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"Your majesty"

Alisiah bows down ever so slightly, to the king in front of her. She stands as straight as a pole, not even daring to wobble, as her voice barely wavers. Dressed from head to toe in a golden gown, with tiny diamonds sewn into the fabric, and a veil that covers her head and face, the princess knows that her kingdom's might and wealth can all be seen in what she wears. On top of her head there is a golden tiara, her fanciest one, with a red ruby on top. Only the queen-to-be is allowed to wear red, however the ruby is a requirement for the first princess. And so she wears it with pride, as she fulfills yet another duty by greeting the man who rules the kingdom next door.

Their enemy.

"I hear we will be seated by to each other, as the eldest family of the crowned"

She doesn't dare to look into his eyes, for two reasons. One: as a man he might find it offensive if a woman dares to meet his gaze. And two: the absolutely terrifying black rises of the tall and dangerous king Makai send shivers down her spine. He is rumored to be a monster, Alisiah has not been excluded from the talk about him that has spread across the kingdoms. She was frozen in fear when she heard that he would be joining the coronation, and for the first time she regretted her brother ever marrying the princess of Blue Knight. Now this monster disguised with a handsome face and fancy suit is standing right in front of her, as family, and she must greet him and talk to him as if he were a person.

Then again, Alisiah has always been the bravest of her sisters. She is the eldest and the closest to her brother, holds the most power out of the princesses in the palace and has handled badly mannered and dangerous royals and nobles before with ease. This is not her first time being forced to engage with someone rumored to be a monster, even though Makai is definitely the worst one yet. So with a little encouragement from herself, Alisiah dares to glance up at the young king of Blue Knight, as she is securely hidden by her veil.

His face is strikingly handsome, the rumors are true thus far. He looks quite similar to Margaret, who in turn is also very beautiful, but his features are sharper and colder whilst hers are quite soft and sweet. His hair is darker, nearly black, and so are his piercing eyes. The king stands tall above her, with broad shoulders reaching from one side to the other. It is only natural that he would be good looking, since his sister can be seen as such. But Alisiah is surprised nevertheless, for she hadn't expected god to gift a monster a doable face on top of all his money and might. It makes her wonder why it is always the worst people who have the most money and power. Perhaps the answer lies in the money, and not the people. Well, either way, he looks awfully relaxed where he stands, despite being on such foreign enemy soil; Saint's cathedral of the Red Lion capital.

"I see"

People fill the cathedral at a fast pace, the princesses standing in the entrance hall as they greet the nobles and royals that pass by. Inside, thousands of people will sit and watch as Adelio is crowned king, and Margaret Queen. Many of the guests that pass by look at the two of them with surprise and even shock, and Alisiah pretends not to see it. Blue Knight and Red Lion have been enemies since the kingdoms were founded, it's obviously odd to find King Makai proudly standing inside the cathedral in awaits of his enemy's crowning. But they can look as much as they want. At the end of the day, Adelio is the one who decides who gets to walk into his country and who doesn't, and it just so happens that he has decided to let his brother in law come as he pleases. They are family now, after all. Adelio's child is the only true heir to the Blue knight throne, and Makai's sister is the one and only wife of Adelio. This sudden rope that binds the two young kings together will forcefully bring a new era of peace and cooperation between the two nations.

"Then I must accompany you to your seat, princess Alisiah"

Alisiah looks up with surprise, this time of even trying to hide it. She finds the king smiling, or perhaps even smirking, and she doesn't like it. Something is behind that look and Alisiah fears it is nothing good. She hesitates, for a moment, as he reaches out his hand for her to take. Thankfully she is wearing gloves, so touching his hand won't be a problem, she can take his arm and nobody will care. But there is hesitance within her, as she suddenly finds herself unsure of protocol for the first time in a long while. Is it truly allowed for them to be walking to their seats together, when the history between their kingdoms is so gruesome and cold?

Her personal opinion doesn't matter, protocol comes first.

But as Makai's hand remains outreached, Alisiah doesn't dare to hesitate anymore. Her brother has invited him, and so it is imperative for her to treat him with respect. He must not leave this ceremony feeling wronged. So in fear of his might, and in fear of ruining whatever long term plans her brother has going on, Alisiah finally accepts his hand with a hesitant smile shining behind her veil. Makai's smile widens, and he leads her to take his arm and walk by his side. The crowd watches in awe as the two eldest members of the two royal families walk down the cathedral aisle together, on their way to the seats that will be right in front.

And Alisiah hopes this king by her side as even the ounce of the same kindness that his sister has.

"How could you not tell me about my brother?"

Maud doesn't want to sound too angry. But her voice is laced with it, the fear and anger surrounding the situation at hand. The two of them stand in the royal room of the cathedral, alone and in silence. Outside, the music playing from the ceremony has just begun. It's loud and almost too unbearable, filling their ears with its noise. Guests fill all the seats, royals and nobles and rich businessmen from all four corners of the world. Everyone and their mother is attending, somehow including Makai, the king of Blue Knight, her very beloved and respected brother that she totally isn't yelling about to her husband.

Adelio glances at her with a hint of annoyance. Maud doesn't like that. It spikes her anger too. What right does he have to be annoyed when he has put her into this situation? He's lucky to have a secret that is so well hidden and hard to understand, Maud has tried to figure it out on numerous occasions and still failed. She isn't as lucky as he is with her secret, that depending on what his is is either much more serious or much more trivial. Makai being here could very well expose her to Adelio, or perhaps even to the whole public, Maud can never know for sure. Whatever evil plans her brother has Maud hopes it has nothing to do with her or her family, but when it comes to Makai she always ends up knowing right before it happens.

"I forgot, alright? I've been busy. I know you two don't have the best relationship but can't you just put that aside for today?"

Adelio tries to sound understanding to shut down their conversation, but Maud can sense his annoyance and disagreement from his tone of voice. And that annoys her. As a couple they have't really argued yet, everything has been one sided and filled with care and love. But now their argument is very uncareful and irritating in a way Maud has never experienced before. She is used to feeling hatred, against her brothers and many other men, but she isn't used to feeling irritation and annoyance. Anger, yes, at the soldiers who tried to hurt her after she got married to Adelio. But this kind of anger seems different. Fed by her stress and his stress, fed by the constant upholding of lies, and fed by the unnatural relationship of two humans being forced to live together for the rest of their lives in a society that suffocates them. Sometimes love just isn't enough to silence all negative emotions, that's just a fact.

"You shouldn't have let him come in the first place!"

Maud sounds a little angrier than before, practically snapping at him. She makes sure not to move too much though, both unable to do so and not wanting to ruin her makeup, hair or dress. There is red everywhere, matched with gold. Red on her dress, red on Adelio's ancient traditional king's robes and red on the crowns they will soon wear. Gold too, their jewelry is all gold, and their bodies are covered in it. Necklaces, bracelets, jewels around their waists as belts, earrings, in their hair, hanging from their clothing, hanging from Maud's red veil, on each layer of dress, a ring on each finger... Maud feels like a pig on auction, suddenly propped to the brim with all kinds of heavy, fancy things, making it hard to move and hard to breathe.

Adelio snaps his head towards her, suddenly angry.

"I can't deny him the right to enter the ceremony, it would cause unnecessary tensions! Alaric is his heir too, he doesn't deserve to meet him but according to the laws of our world he should"

Maud scoffs, feeling a little petty.

"right, 'heir'..."

Adelio's stare hardens. Their voices are quiet enough for nobody to hear, especially considering the loud f*cking music that spreads across the cathedral.

"Alaric is our heir just as any other child of ours would be!"

It almost sounds like he is attacking her now, saying that she doesn't care enough about their child. As if she hasn't spent nearly every possible waking moment with her son, and absolutely loved every second of it. Of course she knows that Alaric is her child but it just sounds so ridiculous to her own ears when she hears Adelio use that as his excuse. They both know that Alaric isn't actually the heir to the blue Knight throne, and yet he allowed Makai to walk into their kingdom like it's nothing. Alaric is their heir no matter if he's their biological son or not, but he is not the Blue Knight heir according to Blue Knight law, which states that only blood family of the Blue Knight lineage that fall directly from the blue knight himself are allowed to become king. And yes, she's being selfish. She doesn't actually think that Makai is any kind of threat to the kingdom as a whole just by being here. But she does think, selfishly, that he is a threat to her and possibly her family, and that is why she is angry. That, and possibly because of the stress and fear of the situation. The many eyes that will be watching them tonight surely won't help.

"Alaric is our child and he will be that above all else, Adelio. And Makai should be kept at a safe distance. He is not a good person"

Adelio rolls his eyes.

"You think I don't know that? He f*cking sold you to me, not to mention that he is my enemy. But that doesn't exactly make him any different from all other princes and kings on this continent"

Maud frowns.

"Except for you"

It would be a compliment but really it isn't. Her words sound more suspicious than anything and suddenly Adelio loses all of his anger. It's kind of odd. Whenever someone accuses him of something, indirectly or directly, he always gets angry first, even using violence if he has to. But whenever she gets suspicious of him or comes close to figuring out his secret, he freezes up like a criminal caught red handed. Maud begins to think. Adelio really doesn't want her to. He quickly gathers himself and turns to her.

"My mother raised me differently, and I have three good sisters to look after. I'm not saying that all men are like this, but I am saying that a majority of them are and Makai is just one of those"

Maud shakes her head. They are more quiet now since it seems like the ceremony is about to enter a new phase, finally including them in the mix.

"He's not just 'one of them', he is evil in a different way. You don't understand"

Adelio sighs, glancing at her with all of his anger now replaced by some sort of tiredness. Maud feels it too, inside her. This constant tiredness is caused by constant stress and work. They go from one place to another, they barely ever talk to each other anymore, and between taking care of her son to the best of her efforts and attending to all of her duties, Maud is completely entangled in the spider web that makes up the life of a busy wife. She doesn't think it's going to get easier from here on either. Adelio's secret, whatever it might be, is still unclear to her. They are just about to be crowned, so their workload will only keep increasing from here on out, and at the same time her son's needs will grow with his age and so will the burden of her, his and Adelio's secrets. How she has gotten this far, Maud isn't sure. And even though she is thankful for everything she has. Money, power, love, a child. She can still acknowledge that all of this is the fault of her eldest brother and his lack of empathy and swelling greed.

The doors open to them, a few servants about to lead them to the main hall of the cathedral standing on the other side. The music and the guests suddenly sound much louder.

"Whatever kind of evil he is, just know that I can be so much worse if you need me to be"

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