SPELLBOUND

Before the King could ask on what was the commotion all about, Queen Beatrice quickly whispered to her husband and subtly informed him on what had just happened.

The king immediately looked at Evie and to the girl who was still fully clad in the black cloak. He was about to open his mouth to say something when Gideon suddenly grabbed Vera around the waist and pulled her flush against his sturdy chest.

Gideon's abrupt action surprised everyone. "What the hell are you saying?" Gideon asked Evie in an almost harsh tone. His eyes were narrowed and trained on Evie.

Gavrael also suddenly appeared right before Evie, blocking her from Gideon's view.

"You don't get to talk to my queen like that, older brother." Gavrael hissed and the king pinched the skin between his brows. He had already quickly erected a barrier to conceal them all from the eyes of the rest of the dark faes around them as soon as he saw Gideon bristling and grabbing the girl in dark cloak.

"You two! Enough!" Queen Beatrice's voice thundered. "These little rascals… stop that or else…" though Queen Beatrice's threat was left hanging, neither Gideon not Gavrael dared to continue on with their posturing in the face of their mother.

The two somehow quickly averted their gazes and ended the glaring contest as soon as the queen's voice became threatening.

"Goodness… I can't believe you both are still like this after all this time. You've each got wives now, for goodness' sakes! Stop fighting like you both didn't grow up at all!" Beatrice scolded her sons. "Your wives are watching you!"

"Apologies, mother." Gideon was the first to back off and mellowed down. "I was shocked on what my sister-in-law was talking about."

"Everyone, come to my tent… NOW." King Belial spoke. He really could not believe his two grown up sons were still squabbling like six-year-olds. His expression filled with authority now that the two brothers simply nodded.

And thus, in a matter of seconds, the entire royal family disappeared from the midst of the soldiers and materialized inside the king's tent.

King Belial pulled out the chair on his left and helped Queen Beatrice sit down first before he sat himself down at the head of the table. After which, he looked up and stared at the group of young people without saying anything for a few seconds.

"Take your seats everyone." The king finally said and Gideon and Gavrael moved without any delay, holding their women's hands in theirs as they walked towards their chairs. Then they did for their wives, what the king had done for his wife. They pulled their women's chairs out and helped Vera and Evie sit first before they themselves did.

"First of all," the king let out a soft sigh and his strict face softened as he looked at the girl who was still covered with a cloak, "you must be Vera, right?"

Upon hearing the King call out her name, Vera stood from her chair. She lifted her hands and pulled her hood down before she bowed low towards the king.

"Y…yes, I am, Your Majesty." She said nervously and Gideon reached out his hand to hold onto her slightly clammy ones. He smiled helplessly as he knew that she was nervous in officially meeting with her father-in-law for the first time.

The King smiled at her. "My wife had already told me a lot about you. It is my pleasure to meet you, Vera." He greeted her warmly, his amicable behaviour contributing much in reducing her nervousness.

"The… pleasure is all mine, Your Majesty."

"Ah… both our sons really are such lucky rascals, aren't they?" King Belial stage whispered to Beatrice and the couple giggled, causing the tensed atmosphere to instantly lighten up.

Vera, who was feeling so nervous and tensed up, relaxed as well at the sight of the King and Queen looking really happy and laughing with each other now. Her eyes then glanced at Evie and when Evie winked at her as she smiled, she felt even better.

"It's really great that all of us are finally together like this." The king said and Beatrice nodded, becoming a little emotional now.

"It is… I can't believe we even have two additional daughters now." Beatrice uttered, smiling from ear to ear.

Everyone fell silent and Evie felt Gavrael's grip on her hand tightened a little, maybe without him even realizing he was doing so. Evie had realized that this was the first time that this family was complete like this. Maybe ever since Gav had left the Under Lands many years ago, they had never come together to gather under one roof. Or maybe even before that, since Gideon had started distancing himself from his family.

At that moment, Evie could not help but feel emotional as well at the look in the king and queen's eyes. They both looked really, really happy right now.

Looking at Gav, Evie noticed he seemed to avoid looking at Gideon's way. But Evie caught Gideon glancing over at him. Somehow, Evie began to really feel the rift between the two brothers now. This was something she had never quite felt between them when they were still back in Yryzia.

However, Evie was not actually that worried about this for now because she felt that whatever it was between them was not actually that bad. Their relationship was just a bit sour. But Evie was confident that the brothers were not actually that hostile against each other. This was probably the main reason why the king and queen looked like they too were not very bothered about it and allowed the brothers to bicker and disagree with one another. They must have known that the surface animosity that seemed to exist between these two brothers must not really be that deep, and perhaps they were just going through the motions as both were not willing to be the person to take the first step to full reconciliation.

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Thank you so much @Monica_Ceja for the spacecraft and @Sacogun and @_Basia_ for the magic castles! ♡♡♡