-The Banquet- Chapter 9
"Okay, good work Your Highness," the instructor said after they finished their practice
"Haa.." Dhrake panted
"Is it good enough? Am I not going to embarrass myself? " Dhrake asked
"Ohh I'm sure that the Princesses would certainly fall for that dance skills of yours Your Highness" she giggled
"Uh huh" Dhrake brushed it off
Tomorrow is going to be a special day, both for the King and the Prince.
The Prince will finally be the age of twenty-one and the King gets to introduce him to the Princesses all over the continent.
Despite the Prince not being very fond of the idea, he can't do anything about it.
He tried to reason with his Father but the King said "What do you think will be the future of you and this nation without you even striving to find a spouse!?"
He wants to say, "Father, I'm only twenty-one, there's no need to rush things!" but he knows that doing so will damage his and his father's reputation, especially since they are discussing this in the great hall with the knights and servants present.
He ended up responding with "I understand Father, I'll be leaving now" instead
"Just get going," The King said while holding his temple.
"Is there a commotion inside?" The knight outside the hall whispered to the other
"Yeah, I think the Prince is- eek!" He was in the middle of his sentence when the Prince suddenly came out the door and they immediately fixed their stance and greeted him.
"Y-Your Highness!" They both said
The Prince didn't even spare them a glance and just kept on walking looking agitated.
"Do you think that he heard us?"
"I don't think so, otherwise why would he not even look at us? If I heard someone talking about me I'd at least glare at them, moreover, he's a Prince so if he heard us we'll be dead!" They whispered to one another.
---
"Can someone find Zach for me? And tell him to meet me in my room"
"Right away, Your Highness," Dhrake's attendant replied
As Dhrake and the Knights that are currently accompanying him were approaching his room, Dhrake said "You all can leave now,"
"But Your-" a Knight tried to reason but got cut off instantly
"Zach will be here any moment now so you do not have to be concerned, just go back now and do your obligations," Dhrake told them
"We understand, Your Highness," They said as they bowed to him and then left.
"I feel really exhausted somehow" Dhrake sighed then flopped on his bed.
He really didn't want to commemorate his date of birth but as a part of the Royalty, it is a must to have a gathering or a banquet during such an important day.
Not only to celebrate but also to be acquainted with other people of such high positions in every country like the Kings, Queens, Prince, Princesses, Dukes, and every nobility not only to have good relations but to also get a vast amount of connections for the future or to have someone you can run to when in need.
As a Prince and the only heir of their Kingdom, Dhrake had no choice but to obey his Father, The King. Meeting and getting to know new people from various countries isn't that bad but the fact that his Father wants him to find a significant other this early is totally absurd to him.
Not to mention that he already have someone that he likes, having him acquaint with people he barely knows to find a spouse that he possibly would be with for eternity is just ridiculous in his viewpoint.
Thinking about all this made him exhausted that as he was laying on his bed he felt drowsy and ended up falling asleep even before Zach could get to the room.
"Young Master, I'm here," Zach called but no one answered so he let himself in.
"Young Master-, Oh!" He said when he saw how peaceful Dhrake was sleeping and sighed seeing that he hadn't even removed his footwear and outer robe.
"That must be uncomfortable"
He removed his outer robe and footwear but didn't dare to change his clothes as the Prince never permitted him to do so and it can be considered harassment towards the Royalty.
Zach stayed until dusk, waiting if ever the Prince woke up but because it was too late, he decided to just come back in the morning as it will be inappropriate if someone sees him come out of the Prince's chamber the next day.
"I'll be taking my leave now, I'll be back in the morning," Zach muttered but Dhrake suddenly groaned indicating that he was about to wake up.
"Young Master? Are you awake?"
Dhrake slowly opened and rubbed his eyes.
"Mhm..." Dhrake faintly answered.
"Your attendant told me to come here, Young Master" Zach said as he recall why he was there
"Yeah, isn't that your duty to always be with me?" Dhrake said as he yawned
I mean it technically is your duty so I'm not in the wrong here!
"It is indeed Young Master, but.."
"But what?"
"But it is already late at night"
"..."
"I see"
"With that said I'll now be taking my leave," Zach said bowing and then he head to the door.
As he was just about to leave Dhrake suddenly called for him
"Zach!"
"Is there anything else?"
"Uh...no, goodnight"
"Goodnight, Young Master" Zach grinned at him and then left.
Dhrake left out a big sigh and said "Tomorrow's going to be such a horrible day for me"
----
The next day came and everyone especially the nobilities was looking forward to the banquet.
A lot of people began to arrive.
Princesses from different countries were present and are hoping to get the attention of the Prince with their "elegant and noble image".
"Is the Prince not ready yet?" asked the King
"I'll go and check, Your Highness," The Prince's attendant said
"Tell him to hurry, guests are waiting for him"
"As you wish," The attendant said then hurried to the Prince's chamber.
"Your Highness," The attendant called to the Prince
"Oh, come in"
"Your Highness, The King asked if you were ready"
"In a moment, I'm still waiting for Zach, I told him to get something for me," The Prince who was sitting calmly on his chair said.
"But the guests are-"
"Young Master"
"Zach, you're back"
Zach who was sent out to go on an errand was still panting when he came back.
"Take a breather first haha.." The Prince awkwardly laughed
"I got the necklace, Young Master," Zach replied as he presented him with a box and a necklace inside.
Inside Zach's mind was why was the necklace so important to him yet he let someone else hold it for him that he needed to run back and forth to get it.
"Thank you, Zach, Let's go"
The Prince wore the necklace and headed straight to the hall to meet the guests.
"Young Master," Zach called to the Prince while they were walking, heading to the hall.
"Yes?"
"May I ask a question?"
"Go on" The Prince replied
"About the necklace, I was wondering why Sir Rowan was holding it for you"
"Oh, I guess you can't remember" The Prince whispered
"What was that? I couldn't hear it"
"Uh no, I mean, someone gave me that when I was a kid, and because of some occurrence I didn't have the gut to wear it ever since but I...sort of felt like wearing it today," He replied and smiled bitterly.
"So Sir Rowan was holding it for you ever since?" Zach asked once again
"Mhm, I told him to hide it for me and that I'll be taking it back when the time comes"
"I see, excuse me for asking a lot of questions, Young Master, I was just curious about it"
"It's alright" The Prince responded
The Prince signaled to his attendant and said "Tell them I'm arriving at the hall"
"As you wish," The attendant bowed and left
-----
"Your Highness, The Prince is almost here"
"Just on time, The Princess from Melromarc just arrived," The King said beaming with happiness.
"His Highness, The Prince has arrived!" A Knight shouted
Everybody started staring at the door where the Prince was going to enter.
The door started to open and there was the Prince who looked elegant and noble just from a single glimpse of his face, his attractiveness captivated everybody's gaze making them unable to avert their eyes off him.
All of them particularly the Princesses were especially looking at him with such an inviting look that the Prince did not like but he cannot show his hatred in front of everyone.
"Young Master, I'll be right outside when you need me, Please enjoy yourself," Zach who was behind him whispered to him and smiled before leaving.
"My Son" The King called to him
"Father" The Prince replied as he slowly approach him.
"I want to introduce you to the King of Melromarc," He said referring to the person behind him.
The King of Melromarc extended his hand to the Prince.
"Nice meeting you Prince Dhrake, I finally get to meet Darwin's great son"
"I'm glad to have met you too Your Highness," The Prince said as he extended his hand to reach the King's.
They both withdrew their hands
"Oh, and there's someone that I'd like you to meet," The King of Melromarc said
The Prince thought to himself, "Here it is, the fundamental purpose of this acquaintance,"
"This is my daughter, Kylie Melromarc"
She bowed to him and greeted him with "Pleasured meeting you, Your Highness"
"Pleasure is mine Princess Kylie"
"I'm glad you came all the way here to attend the banquet," The Prince told them.
"I'm glad to be here and since King Darwin had personally invited us, who am I to refuse?" The King of Melromarc chuckled
As they were in the middle of their conversation, the music began to play.
"Looks like the ball is starting," The King, Dhrake's father said
As the King turned to face Dhrake, the King's expectant expression hinted that he should invite the Princess for a dance.
The Prince was reluctant but got defeated in the end.
He extended his hand and said "Princess Kylie, would you like to dance with me?"
"Of course," Princess Kylie said while smiling as she held his hand.
----
"Zach!" Louwei called as he saw Zach outside
"Louwei! You're here!" Zach who was surprised said
"Yeah! I'm with my father" He said grinning
"You made up?"
Louwei chuckled and said "Yes!, my father apologized to me and said that he'll repay for what he had done but I said that it's alright to just go back to what we once were and he agreed so we're good now"
"I'm glad you made up, you finally look like you're enjoying yourself for once," Zach said looking pleased
"Do I?"
Both of them laughed and talked about a lot of things when they heard the music.
"The ball is starting!" Louwei said
"Come on! Let's go ask to dance with someone!" He said then grabbed Zach's hand and pulled him inside.
"Hey ladies!" Louwei called the group of women he saw inside.
"Louwei stop" Zach whispered to him
"It's going to be fine, trust me" Louwei replied
"Would you like to dance with us?" Louwei asked them
Louwei is not bad looking and of course, neither is Zach.
The ladies stared at them for a while and one of them recognized Zach.
"You! are you the Prince's Knight!?"
"Oh! you are"
After realizing who he was, they agreed to Louwei's invitation.
Louwei pushed Zach into one of them leaving him no choice but to invite her to dance.
"T-then will you please dance with me?" Zach said then extended his hand
"Yes"
"Me too?" Louwei said extending his hand to one of them.
"I-I guess?" She replied looking flustered with the fine man asking for her hand.
And with that, together with their partners, they stepped into the middle of the hall to dance with everyone else.
As Zach was just moving towards the area, the Prince had already spotted him.
The Prince, who was dancing with the Princess, suddenly grabbed her hand tightly while he fixed his gaze on Zach, who was with another person. To make matters worse for him, the other person was a woman who was looking at Zach with her eyes gleaming.
The Princess had of course noticed the sudden change in Dhrake's emotion but instead of asking him, she decided to follow where he was looking to see for herself what was making him uneasy.
"Do you like her?" The Princess asked the moment she saw the young lady Zach was dancing with.
The Prince got startled by the Princess and immediately averted his gaze from the two.
"N-no, of course not" He replied
"Then do you like him?"
The Prince was surprised by the question and just ended up responding "W-what are you ta-talking about?" he was nervous enough to stutter his words.
"Oh, so you do like him" She replied blatantly
"I do not" He finally calmed down and answered her normally
"Hmm"
"What?" The Prince asked
"So you don't like him?"
"...no.."
"Cause I do" She chuckled
What?.... What!??!
Isn't she supposed to be pursuing me?
"What? what do you mean?" The Prince asked
"I mean if His Highness doesn't like him then I will approach him and confess"
"Oh the music is ending" She added
"Y-yeah..."
The ball had finished and everyone from the crowd clapped their hands to everyone who participated.
"Let's have a sit, dinner is about to begin" The Prince offered the Princess
"But I want to stroll around, Your Highness" She replied
"Then I'll join you, let us tell your father first"
They then went out after telling the Kings that they were going to stroll out for some air.
"Your Highness, Thank you for accompanying me," She told the Prince
"Yeah, you're welcome"
"..."
"So about what you said a minute ago..." The Prince said to break the awkward silence.
"Yeah?"
"Were you serious?"
"I'm not ignorant enough to not notice that you do not like me, Your Highness and, to be honest, I feel the same way so if you like someone else then you can be honest with me, I don't mind"
"I see, so you weren't-"
"I am serious, please introduce me to him," She said to cut him off
"...no..." The Prince whispered to himself
"What was it, Your Highness?" She asked as she did not hear what he had just said as it was too quiet to hear.
"I said, I won't introduce you to him"
"W-why not?"
"Be-because he's mine-"
"Young Master!" Zach called to him when he saw them outside
"..Zach.."
"Young Master why are you outside- oh, Your Highness, the Princess, pleasure meeting you again," Zach said when he noticed the Princess behind the Prince
"Again?" The Prince asked as he glanced at the Princess who averted his gaze.
"I met Her Highness when I was on my way to Sir Rowan to get your necklace, Young Master" Zach replied
"Oh" The Prince let out
"Zach!!" someone called out to Zach.
It was Louwei
"Louwei, what are you doing here?" Zach asked
"The young lady was asking for you, you know? the one you danced with" Louwei replied
Hearing the conversation, The Prince's mood dimmed once again.