First Arc (King of Euphorion) – 27. Her Shadow

Cley noticed their displeased expressions and quickly stopped his laughter.
"Forgive my impudence. I will wait outside." Then he gave a quick bow and walked towards the door.

Cley just took a couple of steps when Angel's voice stopped him.
"Cley, do you think you can escape from your punishment?" he said in annoyance.

Instantly, Cley stiffened, he took a deep breath, preparing to get his sentence and turned to face him.
"No..."

He gave the list to Cley.
"You are in charge of arranging my appointments with them. Each one has five to ten minutes to meet me. We'll start next week after we return from Pearl Gate City."

Cley took the list from his hand and read it. His eyes widened in surprise, at least there were more than fifty names on it. He looked at Angel with a pleading look, begging not to punish him or at least lighten his sentence.

"Or do you want to make a copy of the Kingdom of Euphorion's history books?" he added.

Cley quickly shook his head, he remembered the book consisted of four big books and three attachments that were more suitable to be called a book than an attachment. It took more than a whole month to copy all of it.
"I will gladly arrange a schedule for you, Your Majesty, " he said as he blamed himself in his thoughts.

"Five to ten minutes is not enough to know each other, Your Majesty," said Chancellor Allan.

"If I'm interested in one of them I'll ask Cley to arrange our next meeting. Is that fair enough?" he said in a casual tone. Even though he knew he had to choose a queen immediately, women were the last thing in his mind.

Chancellor Allan sighed in objection, but he finally agreed. Five to ten minutes was better than nothing.
"Alright. Regarding the list of military leaders, I will send them after you return from Pearl Gate City. I'm still lacking some information. "

"I'll be waiting for your report."

"Then I'll excuse myself." Chancellor Allan bowed and left.

The door just closed when Claire suddenly asked him.
"Your Majesty, may I ask you something?"

"Say it," he said, his hand taking another document.

"Are you not married yet because you are waiting for Lady Belle? I heard she will turn twenty-one in a few months ."

He lowered the document on his hand and turned his gaze to Claire.
"Where did you hear that news from?"

"Erm... From ..." Claire glanced at Cley for help but he pretended didn't notice her and looked away, he didn't want to add his punishment.

"Is it a rumour spreading at Luminus City now?" he guessed.

"Er... Yes..." she answered awkwardly.

"Then tell them that isn't true. I'm not waiting for anyone," he said coldly. Then his eyes returned to the document before him.

"Your Majesty, have you never been in love?" asked Claire again. His cold answer made her curious.

He stiffened after hearing Claire's question. His eyes remained on the document but his mind drifted away when he remembered an elegant-looking woman with dark red hair and purple eyes. But he quickly shook his thoughts away since he knew there was nothing more stupid than his love story. He could remember how stupid he was when he fell in love with an unknown woman despite they only met each other for a few hours. And to make it worse, he still couldn't get her out of his mind for five years.
'I even didn't know her name. Besides, she was just playing with me... I should stop thinking about her.'
"No," he answered simply without glancing at them.

Claire responded with a disappointed expression, but her curiosity prompted her to ask again. She almost opened her mouth to ask another question.

But he quickly averted their conversation.
"Have you prepared for our trip to Pearl Gate City?" he asked out of blue.

Claire paused upon his sudden question.
"I've arranged everything, we can leave tomorrow morning," she answered.

"I can't wait to eat Uncle Bernard's cake," said Cley suddenly in excitement.

Claire turned her eyes to Cley.
"Don't you have any other thoughts besides eating and screwing up?"

Cley clicked his tongue.
"Don't be so serious. If you keep acting like that, no one will marry you," he teased.

"What did you say?!" said Claire angrily. Then they started arguing.

Angel looked at them while enjoying their little sibling argument. Once a year, he would bring Cley and Claire to Pearl Gate City. While he could use that visit to check on the city developments. He knew even though they had a good life in Luminus City, Pearl Gate City was still their home and they were always excited every time they returned there.
"Home..." he muttered to himself.