Raised From The Wild-Chapter 154: Dining with a King

Amaya entered the private room first. She noticed the hostile gazes of her cousins especially that of Zanzara.

Zanzara glared at Amaya. But suddenly her face has a gentle and loving look. She smiled broadly.

Without looking back, Amaya could feel a strong presence behind her and she could tell that King Ralden was at her back.

"You are here, my King," Zanzara exclaimed excitedly.

"We were worried. We thought that you encountered some problems along the way, Your Majesty. We arrived almost an hour ago." Shanaya looked dotingly at the King.

Since her two cousins have spoken, Tatiana chose to remain silent and just gave the king her brightest smile.

King Ralden gestured for them to sit on the table. Zanzara sat on his right while Shanaya on his left. Amaya sat beside Shanaya while Tatiana was left with no choice but to sit beside her sister, Zanzara.

The moment the king sat down, the waiters came pouring in to serve the salad and the 3 kinds of soup.

Amaya was hungry. She was waiting for King Ralden to start eating. She did not understand why there was such a stupid rule that no one can eat first unless the king has started. King Ralden seemed to take his time as he smiled and greeted her cousins gently.

The young king, felt someone was intently looking at him. He looked toward his left and met the gaze of Princess Amaya who was holding onto her spoon. A bowl of soup was in front of her along with a small plate of greens.

Ralden threw his head back as he laughed. "And I thought I had a fan gawking at me as I felt a piercing gaze. So it is you Princess and just waiting for me to start eating."

Amaya lowered her eyes. She felt embarrassed. What he said was true. But she was really hungry.

King Ralden picked up a lettuce with his fork and put it in his mouth. His action was the go signal for the others to start eating.

Amaya immediately drank the small bowl of soup and ate her salad. She was not bothered by the lively interaction between the king and her cousins about current events. The noisy conversation was interrupted when a quartet came inside the room and started singing romantic songs and ballads.

Amaya gestured for the waiter who was standing. She asked for the main course to be served to her.

The waiter was perplexed. He glanced at the king and waited for his instruction. The king was not done with the soup and the salad yet. Why would the princess ask for the main course to be sent to her?

King Ralden nodded. The head waiter instructed the servers to bring in all the food and serve them. Amaya glanced around and noted that her cousins were still eating their salad and she could no longer wait for them. They ate very elegantly which meant they ate very slowly.

The king studied Amaya with his lowered eyes. ’This princess, she really loved food. She does not care about etiquette at all.’

"Cousin, the king has not started with the main course yet." Tatiana reminded her when she saw Amaya has reached out for the knife and started cutting the steak. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

"It is alright. You can eat whatever you want. Don’t wait for me." A deep magnetic voice interrupted Tatiana.

Amaya beamed at him to express her thanks. The king was dazzled for a moment that the spoon he was about to put into his mouth paused in midair. ’What a beautiful smile.’ He thought to himself.

Amaya did not participate in the conversation unless King Ralden would specifically ask her. The king found the topic too boring. A look of impatience would sometimes appear in his eyes, but he would mask it with a gentle smile.

"So Shanaya is a model and Tatiana is still a university student. How about you Zanzara, what do you do?"

Zanzara smiled everytime the king talked to her. She felt that the King of Ra-iya was especially attentive to her and she was proud.

"I am managing a clothes company owned by the Rocas, Your Majesty." She said sweetly. Her voice was unnaturally sweet that even her sister, Tatiana has goosebumps all over body. She glanced at her older sister and frowned at her disapprovingly.

King Ralden simply nodded. ’These granddaughters are very shallow. After spending more than 30 minutes with the first princess, I find their topics boring.’

When Amaya was done eating, her cousins were not even half way with their food. She asked the waiter for a cup of tea. It should go best with dessert.

"Don’t you want some wine Princess? It is always good to have wine after a full meal especially when you had red meat." The king glanced at a waiter who hurriedly approached Amaya and was about to pour her a glass of wine.

Amaya stopped the waiter. "Thank you, Your Majesty. But I still have tournaments tomorrow."

"Half a glass won’t make you drunk. Come on, let’s have a toast."

Two waiters hurriedly served the ladies with a glass of red wine. Amaya did not reject anymore.

"To a successful alliance with Lireya." He clinked glasses with Zanzara first and then Shanaya. He raised it briefly toward Tatiana and finally to Amaya.

King Ralden drank his wine, his gaze not leaving Amaya’s face. He watched as her face became flushed.

"Your face is red, Princess. Don’t tell me you cannot hold your alcohol?"

Amaya touched her face. She did not feel anything. "I have a high tolerance for alcohol your highness."

"But you are not used to drinking alcohol, cousin. There shouldn’t be wine in the jungle, right?" Zanzara mocked her.

"There is, cousin. The alcohol that Daddy Ibrahim, made was even better than this." Amaya swirled the glass of wine and smelled the aroma just like what her daddy taught her. The difference was, she was holding a glass instead of a wooden chalice.

"Did you know that wine tastes better using a wooden vessel rather than a glass?" Amaya said with a distant look. It seemed as if she was chasing a memory.

Her three cousins were surprised to see Amaya looking like a sommelier when she swirled the wine. King Ralden was entranced for a few seconds before he found his voice. "I know, Princess. Wood enhances the taste of wine."

After dinner, the king invited them to take a stroll in the garden behind the restaurant. All the ladies agreed without hesitation.

Amaya ate a lot so it would be fine to have a stroll to digest the food she ate. The restaurant has a beautiful garden. The myriad of flowers were well kept and their fragrance filled the air. The warm yellow lights from the lamp posts that lined the cobblestone pathways created a romantic vibe.

Amaya did not want to squeeze herself with her cousins who scrambled to walk beside the king, so she deliberately walked slower and was left behind.

However, King Ralden called her and she found herself walking beside Shanaya.

"Your Majesty, since you have a lot of wives, it must be difficult to manage them. How do you spend time with them? Don’t they get jealous?" Judging by how comfortable King Ralden was around women, Amaya guessed that it was a common thing for him to be surrounded by them.

"Of course, they get jealous but then It is their fault why they agree to the marriage. Besides, I treat them equally and spend the same amount of time with everyone." The king sounded irritated.

"Don’t spew nonsense Amaya." Zanzara reprimanded her. "Even Grandpa has concubines and they have a harmonious relationship."

"But I am not spewing nonsense. I am just sharing my views. I don’t like to share my mate with others." Amaya said tactlessly.

Zanzara wanted to argue with Amaya but when she thought that what she said was not necessarily good and should have angered the king, she let her be.

"My King, forgive my cousin for her tactlessness. It must be the wine." Shanaya threw a glance that said ’shut up’ to Amaya.

King Ralden remained silent. A viscous glint crossed his eyes before a gentle smile appeared on his face.

"Ah, it is the mate thing again, Princess. Only animals have mates. Us, humans, we call them spouses or lovers or partners or girlfriends. I remembered when you first rejected my proposal, you said you already found your mate. Is it Marx Skylar? The ring on your finger is his?" King Ralden asked a barrage of questions.

Zanzara and Tatiana turned their heads to Amaya at the same time. Their eyes widened and their jaws dropped. They focused on Amaya’s hand and saw something glittered on her finger. Is their cousin already engaged? How come they did not know about it?

Shanaya on the other hand did not show any reaction. She was not close to Amaya and did not interact with Marx.

"This is a birthday gift from him and yes, he is my boyfriend." She said honestly.

King Ralden chuckled. He reached out and took Amaya’s hand and studied the ring. "Your boyfriend is indeed ultra rich. This is the ’Everlasting’ that was auctioned a few weeks ago. It was purchased at an astronomical price. ". He shifted his gaze from the ring and studied the beautiful face before her.

"From what I gathered, the man you referred as your mate already has a fiancee."