Chapter 91: I AM READY
[MUSIC RECOMNDATION: LET
OUT ~ JONGHYUN ]
Left inside the room, Almaria didn’t have the nerve to ask Kitanna to stop. After all, Khelan had done a great job in turning them into a big joke with his foolish statent. She just sat there with her hands holding up her head, which was bent down.
Bareea still sat in her position without moving; she hadn’t heard about the rumour, but with the little discussion during the eting, she was able to pick up sothing. The problem was who to ask the exact details of the rumour; obviously, everyone was in a foul mood. Bareea looked at Khelan, then back at the queen dowager. As if feeling the tension inside the room, little Labre started crying. This startled the three other persons inside the room. Bareea tried to console the child, but it was not working; she didn’t need to look up; she could feel the angry gazes on her. Without being told twice, Bareea carried the baby and left the room.
"Mother, we shouldn’t have allowed Kitanna to leave like that; she really looks down on us." Khelan hit the table out of anger.
Almaria shook her head tiredly, "Khelan, can you give it a break? I’m trying to think here."
Deonisia, who was also in the room, stood up from her chair and made her way to the door. Before leaving, she turned to advise Khelan, "For now, just focus on being a father. Leave the court affairs for your mother." The elderly woman pushed the door open and walked out.
Now inside the princess’s quarters, Kitanna sat close to Larel as the room was filled with the sounds of their hearty laugh.
When the laugh finally died down, Kitanna held Larel closely.
"I hope you’re not feeling bad; I an with the extre asures I’m using."
Larel knew exactly what the princess was talking about; it was because she had first attacked Khelan. Even if she still harbored little feelings for Khelan as her husband, but with his different attitudes and lack of responsibility, she was beginning to get tired of trying to see him return to the man she knew him for.
"All I want to ask, was Khelan always like this?" Larel asked.
Kitanna pressed Larel’s hands gently before she said, "Khelan... How do I put it? His right and wrong depend on what the Queen Dowager says. He doesn’t make a decision on his own; I used to overlook it because it was never too serious, but these days I’m sure if the queen dowager tells him killing is the new right, he will follow. There’s a limit where soone’s ignorance is overlooked; if it persists, it is only right to guide the person to the right path."
Larel nodded in agreent to this, "Then I’m not feeling bad. He needs to follow the right path. For the sake of his child, he should make better decisions." The queen said softly.
Kitanna smiled, "I’m glad you understand. The fight has already begun; we should watch our back now." The princess advised, Almaria was known to play dirty, and she’d go any mile to get things to go her way, even if it ans taking a life.
"You promise to let
know about everything soon. Right?" Larel asked. The truth was that the princess had whispered to her that there would be a fight to cleanse bad blood and impostors from the palace, but that was all; she didn’t give her details. But Larel still decided to trust the princess. She didn’t know why, but she felt that urge to confide in Kitanna, as she was the most humane person in the palace, despite her coming off way too strong.
"I promise I’ll tell you soon. Everything might sound strange for now, but trust ; you might even hear things that sound absurd. I’ll explain when the ti is right." Kitanna assured the young woman.
The rumor of the bastard king didn’t settle inside the palace; the ministers caught a whiff about it. And they wrote letters to the royal family seeking proper investigation of the case. Kitanna made sure the rumor did not settle; even when Almaria tried to bribe her way with the ministers, Kitanna added pressure from underground so the case would be thoroughly looked into.
...
Inside the courtroom with all ministers present and mbers of the royal family sitting.
The pri minister, who was an elderly man in his late sixties, tall and slim, was the first to speak on behalf of the other ministers.
"May your reign be forever, King Khelan." The elderly man bowed to the other mbers of the royal family.
"The dirty rumors that have been going on within the palace have finally reached our ears. We let it be thinking it’ll be the king’s opponents who seek to snatch the throne. This type of rumor will make the kingdom unstable, and we will be the target of attacks from enemy kingdoms. Now the ministers will want to hear from the queen dowager; what is this we hear?" After his speech, the pri minister bowed. Walking with his back, he moved back to stand in his position.
Almaria dressed in her best, with her crown sitting pretty on her hair. Held her chin high like she feared nothing; her skin glowed the most. The queen dowager gave out her best smile, seeming very unbothered.
"Greetings to you ministers of the court. I was disappointed when I heard a eting was called because of this case. It doesn’t make sense that Khelan is not the king’s son. Khelan has the blood of King Dunstan Morgair running in his veins," The woman lied with a pretty face.
"I think our concern should be the person who started the rumor. It appears soone is working for the enemy kingdoms, using such atrocious rumors to bring down our defense. We should catch such a person and behead them in front of the villagers. Setting an example to anyone who wishes to try such in the nearest future." Almaria concluded with a sweet smile; she turned and t Deonisia’s eyes who nodded. Then she trailed her gaze to look at Kitanna.
The queen dowager’s eyes t with the mischievous large brown eyes of the devilish princess who mouthed sothing and jerked her head.
Kitanna sitting close to Larel felt soone look at her. And it was Almaria who was feeling triumphant after her heartfelt speech; she jerked her head to the right and mouthed, "Is not over yet." Then the princess grinned and looked away.
Almaria pursed her lips, then she looked to her right. Another minister was now standing at the central aisle waiting for his turn to talk.
Kitanna, knowing the scheming nature of Almaria, did not allow herself to co unprepared. She already had people of her own among the ministers, and the one who was about to speak was one of them.
"Greetings to the royal family, I have been working for King Dunstan until he married, and the queen dowager was not his first...." The minister was cut short because Almaria raised her voice to stop the man.
"The forr king forbade we speak of that! He said it’ll only cause pains to the princess. Let’s respect the wishes of the king." The queen dowager panicked. It was not all the ministers who knew that she was not the first queen; bringing it up will leave her at a disadvantage.
The minister who was still speaking looked at Kitanna, and she signaled him to continue. "The forr king only did that because the princess was young as of that ti. Now she has grown into a strong woman; the question should be if the princess is ready to hear it out here in the court."
All eyes settled on Kitanna, as her words will determine the next thing to happen. Kitanna feeling the spotlight all on her lazily raised her eyes to look at Almaria who held the look of horror on her face. Then she turned to the minister, "I am ready."
Almaria held the resting arm of the chair she was sitting on tightly. Her heart thudding in increasing tone at every passing second.
"I will now continue." The minister bowed, "The queen dowager was not the first wife of the king." This revelation left few of the ministers who were not aware in shock.
Kitanna, who had to act like she was not aware, used her two hands to cover her mouth, and her eyes widened in shock. But there was sothing else in her eyes; it was mirth.
Chantal who now stood close to Nix, as Nix thought it was better to have another person around the princess in tis like this, whispered to Nix.
"She knew already, didn’t she?" And Nix nodded to this; Chantal shook his head. "She is trouble."
After the courtroom cald down, the minister who was speaking continued. "I never heard that King Dunstan had a son until the death of the forr queen. That is why I feel this rumor should be looked into properly." After speaking, the minister bowed, and just like the pri minister did, he moved back to his position.
"This has nothing to do with anything; Khelan was the child the king and I made out of love. It was a forbidden love, but after the death of the forr queen, King Dunstan asked
to beco his wife. It still changes nothing; Khelan is a Morgair." Almaria remarked, glaring at the minister who had spoken last.
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