Once Upon The Life of The Wise King

The Small Feast

ONCE UPON THE LIFE OF THE WISE KING

Volume 2

The Fall of The Royal Family

Chapter 35 - The Small Feast

The Royal family sat for breakfast, but Prince Luciel was missing. Queen Cielisse looked at her sons who also looked at each other. "Where is your brother Luciel?" she asked.

King Wenhart exhaled. "That kid." He shook his head.

"Just now," Prince Colin said, "I saw him sleeping in his room."

The King turned to his side and a male servant stepped forward. "Yes, Your Majesty," he said as he bowed his head.

"Go fetch the Third Prince."

"Understood." The servant bowed once again and left. The servant went out of the dining hall, closing the door behind him, and walked towards the direction of the Third Prince's bed-chambers. When he arrived, he knocked against the door. "Your Highness," he called, "breakfast is ready. His Majesty, Her Majesty, the First and Second Princes are waiting for you."

There was no answer.

"Your Highness?" He knocked again. "Your Highness, are you in there?" The servant paused, then he leaned his left ear on the door and listened for any noise from inside.

There was no noise.

The servant stepped back. He called the Third Prince several times, but there was no answer. "Your Highness, I'm going in," he said, waiting for the Prince to speak. When he got no answer, he tentatively turned the doorknob, slowly opened the door, and sneak a peek inside. "Your Highness?" Slowly, he straightened up as he pushed the door wide open. What he saw was an unmade and unoccupied bed.

Prince Luciel was not in his room.

It turned out that the Third Prince sneaked out of the palace and into the town, skipping breakfast and his lessons.

King Wenhart was speechless with his unruly child. He did not know where they went wrong in raising the Third Prince, who always skipped his lessons and training. Prince Luciel strongly believe that since he was the heir and had the most powerful majika, then there was no need for him to take lessons and training.

"Just let him be. Let's eat now," the King said.

Prince Luciel on the other hand had breakfast at one of the most expensive restaurants in town. He walked out of the restaurant, holding a meat skewer when suddenly, a man who was rushing bumped into him and caused him to accidentally smudge the meat skewer on his vest.

The man who bumped into him gasped. "Your Highness! Forgive me!" He kneeled. "I did not mean to bump into His Highness."

The Third Prince looked on his clothes. Seeing the ugly smudge on it, he got annoyed and start yelling. "Look at your carelessness! Now you have ruined it!"

"Please forgive me, Your Highness!"

"Tsk. What are you doing for a living?"

"I-I'm only a lowly merchant, selling old thing, Your Highness."

"Tsk. You can't even pay for clothes cleaners! Move!" Prince Luciel stomped his foot, scaring the young man who quickly moved aside while still bowing kneeling on the ground.

After breakfast, King Wenhart prepared to go to the west land area to meet the troops that escorted the slaves they saved. "Cielisse, I'm going to meet them at the west land. Do you want to come with me?"

"I would love to meet them as well, but right now I am not feeling well."

"Do you have a fever?" The King felt his wife's forehead.

"No, no." The Queen shook her head and said, "It's just a headache. This will disappear once I get some rest."

"Okay. Let me escort you back into the room." King Wenhart pulled his wife and lead her back to their bed-chambers. When they arrived, he opened the door for his wife, helped her into the bed, and kissed her forehead. "Rest. I will be back soon," he said.

"Hm." Queen Cielisse closed her eyes.

King Wenhart stood up, turned his back, and made his way out of their bed-chambers.

Prince Luciel was walking down the streets when he met his brother Prince Colin. He stopped in his tracks as he watch the First Prince approaching him. Stopping a couple of feet away from the Third Prince, Prince Colin said, "Go back and train."

"Brother. I don't need to train. I'm the-"

"Shush!" Prince Colin interrupted him and said, "Even if you are the strongest man in the world, you still need to train your body and mind. Also, you must exercise discipline on yourself."

The two Princes fell in silence.

Then, the Third Prince spoke. "You...why are you here?"

"Why else, of course, to drag you back to the training grounds. Now, come with me." He stepped forward, grabbed the back collar of his youngest brother, and pulled him into the carriage that was parked nearby.

Meanwhile, King Wenhart arrived in the west land together with some soldiers to welcome their troops and the people they saved from s*****y. He stood in front of the entryway of the new settlement. Behind him were the kingdom's soldiers. The King stood still with his arms crossed as he waited for their arrival.

Soon, men riding horses and horses pulling carriages can be seen at the distance.

"Your Majesty." General Huns saluted once he got off his horse. His men followed suit as they got off and kneeled down.

The King nodded at his General and said, "Welcome back."

"Thank you, Your Majesty," the General replied. "I have brought the people back as you ordered. They also swore to be loyal to the King and to the Luciel Kingdom."

"Very well, let them off the carriages so I can see them."

General Huns turned towards the carriages and spoke in a loud voice. "His Majesty wishes to see his new people! Everyone, get down from the carriages!"

The people inside the carriages heard the General's order. The older people got down first, then they helped their young children down, and they walked forward, stopping a couple of feet away from the General and the King.

"Your Majesty." The people kneeled on the ground.

The King looked at the people. He felt for these people who wore rags as clothes. He did not know how long they had been held captive by the bandits, but it did not matter at that moment because these people were already the people of the Luciel Kingdom. Although, it was not certain yet if none of them were enemies or spies. But nevertheless, they will be treated equally within the Luciel Kingdom.

"Everyone." King Wenhart coughed. "Listen. As of this day, you are part of the Luciel Kingdom. I will also give you land to toil, and monetary assistance so you can start a small business for you to earn your living. I have also prepared houses built by our builders for you all." At the mention of the word houses, the King stepped aside and the soldiers behind him also made a way so the people can see what was inside the fortress. "Just like the town on the other side, a fortress was also built for security reasons. And this will also become a second town of the Luciel Kingdom, albeit a lot smaller than the one at the other side." He paused. " To make it official that you are citizens of the Luciel Kingdom, first we need to register your names over there." He pointed to the side of the gates where a group of servants was stationed, ready to record the names of the people and give them their house numbers.

The people made two lines. One by one, they registered their names and were given their house number. Afterward, the King lead them inside the fortress where a long table with various foods was prepared by the chefs and servants. "Don't be shy. Eat to your heart's content."

The newly registered citizen of the Luciel Kingdom happily ate the food they had never tasted before. It was a marvelous experience for them especially for the teens and the children who enjoyed the desserts.

"Mama! I want that! I want that!" a ten years boy pointed to a cake. His mother happily took a slice and gave it to him.

"Father, here! Have a taste of this. This meat is so tender and juicy!" A teenage boy told his father as he gave him a plate of beef steak.

The man took the plate from his son, forked the steak, and bit a big chunk of the meat. He chewed it, savoring the taste, and swallowed loudly. "You are right! This is good!"

"Sister, sister! What is that!" a young girl around seven years old tugged at her sister's skirt. The sister was twelve years. She was eating ice cream.

"Oh, this? I think they called this ice cream. Want to taste?" She spooned some ice cream and feed it to her younger sister.

"Hm! Yum! I want more, sister!"

"Sure. Wait here. I will just get a bowl for you."

"Okay!"