Chapter 237

Princess Isis was resting in a chair by one of the banquet tables. Sweets were lined out in front of her as she munched on a piece of sweet strawberry cake. It was one of her favorite deserts as she had a sweet tooth. At the sound of footsteps approaching, her wolf ear flicked as, she became alert.

"I see you found the sweets to your liking." Vorbuk spoke to her while watching her white hair flip through the air with a sudden turn. He had not meant to startle her but the reaction gave him a slight smile.

"Ah," Princess Isis felt embarrassed by her sudden reaction. The whispers among the nobles were surely able to reach her ears and make her feel more nervous to be out among the crowd. Her face flushed as she spoke, "It was better then dealing with the glares of the nobles. You can't go wrong with sweets."

"How about a dance, princess?" Vorbuk asked while extending his hand towards her causing her to glance around at the whispering nobles as Vorbuk's hand hung in the air before her.

The king had not danced at the banquet and the first person he had extended the invitation to was Princess Isis. It was something that caused gossip to erupt among the crowd like a wildfire. Some may have been kind words but not all of it would have been. That was something Vorbuk and the Princess both knew clearly. However Vorbuk did not care what the people thought of his action.

As soon as he'd seen her sitting alone at the table he'd wanted to drag her away from those sweets. There was something even sweeter then strawberry cake that he wanted. However he knew that it was something he had to approach carefully.

If I'm not careful she may try to escape the palace. Vorbuk did not want to see the princess wishing to leave behind Theapan. There were too many things that were enough to give her reason to want to leave him behind. No matter how calm she looked on the outside it was impossible for her to be unaffected completely.

"It'd be my pleasure." Princess Isis gave her response while carefully catching glimpses of the gossiping nobles. She had to act properly in front of the nobles for the sake of her honor as a royal. A blush coating her cheeks as she understood how important the first dance was for someone holding a royal title; They could not dance with just anybody after all.

For a royal to dance with another was only appropriate during two circumstances; Dancing with a relative and dancing with the one they were courting. Therefore by Vorbuk extending a dance invitation to Princess Isis was equivalent to him announcing publicly that she belonged to him.

That fact was not knowledge known to Vorbuk as he had never been a royal before. In fact the only person he wanted to dance with was the princess so nobody else mattered to him. It was unknown to him that his simple invitation had caused the princess's heart to pound in her chest. Nor did he take the time to worry about what others might have been whispering around him. Taking the princess's hand he lead her towards the banquet's dance floor that was center of the banquet room.

As they positioned themselves together to dance he could see her blushing at how close they were. His hand wrapped carefully around her waist as they began to move.

"I was surprised you did not try to refuse my offer," Vorbuk muttered quietly to her, "I thought you might reject considering everything that's happened since we met."

Princess Isis could not stop herself from giggling faintly as they danced. Realizing that Vorbuk had no idea what his offer to dance really meant strangely made her chest feel warm. It was a warm feeling that she could not understand the meaning behind but it was comforting.

Changing the subject she asked, "Are things going well with the nobles?"

"That duke from Drethia Kingdom seems strange. I can not understand what he really wants." Vorbuk whispered his response honestly so that others could not overhear them.

In fact Vorbuk was not aware of his own reputation in the least because it meant nothing to him. He did not need to be remembered by others as long as he had those important to him. The rest of the world's opinion was not important in his eyes.

No matter how dangerous, how painful, or how long everything had been for him and the others the general people had no clue. They had no idea what Vorbuk and the others had gone through to get to this point. The mistakes made, times they struggled to fight for their lives, and loved ones lost was not something the outsiders could know or understand.

Rumors were something that left one person and could become twisted. Many things are lost along the way and only certain details remain in time.

Vorbuk was a companion beast who refused to be controlled by others by becoming a beast that belonged to another. As a beast that helped protect Cista Kingdom, Successfully took the throne with as little damage as possible, gave a proper burial to the previous Theapan King, and had even fallen for the enemies daughter Princess Isis his reputation among the nobles was not a brutal one. His companions might have been crazy and his journey one that someone may even call tragic nobody knew about those details. In the eyes of onlookers they simply saw a king who was dangerous but had a kind heart.

Spinning the princess's movements spun her outward, her hand gently grasping his. As soon as she reached the right distance Vorbuk pulled back carefully. Princess Isis twirled around as she danced and spun her way back into his embrace. The dance slowly coming to an end as they stood face to face.

"You should never trust someone working for Chynir." The princess whispered into his ear before stepping back.

Taking a bow she continued to talk without worrying about her voice being heard, "Enjoy your time, your majesty."

Your Majesty? Vorbuk thought to himself as he heard those words. She's drawing a line between us.

It was true that she cared about Vorbuk but after everything that had happened her heart had begun to hesitate. Even if he was not the man who killed her father he was still involved in the war and taking over the throne that resulted in his death. It was something that plagued her like an inner ghost. She might not have noticed it herself but it was still haunting her quietly in the depth of her conscious. That was something difficult to overcome.

CRASH!

The sudden sound of a wine bottle shattering on the banquet floor was heard.

"I think you're over doing yourself, you crazy dragon!" King Micah's voice could be heard scolding someone from a distance. From the sound of him losing his normal composer it was clear that he was frustrated beyond what he could handle.

Vorbuk suddenly had a bad feeling as he heard another voice responding to King Micah, it was Bredret, "Call me crazy one more time and I will burn down the carriage you came here in to a pile of ash!"