Second Arc (His Art of War) - 143. Royal Breakfast I

As he arrived in front of the dining hall, two guards opened the door and bowed to him. Inside, a large dining table neatly arranged along with the servants who were ready with their small cart on the other side of the room. Unlike yesterday, this morning Queen Thea and Artheur joined them for breakfast with King Eudon and King Esteve. Their eyes fell on him.

"Good morning, Angelus. We've been waiting for you," said King Eudon in a relaxed tone.

"Good morning, Eudon," he replied. Then he turned to the others and gave them a slight nod as his greeting. To which King Esteve responded with another nod. He entered the room, a servant swiftly pulled the chair for him and Frost stood behind him.

While Artheur looked at him with an unpleasant expression. Even though he was calmer than yesterday, his resentment and anger still covered his heart. He noticed that King Eudon and Angel were calling each other by their names, which meant they wanted to show their close relationship. Artheur knew, because Zephyrus was unstable due to the war and yesterday's rebellion, King Eudon didn't have much choice, but still ... It made him very angry. But instead of getting mad at Angel, Artheur was angrier with himself because he couldn't do anything. Both helping Rose and his family. More than that, Artheur also noticed his father's attitude changed after yesterday's conversation. If his father usually had been against Angel, after the closed discussion, his father sided with Angel. Just like Rose after she met Angel in his room.

As the servants placed the well-made dishes before them one by one, Angel realized Artheur's displeased expression and decided to have small talk with him.
"You look better, Prince Artheur," he said. In any case, he had to keep his relationship with Artheur in order to make his plan run smoothly.

"Yes, it's thanks to your generosity to let the doctor take good care of me, Your Majesty," said Artheur with a forced smile and a nod. But then he continued in a cynical tone.
"Also thanks to Princess Rose's ability for treating me two days ago. If not, maybe I'm still lying on bed from our last duel."

"Artheur," said King Esteve in a low voice to remind Artheur to keep his manners.

Despite Artheur's snide remarks, Angel responded calmly.
"Indeed, Princess Rose's medicinal skill is truly incredible. I'm glad to see you are better because of her." Now, Angel already knew Rose's feelings for him from last night's incident, therefore Artheur's words no longer provoked him anymore.

Hearing his reply, Artheur gave Angel another forced smile. But despite his polite gesture, his words showed something else.
"Is that the king of Euphorion's reason to marry her? Because she has that extraordinary ability and you decided to use her as well as make it an excuse to make her a political prisoner for the rest of her life?" Artheur had heard from his father that Angel and Rose were getting married in a month. Even though his anger peaked when he heard the news and almost made him take bold action to go and kill Angel, his father managed to hold him back. King Esteve said that this was the only way so the Heart family could ensure Rose's safety as well as maintain their family's position as Zephyrus' royal family, especially after King Eudon admitted that it was the Heart Family’s poison that had destroyed Pearl Gate City. After hearing that, Artheur began to understand the change in Rose's attitude, but he still could not accept it. Especially when he was looking for loopholes that this was just based on Angel's greediness, King Esteve kept giving him excuses, as if he was defending Angel.

Artheur's words made King Esteve turn to him.
"Artheur," King Esteve reminded him once again in a higher voice than before.

But again, Angel answered calmly.
"Her ability is just a bonus for me. The most important thing is that I love her and she has the same feelings as me. Of course, I must make her my wife as soon as possible," he said bluntly. Both his feelings and what he had to do to lure the rebels were the same thing, moreover Rose had shown him her true feelings last night. Therefore he did not hesitate to admit it publicly.

Artheur gritted his teeth, holding back his anger. His muscles began to harden and were ready to duel Angel even though he knew he was still injured.
"You-"

Seeing Artheur's reaction, King Esteve decided to bring Artheur back to the room, even though this breakfast's real purpose was to show the closeness between them to prevent a prolonged war between Euphorion, Zephyrus and Draconis.

Angel interrupted Artheur's words in the same calm tone.
"Prince Artheur, my marriage will be good news for Euphorion and Zephyrus. Also, carry a peace message for the Andromeda Continent. You should be happy with this news." Then he glared at Artheur.
"Besides, as I said before, she has the same feelings as me. Don't you think this is a good thing?" Even though Angel could understand Artheur's annoyance and even though Artheur was always being compared with him since they had similar good fighting abilities, Angel could catch Artheur still not being able to control his emotions well. And immaturity in dealing with personal emotions was the worst enemy of all royal families. This was very different from him since after he duelled Artheur two days ago he could still manage his emotions even though he had to swallow his bitterness in front of the others.

Artheur and Angel's sharp gazes clashed at each other as their pride as royal families and men refused to budge as if they were fighting with just those gazes. But it was only for a moment, Angel smiled at him even though it was a forced one.
"I think we should start to eat. An empty stomach surely makes us in a bad mood." Then he turned to King Esteve.
"Am I right, Esteve?" he said in a relaxed tone. He decided to end this unuseful quarrel since he already knew where this conversation would end. His goal was to show their family closeness, that's why he would avoid arguments as best he could.

"You're right, Angelus." King Esteve turned to Artheur and gave him an intimidating look since Artheur was ignoring his message before they left for this breakfast.
"Artheur, mind your manners. Don't embarrass our family."

Hearing his father's words, Artheur looked away from Angel and took a deep breath. He knew he'd lost his cool as soon as he saw Angel because he couldn't accept his defeat.
"Yes, father."

Seeing their calmer state, King Eudon started their breakfast.
"Let's start eating."