The Royal Breakfast

"Good morning, Lady Melva," greeted a royal guard who approached the carriage Melva was in and knocked on its door, taking her by surprise because she had not expected to see anyone from the palace. "I am going to ask you to follow me. His Majesty has requested your presence."

"Is the Duke aware of this?" asked Melva, uncertain of what she was supposed to do. 

She was only here because Vance had asked her to. Going against his order was not wise, however, it was the King who demanded her presence. The King's order was absolute. She was curious and unnerved at the same time, curious of what the King wanted from her and unnerved because it might not be something good for her. He was the King of the Demon Kingdom after all.

"I am following His Grace's order to wait inside the carriage."

"No need to worry, milady," reassured the royal guard, understanding her concern. "His Grace has approved of the King's request."

Melva nodded and climbed out of the carriage as the coachman was holding the door open for her. The carriage was parked near the entrance, so she didn't have to walk too far towards the palace. Noticing that she was the Duke's guest, every person inside the palace who passed by her bowed their heads in respect, which she ungracefully returned. 

The royal guard escorted her towards the courtroom where the King and the Duke were as she was admiring the interior of the lavish palace. The Duke's manor was nothing compared to the palace in terms of the extravagance. The walls were decorated with expensive paintings and tapestries, costly sculptures and statues were littered in every corner, and not to mention the furniture which was adorned with pure gold.

Melva was preoccupied with the beautiful design of the palace that she had not realised they had already arrived at the courtroom. It was not until she heard the royal guard's voice announcing her arrival that she came back to her senses.

"Your Majesty, Lady Melva Winchell from Nightwind has arrived," announced the royal guard while ushering her to walk inside the courtroom. It felt odd for her to hear how she was known as someone from Nightwind instead of Ichorhold.

The King was sitting on his throne and Vance was standing in front of him, his back facing her. Upon the announcement from the royal guard, both of them turned to look at her by the door. Having no prior experience of being in the presence of a king, Melva did what she knew, curtsying politely at him, hoping she did it right.

Nodding in acknowledgement, the King beckoned her over to approach him. She let out a sigh of relief for not making a mistake in her greeting before walking across the courtroom towards the throne and coming to a stop when she stood beside Vance. Curious of what the Duke was feeling about meeting her here, she took a glance to see his face, which unfortunately remained expressionless. He had been strongly against her stepping into the palace and presenting herself in front of the King. She wondered if he was actually seething under the facade.

Now that Melva was in close proximity to the King, she was able to see him more clearly. She wondered whether the King was also a demon like Vance. This kingdom was the world of demons, therefore the one who ruled them all surely would be one of their kind, most likely the strongest of them all. However, the King only appeared as an ordinary, friendly middle-aged man who had a fit body and fine features; his eyes were not glowing like Vance's. She could not imagine him being the most wicked demon ever existed.

"Thank you for having me, Your Majesty," said Melva politely as she bowed to him. "My apologies if I am not in my proper attire." She had not expected to be invited in, so she had only asked Elisha to dress her moderately.

"If I say it is proper, then it is proper," reassured the King in a friendly manner, smiling widely. "You are from Ichorhold, is that correct?"

"Yes, Your Majesty." Melva was surprised that the King knew her hometown before it was mentioned. She was surely not someone significant enough for the King to seek information on.

"So you must have not heard about me. I am Hershel Etherson, King of Ethia." The King introduced himself, for Melva was from a town where the Kingdom of Ethia was nothing but a fairy tale.

Melva bowed again, unsure of what was the right thing to say. "I am honoured to be in your presence, Your Majesty."

"Now that Lady Melva is here, we shall move to the dining hall and have breakfast there. Come with me," said King Hershel as he stood up to walk towards the dining hall.

The second King Hershel left his throne, a few royal guards followed behind him and soon they went through the door, out of the courtroom. Feeling lost inside the huge castle, Melva unconsciously removed the distance between her and Vance to fall into step beside him. He noticed her approaching his side and raised his brow, but he said nothing and let her walk close to him. A few other guards trailed behind them as they headed towards the dining hall, following the King.

Both Melva and Vance had had their breakfast before coming to the castle, but if the King had invited them to join him, it would be impolite to refuse. They were left with no choice even though Melva's stomach was still full from the fried eggs and bacon she had eaten in the Duke's chamber a few hours ago. She was worried that she was unable to finish the breakfast the palace had prepared for them.

The dining hall was so enormous that a hundred people could easily fit inside it. There was a very long table in the middle with a fancy dining chair for the King to sit, surrounded by a lot of small round tables. However, there were only three of them who would be having breakfast there. The hall was much too large for them.

King Hershel naturally sat on the fancy chair at the head of the long table in the centre of the dining hall. Vance took the seat along the side of the table, next to the King. Melva instinctively chose to sit beside Vance, feeling intimidated by how foreign everything was to her and Vance was the only familiar person.

The maids and butlers quickly served their breakfast in an orderly fashion once they had taken their seats. A bowl of potato soup was put in front of each person and a few plates of bread were placed in the centre. Melva was relieved to see the breakfast prepared in the palace was light. It would be rude to leave her meal unfinished.

King Hershel waited until the maids and butlers finished setting the food on the table to speak. "So, when is the wedding? I will lend you the castle's ballroom for holding the wedding ceremony."

Melva widened her eyes in shock at the King's question towards Vance. She immediately turned her head to look at the werewolf's reaction. Unlike her, Vance was calm and seen as though he had been expecting this question to be asked.

"We still have not decided on a date, yet. I will let you know once we do, Your Majesty," answered Vance indifferently. 

It was obvious that he was not looking forward to the wedding. She felt the same way, however, the King seemed eager to see them married, judging from the excitement on his face when he asked the question. This would prove to be difficult for them not to hold the wedding. Father Seymour had mentioned that the King insisted on marrying the Duke with the first woman who brought him warmth. Usually, what the King said was what would happen. This wouldn't bode well for them.

"If I have not heard from you in a week, I will decide the date for you," said King Hershel animatedly. A playful smile on his face told Melva that he was about to have them married precisely a week from today. Vance apparently also thought of the same thing as he quickly provided a date.

"The next full moon," decided Vance in an instant before the King could decide for him.

From what Melva knew, a full moon happened roughly at least once a month. If the blood moon had been yesterday, then there would be less than a month before their wedding took place. Suddenly, the potato soup in front of her didn't look appealing after knowing that she would soon be wedded with the rude werewolf, who was evidently adamant on making her dislike him by his irritating behaviour towards her. 

Her future already seemed dim and dreadful. But what could she possibly do? She was already trapped in shackles and unable to free herself without risking so many lives.

King Hershel hummed in satisfaction now that his wish was granted. "Very well. I will have the ballroom prepared for your big day. Everyone in Ethia will be invited to the wedding ball. This is very exciting, is it not?"