Forever Destined to the Silver Shadow-Chapter 182: Three rules to follow

Theo’s POV:

Samuel got serious when I uttered the word firewater. Ivory, who was standing beside me, poked me a little and said, "Theo, you can’t just say that word in front of Fae. The word firewater is taboo in the Highlands."

Celestia has already told me about this before. For some reason, the Highlanders consider the firewater as a despicable drink. But it is a magical drink that makes one forget about the pain in my heart. If only they had tasted it, would they know the significance of it!

"Whatever," I sighed. "Tea sounds good too!"

We all sat down on the wooden dining table chair that was on the lateral end of the chamber. In the center of the table, there was a flower vase that had freshly cut Peonilla flowers in it that was intoxicating the whole chamber with its pleasant fragrance.

No one spoke a word until a young maiden in a purple gown entered the room with a silver tray that had a teapot and cups in it.

The sweet aroma of the beverage reached us even before she came to our table. The young maiden placed three plain porcelain teacups on the table and filled up the cups with the hot beverage.

I picked up the cup in front of me and took a sip of the hot beverage. For a second, I was dazed by the flavor. It was hot as well as sweet. I bet that it has a few drops of fresh mountain honey.

The mountain honey must have enhanced the flavor of the regular tea. When I took another sip, I realized that something else is also giving the flavor.

As soon as I took the third sip, all my nerves relaxed slowly. My senses got elated just like they did when I drank firewater. I fixed my eyes at Samuel and questioned him," What is your secret ingredient that gives the thrill?"

Samuel hesitated to answer my question. He placed his teacup on the table and glared at me anxiously.

"Come on, Samuel! I am going to become your king soon. So you can’t hide this secret forever from me. It would be better if you tell me the secret now."

"But Your Majesty! I can’t reveal the secret unless you promise me that you won’t say it to any other Highlanders until you become the King. If this secret ever gets out while Oberon is the King, then my life is in danger."

I chuckled at the words and said, "You keep your recipe a secret because of Oberon? Why would Oberon kill you because of your secret ingredient? It is not like you are mixing firewater or animal flesh in your tea!"

Only after I took another sip of the beverage, I comprehended what his secret ingredient was. Then I glanced at him in complete awe.

"You are brilliant!" I complimented him.

The words felt extremely strange as they came out of my mouth. I have complimented a lot of women before in my life. But this is the first time I am praising a man!

"You are really brilliant!" I retorted again. "Your secret ingredient is firewater?"

"Your Grace! How did you find out about that?"

"Come on, Samuel! This sweet mountain honey could have concealed the sourness of the firewater. But I know the elated feeling that firewater gives. So it must be your secret drink."

His face got paler in terror. "Your Majesty! You got that right. I am pleading with you not to reveal this to anyone."

"Your secret is safe with me!"

It seems like Samuel is even a bigger trickster than me! He has fooled an entire land into drinking something that is forbidden by law.

So the entire Highlanders, including Oberon, have already tasted the firewater unknowingly through this tea! What will happen to Highlanders if this secret ever gets out?

Once we were done with the Tea, the young maiden took the teacups and left the chamber. Samuel started to speak only after she left.

"Tomorrow morning, I am going to take you two to Oberon’s court session. But before we step in there, I want to establish some ground rules."

"Yes, go on," I said.

"You have three rules to follow. The number one rule is, when you are in the castle, you are not supposed to mock King Oberon. Not just the King, you should not offend or disrespect his son Darius too."

This rule seems to be difficult! How can I respect that lame King? Whenever I see him, all I want to do is to strangle him. And Darius is too ridiculous sometimes. It is impossible not to mock him when he says something stupid.

"It seems like a difficult rule, but I’ll try to follow it," I responded to him.

"Okay. Now the second rule is, when you are in the courtroom, you should remain silent. You should not speak up even when you are asked to do so. Most importantly, you should not speak with the Faes of the other houses."

This doesn’t seem like a very difficult task. I can pull this off!

"Fine! Tell me what the last rule is."

"You have to not speak with Dawn! Nor should you stare at her unnecessarily. It will raise suspicion. Even if she comes to talk to you, then you should not meet her eyes."

At first, I thought that he was making a joke. How can he forbid me from speaking to my lady love? I am seeing her after these many days, and I would definitely want to speak with her. Or maybe I would even want to grab her tiny waist and kiss her pretty lips.

"So, do you agree with rule number three?" Samuel asked me again.

"What? Are you serious about this?"

He nodded to my questions. I sat up straight on my chair and frowned at him. "Samuel! I am going to that castle to convince Celestia that I am not her enemy. How am I supposed to do that when I am not even allowed to speak with her?"