In the living room within Duke Castilene's residence, the atmosphere was agitated due to the sudden arrival of an important guest from the Neigal Royal family. The one who came and sat opposite Duke Hazell was the king of the Neigal Kingdom, Jonathan Neigal.
"Your Majesty, wouldn't it be better if you told me first before you came to my humble place? I would have prepared a better welcome if I had known you would be visiting. You could have given me a heart attack if you suddenly came like that." Duke Hazell said frantically, and sweat was running down his forehead. He was still shocked by the sudden arrival of King Jonathan. Next to him, a middle-aged beauty had the same expression as him. She was Eleanor, wife of Duke Hazel and Clara's mother.
"Ahaha…you don't have to be so tense, Hazell. We're not in the royal castle. So you can relax a little bit. About my sudden arrival, it's because of my daughter who kept urging me to come here immediately. I would have informed you before my visit if it weren't for that." King Jonathan said casually and then took a sip of the tea served by the maid.
King Jonathan did not visit the place alone. He came along with Princess Iris and Lilith. They were currently in the back garden with Clara and Ziel so as not to interrupt King Jonathan and Duke Hazell's conversation.
"I can't do that. After all, Your Majesty is the king of this kingdom." Duke Hazell shook his head. He couldn't relax in front of a king.
"Haa... All right. Well then, let's talk about my purpose for coming here. You must know that I came here not only to take my daughter to meet her friend, right?" King Jonathan didn't want to stress Duke Hazell even more with long, pointless talks.
"Could this have something to do with the Five Kingdoms Conference?" Duke Hazell could only think of that one possibility if he had to guess the purpose of King Jonathan coming to his residence.
"You are right. Then this conversation will become easier. You should know that the Five Kingdoms Conference requires a king to bring his descendants and several nobles under him, right?" King Jonathan started his explanation.
"I know. A king can't govern the territory of the kingdom alone. That's why in the Five Kingdoms Conference, a descendant of a king and several nobles are needed." Duke Hazell said what he knew about the Five Kingdoms Conference. His knowledge was scanty, considering he had never participated in the event.
"The descendants of the king, be it princes or princesses, participated as they were the ones who would succeed the throne and would bear the responsibilities in the future. They came to the conference to learn and increase their knowledge. The Princesses and Princes can also participate in providing solutions to the problems discussed in the event. Do you know why the nobles participated in that conference?" King Jonathan added an explanation and then asked with a serious face.
"The nobles are the ones who obtain territory and govern it under the king's rule. They were the king's subordinates and people who knew more about matters in a kingdom's territory than the king himself. So their participation is urgently needed to help the king discuss matters at the conference. Is my answer correct, Your Majesty?" Duke Hazell answered hesitantly.
"That's right. I have selected the nobles who will be participating in the Five Kingdoms Conference since two weeks ago. That way, I hope they can better prepare themselves, whether it's about the material we discuss or the solution. I didn't want them to embarrass me at the conference." King Jonathan had secretly selected the nobles who would participate in the Five Kingdoms Conference based on their achievements in the past few years. Therefore he felt at ease participating in the event.
"So what is the problem, Your Majesty?" Duke Hazell became confused by the purpose of King Jonathan coming to him.
If King Jonathan had already chosen the nobles who would participate in the event long ago, it would mean that Duke Hazell wasn't selected because he didn't get any notification from the Neigal Kingdom. So there should be no reason for King Jonathan to bother coming to his residence.
"The problem is that a few days ago, Duke Eldritch informed me that he couldn't participate in the Five Kingdoms Conference because there was a problem in his realm that he had to deal with. After that, I quickly looked for a noble to replace him. But it wasn't easy because, in a few days, the Five Kingdoms Conference would start." King Jonathan sighed heavily and then looked at Duke Hazell.
"Two days ago, my daughter returned from the academy. After learning of my troubles, she proposed you as Duke Eldritch's replacement in the Five Kingdoms Conference. Are you willing to participate in the event, Duke Hazell? I won't force you to participate in the conference if you can't, so you don't need to feel pressured by this invitation as it's not an order." King Jonathan asked seriously. Duke Hazell was the only best option at the moment.
King Jonathan didn't have much time to select other nobles as the Five Kingdoms Conference was only a few days away. Most importantly, he believed in his daughter's words.
King Jonathan remembered when Princess Iris returned to the royal castle. At that time, she was accompanied by a purple-haired girl of her age. That girl was Lilith, who was no less beautiful than her daughter. The thing that surprised King Jonathan and caught his attention was not Lilith but the expression on her daughter.
Since her curse suddenly disappeared, Princess Iris has slowly changed, and King Jonathan is aware of it. But since he rarely saw his daughter, he didn't know how far it had changed. King Jonathan didn't know whether the change was good for her. That's why he intended to find out when they met.
After seeing the smile on Princess Iris's face when she was with her friends, King Jonathan could confirm that the change had a positive effect, and he was pleased about it. The wife of King Jonathan and mother of Princess Iris also felt the same way.
Therefore, King Jonathan quickly agreed when Princess Iris suggested Duke Hazell replace Duke Eldritch from participating in the Five Kingdoms Conference. That was because of Duke Hazell's good track record and achievement. In addition, Clara is a friend of Princess Iris, and their relationship is very close. These two things made it easier for King Jonathan to decide on the replacement of Duke Eldritch in the Five Kingdoms Conference.
Duke Hazell was silent because he couldn't directly answer King Jonathan's invitation. After pondering for a long time, he finally opened his mouth.
"I will gladly accept it, Your Majesty. I will do my best to assist you at the conference. But if I made a mistake there and embarrassed you, please forgive me for my incompetence. That's because this invitation was sudden, and I didn't have much time to prepare." Duke Hazell finally accepted King Jonathan's invitation after much deliberation.
Duke Hazell feared offending the king who had come all the way to invite him. Apart from that, he also wanted to try participating in the conference and meeting nobles from other kingdoms.
"Hahaha... good! Then it would be best if you prepared yourself now since we are leaving today. The Five Kingdoms Conference would start in three days, and it would take one to two days to get to the Aurelia Kingdom by magic train. But before that, we will pick up the other nobles also participating in the conference. They were currently waiting at the royal castle. Ah, you can invite your family to this event." After hearing Duke Hazell's answer, King Jonathan was relieved that his long trip had not been in vain.
"Now?" Duke Hazell was dumbfounded. He didn't think that they would leave at that very moment.
"Of course! We don't have much time left. If we leave tomorrow, I'm afraid we'll be late for the Five Kingdoms Conference." King Jonathan still had to return to the royal castle to pick up the nobles and their families who had gathered there. They will depart for the Aurelia Kingdom together from the Neigal Kingdom castle.
"I understand! In that case, I will take my leave to prepare myself, Your Majesty." Duke Hazell immediately got up from his seat and went to his study room to prepare the files he would bring.
Meanwhile, Eleanor went to their room to pack clothes and other supplies they might need there. Before that, Eleanor asked Raven to take care of other matters, informed Clara about it, and told her to prepare herself.
After Duke Hazell and his wife left the living room, only King Jonathan and his aide remained. He keeps staring at the back garden of the residence.
"Please keep an eye on the butler of Duke Hazell's daughter. I sensed that Iris had been staring at him since coming here. If you see anything suspicious, report it to me immediately." King Jonathan's face turned serious. He noticed that Princess Iris had been glancing at Ziel secretly since arriving at Duke Hazell's residence. King Jonathan fears that his daughter will fall in love with a butler. Therefore, he asked his aide to keep an eye on Ziel.
"I understand, Your Majesty!" The aide answered firmly, and his body disappeared into the shadows beneath his feet.
"I won't let a mere butler get near my daughter! Before Iris truly falls in love with him, I must immediately act and eliminate him. I'm sure Duke Hazell can understand and won't mind the death of a butler." King Jonathan stared intently at the back garden. His eyes gleamed and seemed to be able to penetrate anything in his path.
Clara happily enjoyed her tea and snacks in the garden behind the mansion. She wasn't alone there because Princess Iris and Lilith were sitting with her.
"I didn't expect you to come here, Iris, Lilith!" Clara chirped.
"I also didn't think that we could meet again so soon." Lilith smiled wryly at Clara's enthusiasm.
"Our meeting is just a bonus. My main purpose in coming here is to accompany my father to meet your father." Princess Iris smiled and glanced at Ziel, who came to them carrying a trolley filled with tea and snacks.
"Here is your tea, Princess Iris, Lilith." Ziel placed the teacup on the table in front of Princess Iris and Lilith.
"Ziel, didn't I say that you don't need to use honorifics when there are no outsiders among us?" Princess Iris pouted and felt uncomfortable with Ziel's treatment of her.
Clara was also confused by Ziel's attitude towards Princess Iris. Usually, Ziel would call Princess Iris by her name only when there were no outsiders among them. But right now, he instead used formality and manners when dealing with the royal family. When Clara wanted to complain to Ziel, Lilith's words interrupted her.
"Please don't misunderstand. It's not that Ziel doesn't want to call you just by your name but because he can't do it right now." Lilith explained to Clara and Princess Iris.
Ziel didn't stop Lilith from explaining that to the two girls. After bringing tea and snacks to the table, Ziel left the place and returned to the mansion with the trolley he had brought earlier. Princess Iris was about to stop him, but Lilith's following words stopped her.
"You better not get too close with Ziel for now." Lilith knew what Princess Iris wanted to do.
"Why is that? Then what did you mean earlier about him not being able to treat me as usual right now?" Princess Iris frowned in confusion.
"Someone is hiding somewhere around this garden and secretly watching Ziel. If I'm not mistaken, this person is your father's aide. So you should understand the purpose of that person coming here, right?" Lilith spoke nonchalantly. After sensing someone was spying on them, she quickly created a barrier around them. Therefore she was not afraid that the other party would overhear their conversation.
"What!?" Clara and Princess Iris were shocked and almost stood up from their seats. Luckily Lilith quickly stopped them. The two girls looked around for the person Lilith was referring to.
"If you do that, then that person will know that you are aware of his existence. So you better pretend nothing happened." Lilith sighed and warned them.
"Oh, I see." Princess Iris and Clara quickly realized their carelessness.
"What was my father thinking by sending his aide to watch over me!?" Princess Iris gritted her teeth in annoyance.
"I think he did it because he was worried about you. So you don't have to think about that." Lilith gave her opinion.
"She's right." Clara nodded in agreement.
"But…" Princess Iris wanted to voice her objection, but the words stuck in her throat after hearing the sound of footsteps approaching them.
The one who came to them was Raven. He immediately said his purpose and asked Clara to prepare herself because they were leaving today. Clara frantically got up from her seat and ran into the mansion, leaving Princess Iris and Lilith behind. The two girls smile wryly at Clara's behavior.
After their preparations were complete, Duke Hazell's family, including Ziel, were already inside the magic train as they were about to depart. The magic train slowly moved and headed towards the Neigal Kingdom's castle to pick up the other nobles. They would only stay there briefly and then depart for their primary destination, the Aurelia Kingdom, where the Five Kingdoms Conference was held.
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