so happened that the King of Assels, whom she had met during the meeting, gave him a dress like the Chiton which is typical of her empire.
Helena made up Esther skillfully. She wore a white Chiton with gold thread on Esther's body. Esther's brown hair was flowing down and Helena didn't forget to put a flower crown on Esther's head.
In addition, Helena also wore jewelry from the top to Esther's feet. If seen in person, Esther's appearance is really charming and striking at the same time. Esther immediately came out of her room when she was ready. In her living room, she saw a man with a sturdy and tall body wearing a navy suit.
His black hair that was as dark as the night sky was neatly styled so that she looked charming. It was the umpteenth time that Esther was fascinated by her son's good looks.
Likewise with Arthur, now his gaze can't be separated from Esther's current figure. The Esther in front of him was exactly the same as the Esther he had first met when he was six years old.
"You look very beautiful, Mother. For a moment I fell in admiration when I saw you," said Arthur, which somehow sounded a little poetic.
Esther giggled at Arthur's direct compliment. "You're exaggerating. But when I look at myself in the mirror, I feel like I'm back to how I was when I was young."
"You are still young, Your Majesty. Is 17 years old for you too old?" said Anne, who suddenly spoke up.
Esther only responded with a small laugh. Arthur approached Esther and took her hand.
"Let's go!" asked Arthur while smiling at Esther.
~•~
Now Esther and Arthur were sitting on the podium with the other king's concubines and children. Now they only had to wait for Lucius to arrive, then wait for a few minutes and immediately return to their palace.
At first when she came with Arthur, all eyes were on her. The reason is, the clothes that Esther wears are quite strange for the people in the Nightingale Kingdom who adhere to the rules of wearing polite and closed clothes. But of course it was a common thing for the other guests who came from the kingdoms that were under the auspices of the Maurice Empire.
Finally, Lucius came to the ballroom and gave some greetings to the guests. With that simple welcome, the party began. Just like before, the events Esther disliked the most were big parties like this and tea parties. Such a party was only used to show off power between nobles.
Bored, Esther got up from her chair and walked away from the podium. She didn't say anything to Arthur because her son was currently talking to Logan, Raymond's son.
Esther stepped into the garden outside the ballroom, which was also the largest garden in the Nightingale Kingdom. The sky was dark and a chill pierced her ribs. Even so, she continued to walk around the garden.
In that calm state, Esther thought about the right time for herself to leave Arthur and return to her empire while feeling the red rose petals that were around the garden. After all, it was impossible for him to continue to stay in this earthly hell-like kingdom.
But she also couldn't possibly just leave Arthur. The struggle that was going on in her brain unconsciously made her hands hurt and bleeding profusely because she accidentally crushed the beautiful rose petals along with the thorny stems.
Suddenly someone tapped Esther's shoulder gently. Esther immediately looked back and saw the person who tapped her shoulder just now. It turned out that behind him was a handsome man with blond hair who was handing him a handkerchief while smiling warmly.
Esther's face turned pale and tried to smile back at the man. Esther took the handkerchief the man was proffering. "Thank you, sir."
Esther suddenly broke out in a cold sweat and wiped the fresh blood from her hand with the handkerchief that had been given to her.
"Lady, I want to ask you something important. What do you think, how to bring back my daughter who has been missing for seven years and has never told me about her condition?" said the man suddenly.
Esther pretended to think and looked at the man awkwardly. Esther made an expression as if she was surprised at the man's words. "You already have a daughter? Gosh! I didn't expect that at all when I saw your young face."
"So can you give me some advice?" said the handsome man again.
"Looks like you have to give a lot of attention and affection to your daughter. You shouldn't leave your daughter alone in your home either," Esther advised.
The man nodded and seemed to think for a moment. "All right. Looks like I'll do everything you say. Thanks for the advice."
"Then can we go back to the house now, Esther?" said the man again.
Esther laughed awkwardly. "What do you mean, sir? My name is Beatrice, not Esther."
"Stop playing games with dad, Esther! You've been away from the empire for these seven years! Even though dad rarely comes home but dad still knows you, even if you change your hair color," the man replied.
"Shit! My history is over! How can you know me so easily?" Esther said in her heart.
"You seem to have misunderstood the person, sir. Then I shall go first." Esther ran quickly to the ballroom. The man was just silent and saw Esther who was running further and further away from him.
That man was Grand Duke Eugene Theobald von Shelford, Esther's biological father. He served as the commander of the Maurice Empire's core forces. Arrival in the Kingdom of Nightingale is as a representative of the Maurice Empire as well as wanting to bring Esther back home after he received a letter from Anne which contained Esther's presence in Nightingale.