His arrival was untimely. The King of the Alethani Kingdom, Arteon Alethani, came into the dining room, followed by the rest of the Royal Family. Elise was slow to grasp the situation, realizing belatedly that everyone had stood up to salute. She quickly stood up and offered a respectful salute like everyone else. At least, she hoped it was respectful enough. The Royal Family moved to their seats in silence while the guests remained standing, waiting for them to sit first.
"You all may sit. Let us enjoy our meals together," he said before settling into his seat.
Elise had seen him before at a gathering of local lords. Back then, he had looked so high and mighty on his purebred white horse, wearing a luxurious crown. She had been just a child back then. Now, looking at him again after everything that had happened, he appeared to be just an ordinary man.
He was in his early forties, with shoulder-length brown hair and a matching goatee and mustache. There was nothing particularly interesting about him; he was an average man with average features who just happened to sit above them all.
His wife and three sons sat in the empty seats next to him. His wife was as beautiful as Elise remembered, with dark curly hair and a flawless face. She could overshadow Lady Cartha with her jewelry alone. She was the one with whom her mother had arranged the engagement. That beauty had been passed down to her sons, too.
The third prince was a little child, six or seven years old, if Elise remembered correctly. He sat between his mother and the Head Magician.
His older brother, the second prince, sat in front of him, next to Avir Fortis. Elise had heard he was skilled with a sword for his age, so Avir Fortis himself was teaching him personally.
Lastly, the Crown Prince, the one Elise had been engaged to, sat next to his brother. He sat closest to the King, along with the Queen, and was the first to speak.
"Why is she here?" he asked, turning to his father.
At least he was direct. Silence fell over the dinner table. The only sound came from the kitchen aides bringing starters to the main table from the side tables. They too showed visible discomfort after the question. The King must not have expected him to be so direct. He raised his eyebrows in surprise, looking at him for a moment. That moment was enough for Lord Landa.
"Ah, don't be like that, my prince," he answered instead of the King. "I was the one who suggested to our King that she attend this dinner." His unbearably disturbing grin made it hard to even look at his face. Did he genuinely think that smile made him look sympathetic?
"I am sure there is an explanation for what the young Lady Vandenberg did. Why not hear her out before bringing her before the highly respectable Royal Court?"
Voices of approval rose from the table, which somehow comforted Elise. Knowing she had support in the court was a good feeling. Her father and House Vandenberg had a stellar reputation, and no sane person would want such a well-known House to lose their standing over something trivial—at least those who cared about the Kingdom's future. But it seemed the Crown Prince was not thinking things through.
Crown Prince Alber Alethani jumped up furiously. "Who are you to decide something that concerns the Royal Family?" he demanded, pointing his finger at Lord Landa.
"My prince, I–" He stopped mid-sentence, looking toward the King. Although a bit late, the Crown Prince also noticed and turned to his father.
The King raised his hand to stop him. "I made the decision; he merely gave a suggestion."
"But Father–"
"Do you defy my decisions?" Now Elise could see. It was his eyes that were not ordinary. His gaze was filled with the dignity and authority befitting a King. He knew his power and was not afraid to use it.
The Crown Prince yielded to his authority and sat back. "Sorry, my King." But his anger and discomfort had not yet faded. "But she humiliated us, the Royal Family, by breaking our engagement. And she even committed adultery against me, the Crown Prince. Are you just going to ignore all this?"
"Of course not. That is why she was arrested, and why she is here now. Stop disrespecting our guests any further." He turned to the other guests. "Please accept my apologies on behalf of my son, and please enjoy yourselves this evening."
Elise was relieved once again until she saw Lord Landa's grin. Why was he still smiling? Things seemed to be shifting toward their side, so why was he... she saw her father's face. He wore a dark expression and was tensed like a tightly strung bow.
Elise knew her father; if the Crown Prince had kept talking, he would have blown up and done something irretrievable. This had been Landa's plan all along. He was counting on the young prince's pride and her father's short temper to cause a scene. She needed to do something to prevent that.
She reached for her father's shoulder and whispered, "This is what he wants. Calm yourself." He visibly relaxed with a deep breath, but Landa was not finished with his plan yet.
He looked directly into her father's eyes, speaking quietly enough for only him to hear. "Yes, let us enjoy our meals. Right, Vandenberg? It could be your last with your daughter, after all."
Regory Vandenberg lunged toward him. Shouts of surprise rose from the table. Caught off guard, Elise could not react in time, but fortunately, Lord Fortis was there, stopping her father before he could reach him.
"I know you are behind all this, Landa! I don't know what your end goal is, but I will do everything in my power to prevent it."
"Calm down, Vandenberg. You are in the presence of His Highness, the King." Avir Fortis tried to pull him back to his seat, but her father had already snapped. He resisted Lord Fortis's grip with everything he had, trying to lunge at him again.
"VANDENBERG!"
The King himself had stood up, pointing his finger at Elise's father. His anger was glaringly visible on his face.
"Stop this nonsense at once! I am giving your daughter a chance, but you are spitting in my face. If I had not considered you a friend, she would have already been in a dungeon cell, waiting to be executed. Now sit down and keep quiet, or else!"
This was not going well at all. Elise helped Lord Fortis calm her father. She needed to say something before the situation escalated further.
However, the Queen intervened: "If you want to blame someone, Lord Vandenberg, blame your daughter. She is the one who caused all this mess. She could have married my son, the Crown Prince, and become a Queen Candidate. But no, she chose to escape with an unknown man."
That was it. Enough was enough. Elise intervened before anyone else could say another word.
"I did not escape with anyone. I escaped because I was bored. I was bored with all of this..." she tried to explain herself, gesturing to the room and everyone in it. "...this life. This is not for me. I can't just marry someone I don't even know, sit around in a castle, and be a..."
She looked at the Queen, stopping herself before saying anything insulting. She needed to be clever about what she said, unlike her father. Things were already out of hand. She slowly stood up to gather attention.
"...a Princess or a Queen. I am not fit to be one. I am a warrior. I like to go to new places, see new horizons, and experience new things. I am a traveler!"
She stopped for a moment to catch her breath and assess the others' reactions. Lord Landa still had that annoying grin. Most of the guests listened to her with curiosity, but not everyone.
"Pfft! A traveler, hah." The Crown Prince seemed entirely unaffected by her words. "How can a woman like you travel alone in this world? And how is any of this connected to you running away with another man?"
"He is not my lover! We have no such relationship! It is a disgusting rumor made up by this man here." She pointed at Lord Landa. "We met in the North; he is teaching me how to... how to travel. Lord Landa's son was the only one who saw me and my master after the Silver Dragon attack in the North, which was also caused by his son."
That man was still unfazed. What a hard opponent he was. He operated on a completely different battlefield than she did. Did her father always deal with these kinds of men? Her respect for him went up again.
"Hah, teaching how to travel? What kind of nonsense is that? Now what, are you going to say you fought the Dragon off by yourself, too?" The Crown Prince seemed dead set on mocking her. "I bet you can't even lift a sword properly."
Elise opened her mouth to answer, but another voice interrupted her.
"Oh, she could kill half of this room before any of you could stop her."
The room fell entirely silent.
Elise turned to see who was talking, but she already knew. The Traveler stood next to one of the side tables, casually eating a pastry.