A day after Idris went home, the presence of their beloved emperor is nowhere in their manor but they received a letter in that very morning, in the first part of the emperor's letter, he sent his regards and condolences for Idris about the duke and the second part was all about his investiture, the imperial majesty even apologized about bringing it up so soon even though he's grieving, Idris was touched and he completely understand that, a duke is such a high position, they cannot delay his inauguration because someone must fulfill the duke's duties and title to manage their land or region well. Even King Roy received a letter from the emperor about the passing of the title, he wasted no time, and held a quick meeting with the elders who visited the wake of the late duke, all agreed, of course, no one dare to defy the imperial majesty to the king, besides all of them agreed about Idris receiving the duke title, as he is the only son of the grace and his skills are unmatchable just like his late father. And in the last part of the letter, the man indicated that he already sent half of his men to investigate and hunt those criminals in the four regions.
After reading the man's letter, he instantly formulated his own, writing how thankful he is and that he understand the emperor's sentiment about his position, he handed it to James so the man could give it to a messenger, after that, he went downstairs and started to greet and talk to some nobles who went in their manor for his father's wake, he nodded to King Terry when he saw the man while calming his crying wife beside his father's casket, their older son is, as usual, looking so unsociable behind his parents while the twins are crying while holding the legs of their older brother who doesn't even care about their wet and snotty face.
Idris turned his head to greet more nobles who're walking inside the hall and was surprised to see the Queen from the East, the tension in their hall quickly risen and most eyes of the arrogant nobles went to their direction, Idris lost the expression on his face, he maintain his blank stare while the queen is uncomfortably walking towards them, "Queen Adela Hilti of Mermolt from the East has arrived!" a faint announcement from one his men declared.
The queen obviously looks unwell, her bright face and soft face's gone, she looks exhausted, the dark circles under her eyes are visible, her nose is red, her lips are pale, and the unshed tears didn't escape from the eyes of the people.
"Queen Adela, it's nice to see you here, your majesty." King Roy greeted.
King Terry walked towards them and greeted the queen as well before glancing at his wife on the under corner being comforted by their sons.
The queen's attendant and the Duchess Olivia Jones lowered their heads when they met Idris' gaze.
"B-both of us are in deep commiseration, my lord." Queen Adela whispered when she successfully sat beside Idris.
Idris didn't reply, he was busy staring at the queen's stomach suspiciously, the lady's tummy's bloated, is this stress eating or what? The young lord wondered, he looked away so he could brush off his thoughts to stop making himself nervous by non-sense ideas that came up in his head.
Idris' thought the commotion would die down after the queen sat on her seat, but it got worse when King Balder Eurman entered the hall with his two underlings behind him.
"Condolences, my lord. Our empire lost another great leader. The duke surely left a legacy to the people." the king started, Idris nodded and glanced at the two middle aged men behind the king, "Ah of course, my lord these are my men, Duke Neil Brown, and Marquess Benjamin Algia, they tag along since them and your father shared some duties before."
Idris gave a light nod and extended his hand, "It was nice to meet you, my lord." he greeted and shook hands with the marquess who gave him a smile.
He turned to the other person and extended his hand as well, "Nice to meet you, your grace." the heavy hand of the duke enveloped his and squeezed it a little, his forehead crest when he noticed that the man does not have a plan to let go of his, Idris' was about to excuse himself when someone spoke behind him, "Pardon my impudence but the lord seems uncomfortable, your grace. Please let me guide you to your respective seats' gentlemen." a deep, chilling voice of a man boomed behind him causing the people to turn their heads at the dashing tall man who's wearing a plain cloth just like the other servants.
The duke smirked, "Of course, I apologized, I was just engrossed by our future duke here."
Rufus' guided the three but the king stopped when he saw Queen Adela, he started to open his eyes and the queen was starting to get pissed the king, most people saw their silent argument and started to murmur when the saw how the queen stood from her seat aggressively, her attendant and her duchess' attentively back up the queen and so the king's underlings, the tension between the two rulers risen, King Roy and King Terry instantly went to the two other rulers direction when they saw how the duchess held the corner of her sword that was tugged around her waist, Idris' gasped when he realized that the duchess was a well-known fighter, well, most noble from the east are fighters since they're kingdom is lacking of guy rulers or men with titles, women decided to train themselves most undergone being a dame.
The two other kings successfully parted the two groups and King Eurman walked towards him, "I'm sorry for the little trouble I made, my lord. I'll send some items for compensation."
"No, it's fine, your majesty. No need for compensation."
The king nodded and gave him a lopsided smile, "I should get going now my lord, me and my men have an important event to attend to."
"Farewell, your majesty. Please be careful on your way."
When he saw the king walk away, he silently walked to the queen, "Are you well, your majesty?"
"Y-yes, my lord. I apologize for that... earlier." The queen stared at him with hopeful eyes, looking like the woman wanted to say something to him.
But Idris being Idris, he didn't bother to ask not because of shyness but because he's terrified to know if the rumors are true. He's too scared to listen to the queen's confirmation.
YOU ARE READING
Royal Thief
General FictionPREQUEL | BL Alone in his huge room, no people roaming in the dark alley, not enough good guards guarding their manor. Soon to be Duke, Lord Idris Gastrell was left alone that night. His father took almost all the guards from their household for a t...
