We Meet Again

As expected, it was a busy day in the royal palace of Welahan. With many esteemed guests arriving from all around the continent, the three young royals were busy welcoming the guests.

The atmosphere was quite a torment for the Prince who lost his sleep last night. He already spent half a day welcoming the guests from many kingdoms and he had to do the same thing in the afternoon. For someone like him who loved a quiet place, this was pure torment!

Not to mention that he really wished to avoid welcoming a particular someone.

While the Prince was pretty bored of what he did, the arrival of one person finally piqued his interest for the first time in the day.

It's not like he had seen the person before but... he was told that the young man was the Imperial Crown Prince of the powerful Aslirith Empire in the far north. According to what he heard, the Crown Prince was 19, a year younger than him. The Crown Prince was escorted inside by two guards who wore the uniform of the Aslirith Imperial Army.

Aslirith Empire was the most powerful Empire in the north and it was almost twice as big as Welahan. No other kingdom or empire in the continent could be compared to them in terms of wealth or boundary. Though Welahan never had any interaction with Aslirith, they never had conflicts either. It was the reason why his brother invited them too.

In fact, they didn't expect the imperial family of Aslirith to accept as the journey will take almost two weeks. However, they were glad when they were informed that the Crown Prince will be attending on behalf of the empire.

"Welcome to Welahan, Crown Prince Tristan Castelof." It was King Edric who first greeted the young yet powerful Crown Prince.

Standing in front of the Welahan King, the Crown Prince slightly bowed his head. "Thank you for having me, King Edric," he greeted him back with a little smile. However, the smile never reached his eyes.

The vibe that the young Crown Prince gave out was quite similar to Karium Maselli. He appeared quite cold and somewhat, unapproachable. Despite being just 19, he had an undeniably formidable aura. His midnight black hair and thick eyebrows come off as very masculine but it made him appear quite dark at the same time.

The Crown Prince may be an inch shorter than Karium. His enthralling forest green eyes paired with a devilishly handsome face will surely be enough to catch the attention of the people without even his powerful title.

After briefly greeting the Queen, the Aslirith Crown Prince finds himself standing in front of the infamous 'God of War.' Then he flashed a smile again, a lot more convincing than the one he showed the King but still... it didn't reach his eyes. "It's nice to finally get the chance to meet you, Prince Karium," he said, meeting the gaze of the Welahan Prince.

"I'm glad to meet you too, Crown Prince Tristan," Karium Maselli responded with a firm nod.

"It's my first time attending an event in the west," Tristan Castelof said. "I really look forward to the celebration."

"You won't disappoint," Karium Maselli promptly responded to which the Aslirith Crown Prince nodded. Soon, the servants and one official led the Crown Prince to one of the guest chambers prepared for him.

Karium Maselli was also taken aback by the calm and composed nature of the young Crown Prince. Maybe how things were done in Aslirith was very different from here. After all, he had never been to the empire.

As he was quite fixated on his thoughts, he even forgot his purpose of standing there for a split second. But he was snapped out by the light knocking of his sister-in-law in his arm. Then he glanced around, dumbfounded, until... he saw her made his way to him.

In a split second, everything that crossed his mind last night relived in his mind once more. He ended up squeezing his clothes without even knowing that he did it. To make things worse, the Avarian Princess had a little sweet smile on her face.

The smile that he somehow... dread.

Since when did the God of War had become someone who can break a cold sweat just because of... one woman?

Having no idea of what crossed the Prince's mind, Yara Amiel made her way to the royal family of Welahan for the first time. She exuded confidence and elegance, like always. As she gracefully took each step, everyone in the surroundings had their eyes on her.

Most of them had never seen the legendary beauty and as expected, her perfect features blew their mind away. No doubt that she was regarded as the most beautiful lady of the continent!

If only the people knew what crossed the mind of the Princess as she took her steps!

She felt amused.

Amused by the nervous expression of the God of War. The more he tried to hide his nervousness, the more she felt happy. So happy that she could even dance! If possible, she really wished to chuckle out loud. She wanted to see his expression as she did that. He clearly saw what's coming.

Good. At least, he knew that he had offended her, for real this time.

If she could go that far with him making no mistake while they were in Avaria, just how far would she be willing to take her game this time? Considering how offended she felt that day at the border and how he made her lost her sleep for the next few days... her game might surely be insane this time!

She should let him know that she was more vengeful than he could ever imagine. So that if he ever decides to play a game again on her in the future, he won't do it until he reconsidered a hundred times!

Finally, she finds herself standing opposite the King, his 'beloved' older brother. Then she curtsey gracefully like she did all her life. "Greetings, Your Majesty. Thank you for having me," she said. Her gaze brushed past him for just once and she could tell that he was clearly annoyed by now. This only brought her more joy!

King Edric observed, according to him, the not so 'dangerous' lady standing before him. Then he flashed a friendly smile which he only showed to his family and very few close acquaintances. "Greetings, Princess Yara. Welcome to Welahan."

The Princess nodded with a smile and greeted the Queen next. Finally, she was now standing before him. When she gazed at his seemingly calm yet troubled eyes, many ways to repay him during her stay here already crossed her mind.

"We meet again, Prince Karium," she said, controlling her voice so that she won't sound so mischievous. However, her tone clearly hinted at amusement which only the Prince understood.

"Welcome, Princess." The two words barely escaped his lips with reluctance and once again, she tried hard not to chuckle.

'It will be too much fun!' thought her inner mischievous side and she already finds herself anticipating the game more than ever.....