Maria knelt down to my height and cupped my face. I know she was curious about what had just happened in that room, but she didn't really say anything, instead, she stared right at me. She gave me a small kiss on the cheek and parted for the grumpy old man's house. As soon as she left, I felt someone watching me. I had been feeling that way ever since the king left.

"Who's thewe?"

I didn't get any response back, so I looked over to the place where I felt like I was being watched. There was no one there, but a painting. I went up to the painting and scanned it carefully. Was I just imagining it?

"Alex! Want to come to a meeting with papa? Papa is going to meet King Howard and he wants to meet you."

"King Howard?"

I tilted my head a bit out of curiosity. Could the guy I just met be King Howard.

"Yeah. He is the king of Bisea."

I nodded and clapped my hands to show that I am really

excited about it. Why was I visiting royalty back to back today? Why did the King of Bisea specifically want to see me? A carriage was waiting for us as we went outside. It wasn't a carriage from the house because there would be a running horse symbol on it. Instead, there was a symbol that showed a tiger with his mouth opened like it was roaring. The carriage had large wheels, which made its height between the ground and the bottom of the carriage a lot taller.

Albert held my hand and started to help me along the stairs to the carriage. I knew how to go down the stairs by myself,. However, I will admit that there were times when I stumbled over my feet. Once I reached the end of the stairs, I started to feel pain in my legs. I really should start exercising, so I could build up my strength.

I knew how to wield a sword, but I needed to get used to my body and strengthen it up more. The coachman gave Albert a polite smile before opening the door. Albert tried to pick me up so we could get on, but I pushed away his hand. I needed to do everything myself from now on.

The step was higher than I could easily climb, so I used my hands to push myself up. When Albert saw me struggling, he reached out for me again. I stared up at him and shook my head. I hopped on one of my legs, so it would be easier. Thankfully, I succeeded. The carriage floor was not that high up, so it was easier for me to get on. I could hear the coachman clapping for me. Eventually, I pushed myself a little more and got on the seat.

I looked out the window to see the city. I never really

went out of the house ever since I got kidnapped. I saw many stores and merchants. There were kids playing with each other on the roads and people laughing and talking with each other. A smile slowly formed on my face as I watched everyone smiling so happily. Ten minutes later, we entered the slums. At first, I thought the kids were looking at me, but then I realized that it was the carriage that they were looking at. They looked at it like they were going to jump up on it. One of them smiled at me. Before I could smile back, a hand covered my eyes and another hand pulled me back.

"Why are we going through these filthy slums." From the tone of his voice, I knew he was angry.

"I'm sorry, duke. The other way is blocked, so we had to take this way to the castle."

"Fine, but hurry up. I don't want Alex to see these good-for-nothing beggars."

In that conversation, I lost most of the respect I had for Albert. I never thought he had such a cruel side to him. Albert closed my eyes till we got to the heart of this kingdom, the palace. It was tall and big like you would expect any castle to be. It wasn't as big as the kingdom of Flores, though.

Albert took his hands away from me so I could look back out the window. There were many soldiers stationed everywhere. I saw a bunch of soldiers training. Some of them gave me a little smile as I made eye contact with them. The grass was cut cleanly, and the bushes were proportionally trimmed. It didn't really take us that long to

get to the main palace.

Albert picked me up and climbed down from the carriage. The coachman did try to lend a hand, but Albert swayed him away with his hand. Albert put me down once he walked up the stairs of the main palace. There were many types of flowers welcoming us in. There was a soldier and a couple of maids at the front door. As we walked through the open hallway and got closer, the maids bowed down in respect. The soldier had a relaxed face and made eye contact with Albert.

"General Alfred!"

A small smile formed on the general's face as Albert called out in a mocking tone and bowed.

"You know you shouldn't address me formally anymore. You're a duke now."

Albert started making a little pout with his lips. This made the general laugh out loud.

"I can't even believe you even became a duke with that behavior of yours."

I could see the maids started to squirm a bit. It must be hard to keep on bowing so low.

"Wise up." I meant 'Rise up'.

When I realized my tongue slipped, I looked down. I could feel all the stares that were directed at me.

"He knows how to speak."

"Well yeah. He is three years old."

"We should get going. The king has been waiting for you for a while now."

"I can't even believe that scared little crown prince became a king."

Albert shook his head and Alfred was trying not to laugh. Wasn't that like slandering a king or something? But they look so chill like it didn't matter to them. Once Albert stopped laughing from his own words, he took a deep breath.

"Then shall we go?"

A cool breeze hit my face as we went inside the main palace. We didn't see the throne right away, instead, we saw a hall that led to the throne room. Everyone's footsteps clicked as they walked down the hallway. I look down at the floor. It was so polished that I could see my own face. There were many portraits of couples throughout the hall. I squinted my eyes to read one of the wooden boxes that were right underneath the portraits.

'King Salvador and Queen Caline.'

I guess they were once king and queen of this kingdom. Out of all the portraits, one of them caught my eye. The

queen in that portrait was so pale that she was white as snow. Her white glowed in the background light, and her eyes were redder than rubies. Something was off about her. I think it was her eyes. It looked dead as if she never experienced any type of happiness. She didn't even smile, even when her husband sitting next to her smiled brightly. I looked at the wooden plank below it.

'Queen Eclaire.'

"Announcing that Duke Albert and General Alfred are here."

The next moment the door opened up wide to let us in. I met a pair of cold, blood-red eyes staring right at us, with no emotion.