Lucian's majestic black horse arrived at the gate of the main palace.
The guards, upon seeing him quickly opened the double gates and bowed as he passed through. Because he was riding a horse, he had arrived at the palace before the royal carriage carrying his troublesome wife had, and he was grateful for that. At least he wouldn't have to face that annoying woman alone until they were in the dining hall with the other royals.
He dismounted gracefully, handing the reins to a guard whose hands shook with fear at the mere sight of the second prince. They rarely saw him at the main palace but the rumors about him that had circulated was enough to put any man to fear. He might not be as fierce looking as the first prince, but he was scarier.
Lucian ignored the shaky guard, striding into the grand high palace. The structure was rich in gold, with towering columns and intricate carvings adorning every wall. The floor was polished marble, reflecting the grand chandeliers that hung from the high ceilings.
As he walked, every servant who saw him quickly changed directions to avoid his path. Even the guards standing at the sides of the inner palace shuddered at his presence.
Lucian paid no attention to anyone as he was used to being avoided, walking straight into the dining hall where he knew some of the family members would have started arriving. The moment he reached the door of the dining hall, he could hear loud chatter and laughter from inside.
However, as soon as the guard announced his arrival, everything fell dead silent. The laughter died down, and all heads turned in his direction.
His "family" looked at him with mixed feelings—some with fear, others with scorn, while a few with envy. Well, when he said a few, it was only the fourth prince, Prince Orion, the son of the fourth consort who was the stupidest and most annoying son of the Emperor and always got under Lucian's skin. And right now, while all the rest of his siblings were either glaring or scorning him, Prince Orion, the youngest son with blonde hair and blue eyes, was grinning like a fool at him.
"Brother Lucian, I was looking forward to seeing you today. I have some important questions—" Prince Orion immediately shut up when he met the fierce dark glare of the first prince, who was feared for his battle achievements and liked to control everyone, including his half-siblings and his sister, as he was the eldest child.
Lucian didn't pay attention to the pitiful fourth prince who had shrunk back in his seat beside his mother, who was also glaring at Lucian. He looked around the hall; only his siblings and the fourth consort were present. The Emperor and Empress had yet to arrive.
"Oh my God, the second prince is so scary. I'll never get used to his presence," remarked one of his half-sisters, Isolde, who had a twin sister, Celeste. They were the children of the fourth consort and Prince Orion's younger sisters. Both of them were seventeen of age.
Her twin sister whispered back, "I don't know why he always gets invited to join us for dinner when he doesn't live here. Father should just allow him stay in his dooming palace."
Lucian ignored the twins who thought they were whispering, but their voices were loud enough to be heard from the entrance. He walked in and made his way to his usual seat at the table; next to the first prince, prince Alden, who despite his fierce and dark looking face, was now trying to smile and coax his sister the first princess, Thalia into telling him about her day.
Prince Alden and Princess Thalia were both the eldest male and female children of the Emperor and were the children of the late second consort. It was known in the entire Empire that prince Alden would do anything for his younger sister, he was a fierce warrior but a dotting brother to his sister and other siblings, excluding the second prince, who was his rival on the battlefield.
Rumors had circulated that the second prince had tried to kill his elder brother at their recent battle against an enemy Empire. It was said Prince Lucian was jealous of the Prince Alden and wants to take his place by killing him, which had led to the two brothers further disliking each other.
The moment Lucian sat down, the Empress and the Emperor's arrival was announced. Everyone stood to greet them by bowing their heads in respect the moment they walked in.
When Lucian raised his head, he was met with the shocked expression of the Empress, as expected. Her complexion looked pale all of a sudden, confirming his suspicion about his assassination attempt. She was definitely behind it, and his fist clenched.
Right beside her was her son, the third prince Caelan, who looked arrogant as always with a charming, infuriating smile on his face as he sauntered to his seat across from Lucian, and he sat immediately to Lucian's left.
The sight of him alone reminded Lucian of memories he wanted to forget, and he wished he could beat the taunting smile off his face. To control his annoyance, he simply looked away from the third prince, who laughed out loud to further irritate the second prince.
"Caelan, what have I told you about laughing like that all of a sudden?" The Emperor's deep voice rang out as he looked disapprovingly at his third son.
A charming, yet insincere, white smile graced Caelan's handsome face as he looked apologetically at the Emperor and bowed his head slightly. "My apologies, Your Majesty. Prince Lucian said something funny that caught me off guard." He lied, and everyone knew it, but the Emperor favored him more because he was the son of his favorite wife, and so dismissed his ill-mannered laugh as nothing.
The Emperor looked thinner than Lucian had last seen him. When he sat down, he gestured for everyone to be seated. Though he looked sick, he hadn't lost his authoritative aura.
After everyone sat down, the Empress turned to Lucian with a smile as if she hadn't sent men to kill him last night, and asked, "I heard your wife has recovered. Why isn't she here?"
For a moment, Lucian had forgotten about his wife's existence, and now that he was reminded of her, he silently wondered what was taking her so long to arrive.
Before Lucian could reply, the third prince chimed in, "I was wondering that as well. Did you stop her from coming because of our little, you know." His arrogance was palpable, and he gave Lucian a knowing look as if they shared some deep secret, and indeed they did share a secret that shouldn't be allowed to spread in the Empire, or someone might lose their life.
Lucian's face hardened, and he clenched his fist under the table to hold himself back. He replied calmly with a nonchalant voice as if he wasn't affected by what his brother was hinting at, "I rode here on my horse while she took the carriage."
"Didn't she know it's disrespectful to arrive late after the Emperor has sat down?" remarked the fourth consort, Seraphina, who was sitting elegantly on the left chair beside the Emperor, with the Empress on the right. Her blonde hair and blue eyes were so sharp they narrowed in displeasure as she added, "That girl ought to know that this is not her land where she can act as she pleases."
At that moment, the voice of the guard at the door rang out, "Her Highness, Princess—"
BANG!
The door banged open before the guard could complete the announcement of Princess Selene's arrival, startling everyone in the dining hall and causing the first and second princes to surge to their feet in alarm, only to see that the person who had banged the door open was none other than Princess Selene herself.
Ave, who had quickly rushed into the hall, didn't wait for the guard to announce her arrival as she had run there when Lydia told her she must not get to the dining hall after the Emperor or else she'd be denied dinner and receive punishment.
Actually, the royal carriage had arrived a while ago but Ave had been too excited to know that the palace had stairs and was a tall gigantic story building. She had never seen anything as grand and majestic as the palace and had lost track of time outside looking around.
She'd ran in, panting heavily as she stood at the entrance, bent down with her hands on her knees as she tried to catch her breath, oblivious to all the eyes that had turned toward her and the people she'd startled in the hall.
Hearing the dead drop silence, Ave slowly looked up and was momentarily shocked to be met with a long dining table filled with about twenty people, all regarding her as if she'd lost her mind.
But what amazed her the most was how absolutely gorgeous they all looked!
Ave's eyes scanned the room quickly, landing on a middle-aged man at the high table. He had a regal bearing and was flanked by two beautiful women, one with blonde hair and the other with ebony black hair.
Both women wore crowns, making it difficult for Ave to discern which one was the Empress she needed to please and get along with to survive until she'd leave. None of them looked particularly fierce, so how was she supposed to identify the ruthless Empress from the history books?
Wasn't it said she looked ruthless and fierce? But none of these women looked like that, infact, they all looked like beautiful celebrities in their mid thirties!
But why were they all staring at her like that? Didn't they know staring was rude? Or were they expecting her to perhaps greet them? How did they greet the royals here? She smiled uncertainly and raised her hand to wave, "Hello, everyone!"
A loud gasp rang out through the hall as everyone looked at her in disbelief. She didn't just wave at the royals, did she?
"It seems the rumors about the princess are all true," remarked the fourth consort. "She has indeed lost her mind after her accident, or else how dare she wave to insult us?"
Lucian's eyes narrowed as he watched the princess. From what he knew of her, she was the kind to always try to be as invisible as possible whenever they were invited to the royal dinner, as she knew how even a small mistake could cost her life. But now, she dared insult the royals by waving and yet looked so oblivious to her mistake.
Despite her obliviousness, there was something about her audacity that made him feel a twinge of... amusement? No, it was probably just irritation.
'Don't lie to yourself, Lucian. You like this side of her as much as I do.' Said his beast with a scoff. ' isn't she amazing?'
'Shut up!'