Hisses of the late hours

The fearless Archduke of Lanark kept getting chills in his bones as his daughter explained what had happened in the forest he dreaded so much.

Unable to walk beside her while keeping his impassive expression in place, she ended up one step behind him, following him through the long garden that separated the family's main estate from the knighthood annex that was adjacent to the training arena and the infirmary.

Her eyes lingered long on the white stones of the place where both her knight and her patient were recovering at. Not now. She kept reminding herself that she had depleted all of her father's tolerance quota for one day.

They walked in the opposite direction of the infirmary until they reached the secluded building that was seldom visited by anybody other than the Archduke himself. Placed as far from the main estate as possible, everybody knew better than to visit Kaiser's study casually. But having assisted him with managing much of the Archduchy's business, Adela was not intimidated by her father's sanctuary, on the contrary, she found it awe-inspiring, a place where she knew she could work in peace and achieve the results she aspired to.

Once inside, she was met with the familiar lavish seating area and walked behind her father past the rarely used dining room. The usually closed doors to his study were left open, and the first thing that caught her eye was the massive chandelier in the middle of the sophisticated room for she rarely got to see it at this hour, it shimmered over the decorated walls that proudly showcased the Archduke's favorite weapons.

Kaiser stood behind his polished wooden table but did not sit down on his chair, his eyes on something behind her.

"You are early,"

Adela steeled herself, there was a very high probability that her father brought her all the way here to meet with somebody important, but who might that person be?

"By fair means, Kaiser, the audacity of keeping one's monarch waiting is something that only you can get away with,"

Adela's heart stumbled then ran, she looked at her father in horror for a moment then dropped her gaze and curtsied in her place.

"Now that is a greeting worthy of a future Queen,"

She thought she was accustomed to her uncle's suggestive words, but they were outdone by his outlandish actions this time when he reached for her hand with both of his hands and held it firmly until she felt his signet ring digging into her palm, he evanescently touched his lips to the top center of her hand.

Her face snapped up reflexively to read his ever-so-clouded blue eyes, but they seemed fixated on her wrist as if he had never seen a woman's flesh before. She dared not insult the King by withdrawing her hand though every cell in her body begged her to.

"Are you satisfied now, Your Majesty?" Kaiser asked in a dry tone.

Blood rushed behind Adela's ears along with her heartbeats four times before the King finally answered.

"A hand kiss is considered a respectful way for a gentleman to greet a lady, surely you remember that from etiquette lessons, do you not now?"

The king spoke so low while staring into Adela's eyes that she could not be sure whether the question was meant for her or the Archduke. She stiffened when the King's lips parted to speak once more.

"Were you touched today in that forest, Adelaide,"

Her inhales raced with her exhales; the sudden unexpected inquiry and its source were nothing less than humiliating.

"This is hardly necessary when I have that information in my possession," her father respectfully objected a moment too late.

Adela's head spun with embarrassment when the King's face said that he was not convinced. But would the King himself come all the way to the Archduchy for the sole reason of inquiring about her virtue?

She once heard people jesting about how the Crown Prince coveted her, but it was all too ridiculous a statement to spend energy worrying about. While matrimony between cousins was common among commoners in the kingdom, such a thing was unheard of among aristocrats.

Was the King about to set a precedent?

"I…The thugs were held up by my knight, your majesty, I have informed father all about it, a couple of them attacked but could not lay a finger on me, for they were shot down by a talented nobleman who came to our aid,"

Her voice was strained but heard, and she was only too glad that she managed to articulate an explanation in her current state.

"I assume you checked too?"

It did not take a bright damsel to comprehend that this question was not meant for her, all that she could do to object to the unfair second-guessing was close her eyes and take it standing.

"It is as my daughter said, no further investigation is needed on our part,"

She wished the ground would swallow her up. The positivity in her father's response brought back the recent memory of how the Baroness just would not take no for an answer when Adela told her she wished to bathe alone.

"Adelaide,"

She opened her eyes and focused once more when King Emanuel demanded her attention, "Yes, Your Majesty,"

"It is not every day that I receive a messenger from my Kingdom's Shield, I must say that I was quite saddened by the news my brother conveyed to me, enough for me to exhaust a handful of powerful mana stones to open a portal and come to you without a delay,"

She held her breath as a bead of cold sweat trickled down her back. The composure on her uncle's face was that of a snake before it bites.

"Must you see a monster with your own pretty eyes to believe of its existence?"

"I…Your Majesty…"

"Say an educated Lady such as yourself is above being a superstitious person, are you not worried about the traitorous rebels who would kill for an opportunity to drag de Lanark's name through the mud?"

Thoroughly petrified by the King's rightful accusation. The beliefs she firmly held on to over the years shook like a leaf in the face of a hurricane inside of her. The words of her father calling her selfish that same afternoon echoed in her ears, and what she deemed her duty toward those less fortunate seemed to be a mere tool to flatter her vanity.

In the presence of the King and the Archduke, she allowed only two mournful tears to fall down.

"I shall forgive your tears, for they are a natural reaction the weaker sex exhibits when rightfully cornered. Is it not, brother?"

Kaiser's jaw tightened twice.

"Now…Speak of the nobleman who saved you, and pray tell what business he had in that despicable forest before coming to your rescue, for your King must know of the man house de Lanark is suddenly indebted to,"