XI: Orthodox

The two of them stared at each other longer than they were supposed to. It's like they're trying to ask questions using each other's eyes. It's like only the two of them were left in the room.

Jaxon didn't know what to feel. He's been unwilling to leave her just the morning the day before, hoping to stay to get closer to her, but now that she's here in front of him, he's unsure of how to react toward her anymore. He didn't even know why he made those notes for her. All of it had no meaning, or if it has, he disregarded all of it, because all he was sure of was they were to never cross paths ever again. He was engaged now.

Lilith on the other hand was clear about what she felt. She felt angry and betrayed because she assumed that he was just a simple commoner who would be alright to get close with, but it turned out, he was also a man with a title.

When she finally let someone knock on the wall she had been building for years, he already left before she could even open the door for him.

Sven observed the awkward scenario and fake coughed to get their attention. Lilith removed her gaze from him right away but Jaxon lingered his stare longer towards the woman. "I asked my people to give you a quick tour of the Kingdom for you to be more comfortable with your stay here." The king spoke, motioning towards the door for them to follow him. They didn't say anything and just followed through. It's like they absorbed the awkward energy between the two.

Before they went to wherever they were supposed to go, Carina asked Travis to look for Nathalie. Travis won't be joining the tour because he needed to continue working on his investigations. He has a lot of work added up. Especially now that he needed to do some research for the Kingdom too, alongside Nathan.

Nathalie had a really bad hangover with the amount of alcohol she had last night. They weren't sure why she drank a lot more than usual. So she wasn't up early, unlike the others.

They made their way outside of the throne room, where the princess, Nathan, and Sin were waiting. All of them glanced toward the group, before bowing toward the King and Carina. "Oh, hello. You must be Carina. It's a pleasure to meet you. I feel quite scared when I heard some Mafia people are coming to our city because honestly, I had a lot of misconceptions about you." The princess suddenly spoke towards Carina, who immediately had one eyebrow up at how the young woman talked towards her. Even Lilith gave her a quick glare.

"It's nice to meet you too. I can say the same for you." Carina answered, smirking at her.

The princess suddenly looked offended, but the men inside the room didn't pay too much attention to it, even her fiancé, who was still busy stealing glances towards Lilith. It's also the time when Nathalie walked inside the room. She was holding her head, but she straightened her posture to bow toward the people in front of her.

"Nath, are you okay?" Lilith immediately walked towards her.

Nathalie nodded. "Yeah, but damn, what kind of alcohol do they have in this kingdom? That shit was too strong." She whispered towards her.

For a minute, Lilith suddenly felt weird when Nathalie didn't even glance in Jaxon's direction but she was too tired to create more theories in her mind with everything that's been happening. She wanted to know the facts before making up impossible things, just like last night.

"Alright. Since everyone is now here, I'll pass you on to the people who will take care of you this day." The king started talking. "Miss Carina will be in the company of Nathan, Sin will be of Nathalie and Lilith will be of Jaxon." He continued.

Lilith suddenly looked at Sven surprised. "Your royal highness, I think it's better if I should just join Prince Sin and Nathalie." She tells him. "I wouldn't want Prince Jaxon and the princess to be bothered by my presence." She added, glancing towards the couple.

"Oh. I almost forgot." Sven chuckled, looking towards his brother. "My brother already has a responsibility he needed to attend to." He teased his brother. "Well, I have some time. I could be your company, beautiful." He tells the woman.

Everybody in the room eyed the King with the sudden name he had for the woman. Only the one that was called with it wasn't bothered one bit. Adelaide on the other hand had the most prominent negative expression.

Lilith nodded toward Sven right away. It's better to be with the King rather than Jaxon. She wanted to ignore him as much as she could.

The king then gave her a small smile. "All right. Let's be on our way then." He spoke, offering Lilith his hand to hold, and much to his surprise, the woman quickly took it.

Every one of them started to move, leaving Jaxon and the princess alone outside of the throne room.

One partner, in particular, was walking side to side in silence. Only their footsteps could be heard. The man suddenly decided to cut the silence when the other pairs went to their designated places, leaving the two of them alone. "So, Miss Nathalie. Where do you want to start exploring?" Sin asked the woman in front of him, who seemed like she was now intentionally walking ahead of him.

The woman just glanced his way before continuing to walk. "Your call." She simply said, expressionless.

The man was a bit flustered with the way she talked to him. Also a bit nervous about her reactions. "I heard from the server who was assigned to you that you had a bad hangover from your drinking session with Miss Lilith last night." He tells him, trying to lessen the tension that he was feeling.

The woman suddenly stopped walking before completely turning to face him. "Are you stalking me?" She asked the man, her arms crossed over her chest.

Sin suddenly chuckled. "I was ordered by the King to monitor our guests. I think you wouldn't consider that as stalking, angel." He assures her.

Nathalie raised one brow at him with the name he just called her. "Don't call me angel, I was raised in hell." She said, before rolling her eyes at him. She turned around and started walking again.

Sin once again just chuckled. "The way you look says the opposite." He tells her, before starting to walk too. Nathalie just ignored him. "If you want to, I can help you quickly recover from your hangover." He suggested to the cold woman.

"Fine. Whatever. Just do your job so we can be over this." She tells him, a bit annoyed.

Sin just smiled at her attitude, before leading her toward the hallway. They entered a big ballroom. A lot of servants bowed towards them to acknowledge the Prince and Nathalie. It seemed like the people were decorating the room in preparation for a big event. They both went inside a big door across from the ballroom. To a place where it looked like it was a basement since they needed to go down a set of stairs to get there.

When they arrived at the specific place the moody lady was suddenly awed by how beautiful the place was.

The room was in the color combination of white and pink. The lights, the couches, and the tables were all pink.

They both went to a long bar that had a wine cellar behind it. It was equipped with bartending tools and accessories.

For a moment, Nathalie thought of Lilith.

If she were there with her, she would be excited and fascinated with the place. But on the other hand, she didn't want to tell her about the place because for sure Lilith would just stay here in her free time and that will get dangerous.

For her liver, at least.

"What is this place?" She asked Sin who is now behind the bar. He started making something as soon as Nathalie sat on a stool in front of it.

"It's my little secret place. Well not really a secret, since everyone in the King's Palace knows it's mine." He tells the woman. "But here's where I stay when I needed my own time." He added.

Nathalie puckered her lips. "Are you a Prince or an alcoholic?" She asked him, with a sarcastic tone.

The man smiled. "Maybe I'm both?" He tells her, as he was putting ice cubes on the drink he was preparing. The woman looked at her, confused.

"Well, I'm the King's eldest cousin and my family had been sommeliers for generations. Alcohol is a big part of the Korean culture, so we've been the experts in maintaining that tradition until now." He explained, gently placing a glass of drink in front of the woman.

"So the alcohol I and Lilith had last night, was it from here?" She asked, eyeing the drink suspiciously.

Sin noticed that so he gave her an assuring smile. "Well, this is the only place where people from the kingdom could get their alcohol. So this is also the only place where the remedy is found. That's for your hangover, angel. Drink up." He offered, motioning toward the drink.

The woman picked it up to observe it. Although there's nothing much to observe from it since it's just colorless and it looked cold. "Does this work?" She asked, still eyeing the drink.

Sin once again shot her a smile. "Well, you have to try to know it. Trust me, angel." He convinced her.

Nathalie once again raised a brow at him. "Trust, huh?" She said, before finally drinking the remedy.

"So how do I address you, mister right hand of the King?" Carina spoke towards the tall man beside her, arms crossed on her chest. Nathan gave her a quick smile that featured the small depressions on his cheeks.

"You can just call me Nathan, Miss Carina." He tells her.

He led her towards a group of people who were playing music with a drum. They were beside a big lake, that was not frozen, much to the woman's surprise because it was too cold for it not to.

"What are they playing?" The curious lady asked as they stopped in front of the performers. She started listening to the woman who was singing.

"They are playing a Korean genre of musical storytelling called Pansori, Miss Carina." He tells the woman.

"Pansori?" She asked, imitating how the man pronounced the foreign word.

"Yes." Nathan nodded. "It is our traditional music, that's usually performed by a singer and a drummer." He said. "It describes a story that usually takes about three to six hours to perform, depending on the duration." He added.

"Wow. Is it like a theatrical play?" The lady asked, suddenly getting interested. The man nodded.

"Well, kind of. A play is usually consisting of one story, but this performance consists of twelve different stories. That was before though, now it's cut into five." He tells the woman who's still busy watching the performers.

It's like the movement, the way the singer sang and the rhythm of the drums made her feel lost in the moment.

"Were you familiar with the stories?" She asked him, not removing her gaze away from the people. Nathan looked at the woman with a smile, amused at how she was suddenly focused.

"Well, those stories were passed on generations from generation. So it usually has many different versions. One story though in particular didn't, and it's the story I'm familiar with." He tells her. The man now got her attention so she glanced at him.

"And what is the story about?" She asked.

"Hmm." The man hummed, thinking of how he would start the story. "Well, there was once a sea god who had a really bad disease. He had a loyal servant that was a turtle. He tells his king that the cure that he needed was to eat a rabbit's liver." He started. The woman was now focusing on him, starting to be impressed with how much knowledge the man was.

"So his king asked him to go to land, to find the remedy that he needed, and so he did." He continued to like the story engraved in his mind. "The turtle found a rabbit right away when he started his expedition. He befriended the rabbit to lure him into going back with him under the sea. He tells the rabbit that his king needed his help without giving out the details. In no time, the rabbit agreed." He said.

The woman gave her a confused look. "How did the rabbit get underwater without drowning?" She asked the man.

Nathan gave her another smile, knowing that she will question the said animal. "Well, it's a mystery everyone here had been trying to figure out throughout the centuries, Miss Carina, but we never had an answer for it." He tells her, laughing a bit.

"Then what happened next?" The woman asked, ignoring her curiosity about the mammal, as she was more eager to know the ending of his story.

"The turtle brought the rabbit to his king, and the king was really happy to see the rabbit. Eventually, they found out that they indeed need his help but not in the way he expected. Only his liver was desired. So he tells the turtle that he agrees to give it to them but there was one problem." He halted.

"What was the problem?" The curious woman asked, still listening to the man's every word.

"The rabbit forgot his liver." He tells her, smiling at the woman who made a confused look. "So he promises to give it for as long as they go back on land to look for it, but when the rabbit and the turtle were back on land, the rabbit ran fast for the turtle not to catch up with him, since it's really slow." He finished.

"Let me guess. Wisdom is the moral of the story?" Carina asked him after staring at him for a minute to confirm if the story was finished. She gave him a bored look.

Namjoon laughed. "Yes, Miss Carina. Wisdom." He assured her.

The lady slapped one hand on the man's shoulder. "I wasted my effort focusing on you just to hear a kindergarten fable story." She tells him, rolling her eyes and then gazing back at the performers once again. Nathan just chuckled. "But, why are they performing now?" She asked him.

"Well, it's not yet a performance. They are practicing for Prince Jaxon and Princess Adelaide's wedding." He answers. Carina just nodded.

"Don't you have strippers here?" She asked. Nathan was suddenly surprised by her question. "Like strippers to perform for entertainment?" She repeated, now looking straight at Nathan.

The man suddenly felt uncomfortable. "Hmm. Well, we have similar people who do the same job but we address them as concubines, Miss Carina." He tells her, looking down as he suddenly felt embarrassed.

Carina suddenly laughed loudly, making the performers eye them for a quick moment. Nathan looked confused and surprised at the same time. "I was just kidding. Now we quit." The woman tells him in between her laughs. "I can't believe I made you blush by just saying one word." She added.

Nathan who was flustered minutes ago is now giving her a shy smile, rubbing his nape in the process. He found it both delightful and embarrassing that the woman had her revenge in no time. He starts to get more amused by the woman's personality.

"But I think you're like the rabbit in the story. You are a really wise man." She looked him in the eyes. "Do you want to work for me?" She genuinely offered.

Nathan didn't even miss a bit to shake his head. "You sound like a really promising leader, Miss Carina, but I'm afraid to say that my loyalty will always remain with my king." He proclaims.

The lady quickly admired his devotion so she just nodded. "Suits you." She tells him.

The next day, the King's Palace was full of people from the upper hand. The Realm's four division's nobilities are lined up according to their ranks. The princes, princesses, and advisors are all gathered in one place.

It was the day of Huxley and Julian's arrival in the Realm so the King requested for everyone to be in the Throne room to welcome them. It is also the day when he will be announcing the Peace Treaty that both parties have signed.

The king was standing in front of his throne. Jaxon, alongside Adelaide and Sin, was on his left side while Nathan was on his right.

The mafia people, were also near the King, anticipating their arrival. While the other people in the room were eyeing them, small talk and whispers were being heard. It was the first time foreigners visited their city so they were nervous and skeptical about the announcement that their king will say today.

A few minutes later, the door suddenly opened revealing the people they were expecting. It was a man wearing a white suit and another man who was wearing a black one. Everyone's attention was on them as they started walking on the red carpet of the throne room. All of them felt the power both of them holds, as they strode across the room.

More whispers and side comments were made as soon as the people felt that. But it didn't bother both man. They looked more confident and they are enjoying the attention. Even Julian, who has one arm in an arm-sling, looked intimidating.

Carina, on the other hand, has the widest grin ever, watching the two. It made her feel proud of how they made an impression to represent Coterie City, towards the King's people. When the both of them were almost near the King, Sven moved down a few steps to meet them.

"It's nice to finally be face to face with the Mafia King," Sven said, offering his hand out to the man.

The smiling man in white accepted his hand right away, to shake it. "I came prepared." He says, motioning toward what he was wearing. "I heard a lot of interesting things about you, King Sven." He tells the man. "I look forward to working with you in the future." He added, making the King give out a toothy grin toward him.