XII: Alliance

"I do too." The king said, maintaining his expression. "Oh, this is Jeon Julian." Huxley motioned towards the man beside him, who was just watching the scene. "He is Carina's adopted brother." He introduced.

Julian used his left hand to shake the man's hand. "Call me JJ, King Sven." He said towards the man, who shook his hand in return.

The two newly arrived guests quietly went beside Carina's group. Huxley embraced Lilith right away. Julian on the other hand, just stayed beside Huxley. Carina felt bad about the sudden ignorance, but the woman shook it off when Huxley whispered on her ear to greet her.

"So, did you really miss me?" He said, making Carina roll her eyes as a response. Huxley just chuckled. She suddenly eyed Julian who was looking at them, but as soon as she was about to meet his gaze, the young man quickly looked away.

"Everyone, I would like you to meet the two families leading the Coterie City." Sven started, all attention on him now. "I know all of you had been curious on why they are here, when you just heard about the news of Queen Sujin's death being caused by them." He moved up the platform where his throne was situated. "But a few days ago we found out that all of it was a trap by the Republicans. They also lost one of their superiors with our name being used as a scapegoat. So it's clear that it was planned." He explained. "The collaboration with the Coterie City was made for a bigger party to work against them. The peace treaty was half done yesterday with Miss Carina, and the seal will be completed with Mister Huxley's arrival today." He finished.

A lot of various reactions and comments were suddenly heard from the crowd.

The Realm City is divided into four. The King's Palace, the Guleum empire, the Mugunghwa village and the Sig community of the commoners. The city's armor symbol represents each division. An iceberg, the clouds, a Sharon rose and then an eclipse, consecutively.

One Prince from the Mugunghwa village raised his hand. The king nodded at him, approving for him to talk. "Your highness, we understand your decision, but shouldn't we still do the traditional way of alliance with the Mafia people?" He asked, people around him nodding in agreement.

"I agree. We understand the purpose of the collaboration but we shouldn't forget about the importance of our traditional scripts." One Prince from the Sig Community this time talked.

The king stopped for a few minutes to think about what the men wanted to imply. "Are you talking about a fixed union?" He asked to confirm with the man, who just nodded.

For a moment, he pondered once more on the idea. He didn't want to pressure the Coterie people into a traditional way of agreement because he knows that all of them would be uncomfortable with it. Among the three cities, only the Realm was the one who needed to maintain traditions for centuries, even though their city is already a modernized domain.

"I think we'll discuss that privately before making the announcement. We'll let you know as soon as possible." He told them. "For now we need to focus on finding the culprit. So any unusual thing that you might observe anywhere inside the city, you have to report it to us immediately." He continued, sitting back on his throne. All of them nodded.

"Alright, I think that's it. Everyone can leave." He announced, suddenly becoming serious. All of them bowed towards the King, before leaving. The mafia group stayed with him.

"Your highness, do you need further instructions?" Nathan whispered beside him. "No. Let's do the meeting here." He tells him, standing up from the throne. "But send Adelaide away." He commanded.

Nathan then asked one server to lead the princess out of the room. Adelaide was surprised on why she was being sent away, but she brushed it off and just gave a small wave towards Jaxon who just smiled at her.

Sven walked towards the two Mafia leaders' direction. "Miss Carina, and Mister Huxley." He called for them. "I know you heard what Prince Seo-yeon suggested earlier. I didn't want to drag the both of you with anything that you're uncomfortable with." He expresses his apologies towards the both of them.

Carina glanced at Huxley, who was also looking at her, as if both of them were asking for permission on who to talk first. "King, we completely understand the situation. Your kingdom is very patriotic, so we get the point of one of your men setting things traditionally." Huxley told him.

"In fact, it's only a fixed union. So after the revenge, we could break the relationship of the union with the alliance being untouched. We could even do it without a grand preparation. We just need to simply sign the contract." Carina explained.

The king nodded towards them. "I agree. It could save us time." He mentions.

"Your highness, if we are talking about setting things traditionally, we need to choose someone from the other party who would be a proper candidate for the union." Nathan, spoke beside Sven.

"Well what does your traditional script asks for?" Huxley questioned the right man.

Nathan bowed towards him, before talking. "According to the King Palace' script of laws, the woman to be married to the King should only be from a Korean or Japanese ancestry, and of course, someone who is from a prestigious family." He said towards them.

"A Japanese ancestry?" Carina asked, towards Nathan.

"Yes. During the first Korean dynasty, it is impossible for Kings to be married to non-Koreans but there was an Annexation Treaty between these two nationalities in the past that allowed Japanese men and women to be married to a Korean. Young majesty's noble ancestors didn't practice this for generations, all of them were of pure blooded Koreans so if we push through this alliance, he will be the first king to be married to a non-Korean." He explained to them.

"So if that's the classification under your traditional law, you're implying to only one person in this room." Travis, who had been listening intently with the new information he gained, commented. Nathan nodded.

Everyone looked at Lilith's direction who already looked like she was thinking deeply.

"Wait. Give-" Huxley started but was suddenly cut off.

"I'll do it." Lilith said, her voice describes determination.

"Lilith." Huxley gave her an angry look.

"Hux, this is the least I can do to finally help our family's gang, and at the same time I'm helping Montana Cartel too." She started walking towards her brother. "In fact, this is just for the revenge. After the plan, we can cut the marriage off. This is just for the King's people to be comfortable with our partnership with their city." He tells him, holding his hand in attempt to calm him down.

Huxley stared at her for long, as if he was a having a mental debate with himself. "Okay fine." He responded with a heavy sigh. "King Sven, I know this is just for the alliance, but if my sister got in trouble because of you, I'm afraid we won't leave your kingdom without a fight." He said towards Sven.

Sven just nodded, his expression still serious. "I wouldn't do anything to harm your sister, Mister Huxley. Since she's going to be the temporary queen of my kingdom, her safety will be the number one priority." He assures the man.

"My sister doesn't need protection anyway, but still." He tells the King. Lilith who was still holding his hand pulled him lightly, asking him to stop. His brother looked at her. "No funny business, young lady. I know he is a King and all but-" He was about to start scolding his sister again but he was cut off.

"Huxley." Carina spoke this time in a warning tone, as if she was reminding him about the conversation they had a few days ago that is about his possessiveness towards his sister.

Huxley once again sighed, accepting his defeat. "Okay fine." He said. "Now that the alliance will be sealed, we need to focus on the next plan." He continues.

"I think the second thing we need to focus on now is on how to find the traitor." Carina tells towards the King. "We need to let one of the enemy's men talk, to know where we should start with the revenge." She added.

Sven nodded. "I agree. I asked my soldiers to continually be on watch over the Kingdom." He proclaimed. "How about for Coterie? How do you plan to find the traitor while you are here in the Kingdom?" He asked, concerned about the city the two Mafia leaders left.

"I already asked Mr. Capone's son to lead the city for the mean time, but I think we need to send some people back there." Huxley said, before looking at Carina.

Carina got the signal so she looked at the people around her. "I'll send Nathalie and Travis back tomorrow. Lilith won't join them. Nathalie could search the city by herself and Travis will be her partner." She finally said, after scanning the room.

"But Miss Carina, what if you need me to find some information for you?" Travis asked, a bit doubtful to go.

"No. It's okay. I can call you if I need something." She tells him. Travis then nodded.

"If you need some quick investigations, you could look for Nathan. He could do the job for you while your assistant is away Miss Carina." Sven suggested. Nathan nodded towards Carina, giving her a small smile.

"Okay then. What else do we need to do? "Huxley, this time asked.

"Since we don't have a lot of information about the enemy yet, another best thing to do for now is to train our fighters." The king suggested. "Since its also an alliance, we could teach each other different knowledge and tactics." He added.

Nathalie and Lilith suddenly felt excited about learning more fighting skills. The people in the room all nodded their head. "My brother could help with the training. He's well knowledgeable about fighting." Sven continued, glancing towards his brother who was beside him. "I'm sure it wouldn't be a disturbance with your wedding preparations." He added.

"Ah." He suddenly was cut off with his trail of thoughts, when he realized everyone was looking at him. "Yes hyung. We'll start training tomorrow morning." He assures his brother.

Outside of the throne room, a woman in a white dress was peaking in the small gap of the opened door. She's carefully listening to the discussion of the people inside the room. When she observed that all the people were slowly walking towards her direction, she quickly started to run on the way to her chamber.

One server was startled with her quick strides when she turned to another hallway. She eyed the surprised woman suspiciously. "When did you get here?" She asked the woman, who bowed to her after realizing who she was. "I just got here, princess." She tells the woman.

She immediately calmed down. "Okay. Tell Jaxon to not disturb me today. For I will be having my beauty appointments." She commanded towards the woman who quickly nodded. She then started walking properly, rolling her eyes towards the servant before completely leaving her.

When she arrived in her chambers, she looked for her mobile phone right away after locking her room. She found it on her bedside table. She quickly dialed the number that she was looking for. It rang for about three times before the person answered. "Adelaide." The man over the phone greeted.

"Flynn! What the hell are we going to do? The Coterie collided with our Kingdom! They even sealed the contract with a marriage with that Japanese bitch!" She shouted over the phone.

"Well, calm down little girl. You don't need to shout." The man said, unbothered.

"What do you mean calm down? Our plan will be ruined!" She said. "Didn't you want to have bigger territories?" She added.

"Well, tell me little girl. Who fucked up in the first place? Your only job was to get married to the King! But now you will marry the Prince instead!" The man over the phone suddenly felt his patience running out. "I told you to give me your best, but you gave me the second best and you just made things more difficult for me." He added, complaining. Adelaide suddenly stopped talking.

"What do you mean that that was my only job? I killed my own mother for you!" She was now really angry.

"Stupid bitch. You do know that if you wanted power, you need to give up something important for a bigger gain right?" The man chuckled over the phone. "What a colloquial way of reacting. This is the reason I hate people like you. People like you doesn't have principles and a proper government. Tsk tsk." He said, expressing his condemnation.

"You ass-hole!" The woman shouted over the phone. She was getting angrier by the minute.

"Whoa there, princess. You might want to change the tone of the way you speak to me or I will be the one to expose you to your beloved King." He warned the woman. "Let's see how you will suffer in the hands of the only person you love." He threatened the young lady, before chuckling over the phone. The woman did not answer. She was suddenly dumb-founded to speak.

"Be a good girl and start with plan B. I want it to be finished before tomorrow night." The man said, before dropping the call, not waiting for her to answer. Adelaide screamed in frustration before throwing her phone. The gadget cracked as it hit the white wall.

"Your highness, Miss Lilith is here." The court lady opened the door of his office. Sven and Nathan looked towards her direction.

Lilith bowed towards him. Nathan bowed towards Lilith.

"You wanted to see me for the contract, your royal highness." She spoke, walking towards them.

"Ah, yes. Take a sit, Lilith." Sven tells her, standing up. Nathan prepared the documents that was needed right away. He placed it on the desk, in front of where the lady was sitting.

"Where do I need to sign?" The woman asked, eyeing the document in front of him. Nathan pointed on the bottom left part of the paper.

"You can go now, Nathan." The king tells his right hand who gave him a questioning look. Sven just tilted his head to the side to motion towards Lilith, signaling him that he wanted to be alone with the woman.

Nathan understood it quickly so he started to move away, but he had a suspicious look towards his king as he do so.

Sven was just grinning at him, finding his childhood best friend, who is now his right hand's, facial expression amusing. The man bowed towards them before finally leaving the room.

It's the exact time when Lilith finished signing the papers. "Done." She said, placing the pen down and then leaning back on the chair. "So what do I need to do? Do I always have to stay beside you?" The woman asked making an uncomfortable face with the thought of suddenly acting as a wife.

Sven observed that, and so he chuckled. "No, Lilith. You just need to do that in front of my people, but other than that, you can do whatever pleases you. You don't need to do anything for me." He assured her.

Lilith nodded, smiling. "Then, your highness, can I request something?" She tells him, fixing her posture on the seat.

"Sure. Anything you want, beautiful." He said, giving out a gummy smile.

"Please don't ask any of your soldiers to guard me, and don't tell your people to treat me so importantly. I'm not quite used to it and it's going to be uncomfortable for me. I might not do the things I needed to do for the next mission." She requested.

Sven eyed her. "Uhm." He was thinking. "Okay, but I need to request something in return." He said.

Lilith gave him a questioning look. "What is it?" She asked.

"Call me Sven." He said, grinning.

This time, it's Lilith's turn to stop and think. "Okay fine. Sven." She said, smiling at him.

The king now looked satisfied with the woman calling him by his first name. He wanted the woman to be casual towards him. "Oh, would you like something to drink?" He asked the woman, standing up.

Lilith nodded. "Yes, sure. Do you have alcohol?" She answered looking around the room. Her eyes landed on the door behind the King's study table.

Sven chuckled. "Yes, I do." He said, before moving towards the mini bar not too far from his table.

"What's in there?" The curious woman asked, pointing towards the door she just saw.

Sven, who was pouring alcohol on two glasses he pulled out from his cupboard, glanced quickly towards where she pointed. "That's my balcony. Would you like to see it?" He asked the woman, before handing her the drink. Lilith nodded.

The king then moved to the door and opened it for the lady. The cold breeze brushed their faces as soon as they stepped on the pavement of the balcony.

Lilith was suddenly stunned with the view in front of her. It wasn't the common view she would always see in the Kingdom. It had the view outside of the King's Palace walls so she can see the villages and the people of the three divisions in the city. She just realizes how big the Realm was. It reminded her of Coterie City.

She quickly placed her drink on the flat marbled railing before sitting beside it, her feet dangling on the exterior of the balcony.

Sven was surprised for a quick minute, assuming that she might fall from the high elevation, but he calmed down when he observed how swiftly the woman did it.

Lilith gave him a glance, before tapping the sit beside her, asking him to seat too.

"I'm not sure if I can do that, Lilith." He said, giving out a shy smile.

Lilith looked at him warily. "Are you afraid of heights, Sven?" She teased the man.

Sven shook his head right away. "Of course not." He said, before slowly sitting on the space beside her, trying his best to not show his shaking hands when he looked down at the height they are in.

Lilith observed that so she chuckled. "I should probably ask you to always do this with me so you can overcome your fear of heights." She teased once more.

Sven looked at her. "Please don't." He said, making Lilith laugh again. The king just watched her as her cheeks shot up with the expression. It seemed like the sound of it and the face she makes, make him slowly calm down from his nervousness.

He raised his drink towards the lady. Lilith right away gently clinked her drink on the man's glass. "To the King." She said, smiling.

The man did the same. "To my queen." He said, before sipping the drink with a grin.

Below them, in another balcony not too far from where the King's office was, a man was looking up at them with a complicated expression.

"Young Prince, for how long do you plan to just stand there?" A man suddenly spoke behind him, looking at the direction on where the Prince was staring.

Jaxon didn't glance at his cousin, he just stayed in his position silently.

"You know that we have to pretend that we don't remember them right?" Sin asked him again. "Even for Lilith." He added.

Jaxon breathed out a heavy sigh, finally looking away from them. "I know, Jin-hyung.." He answered.