The dreadful dinner.

The soft clattering of silver utensils echoed in the quiet dining room.

In an outrageously long table sat one lady and four men. On one end, the head of the royal family silently ate his steak, pressuring others to follow suit. The queen, sitting on the king's right, elegantly sliced the meat into small pieces and ate them with so much grace that it looked like her arms were dancing. Even as she chewed the juicy steak, her blood-red lips barely moved.

At the side of the raven-haired queen sat the second prince, Cail, whose thick muscles rippled as he scrumptiously ate his dinner, not paying the slightest attention to his table manners.

While on the opposite sat the two other boys: the stoic crown prince, Avery, and the third prince, Deon.

"Uwaah… what kind of dinner is this? It feels like a funeral." Mikael remarked from inside the medium.

"Sir, can you please quiet down? I'm trying to behave here but with you chirping around in my mind, I might make a mistake!" Deon complained through direct messaging.

"Heh. You do know that behaving here won't spare you from punishment, right?" Mikael teased. He was happy to know that there was at least one person in this kingdom who can correct Deon's wrongdoings.

Mikael stomped his feet in the white world as all he could see was the view of Deon's dinner.

Deon adamantly looked down on his plate, making himself appear small and hoping he was invisible to not attract the king's attention.

Ping!

<Do you wish to go out of the medium?>

<Yes/No>

"Yes." In the end, Mikael had to leave the aquamarine ear stud to look around the room.

<System Notification: Player Mikael Lee is released from the sealed state>

Like a genie coming out of Aladdin's lamp, Mikael's soul rose like smoke from the earring before forming his spiritual body.

'let's see… Are they good or bad? Hmm…' Mikael wanted to examine their faces to gauge their Karma points. He considered who he should keep an eye on and who he should stick with. Even if they are family, one can never be too cautious.

Ping!

<Passive skill: Blessing of the Mist Lvl. -1 is activated.>

He surveyed the people sitting in the dining room. At a glance, Mikael could see that no one had an aura as translucent as Deon. Even his elder brothers' appeared grey while the king and his wife had varying shades of dark grey. However, this did not necessarily mean that they were vile as most of the guests in Mikael's horror house had similar auras. 'I guess they're just normal people…'

"Deon, I heard that you went out." the king said, his low bass voice a prelude to Deon's impending doom.

Cold sweat broke out of the young prince's skin. With eyes slightly trembling, he forced himself to look at the king, only to find his father smiling.

However, his sinister smile failed to alleviate Deon's fright.

"Um… I'm sorry, father…" Deon apologized. He thought it was better to apologize early. It was a classic move done to lessen the punishment by admitting one's fault and reflecting on it.

But it was useless against the king who continued to smile while uttering, "What are you sorry for? Sneaking out of the palace? Causing trouble by not even leaving a note of your whereabouts? Making us think you were kidnapped and making us doubt our palace's security?"

Deon shut his mouth, looking like a beaten dog, as he let his father continue with his lecture.

"You do know that there have been numerous cases of kidnapping in the kingdom for the past year, right? How could you be so irresponsible, Deon? We almost mobilized the Knights and Combat Almagi Orders to find you! If not for Sir Edmund's report last night, several people would've been fired." The king's smile was gone. In its place was an expression full of disappointment.

Mikael, who was floating beside the king, nodded his head at the listed repercussions. Holding his chin, he peeked at Deon's guilty mug and felt satisfied—Until he heard the King's next words.

"As a punishment, you have to join tomorrow's hunting competition." The king said with finality.

All the people present in the dining room turned their heads to the king with looks of disbelief.

Even the Queen, who had been silently listening to the conversation, protested to her husband, "YOUR GRACE! That's too much!"

"Is it? From what I heard, our son went to a remote village to play commoner! I guess he's tired of being a royalty so why don't we give him what he wants?" countered the king.

Deon's mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water. He was speechless at the fact that his little field trip ended up bringing him so much trouble. but he knew... Once the king made up his mind, no one could change it.

His elder brother, Cail, watched the scene in amusement while his eldest brother, Avery, offered no backup.

Seeing no way out of his predicament, Deon sighed in resignation.

"Hey! Don't go mute on me! Persuade your father to rescind his punishment! Tell him you won't do it again! Go down on your knees if you have to! We ABSOLUTELY CAN'T join the hunting competition!" Mikael panicked and swooped beside his partner.

"Oww!" Deon's eardrums almost burst from Mikael's hysterical shouting. "Sir, it's too late. My father never goes back on his words. Most especially his punishments." Deon muttered under his breath.

"What do you say, Deon?" the king asked, noticing his son whispering.

"I-I understand, Father." He reluctantly replied.

The king stood from his seat, signaling the end of dinner, "Then, ask Sebastian for a set of armor and weapon. You will go incognito at the competition."

"Incognito?" Deon tilted his head to the side.

"Of course. Didn't you want to experience the life of a commoner? If you paraded your face there, knights would try to protect you. Wouldn't that defeat the purpose?" His father good-naturedly smiled.

'Woah! This king is scary… he worded it nicely but he basically said Deon wasn't allowed to ask for help.' Mikael thought as he watched the king's dignified back.

Everyone followed the king out of the room except for Deon, who stared blankly in the air.

"Sir Mikael…What do we do now?"

--Chapter end--