Destinare: A Destined Tale Of Time

XVI Sudden Invitation to Breakfast

The way to the dining hall was walked in utter silence.

Azmeralda kept looking back and forth at her father, wondering if there was anything he wanted to ask. ‘Obviously, Alexander never missed any details,’ she said in the back of her mind. Alexander fell under her father’s command, there was nothing he wouldn’t report back – she was already aware of that!

What bothered her was the fact that he didn’t ask her himself. ‘There is nothing I would have hidden from him,’ she confessed as she glanced sideways at Julianus. He walked tall and proud as always, like the emperor he is. The very sound of his footsteps, screamed charisma that many lack.

However, Azmeralda saw right through the armored mask. ‘He looks tired,’ she thought, tilting her head to look at the black circles under his thick-lashed eyes, they cast a shadow on his somewhat pale face. ‘He couldn’t sleep again.’

It wasn’t the first time that Julianus spent a restless night. There is only so much rest he could get while being an emperor. However, Azmeralda hoped that his time away from the empire would serve as a time for him to catch up on the rest he should have had. She was wrong.

“Is there something on my face?”

Azmeralda snapped out of her dwelling, realizing she stared too hard. Julianus looked at her with his brows raised.

“No…no,” she repeated. “It’s nothing.”

He saw right through her lie, he cracked a smile. “I can see that you would rather lie than tell me the truth,” he said, his voice raspy and gentle. Not upset by the fact that she lied to him. In fact, he sounded amused…it wasn’t as if he was an angel either.

Azmeralda widened her eyes as her head jolted to glare at her father. She was suspicious of his ways of seeing right through her. Just like she can know, he can too…it goes both ways.

“I-I bet Sir Alexander told you everything,” she rattled weakly, keeping out the details.

“Indeed he did,” Julianus confessed. “Why? Shouldn’t he have talked?”

“That…that’s not what I meant,” she argued with a sigh. “Why aren’t you asking me about it, Papa? Why must you hear it from your Royal Guard Commander…I’m your daughter, not a spy.”

Not only was Julianus shocked, but the knight on his tail as well. The two adults shared a startled glance. Perhaps it was the realization of how mature Azmeralda had gotten, the words sounded from the heart. ‘Indeed she has grown up,’ he said, cracking into a chuckle.

Azmeralda spectated her father’s amusement in total disbelief. She sighed in yet another defeat and looked back ahead, giving up on having a fair conversation with her father, even for once.

No more words were said by the time they arrived at the dining hall’s entrance. Azmeralda never spoke again and Julianus enjoyed her frustration. Alexander stepped forth to open the door, Julianus stopped him with a gesture.

Alexander froze by the door, his hands behind his back.

Azmeralda noted and looked up at her father, who was already gazing at her with that familiar gentle expression. She couldn’t interpret what he wanted of her at that time.

“I want you to know that even though I might not be the perfect father,” he said, thinking carefully of his words. “I love you truly, in fact, you might be the only one I love in this god-forsaken world…”

He fell silent, the words suddenly stuck in the back of his throat. Azmeralda was startled by the sudden outburst of emotions. These days, Julianus has been having outbursts at random. She blinked in ignorance at her father, her young mind still comprehending the words.

Perhaps Julianus was already aware that the words he was saying were too much for her mind to grasp. But he wanted to say them anyway, he believed he owed her that much. ‘I can’t let her carry a burden because I’m a coward who can’t tell her the truth…even the basic knowledge of her mother.’

The thought ravished his heart but he held on. Julianus leaned forward and held both her shoulders. For a faint moment, Azmeralda thought she felt him tremble – and her father never tremble. Not even in the long cold desert nights he spent.

“I want you to know that once you are old enough…I’ll tell you everything,” he finally said the words, something was held back in his voice.

Mayhap it was a cry of agony and pain, but he handled it well. He never allowed that side of him to be revealed to her…not like this.

“So bear with me.”

Azmeralda stared oddly at her father, the words were lost or maybe no words in her current vocabulary were enough to answer his words. She simply nodded. Julianus gave her one last sad smile before he let go of her and straightened his posture, switching personalities swiftly. All that Azmeralda witnessed was now gone as quickly as it appeared.

Julianus, now the Emperor, gestured for Alexander to open the door. The knight did as he was told, and stepped aside, allowing the royal family of Kemet through.

Inside, Emperor Petrus was already seated along with his Queen and two sons. The two princes cracked a smile as they saw Azmeralda at the door.

“I apologize for the delay,” Julianus said, walking over to greet Petrus. “You must have gotten hungry.”

“Not at all!” Petrus exclaimed. “We just got here ourselves. Please get seated!”

Azmeralda followed her father after giving her own greetings. She took a seat next to her father, who sat on the right side of Emperor Petrus.

“Start serving!” Petrus gestured to the servants. “Our guests must be hungry!”

Julianus was quiet, his eyes closed, his lashes weaving together as he took a sip of the water before him. His eyes fluttered open and he scanned the other side where the Queen and her two sons were seated.

“Shouldn’t we wait?”

Petrus halted and glanced over at Julianus in wonder. “What is it that we have to wait for, Emperor Donna?”

Azmeralda saw her father’s brow flinch. A sign of dissatisfaction. Azmeralda couldn't guess what it was he meant. All she saw was that the first prince wasn’t there, and apparently, Emperor Petrus didn’t care less.

“More like…who we should wait for,” Julianus replied, setting his cup down. “The First Prince is not here yet. Shouldn’t you be calling for him?”

Petrus was taken off guard, and so was Azmeralda. Petrus stared oddly before he cracked into a giggle. “Of course, we are going to wait for him,” he said, gesturing to one of the manservants standing behind him.

“Get Tiberius for me. It’s about time he joined us,” Petrus said. “We can’t keep our guests waiting.”

The distaste on the Queen’s face was real, there was no denying it. Her brows arched sharply, however, there was so little she could say before their guests. The manservant bowed and exited the dining hall.

The servant started preparing the plates and tableware around them, all the while Azmeralda waited for the first prince’s arrival. She could barely keep herself composed. The brother’s excitement could also be seen in the way they chattered quietly with each other. Every now and then the Queen would give them a stare that would silence them monetarily.

The knock on the heavy doors grabbed the attention of everyone on the table – Julianus excluded. The doors fell open slowly, giving way for a small figure to come through, Tiberius.

It was obvious from the frustration in his eyes that he wasn’t ready to be there. It was out of the ordinary, the first time actually. Tiberius felt his frustration subside the moment his eyes fell on Azmeralda, a faint smile appeared on his face – a smile that she was the only one witnessing.

“Son!” Petrus exclaimed, breaking Tiberius’s line of thought.

The young boy nodded once and held his head in a bow. He took a few steps, approaching the table before he came to a halt, wondering where he was supposed to sit. Sitting anywhere wasn’t the easiest solution as every member of the family has their assigned seat. A custom he knows but never experienced, due to lack – or more accurately, never attended a family meal.

He felt the blood rushing through him in anxiety, he held back a shiver.

“Come on, my boy,” Petrus said. “Sit with your brothers!”

Tiberius hesitated, giving Azmeralda a disappointed look before he went to take a seat next to Romanus.

“Good morning, Brother!” Romanus exclaimed in a whisper.

“To you too, brother,” Tiberius whispered back, their little chatter swallowed by the loud conversation Emperor Petrus had with Julianus.

Thankfully for Tiberius, the meal went smoothly. Despite the feeling that he was going to get indigestion from the glares at him from the Queen. Other than that, nothing happened. The servants took the plates away, as the two emperors got to their feet to end this conversation.

“I will see you again during tea, Emperor Donna,” Petrus said with a diplomatic smile.

“We sure will,” Julianus replied.

As the dining hall started to empty, leaving only the two princes and Tiberius along with the Princess.

“Aren’t you coming, Pumpkin?” Julianus said, glancing over his shoulder at his daughter when she wasn’t next to him.

“Can I stay out for a while?” she asked, hesitating.

Hearing the adorable hesitation, she had Julianus go weak. The corners of his mouth curled up into a sneer.

“Don’t be late,” he said before gesturing to Alexander.

Alexander already knew what he wanted to say and bowed his head till Julianus left the dining hall.

Azmeralda sat in place looking at Alexander like a burden given to her when it was clearly the other way around. She sighed. Alexander glanced over, feeling the distaste in the air.

“Is there a problem, Princess?” Alexander asked, his stern expression was now nothing startling to Azmeralda.

She sighed. “Are you perhaps going to stalk me all the day today as well and report back to Papa?”

“Yes,” he blankly said. “And it’s not stalking, it’s called keeping you safe and out of harm’s way.”

Azmeralda was about to ask what that harm might be but gulped the question instead. The Persian Prince, Iraj. It was obvious, even for a child like her to pick up. Despite being ignorant of what kind of threat The Prince might be to her…she knew it was dangerous. Given that her father almost unleashed his mana against him just because he patted her head.

Julianus might be a jealous father, but he is far from being a fool. Not to mention that she wasn’t exactly comfortable being around the Prince. Somehow, he made her feel uneasy. The way that he stares at her, seeing someone else in her. It made her bones quiver.

“Princess,”

She snapped, she jolted up to look at Tiberius standing next to her seat. “O-Oh, Prince Tiberius,” she said, not knowing what to say. “I’m glad you were with us for breakfast.”

He spared her a smile, not really able to totally agree with her. He could swear he felt the blood from where Queen Blandia was staring.

“I’m glad to see you again,” he said, changing the subject. “So…soon.”

Azmeralda grinned.

“Princess!” the two brothers said in unison, dashing at her.

“Good to see you both again,” Azmeralda said, keeping her bright smile. Hoping the two brothers never get to see anything from the little…incident that happened the night before.

“We didn’t spend much with you during the banquet!” Victor sighed.

“Yeah! Mother said we had to go to bed,” Romanus followed as he whined in distaste.

“Well, we can always make up for the time we lost,” Azmeralda said, cheerfully. “Why not show me around the palace, there is still so much I haven’t seen!”

“Yes!” they both exclaimed in excitement. Their eyes twinkled in the brightly lit room, and soon both of them started to take turns rattling on about places she should see.

“Shall I lead the way then?” Tiberius offered.

“Why not!?” Azmeralda said, taking a moment to reply as she again felt speechless before him.