Third Person's POV
Her damp hair shone blue-black in the Aesteria sunlight, and IT touched only against her nape. The sun was striking, yet her radiant skin flushed red in those high, angular cheekbones. Sweat streaked down from her forehead down to her proud curve of jaw. Lips that chased the air to breathe were supple—no one would ever think that they were the lips of a cold and wise king.
The sun rises in the east, and so does her sword. A bright gold light strikes her sword. She gazed at it for a moment and saw the eyes that shined brighter than the sun. It was in the eyes of the king. It was her eyes, and yet they were so emotionless. There was no hint of joy in those eyes. It was glaring, gazing intently back at her.
"My Lord," a voice spoke behind her.
She lowered her sword. She stayed silent and did not bother to look back at the person behind her. The woman bowed before her and stayed in that position until the king of the Deborah Kingdom commanded her.
"You may rise, Ivy."
"Thank you, my Lord," she said, rising up. Ivy did not dare to raise her head and meet those gold, glaring eyes of the king. Ivy did not waste any more time and stated her purpose for the interventions in the King's sword training session.
"The Queen requested an audience privately with you," Ivy stated.
The king finally turned to look at her. Ivy could feel it—the strong, ominous aura of the king. The heavy atmosphere made her freeze in her position. It feels as if her feet were slowly getting sanked deep into the ground.
"What more does my queen want?"
My queen. Ivy thought.
"It is about the adoption, my lord," Ivy replied.
As the only personal servant, the right-hand man, and the advisor of the King, Ivy knew that her master would never let her queen go unattended. Despite the rumors that the King doesn't cherish the queen anymore, she knew that the King will always give him everything he wants. She could even sacrifice her entire kingdom just for her beloved husband.
But because of the cold treatment of the Queen—even the King doesn't know why—the entire kingdom misunderstood their relationship as husband and wife.
"Even though the ministry opposes his proposal, I have already signed and allowed those children to be adopted by the Queen."
"What more does he want?" The king asked in frustration.
Ivy also knew that, because of the King, the queen is still reigning strongly as the second most powerful ruler of the kingdom.
"I apologize, my lord. His majesty, Queen Atlanta, did not specifically tell me what the particular reason was that he wanted to see you," Ivy said.
"I see."
The king handed her the sword, which Ivy took immediately. This was an indication that the king had decided that her training was over. It seems that despite the busy schedule of the King, she will still meet the Queen in between her work, no matter what. Ivy couldn't help but curve a smile. She was blessed to serve two rulers who quietly cared for each other.
These two haven't really changed.
He was his friend. In his world full of high expectations and becoming the most perfect prince, he never would have thought that he'd be marrying the woman who once was called the Goddess of Mischief. She was the most stubborn person he had ever met in his entire life. But who would have thought that the silly little girl would become the coldest, most wise king of the strongest kingdom in the Aesteria world?
King Oriana Arch Angelus. The seventh ruler of the Deborah kingdom. She is known for being a cold and wise king. She is the only king who reigns without spilling blood on her hands. She became the king only because she was the only sane person in the royal bloodline. Yet she was considered the strongest king out of the seven kings who reigned over the throne. It was already proclaimed that every royal bloodline of all four kingdoms of this world will be cursed with extreme insanity from obsessions and hunger for power, and the only one who can be king is the sanest one.
It was her. Queen Atlanta's wife was the only sane royal.
However, with their nature of being obsessed and hungry for power, he knew that his wife had been enduring it for, who knows, how long. It was only him who knew about the true situation of the king.
"My deepest gratitude for sparing me your time, my king," Queen Atlanta said and bobbed a curtsy to her.
King Oriana rose from her seat and walked to her queen. He did not wait for the king's command, and he immediately offered his hand for a kiss. The only person that the king would bow to was him. She stared up at her eyes as if she were anticipating something from him. Her tender lips parted, revealing a hint of her sharp fangs. King Oriana kissed the back of his hand like a gentleman impressing a maiden.
"My Queen," he breathed.
For him, it was not new. The king has always been sweet and gentle to him, ever since they were young. Of course, he knew that this woman had lovers and mistresses, even before they were engaged.
Nevertheless, she was a good companion. He had a great wife that he had never imagined he would have, and luckily for him, the king never changed. Despite having multiple concubines, his wife never treated him like an outcast. In fact, she knew him so well that she would, most of the time, be understanding and considerate of his every demand.
"I have come to tell you about my new children," Queen Atlanta stated, taking his hand back away from her. One side of her lips curled up.
Frustrated at the stupid and adorable smile of his wife, Queen Atlanta went first to the table before he could foolishly react to it. And he couldn't blame her for that. The king of this kingdom possesses the beauty of a god.
"Are there any problems with it?" she asked.
Before the queen could grab the chair, a big, strong hand from the king was the first to take a hold of it. King Oriana pulled the chair carefully and assisted the queen to sit on it.
"Thank you, my king."
"My pleasure," she replied, and she quickly went to her seat.
"Let me get straight to the point, so I would not waste your precious time, my king."
"Go ahead. I'm all ears, and it doesn't matter how long it would take," she said, and intertwined her hands to rest her head.
"Let me commence the traditional hundred days for one of my children," Queen Atlanta revealed.
The king was taken aback by his statement. She knew that the Queen adopted children, not infants.
"I don't understand. You adopted children, not babies," she said, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Queen Atlanta was getting a bit nervous. Although the king was always considerate of him, his request this time might not be able to be granted. For the first time in his life, he was not confident in this matter.
"Yes, but one of my children was not able to carry out this tradition."
"According to the law, I cannot fully adopt my child if there is no evidence of commemoration for this tradition," Queen Atlanta added.
"Which one?"
"The girl, and her name is Sein Lorelai."
"And how old is she?"
"Fifteen years old."
King Oriana shook her head. It was obvious in his eyes that his wife did not approve of his proposal. He knew well enough that commemorating this tradition was not appropriate considering that Lorelai is already 15 and is already past the coming of age.
"You do know that it's called a hundred days because it began with the hundred days of the children."
"Of course I knew that. But Lorelai did not obtain any weapon from the Holy Knight's Cradle," he defended.
King Oriana let out a deep sigh. She already had a hard time convincing the whole ministry to let the queen adopt the children from the other concubine of the king, and yet another request from him will add to her burden.
She rose up from her seat. Gazing intently into those emerald eyes of the queen, it reminded her of the vast expanse of green mountainous forest.
"I cannot possibly let a fifteen-year-old grown woman do this tradition. She's way past the one and only most important requirement of commemorating it. I don't think that the ministers would agree," King Oriana explained.
Indeed, there was no chance that the ministry would approve his demand. However, he had no choice. He needs to let Lorelai have the tradition and obtain a weapon. Queen Atlanta stood up quickly. In a heartbeat, he was a foot closer to her.
"I beg of you, my king. It is true that the ministry would disapprove of me, but with your power and strong support, I know that it would be possible," he said as he leaned closer to her. Queen Atlanta was preparing by any means to convince the King more when there was a sudden knock on the door.
Queen Atlanta turned to look, but was stopped by the king. She was gazing intently at him, and without him noticing, she was so close.
"Does our daughter know about this whole adoption thing?" she asked in a serious tone of voice. Flustered by the king's action, he immediately tried to get away from her.
"Not yet, but I have already sent her a letter."
"I see, then we'll have to send another letter," the King said as she fixed herself a little bit and walked her way to the door.
"What letter? What do you mean by that? "Queen Atlanta asked and chased after her.
"If the crown princess would approve of your proposal, then you will have a chance of approval. I'm just saying. Two approvals are better than one."
"Two approvals?"