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Loriel\'s gaze swept through the crowd, checking the visible reactions of the crowd. Everyone seemed excited by the news and supportive of his upcoming nuptials. It was expected.

The king cleared his throat and continued his explanation.

"Six years after I was born, a princess was born in Myreen and thus started the betrothal between the two of us. Today, I present to you, my trusted officials, Princess Elise Leoralei, my bride-to-be, the future queen of Summeria."

The entire throne room was filled with the sound of cheers and applause and a celebration immediately formed around them. This was it. A confirmation that the king of Summeria was not going to be a childless king and end the kingdom\'s reign!

This was the heart of concern for many of the officials and their worries were assuaged at last at the presence of the beautiful soon-to-be queen of Summeria. Many of them were immediately taken by the beauty of Elise and relaxed at last.

King Loriel and Queen Elise would have several babies, that much they were assured of. The Ashborns would have its heir and spares.

It was impossible for the king to not be physically attracted to someone as stunning as the princess of Myreen. They were both beautiful people. The audience couldn\'t wait to see their offsprings in the future.

Even those who might have wanted to put forward questions about having concubines were now a little bit hesitant when they saw how much like a beautiful faerie the queen of Summeria would be.

Not everyone was completely pleased, though.

A lady was soon joined by her father amongst the crowd as everyone broke off to intermingle with one another. It was a joyous day and the king even made the royal dining hall be open for a banquet unlike any other.

This was just the beginning.

Loriel let go of Elise\'s hand and spoke to her politely. "I will now be introducing you personally one by one to each of the officials of the kingdom of Summeria. Do not tire or faint while you are with me."

"Of course not, Loriel!" Elise shook her head and reassured him with a smile.

"Alright," Loriel grunted. The king shoved his hand into his pockets and tried not to think about how her skin felt incredibly silky and smooth like fine satin. 

This was just another indication to Loriel that Elise was spoiled and never had to lift a hand… even though Elise actually prepared him a meal that was actually delicious.

The two conflicting ideas annoyed the king.

Loriel still thought of the princess of Myreen as a weak woman. Almost everything of Elise\'s gentle and meek appearance seemed to indicate that way and so Loriel assumed it to be like that.

"Let us go," he said.

The two of them descended from the throne\'s platform and soon met and thanked those who joined them for this hour.  It was an important occasion that everyone who held a position in the kingdom was actually required to attend because Loriel did not want to do this twice.

"Your Majesty!" Out from the crowd, a certain man distinguished and dressed more differently than others around the crowd quickly bowed closer and approached Loriel. Right behind him was a younger and beautiful lady in tow.

It did not escape Elise\'s attention at all.

Loriel was the same for a different reason entirely as he recognized the older man and his daughter. This was a good opportunity to introduce Elise.

"Ah, Duke Lance Goodwin. It is good to see you," Loriel nodded in acknowledgement and shook hands with the man. 

Elise wasn\'t paying much attention as opposed to the lady behind the duke. This was the person she saw that was staring at Loriel amidst the declaration.

Loriel glanced in Elise\'s direction. "Elise, this is my prime minister, and he is the head among those who manage the affairs of the kingdom for me."

"A-ah, it is a pleasure meeting you, Duke Goodwin." Elise smiled and curtseyed respectfully. It was really important for her to make a good impression and get along well with Loriel\'s people. 

"It is an honour to meet the future queen of Summeria, may the sun always be glorified," the older man politely nodded and then gestured behind him. "I would also like to introduce my daughter, Lady Rose Goodwin. I hope that she will be a valuable companion to the future queen."

"My name is Lady Rose Goodwin, it will be an honour to serve as a valuable aide to the princess of Myreen." The lady curtseyed back respectfully and gracefully.

Elise didn\'t know what to say for a moment. The beautiful lady was the daughter of the prime minister? Why did she look displeased when Loriel announced Eliseas his bride-to-be?

Even Loriel was surprised. 

"Duke Lance? What is the meaning of this?" Loriel glanced in the direction of the older man. Although he wasn\'t surprised that the man would immediately try to make a move that concerned the kingdom affairs. He had not talked to the prime minister about making his daughter as one of Elise\'s ladies in waiting.

Duke Lance Goodwin cleared his throat. 

"It may be a bit too forward of me, Your Grace. But is it not customary that any distinguished noble lady, especially the future queen will have several ladies-in-waiting that attend to them?"

"That is true, but…" Loriel frowned slightly. 

Elise tried to keep herself calm and hoped that Loriel would take it as something that was really improper. Barely meeting each other but already thrusting someone to wait on Elise? 

This was suspicious.

"I was not aware that Lady Rose would be willing to take on such a position. Besides the queen dowager, the future queen of the kingdom, and… even my sisters, the princesses, Lady Rose is the next-highest ranked lady in the kingdom," Loriel said.

"It makes me the most suitable one, doesn\'t it?" Lady Rose raised a brow and then smiled. "Who else could take on the opportunity of serving the queen other than the daughter of the duke?"

Loriel sighed inwardly. "I assumed that you would have the aspirations to take after the head of the house, Lady Rose."

"Of course, I am still vying for that position, this will be a good step in that direction." Lady Rose nodded and smiled politely. "My goals have not changed at all since we\'ve met each other as kids, Max...er, Your Grace."

Elise blinked at the indication of a close kinship between Loriel and this Lady Rose. The way that they talked and even addressed each other really showed that they were close and were probably childhood friends.

Didn\'t she almost call Loriel by \'Maxim\'? Queen Maude said that it was Loriel\'s childhood name and only people closest to him since he was young who still addressed him with that name.

So, was Loriel still close to Lady Rose that she felt so comfortable using his other name, the name that Loriel told Elise not to use?

Elise bit her lip and tried to get rid of the feeling of jealousy that started brooding in her heart.

She hated that name because of what it was associated with, and the fact that Loriel didn\'t want her to use it around him.

.

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***********

From Missrealitybites:

This is actually the reason by Elise prefered to call Loriel by honorifics. She wanted to call him by his childhood name, but he didn\'t seem to like it.

Also, you know what you sign up for when you continue reading this story despite knowing from the beginning that Loriel in the past was a selfish jerk. So, the more we go deeper into the past, the more you probably hate him and want to smack him senseless...

Please, just remember that he was a changed man and he was punished so hard for so long...

PS: I will publish another chapter today (so you\'ll get three, yeay!) after I publish the chapters for TCP. xx