The Royal Revenge
Chapter 189: Nighttime Exercise

Chapter 189: Nighttime Exercise

Elys’ jaws almost dropped to the floor when she heard what came out of Aleksander’s mouth. Was it not their plan to put the vampire clergy on the spot during tonight’s court meeting? If she was to be asked, it was her and Aleksander that got into a pinch now.

How did it actually end up with her husband precariously announcing they were trying for an heir?

They haven’t even slept on the same bed ever since the beginning of their marriage! Heck, they even tried to kill each other for almost a month too.

The young queen composed herself before anyone could catch a glimpse of her unease. Cordelia was too shocked by Aleksander’s announcement that she failed as well to even notice Elys’ initial reaction herself. Even Elys’ ladies in waiting were all surprised.

A tiny squeal of excitement rose from Lady Tabitha, and the other three ladies in waiting turned to look at her crazy.

"What? Should we not be thrilled of a royal baby coming soon?" she arched her brow.

Despite the young lady’s small stature, Lady Tabitha was the second eldest daughter of her family, and had ten other younger siblings. She had two older brothers and an older sister, making them a total of fourteen children.

Her family was one of those nobles that rose to power with the effort of her father which was a knight – his bravery had earned him land properties and gold, and the whimsical late king decided to raise his status as a Baron.

But even before their family came to their riches now, Lady Tabitha knew the hardships of the commoner’s life. She herself along with her older siblings, took care of every single younger brother and sister that came after.

It goes to say that Lady Tabitha was fond of children, and the prospect of her taking care of a royal child thrilled her to the point she actually decided to throw away her prejudice against Elys as a human.

’She has immensely powerful magic in the first place, that should compensate to her weak blood,’ Lady Tabitha convinced herself.

High Priestess Naya merely scoffed at Aleksander’s announcement. Although she had not been entirely successful into sullying the King and Queen’s reputation, at the very least she had put them in a bind by pressuring the royal couple for an heir to the throne.

The momentary distraction deemed to be advantageous to the vampire clergy as well. Mora’s alleged treachery brought dirt to the clergy, and High Priestess Naya wanted to wash her hands from even associating herself with the priest.

However, despite the fact that she wanted to distance the clergy from Mora, High Priestess Naya wanted to know the full details of why he was actually accused of being at cohorts with the Eastern spy.

’I never gave him any order to contact that harmless Eastern visitor,’ she thought to herself. ’What could be his reason?’

She was indeed curious, but High Priestess Naya’s cold blue eyes turned calculating as she reassessed the things she needed to do.

The background investigation with the human queen deemed to have yielded so little reliable data that the vampire actually had doubts herself if she was doing the right thing, or should she just give up and agree with the human wearing the queen’s crown.

High Priestess Naya bit the tips of her long and sharp fingernails. She needed a more skillful intelligence expert. Her eyes scanned the entire room, and eventually landed on Lady Beatrice who was scowling herself.

’The Lady Thyrston?’ High Priestess Naya was confused why she had attended the meeting as well. ’Never mind that, I should be able to congregate the other members of the vampire clergy when this thing is done and over with.’

They needed a new strategy which would be beneficial to the kingdom, the vampire clergy, and not just about backing up the noble who went out and disagreed to Aleksander’s unconventional ascension to the throne.

Her eyes turned towards the doors where knights have dragged Priest Mora away. At the back of her mind, even though she would feel bad at the end, she could not deny that Mora would pose a threat to the whole vampire clergy now that he was captured.

’We would need to silence him,’ High Priestess Naya thought.

On the other hand, Aleksander returned to his seat, and without even looking at Elys right after, he knew that he has slipped and fucked up. He could feel her intense aura beside him, ready to berate him with curses and even try to stab him out of anger.

His mouth ran around and eventually spoke words he now regretted. There was no amount of gold that could bury his embarrassment now. Thankfully, only Elys studied him up close and could see through his facade.

By time that the meeting ended and the royal couple had returned to the Rose Palace, Elys was already in a sour mood.

Her ladies in waiting walked a distance away from them, accompanied by a handful of personal knights, as well as Cordelia and Henry who arrived in a rush.

The old man seemed to have looked like he wanted to speak with the King and Queen as soon as possible, but once he read the air around the royal couple, the attendant decided to save his words later.

Perhaps once the others were gone and only King Aleksansder, his wife, Cordelia, and he were the ones left.

"I have observed you have been silent for a while now," Aleksander conversed with his queen.

They have entered the arched passage connecting the main palace from the Rose Palace, and the smell of flowers blooming at night wafted in the air. They were nearing the flower maze.

Elys gave him a quick side glance, and then behind her as well. She stopped walking, and with it, everyone did so as well. Aleksander stood still as she turned to face him.

The young king was surprised, but he kept his eyes and ears peeled for Elys.

His wife merely stared at him - scowled was more like it - and no word came out of her mouth. She kept quiet and that in itself irked Aleksansder more.

Elys turned around once more and marched faster. Aleksander hurried to catch up to her, and the rest of the servants as well. The young queen paced quicker, and quicker, and quicker, until the walking eventually turned into sprinting towards the Rose Palace.

"Hold up, what are you trying to do, my queen?" Aleksander asked.

"Exercise," came her blunt and short single word reply.

Aleksander’s brow raised in a quizzical manner. What did she mean exercise? Did she want to get something out of her head and tire herself by running?

"You majesty, it is unqueenly to be running in your dress!" Countess Rusiana called out to her.

She huffed as physical activity was not entirely the Countess’ thing. Lady Penelope was exceptionally nimble despite her weak appearance, and she run after Elys together with Lady Azalea and Tabitha.

Cordelia could have ran faster, but Henry looked like he needed help. Aside from that, she was curious what the old attendant brought with him after visiting the manor and their captive. Could it be that he had learned something important?

Aleksander eventually caught up with Elys and ran beside her with ease. He noticed her face was a bit flushed, but not a bead of sweat was dripping at all.

Behind them, only the knights and three ladies in waiting were trying to catch up. Cordelia and Henry had stopped to converse, while one lady in waiting trudged at the bottom of the stairs.

They were all reaching the topmost floors where the king and queen’s chambers were located. Aleksander had a hunch with what Elys was thinking, and with a swift movement, he thrusted his hand to grab her wrist and stop her.

Elys effortlessly dodged the vampire’s attempt.

As they reached the top of the stairs, Aleksander came to the conclusion that she definitely wasn’t trying to exercise - she was running away from him!

"Wife, you should stop now," Aleksander told her, "No one is chasing you, damn it!"

"I did not ask you to chase me, damn it too!" she hissed back at him.

Aleksander was perplexed. He was out for words to explain his wife’s choices at the very moment.

When did it start? If he recalled correctly, she had been silent ever since they stepped out of the vampire High Courts.

Could it be....?

’Had it been because I said we were trying to conceive an heir? Is she afraid of me because of that?’ the young king thought.

Aleksander turned around and spoke, "Stay back, everyone. The Queen and I have personal matters to attend to."

Elysianne’s ladies in waiting stopped in their tracks and Lady Tabitha let out an excited squeak.

"What is it, Tabitha?" Lady Azalea asked.

Lady Tabitha’s eyes sparkled and then replied, "They will try for a royal baby tonight!"