The Royal Revenge
Chapter 142: Awkward Return

Chapter 142: Awkward Return

"I wonder what that woman’s weakness is," Elys pondered. "I have not been able to look into High Priestess Naya’s records or anyone of the vampire clergy at that."

"The vampire clergy is separated from the kingdom’s absolute monarchy. They operate independently, keeping the balance between religious and political beliefs between the vampire nobilities and the rest of our people," Aleksander explained.

His wife’s nose crinkled as she recalled her last experience with the High Priestess. She absolutely knew that Elys did not share the Western Kingdom’s philosophies.

Perhaps it was partly her fault for letting her emotions get ahead of her, but Elys did not want to look as if she was powerless against the High Priestess.

"What is her magical affinity, by the way?" Elys asked the king.

Aleksander raised his head from observing the nearly diminished pile of sweets. They had been previously stacked like a mountain of colorful treats for aesthetic reasons, but was now merely just a mound at that.

His wife was slowly picking one sweet at a time, munching at it as she spoke in between.

’I just discovered a sugar monster,’ Aleksander thought to himself.

In a way, he thought it was somewhat endearing about how she stuffed her cheeks with it. At the same time, it was an unexpected side to the ever emotionless and calculating Northern Princess.

"Husband, are you listening to me?"

"Huh? Ah, yes, I am," Aleksander replied in a mumble.

Elys’ brows arched and she stopped eating her sweets. She licked her fingers and Aleksander stared at her intently, gulping as he found himself somewhat salivating.

’What is wrong with me?’ the young king asked at the back of his mind.

"I was saying, asking rather, what exactly High Priestess Naya’s magic is?" Elys repeated her question, this time around her tone a bit irritated that Aleksander was not giving her the attention she demanded.

"What do you need it for?" her husband asked.

"Is that question even needed? Quite obviously, it is because I need to assess how we are to approach this issue regarding your ’cursedness’," Elys replied with a matter-of-fact tone.

A serious look suddenly clouded Aleksander’s face. His eyes dropped down and a line appeared in between his brows. The vampire’s forehead crinkled as he spoke of the High Priestess.

"Ah... that I can’t really speak of in full detail," he said.

"Why? From what I overheard from the other nobilities, she was said to be at par with your own father at that," Elys said as she leaned forward. "She must be awfully powerful to be held with such high regards. I don’t think she reached her position without some sort of powers at her disposal."

"Well, that is much true," Aleksander agreed. "But aside from what we saw her did the night of the coronation, High Priestess Naya’s powers aren’t entirely disclosed to the whole kingdom."

Elys’ eyes narrowed as she considered Aleksander’s words.

"Do you mean to say that she hasn’t fully exposed her capabilities to anyone at all in the entire kingdom?" Elys asked.

Aleksander grunted a defeated yes.

Elys found herself scowling at the negative fact that she discovered. It wasn’t going to be easy to get the High Priestess to denounce the late queen’s prophesies.

’We might just need to find another way to get her to spill,’ Elys bit her lip in contemplation.

"What are our options then?" she asked her husband.

"We can try to dig for further details. Anomalies within the vampire clergy, anything we can get our hands to threaten them," Aleksander suggested. "What do you think?"

Elys crossed her arms and thought about it.

"Are there people in her life whom we can try to use against her?" she asked.

"Well, she is from the Elnuas," her husband replied, "the vampire clergy are composed of all sorts of people. From ordinary ones and those that belong to the nobility. However, once they enter the clergy and state their vows, they must denounce themselves from any relation to keep their judgement unclouded by unnecessary filial feelings."

"This isn’t going to be an easy task," she finally groaned. "Let’s do research as priority for now then. I will entrust you with that?"

The corner of Aleksander’s mouth lifted into a smile, "Well, of course, my queen. You can entrust anything to me."

Elys nodded and then noticed Aleksander stiffen in front of her. He looked as if he was in heightened alert, his face contorted in what looked like a face of horror and somewhat, surprise or disbelief?

"What is it, Aleksander?" she asked him, curious what made the vampire king react as such.

He stood up from his couch and then basically ran to the door. He reached for the door’s handle, and practically yanked it as hard as he could. The faces that greeted him were familiar, and the vampire almost choked with the words stuck in his throat.

Elys saw how her husband had turned rigid as he opened one side of her doors. She stood up and then peered over his shoulders, looking over what made him stand like an idiot who was suspicious of being spied upon.

At a glance she noticed they had turned to a golden color, and the young queen followed the direction of her husband’s eyes. In a split second, the same reaction that Aleksander had took effect in his wife’s face.

Without even thinking, Elys pushed her husband aside and said, "Cordelia!"

"I am also here, your majesty," Henry sheepishly announced.

Elys and Aleksander glanced at he knights stationed outside her chambers. Aleksander beckoned for Cordelia and Henry to come in, and the two plopped their way inside the queen’s chambers.

"I am terribly sorry for the delay of our return, your majesty," Henry bowed down his head.

"As I am," Cordelia also apologized, bowing her head towards Elys. "We didn’t foresee the harsh conditions that the storm brought to our missions."

Aleksander raised his brows in confusion, "Wait, why do the two of you seem to have come at the same time, all drenched and mucky?"

Henry and Cordelia blushed at the question thrown at them. The old man tried as hard as he could to banish the embarrassing memory away, as his master was bound to read his mind if he wasn’t going to be satisfied with any answer he gave.

"It was a coincidence, that is all," Cordelia spoke with great calmness.

She had been able to control herself in the nick of time, but it did not work the same with Henry. Aleksander caught up that something was a miss with the two loyal servants.

"What happened then?" Elys asked as she dragged her servant further inside. "And what kind of trouble did you get into?"

"Just a few unwanted and unfortunate circumstances," Cordelia lied straight to Elys’ face.

The old woman did not want to go into detail how she had gotten Henry knocked out through a misunderstanding. She was not willing to lose her face with Elysianne with the likes of such accidents.

It wasn’t professional at all!

She slipped in her duty, unable to think straight as she chased Henry – unknowingly at first – and then ended up restraining him using underhanded methods. Wouldn’t it be an awkward situation of both Elys and Aleksander knew the complete truth about their mishaps?

It was embarrassing to admit such incompetency.

Aleksander’s golden eyes observed Cordelia and Elys converse normally. He knew there was definitely something not right at the moment, and so against his better judgement not to pry, the vampire turned to his attendant for an answer.

"I am sorry, Henry," Aleksander muttered under his voice.

"Huh? What did you say, your majesty?" Henry asked, unsure what Aleksander meant when he mumbled something.

The vampire king squinted his eyes in concentration, and Henry took a step back as he realized what the young master was trying to do. His head went overdrive with excuses, but no matter how chaotic his mind was, Aleksander was quick to pick off bits and pieces of information that leaked out of Henry.

"Ah... so that’s how it ended," Aleksander smirked.

Henry shook as he realized the young king had infiltrated his mind. He must have already known how Henry was so embarrassing.

His pride was sullied – and that was all because of Cordelia.

Henry glanced at the old woman who was still conversing with the queen. It seemed like Elys was oblivious to Cordelia’s lies, which was utterly bizarre since he thought the human was practically very sharp and keen on such things.

"We were very worried but it ended up with something as trivial as a nutcracking session," Aleksander mentioned beside him, a laugh bubbling inside his stomach.

"Your majesty..." Henry whispered, "don’t say a word please! I beg of you!"

Aleksander’s amused face turned cunningly dangerous as he contemplated on Henry’s request. The old man had served him for so long that he practically stood as a father to Aleksander.

Forgetting to ask about Henry’s mission, Aleksander was seriously trying to consider teasing him first.