Chp.37: No

Duncan finished writing that letter and slid it away along with the pen.

His eyes fell on the letter Regina left for him. "She is indeed very interesting woman. So is this what they call, right person and wrong timing?" Duncan thought.

The afternoon kept on progressing the grey outside and the cloudy rainy season made it a difficult to assume the timings. Hilton had returned with a successful news and now the king was going to have a lunch in the queen's palace.

The rain wasn't as strong and it was just drizzling. The carriage still took around fifteen minutes to reach from the Central palace to the Eastern palace.

Duncan and Hilton sat there quitely and Duncan sifted through the pages of the book. "Umm... so your majesty.." Hilton had something to say. "Have you invited Desmond over as well?" Hilton asked in a cautious tone.

"Yes. Yes I did." Duncan said without lifting his head from the book.

"But won't that be a problem?" Hilton asked. There was a lining of worry to his words.

"Of course he is a problem." Duncan said with assurity looking in Hilton's eyes.

"So..." a spontaneous response came from Hilton.

"So, I think it is rather a better option to have the trouble where are eyes will be instead of somewhere far away." Duncan said with a smirk.

Hilton didn't quite understand what Duncan was saying but he decided to just go with the flow. "Sure you majesty." He said in a polite tone.

The carriage reched the palace and it was the perfect lunch time. A few maids and servants had lined up and the guards announced Duncan's arrival.

"Good afternoon your majesty." Regina and the ladies-in-waiting made a bow to Duncan as he walked inside the premise of the palace.

Duncan exchanged a few pleasantries as well and soon they were being led to the dining room on the second floor. Everyone was walking silently, Regina was calmly forwarding along with Lara and her another lady-in-waiting.And as for Duncan he was there with Hilton and his guard.

No one was saying anything, and yet it felt like the passageway to the dining room was filled with people. It was like crowds of people standing there, chatting and celebrating.

"That was the things mother always loved afterall. People around her.", Duncan thought as he glanced around the hallways. Big potraits, shining as if they were only recently cleaned and carpets that made anyone walking on them feel royal.

Duncan was walking with people but he felt heavy in his chest. It was as if he was holding his breath all along. Regina was walking along with Lara and beside Duncan. She felt the weight of the responsibilities as she walked beside the king.

"You must eliminate everyone inside the palace who seem as a threat to Rachel's place as the queen." The words kept ringing inside her ears.

And they were there.

Standing in front of the large door.

The doors opened to a sound of the heaviness they carried as they blocked the dining room - one of the most important rooms behind their sturdy bodies.

"The king and the queen are making their entrance." The guard announced as the servants lined up to serve the royals.

Hilton, along with Lara and the others stood aside as Duncan and Regina walked ahead and took their seats.

The room was big, or maybe extravagant was the right word for it. On the contrary to what Regina heard as she came there, this room didn't look like it was locked up for years along with the castle.

"Of course. What am I even thinking? This was all cleaned up before I came here. Ofcourse it was supposed to be all pearly and shining." Regina shrugged her shoulders and took a seat.

Duncan sat down as well.

He was looking around. His expressions were still stern and desolate but his eyes... they seemed to be playing a movie of his life on his pupils as he looked around. A curiosity to connect the past and present was clearly visible in his eyes.

"Allow me to serve you tonight, your majesties." A man approched both of them and placed a platter with what was supposed to be an appetizer.

Duncan nodded his head and so did Regina. Neither of them spoke anything and calmly started eating.

Lara and everyone were just standing there, but Duncan thought that he might not be able to talk while all of them just stood there staring at them while eating.

"I order everyone else except the queen to leave this room." He ordered.

"Yes your majesty." All of the maids and even Hilton made a bow and left the room immediately. The air around Duncan and Regina was still frozen.

Just like what it was last night when they had their dinner in Duncan's chambers.

"To be honest this is the first time I've come to this dining room. It feels so different than how I had lunches in the D'Azure mansion." Regina thought to herself.

"So my queen..." Duncan decided to break the ice.

"Yes?" Regina looked up at his face. He had already decided what he wanted to talk about and so he went ahead without any hesitation.

"I received certain documents from Hilton this morning." Duncan said as he slurped in the soup from his soup.

"That's great." Regina exclaimed. And then went back ahead to complete her portion.

"Huh?" Duncan gave out a nonchalant reaction. "I am not telling this to you as a peice of information." Duncan explained.

"Then what may be the reason?" Regina asked as she took the last bite of the cottage cheese from her plate.

"It was the document regarding your welcome ball and our wedding reception." Duncan said with a little disturbed expression, he was having a weird gut feeling like a gut feeling ringing inside his head. Regina's expressions on the other hand remained constantly confused.

She wasn't able to understand why he was telling her this suddenly. Until Duncan said, "You gave it to him Lady Rachel. You handed him the fully written plan of the ball along with the blueprint." Duncan explained.

"This is your next course, your majesties.", a chef with a white hat and uniform placed the next dishes in front of Duncan and Regina.

"No, I didn't." Regina shook her head declining the situation.

Duncan felt a sudden thump inside his heart as he heard those words from the queen. "She certainly isn't joking." Duncan looked at her expressions.

"You invited me. So I'm here." The chef left a note as he served Duncan with his next course. And Duncan looked at the face of the chef. And he was stunned.

He knew something bad was going to happen. He felt it inside his guts.