Chp.30: Thoughts

Her mission was only one - ' TRY TO FIND THE SNAKES IN THE PALACE WHO WOULD BITE TO DEATH, AND ELIMINATE THEM' Basically create a clear ground for Rachel to switch peacefully into a castle that she would nicely rule the kingdom with the king. It was Count D'Azure's plan after all.

Thus it was very obvious that her first step as Regina would be gaining the trust and the faith of her own husband, the king of the Kuravos Empire.

"So, since the circumstances are like this, I wish to hold a very..." Duncan continued his sentence. With a voice that anyone could mistake as an apology, but Regina interrupted him, "Yes, a very grand ball." She said as she sprung up from her seat and said in a cheerful happy way.

"Huh?" Duncan was caught off guard with Regina's this action.

"Eww, this is so cringe. I am getting goosebumps, but I have to do it." Regina thought to herself.

"No, no my lady. I think you are gravely mistaken." Duncan tried to stop her blabbering without getting angry or panicked as usual.

But Regina had no option. She had to show her naive and non-chalant behavior since that was what Rachel was.

Or atleast what the society predicted she was. So now Regina had to maintain that image in front of everyone.

"I wish to have this this big ball. And I also hope to call the witches from the north." She giggled and said happily.

"No, my lady." Duncan said this in a loud and clear voice.

Regina stopped and decided to settle down. "Yes, your majesty. I apologize for my crude behavior." Regina said as she measured her words while speaking them.

"That is a good thing to do." Duncan said as he cleared his throat and fixed his coat.

"So since we're again on the starting point, I wish to tell you that..." He started speaking. Mostly avoiding Regina's eyes, but afterall he had a habit to look in people's eyes while talking.

And then he looked in her eyes. Her pure, reflecting eyes that felt like a mirage. "Her eyes are indeed beautiful." A sudden thought popped up inside his mind as he kept on speaking.

"That's fine your majesty." Regina said with a sad expression.

"Huh?" Duncan suddenly felt all lost since it felt like he had lost track of their conversation.

"It's fine I guess to have a small ball afterall. The floods in the south are a big things indeed." Regina said in a dejected and sad tone.

"That's awesome, in this way he will owe me one in future. This is good." Regina thought as she chatted alone and watched Duncan's expression changed.

At some point it felt as though he wasn't there at all. And then abruptly he said, "It's fine. If you want a big ball, then that's what we will have."

"Eh?" Regina was suddenly caught offguard. Now she was the one who felt like she missed some important parts of their conversation.

"Why? Why your majesty?" She said as though she wanted to sound thoughtful, but her overall motive was to make the king owe her one.

"It's nothing... it's just that you are the queen. So ofcourse we need to have a grand ball." Duncan said.

There was a knock on the door and their food had arrived.

The servant served the food on the table and arranged the cutlery. They both started eating. An anonymous and unknown air wrapped around them, as there was sudden silence in the room.

Both of them focused on there food. Atleast that's what appeared on the surface. But inside their head they were having a tornado of thoughts. Their calm faces masked their true anxious and nervous feelings.

"Aaah, why is he suddenly going back on his words?" Regina thought to herself. "Who wants a big ball anyway? I am not even Rachel." She was shaken by his abrupt change of decisions.

And on the other hand, it was Duncan. He ate elegantly and peacefully on the surface but inside his head he felt like an earthquake.

"Maybe this is a sign from god. It's good that I suddenly changed my decision and said it will be a big ball." Duncan for some reason felt both chaos and peace at the same time.

"Desmond will definitely try and interfere in these things. I should try to keep him out as much as I can." Duncan thought.

Calmly and yet hurriedly both of them wrapped up their dinner in just a couple of moments. The dessert was also served by the servant, consecutively after the dinner.

Now as the caramel custard sat in front of them they looked at each other.

"So," Duncan decided to start the conversation and break the ice that was frozen since they didn't even talk one word while eating.

"Yes?" Regina spontaneously nodded.

"I think we will host the ball in the grand Central Ball room." Duncan made a statement. "If you don't mind will you check it and tell me if it will be fine to host our wedding reception ball." Duncan added.

As soon as he said Our Marriage, both of them felt like they have been woken from a dream.

"Yes, we are married." The sentence overlapped in their thoughts.

"Yes, I am married to Duncan. It's just about the mission though.", Regina thoughts formed a train.

"Yes, I am married. But it won't be lasting long anyway." Duncan thought too.

"I will definitely check it." Regina said out loud and assured Duncan. "I will send all the specifics to Sir Hilton as well." She said.

"Hmm.. thag will be appropriate. Please do so." Duncan said in a formal tone.

The dessert just became the reason for their silence again, as they kept quite throughout the dessert time.

After that Regina and Duncan chatted a little more about the venue for the ball and tried avoiding any unnecessary topic.

And then Regina got up. "Please allow me to take a leave your majesty." Regina said making a bow.

"Hmm? Sure." Duncan said without any second thoughts.

The rain was still heavy and it was clearly darker than usual. But Regina had to reach back to the Eastern palace and sleep. She could never carry out her mission without proper rest.

And that day was particularly hectic.