The massive golden gates opened, welcoming our carriage to the main palace of the kingdom.
The palace.
Located in the central part of the capital, a place built and designed to represent the kingdom’s riches and prosperity. Gold shone against the glaring midmorning sun representing the burning sun that was the crown family.
Our carriage ran down the white paved road passing towering dome shaped buildings with different kinds of plants and flowers growing around them. A sight to behold.
The carriage came to a stop in front of a massive statue, a statue i wasIvery familiar with.
"It seems the church has fully integrated with the royal family."
I said to mother who was sitting opposite me. She was dressed in combat leather trousers made from dragon skin, a white shirt underneath, and a black fox fur coat. The Bloodmoor crest hung on the side of the coat, with high-heeled boots meant to step on anything that was beneath her.
She had come to intimidate. I got off the carriage and turned to help her out. Her gloved hands held mine as she alighted from the carriage. She turned and looked at the God of light holding the sun high up in the air and clicked.
"A waste of space."
I chuckled at that. We walked to the palace with both our servants following behind. Only one servant was allowed inside the palace per person.
Paranoid bastards.
The palace was just as magnificent. Light crystals floated on gold chandeliers with the walls inlaid with different colored gemstones. A show of the imperial family’s extravagance, seeing this made me feel revealed with our own extravagance. We weren’t as much.
"Will I be seeing the king, or should I make myself scarce?"
I asked mother while walking down the long hallway. I was wondering when we’ll reach the throne room. The only people we had come across were servants or patrolling Knights.
"Yes, you wanted to come."
Mother said and came to a stop in front of a large door. The guard at the door fumbled the moment he saw Mother before bowing.
"Duchess Lilith Bloodmoor and her son Lucian Bloodmoor have arrived. "
He announced loudly before pushing the door open. I wondered how his throat felt at the end of the day after all this shouting.
Mother led the entry with me following behind her. Luna and mothers servant were left outside the throne room to wait. Only high nobles were allowed in.
I looked up at the throne where the king sat and my eyes widened in surprise. Mother had sheltered me a bit too much, hence I had never laid my eyes upon the ruler of this kingdom.
He was fat, fat would cut it. Obese.
I wondered how he was even able to sire such good-looking children. He had little to no hair on his head and his golden eyes were the only indicator that he was a royal.
It baffles me how someone would let themselves go this much when life itself is short.
Next to him sat the mother of the nation. Regal, unassuming, and at least looked her part very much. She was the very copy of the seventh prince exceptfor the black hair.
"May the golden sun shine upon us it’s glory."
Both mother and I said that at the same time as we bowed our heads.
Normally, it was a requirement to bow your waist at ninety degrees when greeting the king, but my mother never taught me how to bow to others.
"It seems the duchess and her son are suffering from back pains."
The king said, his face fat, shaking with every word.
"Yes, protecting the southern border from beasts can be back-breaking."
Mother answered with a smile. The smile disappeared from the king’s face. The duchy was bordered by the barbarian kingdom. Beasts from the kingdom would occasionally form a beast tide and attack the duchy.
Mother solved them easily since they were always low-level, but the king didn’t know that.
"It seems you decided to finally release your son from under your wings."
The king said, his half-swollen eyes turning to me. I didn’t like the attention. I started to regret joining mother.
"Yes."
Mother answered curtly. The queen’s eyes moved from observing my mother to me. I could feel her scrutinising gaze, and I didn’t like it. It felt oddly invasive just like the princes.
She smiled the moment our eyes met, her blue eyes gaining the maternal gaze that my mother used to look at me when I was a child. It dried up when I started alchemy.
"You must be Lucian, how handsome, you must have been good-looking when you were a child, but I couldn’t meet you since the duchess didn’t want to let you out of the duchy, how suffocating."
I quite like being in the duchy since I didn’t have to navigate all this politics.
"Mother was only doing what’s best for me."
I smiled back at her and answered calmly. She ignored what I said.
"Ooh, hush, you don’t have to lie. No child would want to be locked up in one place and denied the chance to explore. Look at my son, he loves to explore and has been looking forward to making new friends his age, but alas, the duchess wouldn’t let you out of the duchy."
Her eyes got redder and redder as she said my woes. I turned to mother to see her rolling her eyes.
"The seventh prince, the saintess, and the pope have arrived. "
The guard’s voice filled the throne room as the door opened. The three entered the room, and their eyes went directly to us.
They all came and stood beside us and bowed to the king in greetings.
"I was just about to send for both of you ."
The queen said with a brighter smile, painting her face.
"We heard of the duchess’ arrival and decided to pay a visit."
’With the pope’
The prince said and turned to look at me with that familiar playful smile painting his face. I didn’t smile back and turned to look at the king who was observing all our interactions.
"Your majesty, since the saintess is here, it would be better if I delivered my apologies directly to her."
My mother said cutting through the tension in the air. We were the odd ones in the throne room.
"Go ahead what is it?"
The king asked impatiently.
"Congratulations again on your upcoming wedding, but we won’t be able to deliver your gift."
Mother’s cold voice said. The saintess’s eyes widened before she leaned into the prince’s arms and started to cry in loud, choking sobs.
’Drama queen ’
The prince’s eyes landed on me.
"Didn’t you just buy it? What happened?"
I shrugged my shoulders.
"It couldn’t survive outside water for too long."
The saintess, with tear streaks, turned to look at me. She was crying so delicately that not even a single tear had smudged her makeup or hung on her eyelashes despite rubbing her face on the prince’s shirt.
Such fine art of crying required practice. Seraph was a messy crier, maybe I should get some tips for her.
"It’s okay, young master, I just admired it, that’s all."
"If you had told me earlier i would have gotten it for you."
I said while looking at the prince who still had that smile on his face and comforting the beauty.
"If it’s too much to ask, Lucian, would you mind giving me the body?"
The prince asked with narrowed eyes.
"Do you not believe me your highness?"
I asked coldly.
The prince shook his head.
"No, it’s a rare creature and I find them fascinating."
"Unfortunately, your highness, I burnt it. It’s not advisable to keep a dead body around for long."
His jaw ticked. They didn’t believe me, not my problem.
"You three seem to get along well. Why don’t you go have some tea together?"
The queen’s voice cut through our tension.
"We’ll be leaving now."
Mother said rudely and pulled me out of the throne room before they could answer. We got out of the palace without anyone stopping us.
"She hates you."
Mother nodded. I was referring to the queen.
"We were friends before she married the king."
I turned to her surprised. The carriage jolted following my sentiment.
"You had friends?"
Mother shot me a glare.
"She was my only friend. I didn’t support her marriage to that pig, and she stopped being friends with me. Recently she asked me to support her son."
"You refused."
"Why would I help her? She left first there was no need to chase after her."
The carriage pulled to a stop and we both got off. We had been in the palace for more than two sand glasses.
"I should have just sent a letter what a waste of my time."
Mother mumbled to herself and walked into the house. I stayed outside, enjoying the glaring sun. The visit had really been a waste.