Raised From The Wild-Chapter 196: Fit For A Queen

King Ralden looked at Amaya strangely. "The more money you give, the more children will fall into the hands of the syndicates." The king sounded serious.

"Then, doesn’t the government do something about it?"

The moment the words were out of her mouth, her guard who was standing near the entrance of the dining hall flicked his tongue. He has a worried look on his face.

Amaya realized too late that she asked the wrong question. Zanzara glared at her. How stupid of her to ask such a question in front of the leader of the country.

King Ralden’s eyes darkened for a split second. Then he gave out a charming smile.

"The police caught many members of the syndicates and freed many of the children. But after one syndicate is wiped out, another one will sprout like a mushroom." The king sounded patient.

The servants came in with trays of food in their hands as they started serving the king and his guests. As per tradition, everyone can only start eating after the king has started eating. Nobody spoke during the meal. Amaya wanted to break the silence. Back on the island, her Daddy Ibrahim would utilize their meal time to narrate to her his experiences in life, imparting to her a lot of knowledge.

Amaya just realized that it was something that Ibrahim learned from his father. In the Rocas dining hall during meal time, the king would tell stories and share nuggets of wisdom over a meal.

It was different in Ra-Iya. A palace official has previously oriented them with the rules of Ra-Iya and as guests, they needed to abide by the rules, and so they ate in silence.

After dinner, the king invited them to go to the drawing-room where dessert and fresh fruits along with wine were served. King Ralden sat on a couch beside his soon-to-be bride. His hand was wrapped around her shoulder.She was wearing an off-should dress so her wheat-colored shoulders were exposed. Zanzara’s smiles reached up to her ears.

Amaya sat on a one-seater couch beside the king. Her guard was standing behind her. She wondered if her guards have eaten their dinner. She learned today that on top of the two guards who constantly followed her, she was assigned two additional secret guards.

"Have you eaten?" She mouthed to her guards. She felt relieved when she saw them nod.

"Your Majesty, since Ra-Iya and Lireya will now be joined in marriage, I would like to donate an orphanage in the name of my Daddy Ibrahim and Mommy Danaya."

The hand that was caressing Zanazara’s exposed upper arms paused.

"On behalf of Ibrahim and Danaya?" He knew Danaya, but he did not have an impression of Ibrahim. It was just recently that he learned that Ibarra has a twin brother. He only saw him from the museum.

"You care so much about them that you would donate an entire orphanage for them?" King Ralden was bemused.

"Princess Danaya is my mother and Daddy Ibrahim is my father." She said casually.

The king looked at her with a penetrating gaze. ’"Daddy?"

"Daddy Ibrahim took care of me when we were trapped on the island. I would like to honor his memory." Amaya said softly.

"I see. I will not reject your gift Princess Amaya and on behalf of the people of Ra-Iya I would like to say thank you." King Ralden gave one of his best smiles. Coupled with his mesmerizing voice, Amaya was in a trance. There was something in the king that seemed to draw her to him.

Her guard coughed. Amaya blinked and came out of her daze.

"I don’t have my assistant with me but my guard, Zander can take care of this from my side," Amaya said awkwardly. What just happened? She did not know what happened. It seemed like she was hypnotized by his voice that she could not take her eyes off him not even minding the sharp glares from Zanzara.

King Ralden threw a hostile gaze at the guard. The guard could only lower his head. It was not his place to be in a staring contest with the king.

"My King, it is getting late. My cousins and I need to have our beauty rest so we will look good tomorrow for the wedding." Zanzara’s coquettish voice was a relief for Amaya. She was thinking of how to leave the room as she was tired.

"How thoughtless of me. Of course my bride, you all can rest. I will retire as well. I should look my best tomorrow.." The king gave her a peck on the forehead but his gaze was on Amaya. After a minute, he left the room.

"Cousin, I didn’t have the time to give this to you previously as it only arrived yesterday. I hope that you will like this." Amaya looked at her guard and he passed her an exquisite-looking bag with the logo of Simply Jewel.

"Thank you, Cousin." Zanzara accepted the bag. She took the brocade box inside and opened it. The three ladies gasped at the same time.

Amaya has gifted Zanzara with a tiara made from diamonds and red rubies. Zanzara was very touched. She forgot all her resentment toward Amaya.

"Thank you, Cousin. It is very beautiful." Zanzara’s eyes reddened.

"Don’t cry. It is your special day tomorrow. If you cry, you will have eye bags." Amaya teased Zanzara.

Zanzara hurriedly wiped her tears and smiled.

"I’ll get going. You rest well, cousins. See you tomorrow." Amaya bade them goodbye and she walked toward the door at the north.

"Isn’t the way to the guest rooms on the third floor over there?" Tatiana asked in confusion. She was pointing to the hallway in the opposite direction.

Amaya stopped walking and turn around. She was contemplating whether to tell her cousins or not.

"I am not staying on the 3rd floor. Maybe because I have my royal guards with me so I was assigned a different accommodation."

"Where are you staying, cousin? Tatiana and Shanaya asked at the same time.

"I am staying at the White Villa in the North Wing."

The three cousins’ eyes widened. Zanzara felt as if a bucket of cold water was poured over her. The happiness she felt when Amaya gave her the tiara disappeared and was replaced by jealousy.

Everybody in the palace knew that the White Villa was the late queen’s abode.

When Amaya saw the pale faces of her cousins especially Zanzara, she regretted that she told her about the accommodation. But then, it was not her habit to make a lie.

"Why do you all look at me like that? It is just a house." Amaya said drily.

"That is the queen’s house." Tatiana enunciated every word.

"It is still just a house. I did not ask for it. The palace was the one who arranged for our accommodation." Amaya said sternly.

Tatiana wanted to retort but Aamaya was right. She did not ask for such an arrangement. It was provided to her.

"Don’t waste your time cousins. We need to have a good night sleep remember?"

The siblings and their cousin, Shanaya decided to let go of the First Princess because they were thinking about the wedding the following day.

Amaya heaved a sigh of relief. She walked to the North Door Exit and walked gracefully to the white villa. Zander, walked by her side and reminded her of the camera in the bathroom.

"Don’t worry I will be careful."

They entered the main door and the two servants who were assigned to her welcomed her. Her royal guards need to work in shifts so she can be protected 24 hours a day. Two of them retreated to their rooms.

Amaya went to the bathroom. The water in the bathtub was not drained yet. She accidentally dropped the towel she was holding. She picked it up, removed the excess water and she went to the towel rack and hung the wet towel. After a few minutes, the towel started to drip on the floor.

After brushing her teeth, Amaya simply washed her face and changed into her pajama. She went out of the bathroom and adjusted the light so only a faint light from the side table illuminated the entire room.

Meanwhile on the second floor of the place, ’someone’ was fuming. He dialed a number and the person on the other line answered after the first ring.

"Your Majesty?" He asked cautiously. "Is there anything you need me to do?"

"Yes! Can you check what happened to the spy camera on the second floor of the White Villa?" he asked impatiently.

"On it, Your Majesty."

King Ralden hung up. He could not understand how the camera became blurred.

After some time, King Ralden’s cell phone brightened. He picked it up.

"Speak!" he commanded.

"Your Majesty, I analyzed the video and it was because the princess covered it with a wet towel that the camera malfunctioned."