Demon Prince's Forsaken Bride-Chapter 33: Birthday present

’’My Lady!" Rosie walked around the room, flustered.

’’You are making my head spin. Sit down,’’ Lareina looked back down at the book in her hand.

’’My Lady, the banquet starts in an hour and you have yet to be dressed up. His Highness has not even sent a messenger to let you know when he will arrive. What do we do? What if that seductress takes the chance to cling onto him?"

Lareina closed the book and placed it back on the table. Yesterday night, the man had looked her in the eye and told her that he would give her an answer. However, in the morning, she had crossed paths with him when she was taking a walk and he looked past her like she did not exist.

She would have thought he was unable to see her had their eyes not met briefly. In that moment, she had seen a familiar contempt and hatred in his gaze. He looked at her the way he had done on the day he had returned from the war, devoid of any feelings.

And it told her more than she should know.

’’My Lady, that woman comes with no good motive. She must have provoked His Highness against you. We do not even know what lies she had fed him. You must explain yourself!’’

’’No need.’’

Rosie looked helpless, ’’But, My Lady. Why won’t you explain yourself to him?"

’’Because where there is trust, no explanations are needed.’’

He had told her that he would give her an answer and she has not heard from him ever since. What could be the better answer than that?

"But My Lady, under such circumstances, will you attend the banquet or not?"

’’Of course not,’’ Lareina rose to her feet and walked to the bed, ’’With my husband’s indifference, and the lack of invitation, I am not supposed to be there. Put the trail of corsets aside and you take some rest as well.’’

Watching Lareina get under the sheets and curl into a comfortable position, Rosie’s lips twitched. But why do you seem so unaffected by it? And even a little bit happy?

Rosie felt like the lady seemed different for a couple of weeks. It was almost like she had accepted everything and held no expectations. But again, she wasn’t completely sad, but rather she seemed more free, completely unlike how restrained and quiet she has been all these years.

The sound of consecutive knocks interrupted Rosie’s thoughts. She opened the door and chided at the two maidservants who greeted her view, ’’The Lady is resting. How can you knock so loudly?"

’’We are here to deliver this,’’ They entered and placed a huge chest on the floor before leaving.

’’My Lady, what could this be?" Out of curiosity, Rosie opened the chest while Lareina looked over in disinterest.

And a beautiful royal blue gown greeted their vision.

In a sharp contrast to Rosie’s excitement, Lareina’s brows tugged together as she let her gaze linger on the gown.

...

The banquet hall was lavishly decorated. A troupe of dancers gathered in the middle, dressed in sheer clothes that clung to their curves. Their delicate and seductive moves earned noises of approval from the crowd of demons.

Seated on the huge throne high up in the middle was the demon lord. To his immediate left was the fourth prince, Samael, the hero of the day. To the demon lord’s distant left was the elegant and quiet third prince, Cain.

The two seats to the right were vacant. The officials were whispering about it amongst themselves.

’’It seems like two of the princes are absent.’’

’’Don’t you know that the crown prince is out to handle an important case? As for the second prince, he is a revered general now. It is understandable if he is reluctant to grace us with his presence all the time.’’

’’But even the lord himself gives high priority to this event. How can his status overpower the lord’s?"

Those conversations reached the lord through the servants who whispered them in his ear and his face darkened bit by bit.

The fourth prince who happened to be nearest to the king also overheard these words and frowned, ’’Father, isn’t it because my second brother doesn’t favor me much at all?’’ He grumbled and complained but after a while, he was distracted by the beautiful dancers again.

The demon lord’s frowned and commanded, ’’Guards, go summon the second prince and see what holds him back from attending his brother’s banquet.’’

His words had just dropped when the place fell silent. Through the tall doors, Azrael stepped in as the guards bowed to him.

The demon lord watched with a frown until he spotted the woman who followed Azrael. It was not Lareina, but rather Moira who was dressed in a delicate gown that flaunted her body seductively. The demon lord’s eyes watched her for a few moments before he turned to Azrael.

’’I see that you have not brought your wife with you tonight. Is it because you are not getting along well?"

The crowd had long fallen silent.

Azrael and Moira curtsied to the demon lord wordlessly. Azrael’s expressions were stoic, and his face unreadable.

’’Or is it because she insulted you in front of everyone by calling you naive?"

Following the demon lord’s words, the crowd went into uproar as whispers and murmurs rose in the place.

Some people were enraged at the audacity of a human to mock their general, some expressed their sympathies while some simply enjoyed the show. After all, this is what many people expected the scenario to be like when one of the demon princes married the human princess whom they could neither kill nor accept as their wife wholly. However, in one way or another, the second prince suddenly became the subject of everyone’s gaze as people whispered about him again.

But unlike the first time, the whispers this time were not singing praises of him nor stringing words of admiration for him.

"Hahaha... Since it is the great occasion of the fourth prince’s birthday, we should not dwell on these bitter things. Come here, second, what present have you prepared for your fourth brother?" This time when the demon lord addressed Azrael, his voice was more amicable than before.