An opulent and distinguished place with a noble atmosphere.

Huge braziers were attached to one side of each of the twelve onyx columns, lighting up every part of the hall and covered the room in warm oranges and dancing shadows. The countless gems on the rounded ceiling danced in the flickering light while memorials looked down upon the marbled floor of this royal hall.

An onyx rug ran in a circle around the room, with two paths at the throne and the main entrance while guidon banners with emblazoned tracery covered parts of the walls. Between each banner hung a torch, all but a few had been lit and in turn illuminated the artistic portrayals of late royal family members below them.

Slim windows were framed by veils colored the same onyx as the banners. The curtains had been adorned with fine patterns and gold leaves.

A ceremonious throne of obsidian sat in front of a large window radiating light onto the throne and was adjoined by two smaller and less elaborate seats for visiting royalty of other nations.

The throne was covered in intricate illustrations and fixed on each of the stubby legs was a gilded head of a legendary creature. The thin pillows were a dark onyx and these too had been adorned with gilded quilting.

Directly behind the throne, at this moment stood a man. He was more than 180cm tall with a strong yet slender build and his entire person seemed to exude an air of dominance and majesty.

Facing the sunlight coming through the window, the golden glow lit up the side of his face and enhanced his handsome side profile that was like a work of art from the hands of the gods themselves yet the shadow cast by his long eyelashes gave a sorrowful and deeply melancholic feeling that was enough to break the heart of any onlooker. His pair of grey pupils hidden under his hooded eyelids were like two black holes in space that sucked in every ounce of light and left them dark and vacant without the slightest sign of life.

At this moment the two large doors at the back of the hall swung slightly open with loud creaking sounds as the great oak slabs weighed on their metal hinges and a young chamberlain entered.

“I remember asking to be left alone.”

The voice that rang in the hall was like a toll from the heavens itself. It was deep and dignified but also a little gloomy and on any normal day would cause one to feel reverence and a need to worship this distinguished person, but as of late, this voice had come to be a source of terror.

Bowing to that hazy god-like figure beyond the throne, the chamberlain’s whole body was shaking as he felt very pitiful. His heart thundered in his chest and his breath seemed to seize as his whole body shook while recalling the two senior chamberlains and several servants who had been beheaded in this very hall within this past month for various reasons, but then he also recalled the identity of the person standing outside and he truly wanted to cry as he felt that he could neither advance nor retreat without suffering injury.

In the end he could only grit his teeth and announce what he had come to say, “Lady Rand seeks an audience with Your Majesty.”

The young chamberlain almost collapsed on the spot after uttering that sentence and felt that he had seen his short life of ten plus years flash before his eyes.

In the last month, anything pertaining to Ivy Manor and the person who lived there had become taboo within the palace and Lady Rand was that woman’s own personal maid servant.

He could feel his death approaching, yet even after a long time he heard no response and when he reached out to feel, his head was still very much attached to his neck. It was only then that the young chamberlain found a little courage to raise his head and look upon the dignified person who had come around at some unknown time to sit upon the obsidian throne.

The seat of the throne was wide so that a second person could even be seated comfortably on it, yet the majestic presence of that person seemed to make the whole world around him seem small and insignificant. He slightly reclined into the seat and a hint of sorrow could be gleaned from his posture as he flipped a crude silver bracelet over in his hand, his fingers caressing its dull surface with tenderness as one would to a lover.

Except for this action of slipping the bracelet through his fingers, he remained still and absolutely unmoving. Like an exquisite stone statue that could steal the hearts of men with a single glance, he didn't move for an unknown amount of time before he suddenly raised his head, his gloomy grey eyes locking onto the young chamberlain and making him shudder.

“Send her in.”

“Yes Your Majesty.”

Receiving his orders, the young chamberlain didn’t dare to delay, swiftly turning around to leave and stumbling in his haste as though he was escaping death.

It wasn’t long after the chamberlain had left the hall when another figure walked through the open doors, but unlike the chamberlain’s quick and urgent, flustered footsteps, this person’s steps were slow, steady and crisp against the marble floor and when they stepped onto the padded carpet, although muffled, those steps still sounded clear and dignified.

“This loyal subject greets Your Majesty. May you reach the point of radiance.”

Dressed in a plain, dark blue maid’s dress, the woman’s conduct was respectful and in line with all codes of conduct when facing the ruler of a kingdom, yet not a shred of reverence could be felt in that kneeling posture. Looking down on her, the man on the throne had a look of ridicule flash through his eyes.

“You may rise.”

With permission, the woman slowly stood up and as her body that had been curved straightened out, it revealed a point that had been missed earlier as the king had not been paying attention when she entered the room.

The silver bracelet slipped from his fingers, falling to the ground and rolling down the steps, along the regal carpet, silently without a sound and coming to a stop as it knocked into the woman’s shoe, lying there silently.

The woman did not speak as she watched the king whose shocked expression slowly morphed into anger before he pointed at the child in her arms and shouted, “Hannah Rand! Exactly what is your meaning by bringing this here?! Are you asking to be executed?!”

The thunderous roar caused the very room to shake and the flames of the torches on the walls flared like they had been doused with oil, flickering wildly yet the woman showed no visible change in her expression as she continued to watch the agitated king coolly as though she had done nothing wrong and replied,

“Your Majesty has greatly over exaggerated; this subject has no intentions of dying.”

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“Yet your gall seems to indicate otherwise.” The words were spat out through his teeth. “Have I not made it absolutely clear that I refuse to see him?”

Anger and hatred were most prominent in his gaze as the king looked down at the child in Hannah’s arms who had silently woken up at some point as though he were looking at an enemy and sorrow slowly seeped into that gaze.

“If it were not for this child, my Sophia…”

“Surely, Your Majesty must be joking.” Hannah was quick to interrupt. “You couldn’t possibly be thinking to shift such heavy blame unto a child who is barely a month old.”

Abruptly, a surging aura of anger burst forth from her neat and petite body that was quite frightening and it caused even the king to feel apprehensive and suffocated.

“May I ask exactly who was the person that relentlessly chased after My Lady asking for her hand in marriage despite being rejected time and again? Who was the one that took advantage of My Lady’s desperate time and forced her to live in this rotten place, spreading lies and rumors and cutting off her freedom to fulfill their own selfish desires? And for exactly whose sake was it that My Lady decided to go through with this pregnancy despite her body’s poor condition?”

Hannah was livid and her every question was like a poisonous knife being driven into the king’s heart.

“You treated My Lady in such a way and it will forever be a mystery to me exactly why she came to love you, yet she did. She loved you to the point that she sacrificed herself to bring your own flesh and blood into this world and in the end, you still have the nerve to look down upon this very child and blame him for My Lady’s death? Wendelin Beaumeister, I have truly become disgusted with you for the last time.”

All pretenses of a ruler and subject were discarded at this moment and she even dared to call the king by his name, yet King Wendelin could not bring himself to be angry or refute her words because it was in fact the truth.

The death of his beloved, was it not all due to his selfishness?

He could still recall how frightened she was when the first glow of a life appeared within her. She had wanted to call a priest and send the child right back into the Goddess’s arms or at least find him a better mother, but he had refused. He had wanted her to be the mother of his child more than anything else and now that she had died to fulfill that request, he truly wanted to blame this child that she had painstakingly brought into the world?

At this moment, the handsome and powerful great king of the western kingdoms had completely vanished and what was left was only a man with regrets. In an instant he became haggard and worn as though the world had left him without any hope.

He looked at the child that he had refused to see for the past month and what he saw was a pair of familiar grey eyes staring back at him on a strange little face that held no expression. He couldn’t find even a trace of his beloved Sophia in those features and instead all he saw was a perfect replica of himself.

He could no longer sit upright and collapsed weakly into the throne.

“What do you want?” he asked Hannah like a man who had exhausted all options.

“It has been a month since his birth yet My Prince is still without a proper name to be called. I ask Your Majesty to give My Prince a name.”

It was unknown if seeing the king look so utterly defeated had softened her heart, but Hannah had once again put on a look of a subject as she addressed him, causing the king to sigh.

“Don’t. Stop.” He waved his hand weakly while standing up from the throne and walked down. “Between you and I, there is no need for pretenses.”

“I have never once pretended in front of Your Majesty from the first moment that we met and I have no intentions of doing so in the future. However, as a citizen of this country it is only right that I see the Great King with at least this much etiquette. But I assure you that if Your Majesty is ever in need of a person to knock you off your high horse, I will gladly avail myself.”

There was some semblance of laughter in Hannah’s last sentence that helped to lighten the mood and a small arc curved the corner of the king’s mouth before he looked down at the child she held in her arms.

In the time when his beloved was pregnant, there were few days that the king did not spend on his knees with his ear pressed against her stomach listening to the small life thriving inside and feeling the warmth of his light and he had greatly anticipated the birth of this child.

He looked forward to when he would hear his first cries and hold him after he was born, yet when the time came it had only been a tragedy from his worst nightmare and now that he was looking at this child properly for the first time, an entire month had already passed.

“Is he always this quiet?”

Although he was only a baby, somehow the king found the child’s stare to be quite focused and piercing, making him uncomfortable and he couldn’t help asking.

“Except for the moment he was born My Prince has never cried once and he is incredibly intelligent. In the past month we have already developed a method of communicating.”

“Is that true?”

“I would never lie to Your Majesty.”

Looking at Hannah’s offended look, the king knew that she wasn’t joking and he looked at the child in her arms again, this time, his gaze becoming gentle. Indeed, even if he didn’t look like her, this was definitely the child of his beloved. How could he be an ordinary child?

“He must have the spirit of a king.”

King Wendelin said this and he saw the baby’s eyes widened, causing him to look quite cute and his heart that he had hardened in the past month softened even further.

His hands by his sides suddenly itched with the desire to reach out and hold him, but the child looked so small and frail that an odd fear sprung up in his heart and suppressed it. Instead, he only reached out to lightly touch the small face and the soft, fragile feeling of the infant’s skin under his rough palm only caused that fear to grow.

King Wendelin had seven consorts in his palace and this number was still expected to grow in the future.

Together, these seven women had borne him fifteen children but none of these women had been brought in by him and had instead been sent into the palace for political reasons weather by the nobles of his own kingdom or any of the other kingdoms in the country. Even his marriage to his rightful wife, the Queen was an arranged marriage and sleeping with those women was nothing more than a royal obligation in his eyes.

The only woman King Wendelin had ever loved and pursued was Lady Sophia. The only woman whose child’s birth had been so greatly anticipated by him was Lady Sophia’s. Never had this king held any of his children before when they were this small and now that he truly wanted to, he was terrified of hurting him especially with the significance this particular child held. He had never known that babies could be this fragile.

“What name will Your Majesty give My Prince?”

The king who had shortly fallen into shock was woken up by Hannah’s voice and he thought for a while before asking in a slightly hoarse voice, “How did she call out to him?”

It was no mystery as to who the ‘she’ the king referred to was. Hannah replied.

“My Lady passed on the very moment that the prince was born and she was not able to call out to him.”

“Is that so.” King Wendelin closed his eyes in a seemingly pained manner and it was as though he could once again see that lovely visage sitting on the stone bench in the ivy covered pavilion on the lake with the hundreds of apple blossoms raining down around her.

“Then I shall give Hersheik to be his name with Roland as his seconder.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

There was an obvious note of relief in Hannah’s voice and she smiled at the infant nestled in her arms. “Isn’t that good Your Highness? You’ve been given a name.”

In fact, Hannah was quite happy about this. Although it was only somewhat of a superstitious belief that being given a name by their fathers would bring a child good luck, it was a fact that a child being named by their father, especially among royals and nobility, was a sign of favor.

Lady Sophia’s reputation was something that could only be utilized outside. Here, inside these palace walls, the little prince didn’t have any standing to speak of and as the king’s twelfth son he was far in line for succeeding the throne. Without King Wendelin’s support, he would surely be pecked on by just about any wild dog or fowl off the side of the path and possibly be killed off before he became old enough to protect himself but this name would make a difference.

He was named ‘Hersheik’ by the king and not only that, but he was also given a seconder.

It was more common for princesses to be given second and third names and even fourth names as they were treasures to ensure the wellbeing of a kingdom but between princes, if ten were born then it would be a miracle to see two alive by the time the throne succession was over, they were often only given one name, but King Wendelin had given Hersheik another name. Hannah was very satisfied.

That very evening, a message was sent out to the entire kingdom that the king had given a name to the recently born twelfth prince and he would from henceforth be known as Hersheik Roland of the Beaumeister kingdom.

Many people celebrated that the child of the much beloved Lady Sophia was in favor with the king and some even went to the temples and churches, lifting up his name to be blessed before the Goddess; everyone was in jubilation.

Everyone that is, except for the person himself…..