First Arc (King of Euphorion) – 48. Dark Agents Report

Meanwhile, at the White Moon Castle, Euphorion. Angel sat on the parlour room's sofa in annoyance but he still maintained his cool. Lady Ryia sat beside him while cutting a piece of pie for him. This was his fifth meeting today with a woman from the Queen candidates list that Chancellor Allan gave him. All the women were only given five to ten minutes but in fact, each meeting took almost half an hour. To make it worse they all brought cakes or sweets for him. Also, it was not only one or two, instead, but they also brought a lot of it until it filled the whole table.
'I don't understand why they all always bring sweets like this? Is this also a rumour that's spreading in Luminus City?' he thought.

Angel always limited himself when eating sweet foods. He only ate it occasionally as a tea snack, usually, Cley was the one who finished it. But now, after one week they gave him all of this, he didn't want to see a cake or sweets for at least a month!

Lady Ryia gave him a plate of Crown Egg & Coconut Pie.
"Your Majesty, I made this pie especially for you."

Angel sighed secretly. He already heard these words so many times, that the cakes were handmade and that he had to taste them. If he refused, they would only ask him to taste a little bit from each cake, just to find out whether he liked them or not. In the end, he couldn't refuse to taste them. He took the plate.
"Thank you."

He looked at the pie without expression. His stomach churned, but he still forced his hand to take a small fork next to the plate and cut off the tip of the pie to taste it a bit.

"How does it taste? Do you like it?" asked Lady Ryia curiously.

"It's delicious," he answered. He couldn't remember how many cakes he tasted today. Twenty? Thirty? His tongue could no longer distinguish between sweetness anymore. He couldn't even distinguish the difference between the cakes, they all tasted the same to him.
'Do I need to make forcing the king to eat cakes illegal? And make the sentence as same as the one of attempted murder. '

Lady Ryia was about to say something but Angel already knew what she was going to say. 'If it's so delicious you have to eat some more.' So he quickly interrupted her.
"I have no appetite right now. What if I bring these cakes to my study?" he added swiftly.

Lady Ryia looked disappointed because it meant that he wanted to return to the study room, but then she smiled. She realized her time was only five to ten minutes but he had accompanied her for almost thirty minutes. He also patiently tried every cake she gave him and kept chatting even though he looked bored. His attitude was warm and polite but also cold and distant. These two sides of him made many women attracted to him.
"Alright. Then I'll take my leave," she said as she stood up before she bowed and left, to which he replied with a slight nod.

'I'll give all of this to Cley, I don't want to see it again.' After she left, he turned his gaze to the servants.
"Deliver these cakes to my study and tell Sarah, she doesn't need to make me sweet food for a month." Then he stood up and walked toward the exit.

Once he entered his study, Cley quickly approached him with a cheerful expression.
"Congratulations, Your Majesty, that was your last meeting today," he said while walking beside him.

Angel sighed tiredly.
"How many more?"

Cley checked the schedule on his hand.
"About thirty more."

'Thirty... This is more like torture for me than choosing a queen,' he thought. He let out another tired sigh as he sat behind his desk.
"What about next week's new year's party's preparation?" he asked.

"All preparations have been completed and the invitations have been distributed, " answered Cley.

"Good," he said as he checked the military leaders' list given by Chancellor Allan a few days ago.

Soon, knocking sounds came. Claire entered the room and bowed.
"Your Majesty, General Frost and Gale are requesting to see you."

"Let them in."

As Claire opened the door for them, Frost and Gale entered the room. Frost bowed to him, while Gale approached the large table filled with cakes next to the desk and swept his gaze on the table with a cheerful expression.
"Woah! Are all these cakes brought by those women for his majesty?" Then he turned his gaze to Cley.
"Looks like our plan is working! We're going to have a cake party tonight!" he blurted out in excitement, but he quickly covered his mouth as he forgot Angel was in the room.

Meanwhile, Cley's face turned pale when he heard Gale's words.

Gale and Cley turned their gaze slowly to Angel who was sitting at his desk and glaring at them. The atmosphere around him looked frightening even though there was no dark aura enveloping him.
"Explain to me what all this means."

"Th-These are all General Gale's ideas ... He-He forced me to do it..." said Cley as he pointed at Gale.

Gale turned his gaze to Cley.
"Didn't you say you want to do it voluntarily," he said defensively

"Are you telling them that I like sweet foods?" he guessed, his eyes still staring sharply at them.

Both of them looked down in guilt.

He sighed in annoyance, it felt like he was taking care of two naughty kids.
"Cley, tell the women I won't meet them if they still bring cakes to the castle."

"Yes, Your Majesty," Cley answered without raising his head. He had just felt happy because Angel did not punish him. But then Angel continued again.
"Also, you have to make a copy of the Kingdom of Euphorion's history books and hand it to me next month."

Cley immediately raised his head and gave Angel a pleading look. But Angel's expression didn't change, so he bent his head again.
"Yes, Your Majesty."

Angel turned his gaze to Gale.
"Gale, you are not allowed to eat sweet food for a year," he said.

Gale turned his gaze to him.
"But--- But ... That cake ..."

"This is an order," he added.

Gale sighed and bowed with a sad face. Once the master said this was an order, the elemental spirit could not disobey him.
"Your Majesty, you're so cruel ..." he muttered irritably.

Angel let out another sigh before turning his gaze to Claire.
"Claire, ask Sarah to take care of the cakes."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Then Claire bowed and came out of the room to carry out his orders.

He turned his gaze back to Cley and Gale.
"You two, move all these cakes to the kitchen, " he said in annoyance.

"Yes, Your Majesty," they answered with a sad face. Then they began to move all the cakes out of the room.

He finally turned his gaze to Frost.
"Do you have anything to report to me?"

"Your Majesty, I just got the news from a Dark Agent that there are strange movements in Asteria."

He leaned forward as his expression turned serious.
"Tell me more."

"They tighten their guard, especially at their southern border. But there wasn't any notice about it. There was no declaration of war either. According to information from the Golden Light Castle, they sent the troops to take care of the monster problem in their southern area," answered Frost.

He paused as he deep in thought.
'Asteria's South area has always been a problem. Did King Gervis decide to deal with it now? No... It's better to be careful.'
"Frost, give my order to tighten Northern trade routes inspection and add more troops at our Northern outpost. If there are any other strange movements, report it to me," he ordered.

"Yes, Your Majesty," Frost replied. Then he bowed and walked out of the room.

He leaned his back on his chair.
'I hope everything will be fine.'