CHAPTER 18

When the Crown Prince has returned to the palace, every knight who came with him is all praising his name. Prince Geradine has shortened their operation time in the auction venue that is supposed to run for four hours in accordance with their estimation. The Crown Prince used a huge amount of mana to burn the auction house to prevent anyone from using it again for illegal purposes. But still, there is no report that someone got hurt in the operation and the slaves that were supposed to be sold in that auction house are all safe.

The people who are involved in that illegal auction were all captured. They are now placed inside a special prison that deflects all possible magic spells in case they tried to escape from that place. The knights received an order not to let them escape since King Teriza will personally deal with them later. But first, the king has an important thing to do.

In the king's office, all the members of the royal family are present. King Teriza is sitting on his chair with a frown on his face. Beside him is Prince Geradine who is standing straight and his face is void with any emotions. And the only princess of their kingdom is standing nervously in front of the king's desk while fidgeting with her fingers.

Ramira feels like her heart will explode any second by now. The way her father and twin brother looks at her feels like she will not survive the scolding they are going to give her. Their silence is also not helping to calm her nerves. When she secretly take a peek at Geradine's face, Ramira quickly bowed her head again and continued playing with her fingers.

Ramira knows that she is in huge trouble right now. With the way Geradine looks at her together with the pounding sound of her heart is already a sign that he is so mad at her this time. Ramira can feel his rage which makes her restless. Having a deep connection and sharing an emotion with your twin is a disadvantage sometimes.

Ramira thinks that fifteen minutes have already passed since King Teriza called her to his office. Theo is not with her since he was called by Marquis Parvil back to his mansion. It seems like her cousin will also receive a lot of scolding from his father too. She really promised herself to say sorry to Theo the next time they see each other again.

"Ramira." King Teriza slowly called her name. His voice is also too calm that made her suspicious. But the princess knows this is not the right time for her to make a joke about it.

"...Yes, dad?" She carefully replied.

"Why are you in the auction venue earlier?"

Ramira bites her lower lip after hearing that question. The king did not waste more time and quickly asked her that question. Well, she already expected it anyway. Ramira plays with her thumbs first before she slowly gives her answers.

"...Because I got curious about it?"

"Is that really your answer to me?" King Teriza asked in a calm voice again.

"...Yes?"

After hearing her reply, King Teriza closes his eyes first. Then he takes a deep breath and slowly exhales. Then all of a sudden, King Teriza hit his fist on the table making all the piled documents on it fall on the floor. It also made the princess jump where she is standing due to her surprise.

"Ramira Jane Serpine!" King Teriza roared. "Are you still not taking this situation seriously?!"

Ramira swears her heart stops beating for a moment when the king called her full name. The king will only do that when he really feels angry about something or someone. The last time Ramira made her father so mad like this was four years ago when she fell on her balcony while trying to save the bird that was stuck on the ceiling. Fortunately for her, a knight was passing by at that time and used his whole body as a cushion for her.

When the King and the Crown Prince heard about it, Ramira was scolded for the whole day. They were so mad at her for almost sacrificing her own safety just to save a little bird. She was also given a punishment by making three copies of the thickest book about princess etiquette for a week without having anyone assisting her.

Since then, Ramira is always careful not to make them mad again. She does not want to admit it, but her imperial father and twin brother are indeed scary when they are angry. It really makes her skin crawl in fear. No wonder Theo does not want to face their fury.

And right now, Ramira knows very well that she is once again the reason for their anger. The only unaffected in this situation is Geradine who did not even flinch when their father starts showing his anger. But the princess will not dare to think that he is really calm in this situation. She can still sense the suppressed anger, anxiousness, and worries Geraldine feels in her heart.

"I told you not to do anything reckless, Ramira! I keep on repeating my words just for you to remember them all the time. But you still dare to disobey me and even put yourself in a dangerous situation! So what are you planning next? Are you waiting for the time that someone will abduct you and make me and Geradine worried to death?!"

He is obviously scolding her right now. Ramira can easily detect the anger in their father's words. But at the same time, the princess can also hear the anxiousness in his voice. Ramira really gave them a huge scare when they learned that she was also present in that place.

"Dad, I..."

"Do you even have an idea what did I feel when I received the news that you were present in that place? I assigned that responsibility to Geradine because I know that he can protect himself even if that place becomes disastrous. But it is different when you are involved there!"

Ramira lowered her head in shame. Of course, she knows that too. She may be full of mana in her body. But that is useless since she cannot even use it and there is still a possibility that her mana can bring more harm to her health.

But unlike her, Geradine can use his magic anytime he wants. His body is also full of mana and he can easily perform the things that Ramira cannot do in her state. He can easily protect himself in case that something happened in that place. As for her, Ramira cannot do anything if Theo was not on her side at that time.

King Teriza let out a long sigh. The exhaustion he was supposed to feel earlier is now catching up on him. When he received the urgent news that Ramira was also present at that auction place, he can feel a familiar dull feeling in his heart. It was similar to what he felt when his wife has disappeared from their lives.

He immediately returned to check his daughter's palace. It is true that Ramira was missing and her servants were frantically looking for her everywhere. But before the king goes to the auction place, Geradine has returned together with Ramira on his side. His daughter even dared to say hello to him at that moment.

"Ramira, do you really have an idea what I felt earlier?" King Teriza asked. "I thought... I thought I will also lose you just like Neria."

The princess quickly erased the excuses she is trying to form in her head when King Teriza suddenly mentioned their mother. All of them know that the king loves his wife so much. It was said that three months after Queen Neria gave birth to the twins, she caught a fatal disease and died in a week. The whole kingdom mourned for her, especially the king.

Some say that the reason why King Teriza is not interested in marrying another woman is that he already has a rightful heir to the throne. But only the king's closest people know the real reason why he doesn't want to marry another woman. The king refuses to have another queen aside from his first wife who is also the mother of his children.

It is true to say that King Teriza is a bit biased towards Ramira. The little princess of the Verdandi Kingdom resembles his wife a lot. Princess Ramira is always reminding him of the woman she truly loves the most together with the happy memories they made in the past. So every time something bad happens to Ramira, King Teriza cannot help but be overly worried about her. It feels like that situation is always reminding him of the day he lost his wife.

"Ramira—"

"Dad, I'm sorry!"

Both King Teriza and Geradine are stunned to see Ramira suddenly cry. Beads of tears keep on falling from her eyes down to her cheeks. The Crown Prince knows that his twin sister is not trying to act because he can feel her guilt and regrets on his chest. The princess keeps on crying while apologizing for her mistakes.

"I'm sorry, dad. I'm sorry, Geradine. I-I know what I did was wrong. I'm sorry..."

It was Geradine who immediately recovers from his shock and quickly approached his crying twin. He tries to wipe her cheek using a handkerchief but her tears are not showing any signs of stopping at any moment.