Chills went down Irene's spine as soon as her eyes met the King's, and she trembled visibly. Though petrified, her eyes did not move away from the blood-red irises that seemed to sparkle in the night light. Irene was sucked into those terrifyingly menacing orbs, compelling her mind to succumb to to the powerful man.

Irene had never felt anything like this before, not when she was awake and sane, at least. This feeling of compulsion and pull was similar to how she had felt in her dream when she stood in front of the mysterious castle. It was forcing her to take a step toward him even though she knew about the dangers that lay ahead.

She gaped at the man, her eyes dilating in worry. She was weirdly attracted to him and Irene had no idea why she felt this way. Her mind was a jumbled mess while her heart had stopped speaking to her or even sending signals, leaving her to face her dilemma alone.

Like Irene, the King kept staring at her until his lips rose to one side. But immediately after, his smirk vanished.

'Did he just smirk at me?' Irene wondered, blinking at him in confusion. However, his expression was reticent, and she could not make out much in the dark. Yet, somewhere she had an intuition that the man seemed pleased for reasons she could not discern.

Irene snapped out of her thoughts as soon as the King sat on his throne, and immediately after, she even came out of her trance. It was as though all that had happened a few moments ago was just her dream, her imagination. Her lips parted in shock as she stared at the man on the throne. However, not once did he turn towards her, much to her relief and her misery at the same time.

As soon as the King sat on the majestic throne, the other people in the front took their seats while the crowd at the back continued standing, excited to see the most powerful man of the kingdom before them. Everyone concentrated on the man, whose face Irene was desperate to see. Even though half of his face was covered, Irene could make out his handsome and charming features.

'Why do I find the King familiar? There are intimidating yet savvy vibes around him, as though I have met him before. Why is that so?' She wondered before she narrowed her gaze. But even after thinking for long, Irene could not come up with anything. Eventually, she gave up thinking and focused on the ceremony while keeping an eye on the mystical man at the same time.

In her distraction, Irene completely missed the smile that had escaped the King's lips again. Only the man beside the King realized the difference in him, and he wondered if he was hallucinating things now. This was one of the rare moments when he had seen His Majesty smile with such gentleness, which only he knew about.

Sensing his trusted man's gaze on him, Kieran immediately turned towards him, startling him with his action. Though the man could not see the King's expression behind the mask, he was sure his King was raising an eyebrow at him in amusement. Flustered, he immediately averted his gaze away from him.

Irene witnessed all that had happened between the two, and she wondered what secret conversation they were sharing before her father took her attention away from them.

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"Sylvaine, His Majesty will address the crowd gathered here before he lights the cauldron. Let me warn you before itself that the fire in the cauldron will be anything but normal. So, brace yourself to be amazed."

The old Duke's excitement made Irene laugh, and she shook her head in helplessness. Just as he had said, once the crowd settled, the King stood up, his formidable and domineering aura spreading everywhere like fire. There was complete silence in the area. Except for the breeze that blew past the trees, rustling the leaves with it, no other sound was heard. The King had captured his audience without doing anything.

"People of Rothnia, we are gathered here to begin the Mid Autumn Festival ceremony." Even his voice was intimidating to Irene.

"Unlike the previous years, this year, we are bound to experience a change and as to what the change is, you will find out soon." The King started, darting a glance at his audience before he settled on Irene, making her heart thump wildly in apprehension.

"I, Kieran Allendale, the King of Rothnia, announce the start of the Mid Autumn Festival." Kieran spread his arms, and the moment he did so, the lights in the lanterns hung around the pavilion started to burn brighter than before.

Irene's jaw dropped, and she could not believe what she saw. It was as though she had been transported to a magical world with the way the lanterns had started to burn bright. A chuckle from beside her brought her out of her reverie, and she turned towards her father, who was laughing at her softly. Her baffled look did not leave her face, showing everyone how blown away she had been by the turn of events. It sure was astonishing yet fearsome.

As surprised as she was by what had happened, Irene was also frightened. She was terrified of the man who suddenly looked nothing less than a demon. Cold sweat trickled down her back, and she had the sudden urge to run away from the place, from him. He screamed of danger and compulsion. But something in her told her that he would never hurt her, not her, at least.

Kieran stayed in his spot until the lanterns returned to normal. "It is now time to light the festival torch." His lips curved up as he made his way toward the cauldron. Again, the crowd stood up as they waited for their King to reach the gigantic cauldron.

Irene watched the man from where she was, her forehead marring with a frown. 'Why do I have a premonition suddenly?' She patted her chest softly, trying to ease the uneasiness in her heart. But it only grew more as seconds passed. With a restless heart, she watched the King stand before the cauldron and pick up the knife she had not noticed before. Piercing it across his palm, he allowed his blood to fall inside and with one snap of his finger, tall flames of fire emerged from it.

But that did not surprise the people of Rothnia, unlike Irene, who was flabbergasted and spooked to see what had happened. Instead, the color of fire stunned everyone, including Duke Seymour. Instead of the usual yellow-orange color, the fire was burning bright red with slight shades of purple.

Irene could not decipher what her emotions were. She was too lost and mortified to speak a word, and even more so when she saw the man behind the flame. Previously, he had looked demonic when the lanterns had flickered behind him. But now, with the large flames shooting up in front of him, he resembled the devil, utterly sinister, enigmatic, and daunting.

Whispers erupted everywhere, which Irene wholly ignored. Instead, she focused all her attention on the King, who was reveling in joy. His gaze soon fell on her, smiling at her in happiness briefly for a moment. He walked back to his throne, standing in front of the crowd with full authority.

"People of Rothnia, I, Kieran Allendale, would like to announce." Silence ensued again, and Kieran settled his eyes on Irene. "That we have finally found our Queen."