20 Chapter 20

A few guards and the king's valet greeted them at the door. They were told to escort Celia and Alek to the throne room.

Feeling a bit insecure now and wanting to give the impression, at least in the castle, that they had a harmonious relationship, Celia decided on a temporary truce. Therefore, she grabbed Alek's arm without much resistance when he offered it to her.

The castle was overwhelming from the inside. The house of the Grand Duke had already amazed her, but the royal family was something completely different. Gold and marble everywhere you looked and the walls were decorated with paintings of their ancestors.

She almost asked the valet for a tour, but she didn't want to seem childish, and she especially didn't want to keep the king waiting.

Her fiancé, however, noticed her excited looks and leaned down slightly toward her. "When we get here another time, I'll show you around a bit. I'm more than familiar with both the building and the history."

Celia nodded nonchalant, but was secretly looking forward to it. Maybe she should forgive him after all. He was already making an effort, and didn't that count as something? Unless he made his mistake twice, it shouldn't be a problem.

After a long walk, they arrived at a large double door and were asked to wait outside of it. It took only a few minutes, but to Celia it seemed like half an hour. Then the door was opened and they were led further inside.

"Your Majesty. Grand Duke Dumain and his fiancée Lady Fleuret," they were announced and then stood right in front of the throne themselves. At first, Celia didn't dare raise her head, but then her curiosity got the better of her.

The king looked directly into her eyes and for a moment she froze. Then, however, he gave her such a warm smile that she briefly wondered if it was actually meant for her.

"Uncle, it's good to see you," her fiancé greeted the king, and Celia's breath stopped for a moment. Had he really just addressed the king of this country informally? Was that even allowed?

"Alek, my son. It has been far too long. Do I really have to summon you for this old man to see his own nephew again?" The king laughed and Celia relaxed a little again. From the looks of it, Alek was really close to the king.

"Well, I've been busy," he replied, and the king nodded. "I have heard of it. You have ..." At that moment, a man stepped up to the king's side and whispered something in his ear which caused his expression to turn serious again. "It seems the other guests have arrived now," he explained to them.

Celia hadn't known anyone else had been invited, and she had a bad premonition.

The large double door was opened again and her premonition was unfortunately confirmed, because it was her father who now entered. Closely followed by her former maid Lora, which surprised her very much.

"Count Fleuret, Lora," he greeted them both, and Celia thought she had already misheard. Why would the king greet a simple maid? Confused, her eyes wandered to Lora, but she just shrugged and looked around, bored.

She was definitely still the same.

"Your Majesty, it is an honor that you receive us." Her father bowed deeply to the king and Lora nodded curtly.

"Now that all parties are present, let's get straight to the point. Al ... Grand Duke Dumain, Count Fleuret accuses you of kidnapping his youngest daughter. What do you have to say in response to these accusations?"

Alek smiled slightly in amusement. "Oh, nothing at all. It is true, I kidnapped Lady Fleuret and brought her to my estate. Though, of course, nothing happened that wasn't in the lady's best interests."

Celia couldn't believe he was playing even now. She thought he would end this quickly. Did he have to make her so nervous?

"Did you hear that, Your Majesty? I truly have the highest regard for the Grand Duke, but his status does not allow him to simply snatch a young woman from her family. Neither my daughter nor I have consented to this engagement."

The king nodded patiently and then turned to Celia. "My dear, is this true? Did the Grand Duke take you to him without your consent?"

She took one deep breath and lowered her gaze. "As much as I respect my father, I'm afraid I must disagree with him. The kidnapping was at my own request. I fell directly in love with the Grand Duke and no longer wanted to be without him." At least I could no longer separate myself from this handsome sight.

Alek smiled and grabbed her hand. Oh, he was good. Really good. "You see, we're just two lovers who couldn't be without each other anymore."

The king stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Well, I am truly reluctant to separate two lovers. Nonetheless, a betrothal can only take place if the parents agree."

Out of the corner of her eye, Celia could see her father's triumphant smile. But he had not counted on her fiancé. For the latter now acted quite understanding. "Of course! That would never have been my intention either. I am sure Count Fleuret simply forgot that he had already given me his consent. After all, his seal was on the letter with the marriage request." As proof, Alek now took a white slip of paper from his vest pocket and handed it to the king. Before he had even finished reading it, Celia realized which letter it was ... hers. The one with the stolen seal. She had never told Alek that the seal was stolen, or more to the point, borrowed.

Carefully, she leaned over to Alek, but he seemed to know exactly what was going on and shook his head. "Trust me," he whispered.

The king took down the letter and handed it to one of his servants to take to the count. "Well, as it is, you have very well given your consent at a certain point."

In disbelief, her father read what it said and looked angrily at his daughter. "Your Majesty, I have not received this lett..."

"I'm sure you've just forgotten that you agreed to this letter," Alek interrupted him directly. "The other option would be that your daughter must have stolen the seal from your possession. But that would be silly, to think that you would just leave your seal lying around and let it get stolen. Besides, you didn't raise your children to be thieves, did you?"

Gritting his teeth, her father crumpled the letter in his hand. "Of course I didn't. I must have been working too much lately and forgot. Forgive me, Your Grace."

Triumphantly, Alek looked at her and Celia couldn't believe what had just happened.