Monarch's Rebirth: Chapter 19

The music had stopped and I looked around me to see people rush onto the stage to dance. My heart pounded but I was the one who asked her and I must fulfil it.

I grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the crowd. We got on the stage and the music started instantly.

I got into the waltz pose and tried my best not to mess up. I had no first hand experience in a waltz dance, especially in one that's randomized from person to person. This was not a marriage waltz which meant the moves would be more intense.

I cupped her shoulder blade and held her hand. We started off slowly with the music but I felt I was doing something wrong.

Amelia came down from my shoulder and danced on her own. I couldn't get her a partner even if I tried but I can't have her on my head or shoulders while dancing. I had realised a genius idea.

"Amelia, could you see how the others are dancing? Tell me in detail how they are dancing." I asked Amelia through telepathy.

"Okay!"

I felt more confident if she could tell how the others were dancing. Visually learning the dance would be easier but this is all I can do.

"The boy spun the girl around!" Amelia shouted out

This is gonna be difficult.

Natural turn, twist and turn. I tried to remember everything and use them as we danced. I had no clue what I was doing but since Kathlyn didn't mess up and I wasn't tripping I was doing something right.

I smiled at her and tried my best to not break it. She smiled back and didn't look away this time.

"Hey! That's King Artorius dancing! No way!"

"I knew he was at the festival but to suddenly come out and dance at the final song?"

"He's doing it so effortlessly too! They must have great chemistry."

The folks watching the dance seemed to be impressed as well. I am doing something right!

"I-I'm n-nervous…" Kathlyn said under her breath. "H-how do I-I look?"

"Perfect." I whispered to her.

I spun her around before pulling her close, a bit too close and felt nervous myself. Our faces came really close and I quickly pulled out from the position.

Kathlyn started to take the lead for once and I felt more comfortable with her taking the lead.

"It's okay. You can let loose as well." She said quietly while going around me.

She went on the other side and spun around once more. She latched back onto me and did natural turns all around with the others.

"Papa! How are you dancing so elegantly!" Amelia exclaimed out of the blue

"Dear I don't know either. I'm just following the rhythm." I told her back through telepathy.

Kathlyn started giggling and smiling as we kept dancing on. Her dress floated in the air as we swayed and turned around. She hummed along with the music as we danced gracefully. She really knew what she was doing.

Amelia ran around us while also dancing on her own. The music got more intense and my heart pounded. I let my body move on its own and a really odd sense overwhelmed me. I couldn't tell what this feeling was but it was something I've never felt in both my lives.

She spun around once more and made distance between us. We latched on each other's hands softly and suddenly she pulled me in and linked her arms around mine. We spun in circles and did the same in reverse. "You both have such good chemistry! Mama is a really good dancer!"

Not this again.

The music started slowing down. The dance became more gentle and calm. The crowd cheered louder as we came to the final act. "Ready for the final part?" I asked her while smiling

"Always was."

I twirl her around once more. Her hair swayed through the air elegantly as she spun around while smiling. I could see her face light up from all the smiling and laughing she's done.

She gracefully falls onto me as a sort of ending pose. I grabbed her tight and pulled her closer to me. Our faces met and we stayed in the position till the music ended.

I looked into her eyes as we stayed stuck in the pose while flowers were thrown on the stage.

Her sweet smile said everything, she was happy about the performance.

The crowd erupted into a cheer after the performance. I couldn't tell if it was from my status or we really did dance that well.

"That was amazing! The footwork and natural turns! It was so well choreographed!" Amelia said while climbing back on my shoulder. "You barely helped me! I told you to tell me what to do."

"Hehe! You clearly didn't need my help. You both danced perfectly!"

The crowd's cheers deafened my ears. It was quite surreal to be placed in the spotlight after a dance.

Kathlyn bowed and I followed suit trying to not feel left out. Where did all these flowers come from! This is the most flowers I've seen in my life. Today was quite the experience.

I walked down the stage with Kathlyn still holding my hand. The crowd suddenly came up to me and surrounded me once more. I knew what was going to happen next.

"My lord! That was spectacular! Are you both in a relationship? Please answer our questions we are dying to know!"

The paparazzi are back. Back with even more annoying questions. "If you really want answers to your questions please just ask for an interview. Have some respect for your king." I told the man that tried to question me.

He became frightened and stepped back, nearly tripping. I clicked my tongue seeing how annoying some people can be. It's like highschool romance all over again. "Tch. Annoying…" I muttered under my breath.

I left the stage feeling annoyed that people would keep making speculations. I can't blame them which makes it all more annoying.

I dragged her out of the mess before it got worse. "I'm sorry about that. I hope it doesn't affect you much." I apologised while getting to an alleyway where we can talk this through.

"It's alright. I expected this much to happen. I should be the one who's sorry for accepting your offer without knowing if I'm qualified for it. I just listened to what my heart said…" She said, looking down and regretful.

"It's not that. It's my status that caused the mess at the end. The performance we did was perfect! It was beautiful and I loved every moment I spent with you on the stage!"

She blushed and held her cheeks with her hands. "T-thank you…"

Amelia suddenly jumped towards Kathlyn and started cuddling her. I hadn't realised but Kathlyn started to tear up again.

"Mama is crying! What should we do!" Amelia panicked while snuggling her cheeks.

The alleyway was dark and no light reached this part. I looked around and saw no one either. I take a deep breath and think of what to do.

Without a second thought I embraced her into a warm hug. "Stop getting so emotional all the time. It breaks my heart seeing you cry."

Amelia hugged her as well as she bawled her eyes out. She sobbed out her eyes while I held her gently. I wasn't sure for how long she held in her emotions but to cry this much… It must've been a long time.

"I-I'm sorry… I keep b-breaking down…" She said while coughing mid sentence.

"Mama…" Amelia said under her breath.

"Do you feel better?" I asked her after she calmed down from sobbing. I reached into my pocket to grab my handkerchief. This gave me flashbacks to when we first met in the graveyard. I started cleaning her tears from her face just like last time. "This was like when we first met. You cried and I had to clean your tears."

She smiled as I cleaned the tears off her cheeks. "Why are you helping me all the time? What did I do to deserve this?" She said through her coughs.

"What I do for you has no reason. It's my duty as king to keep everyone happy, no matter what their social class is. Be it poor or rich."

She laughs and takes the handkerchief from my hand. "I see… I can clean my tears myself."

I checked my pocket watch and saw it was past midnight. "It's past midnight. I'll leave you at your house then."

We walked out of the alleyway and looked around. Most of the people had packed up and went their own ways. The streets were pretty deserted after the dance. The lanterns were still lit up and the streets were bright.

"The streets look so different! How long did we spend here when most of the people left?" Amelia asked me through telepathy.

I sigh and start walking away from the alley. "Not too long. We are just in a more deserted part. Also it's midnight and people are heading home." I tried to explain to her.

Amelia jumped back onto my shoulder and laid down on my head. She seemed quite tired so I let her rest.

Kathlyn suddenly links her arm around mine and smiles at me. I sigh and smile back at her.

She's really cute.

We walked around the city with no one to bother us this time. There were a few people who noticed me and waved at me as I went past. I casually waved back and went my way. Luckily no one stopped us on the way or asked any questions, just simple greetings.

"King Artorius! Good evening! Hope the festival was as fun for you as for us!" Said one man who was getting his stall packed up for the night.

I waved back at him and laughed. "It was! I hope the kingdom stays this happy under my rule!"

Kathlyn cuddled up with my arm and looked quite sleepy. She was really tired after all the emotions that she felt today.

"Today was really eventful… I hope it wasn't too much for you." I told Kathlyn, breaking the silence.

"It was hectic but it was fun. I never thought I would spend my night with his majesty. I'm just a florist with no noble background. My family comes from a long line of farmers and commoners." She said, sounding unhappy.

"Your dress doesn't say what you're saying. Many thought you were a noble from the way you dressed."

I tried to cheer her up a bit. She must be ashamed of being with the king for the night while she is just a commoner. Her looks and fashion sense really says the opposite about her.

She leaned her head on my arm as we walked through the midnight street. The moon was a new moon and the stars glittered in the sky. Amelia yawns as we walk through the street back to her house. She was definitely tired by now but I felt some energy left in me, but I just wanted to hit the hay as well.

After a blissful walk we reached her shop. It was a shop and a home together. There's two floors to her humble house, the lowest one was a shop where she had all her flowers and gardening products while the top was a well planned two bedroom flat. It must be hard living in such a cramped space with family, fortunately or unfortunately she was now living alone.

"We made it back to your shop." I told Kathlyn who was half asleep on my arm. "O-oh! I nearly fell asleep on your arm. I apologise!" She said being flustered.

I giggle as she tries to compose herself. "No worries. It was a really pleasant evening with you. I made a memory I will never forget, thank you."

Her cheeks became tomato red as I said that and she tried to hide it. "I-I will c-cherish these memories too! This was one of the most blissful moments in my life! I've never felt like this so I'm sorry if I messed up somewhere along the way."

She's cute.

I tried to hide my idiotic smile that accidently came out of my mouth. Amelia woke up and sat on my shoulder while looking at me all smug. "Good night then. I might not be around for a few days so we might not see each other a lot. If you do see me then don't be shy!" I told her before turning around.

"Good night! I won't be from now on!" She said as I walked away.

Amelia waved back at her but I couldn't tell if they were waving at each other or not.

"Why not take her to our palace! Mama should come with us!" Amelia protested innocently.

I sigh and keep walking while she climbs back on my head. "Who are you calling mama? She's not my wife or your mother."

"But you both love each other, right? Why else would you hug her when she was crying or dance so gracefully at the dance?"

"It's because I ca- wait. You have a point."

I thought about it for a moment but it was cut short because I found two people that I really wanted to find. Alexander and Felix.

"Fancy seeing you here. I thought you both left already." I said with a grin on my face.

"How could we go when you were giving the show of a lifetime with the new queen!" Alexander teased me.

I hoped he was sarcastic.

Alexander threw a bottle of whiskey at me which I caught and popped open. "My favourite. How could you guess?" I said while chugging down the bottle.

"The bar owner said this was your favourite. Seems like you visit him a lot." Alexander said while finishing up the last bit of his whiskey.

"Let's go home then. Everyone has packed up and left." Felix says out of the blue.

"Let's go then. Tomorrow we have a lot of work."

I'll be really busy tomorrow. I need to go to the capital to meet with Lukas' daughter and King Alaric. I also need to finish a lot of paperwork that is leftover and finally, I need to deal with the steam locomotive. So much to do.

The whiskey filled up my intestines and made me feel warm inside. The alcohol circulated in my body and made me feel comfortable again. "So who was that girl you were dancing with?" Alexander says out of the blue.

"I told you before coming to the festival. Also how did you and Felix get so close that you both shared a drink as well?" I asked him back.

"You left us two together and expected us to not get along? Felix and I have quite the things in common so we dropped the social hierarchy and became acquainted."

Seems like my plan for making these two friends worked. Seems like everything is going my way after all.

"Sire, are we expecting a queen soon?" Felix asked with a playful grin on his face.

I became flustered thinking about what Felix said. "N-no! Not yet. In the future when I find someone."

"Seems like you already found someone~" Alexander said while poking at me.

I let out a defeated sigh and chug down the rest of my whiskey. "Not what you're thinking, Alexander. If I were to be married you would be the first person to find out."

Alexander makes a surprised expression and smiles. "Such honour! I'll be glad to be the best man!" He said jokingly.

We walked home while chatting together about arbitrary things, like friends would while going home after a party.

I noticed the two guards that stood outside were the same as when we left. I became skeptical of this as I did not expect them to still be standing here.

"Have you two been here all this time?" I asked them both.

"Yes, my lord. We both have been here all the time." They said loudly and confidently.

I felt bad for them as they did not get to spend time with their family. I took my coin pouch out which still had a lot of bronze, silver and gold coins in it and threw it at them gently.

"Here take this. Split whatever is in this and spend it on something nice. I bet you both missed your families while on guard duty, seeing all the others having fun."

The guards became amazed and ecstatic seeing the coins that were inside. "T-thank you! We will never forget this, my lord!"

I casually walked inside while the guards marvelled at the coin pouch. The courtyard looked quite nice under the moonlight. It was lit up fairly well with garden lights, it helped seeing any movement so it was a neat security measurement.

"Papa… I'm tired…" Amelia said, being barely awake at this point.

"How did you lose so much energy? You were full of energy like two hours ago."

"I was born just under a day ago! Give me a break!" She exclaimed with the last bit of energy she had left.

I forgot that she's only a day old by now. I still couldn't believe I had a shapeshifted dragon as my pet. Sounds odd when I put it like that…

I walk up the stairs with my last bits of energy and reach my room. I walked in and kept the empty bottle of whiskey on and gently took Amelia off my head to place her on the bed. She quickly curled up into a little furball and fell asleep.

I took my top off which revealed the multiple wounds and scars that still hadn't healed up properly.

"Oh my! I never realised how many scars you had. Are you alright?" Amelia said out of fear.

"They're healing. I might be left with marks but I'll be fine." I told her while slowly climbing into bed.

I lay down and sigh a big breath of exhaustion. Amelia slowly gets on top of my chest and curls up into a ball. I gently pet her while looking out the open balcony. I turned off the lights and the only source of light now was the luminescent moonlight that gently lit up the room in a blue hue.

A gentle breeze blew and made the temperature of the room mild. I picked up Amelia and placed her on the pillow next to my own to let her rest.

"You're going to be busy tomorrow, right?" Amelia said in a drowsy voice to me through telepathy.

"Yes… Fun is over and now it's time for work."

My eyes were too heavy to keep open any longer. I turned around and Amelia cuddled up next to my face. Before I knew it I went unconscious.

"Papa! Wake up! Uncle Felix is coming!"

Amelia's voice jolted me awake from my sleep. I jumped up from my bed and felt a terrible headache kick in. Was it the whiskey from last night?

Suddenly I heard a knock from my door. "Sire, it's morning. Breakfast will be served when you say so." Felix's voice broke into the room from the door.

"Make breakfast preparations. I'll come after taking a bath." I replied back.

"Well then, today will be interesting." I said under my breath while walking over to the bathroom.

I turned on the tap to fill up the bathtub. I had nothing else to do so I threw in a few of the petals from the basket of flower petals and squeezed out some liquid soap onto the bathtub. I had no clue how to do this but I just did as I felt like.

"You're making the bath yourself? I thought a king always had his bath made." Amelia asked while seeing me prepare my own bath.

"I may be a king but I am still a commoner from my past life. I can't just let go of my past." I said disheartedly. I was not a born noble but just a commoner.

The bath was filling up slowly so I left the bathroom and sat down. My head was throbbing with a terrible headache right after waking up. It was quite unbearable. I didn't even drink much, just a single bottle.

"You should rest today. I can feel your headache as well." Amelia said while curling up on my lap.

"I can't. I need to go to the capital today and get started with the diplomatic end of the war."

She puffed up her cheeks in disagreement to me not resting. "No! You're staying."

"You can meet Kathlyn after we come back."

"Okay~!"

That was easy.

The bath had filled up and was ready. It was a cloudy day today but cold water is always superior to hot water.

Amelia and I both jump into the bath and relax for the time being. The smell from the soap and the flower petals was delightful and got rid of my headache in an instant.

I washed Amelia and let her also relax in the bath. I sigh a deep breath and look out the window. It was going to start raining which meant I might be stuck inside before setting off.

"Give me a break…"