In the Grandparents room,
"They deserve to know what their son is getting into. We can not keep something so important away from them", Mandurah protested as Alias refused to see reason.
"Why do you not understand, we can' not tell them about this. If they find out, they'll behead our precious Saxena and we wouldn't be able to do anything about it. Remember what happened to our daughter, Regina. I'm not willing to lose another one of my girls", Alias tried to reason with Mandurah who by had tears streaming down her cheeks.
"What happened with Regina was unfortunate, but was the late Duke of this Duchy that beheaded her and not the Emperor of this Empire. And also,a lot of things have changed since then and so has the mentality of the people of this Empire, so...", Mandurah resorted but was cut short by Alias.
"The Empire might have changed but man can never change. People are as selfish as it gets. I can not risk another daughter's life, I just can not afford to", Alias concluded in a tone that broke no room for argument and walked out of the room with Mandurah trailing behind him.
"Grandma, Grandpa!!", the old couple heard two little chirpy voices call out to them. They turned around and the Princes immediately jumped on the couple, hugging them tightly.
"Oh my babies, how are you two doing today?", Mandurah asked the two little identical twins.
"We are doing good", the Princes chorused smiling gleefully.
"Well that is good to hear. Now since you are here, let us all go to the breakfast table together", Alias said carrying Rayne in his arms and Mandurah carried Raymond in her arms following her husband to the breakfast table.
In the Palace garden,
The Imperial couple where seated on the breakfast table per heirachy and so was the Ducal family, but Saxena was no where to be found.
Just then, the Imperial siblings and the Jades couple walked into the garden as planned.
As soon as the got to the table, the twins jumped out of the couple's arms running to their mother.
"Good morning mummy!!", the twins chorused hugging Tanisha who was arranging the table.
"Morning my darlings, okay go sit beside Great Grandpa", Tanisha said and the twin ran the old man.
"As usual, Saxena is late. I wonder what her excuse is this time?", Tanisha pointed out rudely as she continued arranging the table mat on the table.
"And I could say the same for you, as you are still setting up the table. Had it been Saxena handling this, it would have been done by now. Right, Tanisha dear", Lilian spoke in good naturedly but Tanisha could sense the criticism in her tone which made her vexed but she swallowed her anger as speaking against the Imperial family would be the height of disrespect.
"Of course, Your Majesty", Tanisha replied and the Duke smiled seeing the defeated look on his precious wife's face as she placed the dishes and cutlery on the table mat.
"Saxena informed me that she wouldn't make it for breakfast as she had some important issues to attend to", Saheb finally spoke in favour of Saxena.
Tanisha grinded her teeth together while clenching unto the plate on her hand in rage but she again swallowed her pride, setting down the plate on the table.
Then some maids and a Chef brought the food to the table and the twins jumped in delight upon seeing the food on the table."Wow!! These are all our favorites!!", the boys chorused inhaling the food aroma with a smile.
"This is Aunty Saxy cooking, I'm sure of it", Rayne announced and the expression on Tanisha's face changed instantly.
"These are not the dishes I told you to prepare for breakfast! Who gave you the audacity to flaunt my orders!" Tanisha yelled at the Chef in rage.
"I'm sorry, but it was the Princess who volunteered to cook breakfast today", the female Chef, Petal said with her head bowed.
Before Tanisha could spew more venom, Saxena rushed into the garden.
"Please do not... yell at her sis... ter Tan", Saxena said balancing herself on the table. She brought out her inhaler taking in some deep breaths before placing it back in the apron's pouch.
"What is this all about Saxena and why are you dressed as a servant", Tanisha resorted distatefully looking down at the apron Saxena was wearing with scrutiny.
She had not finished cooking and had flour, oil and some other materials stuck on her hair and stained on the apron.
"Please do not say such things, darling. Remember, you once used to wear such clothes to make ends meet. And besides, even in an apron Saxena still looks like a Princess of this Duchy. Her hair might be stained but it is neat to near perfection and her clothes are still clean and tidy beneath the apron", Saheb said this time and his words were like arrows to Tanisha, continually hitting the Bull's eye.
"Darn you, Saxena", Tanisha cussed internally and grudgingly sat down beside Saheb who was smiling at Saxena's retreating figure.
"I did not want to resort to this but..., if you keep on trying to belittle my sister before the Imperial family, I'll be left with no other choice but to remind you of were you come from and who bought you to where you are today ", Saheb said only to the hearing of Tanisha and her eyes widened in shock.
"We will talk about this later, for now focus on eating your breakfast", Tanisha said in a defeated tone and Saheb could not help but feel sorry for the words he spoke to her, she was the love of his life after all.
The more they ate, the more food was replaced on the table and when they were half way through their meal, Saxena and the last course of food arrived.
Saxena took a seat beside Lilian as she would do whatever her Aunty Lily came around. She cherished Lilian as a mother and clung to her like a bee guarding its bee hive.
Lilian looked at Saxena smiling at the thought of this beautiful girl becoming her daughter-in-law so she could actually stay with her as her very own daughter.
Coincidentally, the Emperor was also thinking of the exact same thing as he gazed at three of them seating together.
--To be continued...