Chp.17 : Tricks.

"Also please manage the servants who would say that we did not have out first night together. Since I don't want to stir up rumours in the kingdom for leaving the queen alone on the first night after the wedding.

Please accept this cash and manage a few things in the Eastern palace.

And the thing is I am writing this letter to invite you as the host of the ball two days ahead of today.

I will like you to join me for discussion today at dinner in the Central Palace. I will be looking forward to your presence."

The letter ended and left a sour taste in Regina's mouth. Lara decided to stay quite and not speak anything even though she also read the entire thing standing behind her.

"That bastard really has a knack for not showing up huh?" Regina thought gritting her teeth with an annoyed expression.

Now it was solely Regina's decision to show her cooperation or not. Well thinking back on how things have been just for two days, she had a pretty good idea that things were going to be hectic.

"I don't have a reason to not attend. I must write a letter to him showing my acceptance." Regina thought to herself as she got up and moved towards the writing desk.

"Shall I get your majesty some snacks while you are writing?" Lara asked just like a trained maid.

Regina was shuffling through the quills to pick a right one from the drawer. It was awesome that she was finally away from the D'Azure and she could feel the freedom in her everyday actions.

She nodded a yes and Lara went outside the room to get some snacks and refreshments for Regina.

The rain had somehow become even heavier than it was earlier. It was a good atmosphere inside her room though since it was the Grand Queen's Chamber.

She proceeded to write her response to the letter she had just received.

_____________

At the headquarters of Kalsa - The assembly place of the Royal Knights of Kuravos.

The building was itself a majestic structure since there were almost every amenity necessary for the training of an admirable knights.

Knights were selected from all over the empire and thus many aspiring fighters would come every year for the selection fest.

The selection of the knights was treated as a festival and since the Royal Knights were directly under the wing of the emperor, Duncan was indeed the person directly responsible for the current year's selection of the knights.

He had to plan it anyways and so he was at the headquarters.

"Call the chief commander." Duncan politely said to his secretary.

The man who was clearly hiding his pain behind his smile and was actually having a total burn out since he was working for the emperor, was the heir to the Frandsen County.

He was the son of Count Frandsen, Hilton Frandsen. He was a capable and strong person who could also be seen as one of the powerful cards under the emperor's belt.

He was quick with his decisions and thus he made a perfect match for the post of secretary. Duncan always had a habit of overworking and so as to respect the ruler's workflow he was also used to working overtime.

"Yes you majesty." He made a polite bow and approached the door of their office.

"Also make sure to get me a fresh scroll, inform Oscar to meet me in next 10 mins here in the office and call the guard named Heinz." Duncan quickly added a couple of more tasks to Hilton's list of duties.

"It wasn't even a minute and he gave me a myriad of tasks to do. I wish I could quit." Hilton thought as he made a polite bow once again.

"But who am I kidding I can't afford to quit." Hilton sighed and walked out of the room.

Duncan who was almost drowning in the pile of paper work finally took his head out of the huge stack of papers.

He placed down his quill and looked up at the ceiling.

"Nothing feels different as such." A thought creeped inside his mind.

And then he slowly thought more thoughts taking the same thought as a link. "Am I truly married? What if this is a dream? She is a count's daughter, what if she throws a fit since I didn't go to the Eastern palace yesterday?" A lot of such thoughts slowly got tangled into a web of mixed of emotions.

And he kept on thinking and thinking and one thought appeared out of nowhere, "Is she really my wife? Or is she Desmond's? Or what if she is nobody's wife?" The silence in the room served as the most appropriate atmosphere for him to get lost in his train of thoughts. But this thought gave him a very weird vibe and there was a knock on the door.

He suddenly snapped back from the trance as there was a knock on his door.

The person knocked three times and so Duncan got up from his seat. He walked to the door still thinking about the last thought that came to his mind.

He opened the door and found a guard standing there. He was wearing a blue colour uniform and had a golden ribbon across his chest.

"He is Desmond's guard." Duncan said to himself.

"Mateo?" Duncan said as he stood there looking forward to the reason why was Desmond's guard there.

"Good afternoon your majesty, the lord of our empire." Mateo made a firm bow and took out a noted from his coat.

"Here is the letter for your majesty." Mateo handed over the letter he was sent to deliver there.

"You did a good job Mateo. You may leave", Duncan said and Mateo bowed once again since Duncan asked him to leave.

The guards standing outside the office door closed the door and Duncan walked back to his seat behind the desk.

It was obviously a letter from Desmond. Duncan opened it without expecting much from the letter itself.

But the words that he read made him spring up from his seat. His heartbeats increased as he panicked and stormed out of his office.

His guards bowed as he walked out, but Duncan was so panicked and desperate after reading the letter he quickly asked for a guard and called a carriage.

What was actually written there...?