19 Chapter 19: The Unification

"Instead of wasting your time on stray cats, couldn't you have hurried here instead?"

A cold, domineering snarl from Valerie echoed inside the giant banquet hall, which winced everyone present there. He had a displeased look prominent on his radiant face, with his onyx eyes holding a stiff glare towards Illay.

"We were all waiting for your arrival, yet you were reckless enough to waste your time on unnecessary things?" He further scolded.

Illay's bright smile was immediately tainted with darkness as he lowered his brown orbs down, seeming a bit uneasy from his gesture. He tried to forge a trembled smile and apologized, "I am sorry, father. I...shouldn't have done that."

"Honey, why are you being always strict towards him?" Lorelia quickly tried to jump in defense, with an uncomfortable sneer on her round face as the atmosphere in the banquet hall was getting much denser. "Our Illay is still very young, that's why he might have distracted a bit..." She continued pursuing him.

"How long you will keep defending him, Lorelia?" Valerie rolled his stiff glare at her while directing his scowl towards Illay. "Xanthus was mindful to reach here in the given time without disobeying me. So why can't Illay at least try to be a bit as responsible as his brother? Is it that hard?"

Hearing his grumble reverberate across the hall, Illay couldn't bother to lift his face up. His facial expression grew darker with a cryptic, sentimental look in his orbs. His jaws quivered a little before he murmured, "I am sorry...to disappoint you, father."

While Illay muttered his apology, Xanthus peered a sharp glance at him through his wadded golden eyes. He didn't fail to notice, that Illay with a solemn look on his face, he was curling one of his hands into a fist under the table.

He huffed a small sigh and before the ambiance grow more awkward, Xanthus responded to Valerie instead, "Your Majesty, let it be. It was a minor inconvenience and Illay has apologized to you already."

"Yeah, I agree with Xanthus!" Raven quickly meddled in between the situation, putting a sly smug on his face as he glimpsed at Valerie. "Besides, Illay didn't make us wait for that long. You should cut some slack to your young son, Valerie. Though he might not be as highly accomplished as Xanthus, but he is still your son."

Instead of neutralizing the situation, his curt comment elevated the heaviness in between them, putting a cold silence in the hall for a few minutes. Lorelia's face grew a bit reddened with anger as she spared an irked glare at Raven. Whereas, Melissa fidgeted a little, looking uneasy, and kept lowering her gaze down without a word.

Amidst the cold war, Illay finally lifted up his bright face up and shot a deep gaze at Raven. Though he forged a vague small smile, his squinted brown eyes were shooting a dark glare towards him as he repeated after him.

"You are right, Alpha Raven, I haven't accomplished much of anything as brother Xanthus. If I had, you would have offered your daughter's hand to me, instead of going for my brother. Wouldn't you?" His low, heavy voice sounded mystical.

Illay's quick blunt response put an awkward silence in the hall as everyone peered a startled gaze at him. But instead, Xanthus retained a small amused smirk on his crimson lips with a curious glance at him. Even his answer made Melissa lift up her gaze from the ground and gawked at him in wonder.

"O-Oh, hahaha! V-Valerie, your son has become a humorous young man indeed, hahaha!" Cutting off the awkward silence amidst them, Raven was witty enough to turn the heavy situation into humor as he chuckled aloud.

As soon as laughed, Illay lit up a sly smirk on his face as he rolled his eyes once towards Melissa before he answered, "Of course, it was a joke. The truth is known to everyone here about how much Princess Melissa has liked my brother since they were kids. So, they are perfect with each other." He also darted a cryptic glance towards Xanthus, putting that smug.

His retort quickly dimmed the glimmer on her face as Melissa looked a little anxious while glancing at Xanthus once. On the other hand, this time, Xanthus retained an ice-cold expression at his answer and darted a sharp glare. He looked somehow a little bothered.

"At last, you spoke something that finally makes sense," His comment lit up a smile on Valerie's face as he crossed his arms over his broad chest and leaned back against his royal chair.

Not only him, but Lorelia too retained a little amused smirk on her face as she glanced at Xanthus once. It seemed as if she was amused to watch his surly expression as she further responded, "Of course, everyone here in the castle has been keenly anticipating their wedding for a long time. We can't wait to welcome Melissa into our family."

"That's the reason, I have arranged the banquet today to have a proper discussion, Raven," Valerie mumbled with a witty smirk and he lifted the glass of wine while addressing in a cordial tone, "Shall we fix a date of their unification ceremony first?"

Immediately, a wide satisfied smile spread out on his face as Raven nodded with a chuckle, lifting the glass of wine for a toast with Valerie. "Of course, we can! After all, I have waited longer too for having Xanthus as my son-in-law!" He sounded much hearty from his tone.

While others were beaming with smiles, both Xanthus and Melissa stayed numb like blocks of ice, without showing any mark of a smile. While Melissa was fidgeting her pale fingers in anxiety under the table, she didn't fail to notice the darkened expression growing prominent on Xanthus. He seemed calm outside, but the vexed look in his eyes hinted at the turbulent storm that must be surging inside him.

"Can't we wait a little longer, father?"

Melissa's nervous murmur flinched everyone in the hall, including Xanthus as he gazed at her deeply. Raven winced at her sudden opposition since it was the first time he watched his daughter go against his decision. While Valerie and Lorelia were startled too, Illay rolled his curious gaze at her, with a smug apparent on his sharp jawline.

"Why?" His facial expression dimmed a little as Raven rolled his eyes while asking in a displeased tone, "Are you having second thoughts about it now, Melissa?"

"It's not like that, father." She gulped and wore a confident look on her face as she laid her eyes on him as she answered. "It's just that, even though we know each other since childhood, I feel we still haven't spent enough time with each other before taking such a grand step of life ahead. And I think, Prince Xanthus will agree with me." She shoveled her rolled eyes at him as if she anticipated his support.

"I do agree with her." Xanthus nodded his head while putting a solemn look on his face. He darted his cold eyes at Valerie and looked a bit serene as he answered, "We aren't close enough yet to opt for the unification ceremony first, Your Majesty."

"Oh, if that's the case," Illay meddled in the situation with a sly smirk as he proclaimed, "Then why don't Princess Melissa starts living with us in the castle? In this way, she will get closer to my brother." He darted another witty glimpse at Xanthus.

Whereas his sudden suggestion flinched everyone in the hall but in fact, it flared a vexed glare in Xanthus as he turned his head towards him. 'You damn brat...really, you never miss a chance to mess with me, don't you? Just how much you fuckin' despise me?' He pondered while gritting his lower jaw in anger.

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NOTE: Unification ceremonies used to happen in the medieval period in which werewolves choose and swore each other as mates in front of their respective packs.